Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
Morocco is a hereditary monarchy ruled by a Sunni dynasty that has reigned for centuries. The incumbent monarch, King Mohammed VI, is considered to be a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. More than 99 percent of the country’s population are Sunni Muslims of the Maliki-Ashari school. Other religious groups make up less than one percent of the population.
The country’s Jewish community is very old, the majority having left with the establishment of the State of Israel. While in 1948 there were 265,000 Jews in Morocco, currently the estimated number is 2,281, with the majority of these living in Casablanca. Morocco, however, decided not to revoke the nationality of those Moroccan Jews that immigrated to Israel, creating a community of an estimated one million (more than 10 percent of the Israeli population) Moroccan Jews and Jews of Moroccan ancestry. Jews in Morocco have rabbinical courts that oversee their personal status affairs, such as marriage or inheritance.
There are approximately 31,550 Christians of all denominations (18,500 Catholics and 4,800 Protestants) in Morocco, the vast majority of which are foreigners who use churches built during the French protectorate era (1912–1956). There is an increasing presence of Sub-Saharan evangelicals who gather for worship in private flats or houses. It is not clear how many Muslim Moroccan citizens have converted to Christianity; some have put the figure of indigenous Christians within the range of 8,000 to 31,500. There are also some small, unrecognised Shi’a and Baha’i communities in the country (166,098 and 37,662, respectively). No Church is allowed to admit Moroccans who have converted to Christianity, and they are therefore forced to practise their faith in private. Christian marriages are not legally recognized by the government.
According to the 2011 Moroccan Constitution, the country is a sovereign Muslim State (Preamble), and “relies for its collective life […] on the occurrence of moderate Muslim religion […]” (Article 1, paragraph 3). Article 3 declares: “Islam is the religion of the State, which guarantees to all the free exercise of beliefs”. The constitution prohibits political parties, parliamentarians, or constitutional amendments to infringe upon Islam. Religions other than Islam and Judaism are not recognized by the constitution, or in laws.
Article 41 of the constitution states that the King, as the “Commander of the Faithful [...] sees to the respect for Islam.” He is the “Guarantor of the free exercise of beliefs,” and presides over the Superior Council of the Ulemas. This Council alone is empowered to comment and agree on religious consultations (fatwas) that are officially in keeping with the “precepts and designs of Islam”. The Moroccan Council of Ulemas for Europe was created in April 2004 dedicated to, among other things, “ensure the proper performance of religious duties and the worship of Islam and the preservation of its precepts for all Moroccans, men and women, residing in Europe, within a framework of quietude and spiritual security according to the Acha’ite dogma and the Malekite rite”, and “orienting the Moroccan Muslim community residing in Europe by disseminating the ideal precepts of Islam of tolerance, virtue and true values and by acting for the issuing of religious consultations (Fatwa) based on the Koran, the Sunna and the uniqueness of the Malekite rite”.
The Moroccan Penal Code punishes by imprisonment for a term of six months to three years and a fine of between 200 and 500 dirhams (€18 and €45) “whoever, by violence or threats, has forced or prevented one or more persons from worshipping or attending worship”. The same punishment is imposed on anyone “who uses means of seduction with the aim of undermining the faith of a Muslim or converting him to another religion, either by exploiting his weakness or his needs, or by using for these purposes educational establishments or health facilities, residences for elderly or orphanages. In case of conviction, the closure of the establishment which served to commit the offence may be ordered, either permanently or for a period not exceeding three years” (Article 220, paragraph 2). Public authorities are legally entitled to summarily expel any non-citizen residents considered to be “a threat to public order,” a clause used to expel foreigners that are suspected of proselytizing.
Voluntary conversion is not criminalised by law. Moroccan converts to Christianity, however, do not enjoy the same rights as others, even though discrimination based on religion is punishable in certain cases (e.g., a refusal to provide a good, service or employment) by imprisonment of one month to two years and a fine of 1,250 to 50,000 dirhams (€113 to €4,500). Converts to minority religious communities state that they suffer societal harassment, including ostracism by the converts’ families, social ridicule, employment discrimination, and even potential violence against them by “extremists”, and are forced to practice their faiths discreetly. The Coordination of Moroccan Christians launched an appeal to the government, pleading for, among other things, the revision of laws restricting the ability to conduct and attend services in official Churches, the recognition of the rights to ecclesiastical marriage, the right to name their children with Christian names, to be buried in Christian cemeteries, and to have optional religious education for Moroccan Christians in public schools.
“Undermining the Islamic religion” is a crime that is punishable by imprisonment of between six months and two years and a fine of between 20,000 and 200,000 dirhams (€1,800 and €18,000), or by one of these two penalties only. The penalty is increased to two to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of between 50,000 and 500,000 dirhams (€4,500 and €45,000), or one of these penalties only, when the acts referred to are committed either through speeches, exclamations, or threats that are made in public places or meetings, or through public posters, or through the sale, distribution, or by any means of meeting the condition of publicity, including electronically, on paper, or by audio-visual means. The formation of any association, of which the goal is to undermine Islam, is banned.
Anyone who wilfully hinders the exercise of a cult or religious ceremony, or causes a disorder that is likely to disturb the serenity thereof, can be punished by imprisonment for a term of six months to three years and a fine of 200 to 500 dirhams (€18 and €45). Vandalism in connection with places of worship or sacred texts can result in a jail sentence of six months to two years and a fine of 100 to 500 dirhams (€9 and €45) (Article 223). Anyone known to be a member of the Muslim religion who “ostensibly breaks the fast in a public place during the time of Ramadan, without a reason recognised by that religion”, can be imprisoned for a period of one to six months and can receive a fine of 200 to 500 dirhams (€18 and €45). Any person who, during or on the occasion of sporting competitions or events, or their public broadcasting, incites hatred towards one or more persons on account of “their membership or non-membership, whether real or assumed, of a […] particular religion” shall be liable to imprisonment for a period of between one and six months and a fine of between 1,200 and 10,000 dirhams (€108 and €900), or one of these two penalties only.
The personal status of Muslim citizens is regulated by the country’s interpretation of Shari‘a (Islamic law). Male Muslim citizens can legally marry Christian or Jewish women, but female Muslim citizens cannot marry non-Muslim men. Moroccan law requires a non-Muslim man wishing to marry a Muslim woman to convert to Islam. The conversion takes place before an Adoul (auxiliary to justice, that must be of Muslim faith), and the official certificate of conversion authorised by a judge is required for converts to marry. Moroccans residing abroad who want to enter into a valid marriage must celebrate it in the presence of two Muslim witnesses. Only Muslim spouses, a Muslim woman or an institution, are allowed to take charge of an abandoned child (“kafala”). The kafala implies the commitment to take in charge the protection, education, and maintenance of an abandoned child in the same way as a father would do for his child, but without any right to filiation or succession. On the other hand, the forename chosen by the person making the birth declaration before the Civil Registry “must be of Moroccan character”.
Quranic schools and Friday sermons are regularly monitored by the government, and all Imams are screened and required to pass a certification course before conducting Friday prayers. All mosques must meet specific security standards and are vetted as public buildings. The government-enforced standards apply to religious education and women are entitled to become “morchidat” or secondary leaders within Muslim communities. Well-financed state training programs for Imams, morchidines and morchidates promote a state-approved version of “moderate Islam” at the Mohammed VI Institute “to achieve their mission to spread the precepts of the Islamic sharia”, and “to emphasize its characteristics of tolerance, fairness and moderation, as well as to contribute to the preservation of the religious unity [“unité confessionnelle”] of the society and its cohesion”. These are also tools for consolidating the state’s authority and preventing manifestations of extremism. In Morocco, only Muslims are allowed to reproduce, print, record, publish and distribute the Quran, and the nature of activities of the edition and distribution channels must respect Islamic Shari’a law.
The General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) authorizes religious observances and services provided by religious leaders for all prisoners, including religious minorities.
Morocco has been a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights since 1979, without having made any reservations to the text, although it has not yet signed the Optional Protocol accepting individual complaints procedures.
Incidents and Developments
Morocco is cultivating its reputation as a moderate Islamic country and a reference for the Muslim world, including through the promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue fora with the involvement of public institutions and academia. The also country supports the training of foreign Islamic clerics, mostly from African countries, through the Mohammed VI Foundation for African Ulema. The foundation, created in 2016, promotes the self-declared goal “to disseminate and consolidate the values of tolerant Islam.” For example, an agreement was signed in September 2022 between the Malian Minister for Religious Affairs and his Moroccan counterpart to train 300 Imams, morchidines and morchidates at the Mohammed VI Institute. Hundreds of Nigerian Muslim clerics have already studied at this institution.
The progressive normalisation of relations between Morocco and Israel, after the US-brokered Joint Declaration in December 2020 which officially recognised Israel and instated diplomatic ties, has also opened a new chapter for the Jewish community in Morocco. The country, for example, is the only nation in the Muslim-Arab world where the state currently funds projects to restore Jewish cemeteries, synagogues and renovate Jewish neighbourhoods and religious sites. Following the instructions of King Mohamed VI, the alleys, and squares of the Essalam district ex Hay El Mellah in the city of Marrakech were renamed to their original Jewish names to preserve the historical memory of these places.
Additionally, the Moroccan government announced in October 2021 a change to the public school curriculum to include Jewish heritage and history in both Arabic and French, and the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University is now home to the first campus synagogue in the Arab world. At the end of 2022, another symbolic move was the first-ever representation of one of Israel’s most famous theatrical works depicting the life of a Sephardic Jewish neighbourhood in Jerusalem in the early twentieth century. In addition to this, the “National Council of the Moroccan Jewish Community” was established under the authority of the King, as was the “Foundation of Moroccan Judaism”, the aim of which is “to promote and safeguard the intangible Moroccan-Jewish heritage, to preserve its traditions and its specificity, and to ensure the recognised and structured continuity of its temporal and spiritual relationship with Morocco”. The Chief Rabbi of Morocco is appointed by the King on the proposal of the Council’s office after consultation with the rabbinical chambers of the Kingdom’s courts.
Over the years, Morocco has also become a continental power and a bridge to the European Union. However, despite the close relations of Morocco with some EU Member states in a wide range of areas, including migration, trade and counterterrorism, a deterioration has been observed after the adoption of some resolutions by the European Parliament denouncing human rights violations in Morocco and the widespread use of the illicit NSO Group’s Pegasus surveillance software. These accusations were rejected by Morocco, with the support of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, which condemned the approach of the European Parliament.
Morocco has recently been recognised by the United States as “a major partner for regional stabilization efforts”; “a critical partner on a range of security issues” including through the Global Counterterrorism Forum and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS; “a major non-NATO ally”; and “a gateway to Africa” due to the country's strategic location. Furthermore, Morocco purchases 91 percent of its arms from the US, more than any other country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The relations were such that the Trump Administration recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory in December 2020, against the UN General Assembly resolution 35/19 that recognized the “Inalienable right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and independence”.
In March 2021, about fifty inhabitants of the Farah 2 district in Settat, a city located between the national capital Rabat and Marrakech, sent a letter to the governor of the province, calling on him to intervene in order to put an end to the “damage caused by the transformation of a residential villa into a Catholic church” in the said district, emphasizing that they were in favour of coexistence, provided that it was not harmful to future generations.
Eating and drinking in public during Ramadan has long sparked heated debate in Muslim societies, including in Morocco. Each Ramadan comes with reports of police arresting public fast-breakers across the country. On 28 April 2021, a court in Marrakech sentenced a man who broke his fast in 2020 during the month of Ramadan. The individual was sentenced to a two-month suspended prison term and a fine of 500 dirhams (€45). In May of the same year, two individuals in Marrakech were sentenced to one-month suspended prison sentences and fines of 1,000 dirhams (€90) each for having lunch in public during Ramadan in the old medina of the ochre city, which prompted local residents to alert the authorities.
In June 2021, a Moroccan court handed down a sentence of three years and a half, and 50,000 dirhams (€4,500), to a Moroccan–Italian woman who was also charged with making insults against Islam on Facebook and posted verses in praise of the consumption of alcohol. The woman was released, and the fine was annulled by the appeal court in August 2021.
In September 2021, the Court of First Instance of Khemisset sentenced a lawyer belonging to the Rabat Bar Association to three years in prison and a fine of 20,000 dirhams (€1,800) for, among other things, inciting hatred and undermining the Muslim religion through a live feed on social networks. He was also required to pay each of the complainants 15,000 dirhams (€1,350) as compensation.
In April 2022, the Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) arrested around 80 people in a cafe on Boulevard Anfa in Casablanca for publicly eating during Ramadan in violation of Article 222 of the Penal Code. #Stop222 was a hashtag used by many Moroccan internet users to denounce the arrest of several people who broke the fast. The “Moroccan Outlaws” movement, in contact with some of the detainees, indicated that the young ladies arrested were subjected to on-site inspections to search for signs of menstruation (an exemption that allows breaking fast), an allegation that was denied by the police authorities.
In June 2022, the Moroccan authorities banned the controversial British film “The Lady of Heaven”, about the daughter of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, from being screened or commercialised after the Council of Ulema, Morocco's highest religious authority, condemned the film as a “flagrant falsification of facts” and a heinous “act which cannot be accepted by Muslims”.
In August 2022, the First Instance Court in Oued Zem sentenced blogger Fatima Karim to two years in prison and 50,000 dirhams (€4,500) for insults against Islam posted on Facebook, based on Article 267–5 of Morocco’s Penal Code (undermining Islam). The sentence was confirmed by the Court of Appeal of Khouribga. The same month, a young man was arrested in the locality of Oued-Zem, accused of having produced publications that undermined the Islamic religion and the symbols of the kingdom with content that falsified history.
In addition to the general ban on “offering or selling alcoholic beverages to Muslim Moroccans”, there is a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages in tourist establishments and liquor shops on the eve of Ramadan, a decision taken by Moroccan authorities in July 1967. In November 2022, the Moroccan Minister of Justice declared his intention to repeal the 1967 law, whose non-observance exposes offenders to up to six months in prison and a fine of around 140 euros.
Prospects for freedom of religion
The growing role of Morocco in international security concerns, such as its cooperative agreements with the United States and its recognition of the State of Israel, are expected not only to benefit the Jewish community, but to have an impact on the promotion and protection of all fundamental rights including, at some point, the freedom of religion. Due to the international leadership and reputation of the King of Morocco among other Muslim leaders, the application of measures of tolerance toward non-Muslims are more public and openly discussed, setting a precedent among other Muslim-majority nations in the region. The presence of Morocco in international fora, such as the Negev Forum, a new framework for cooperation that includes U.S., Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain, may also have a positive impact in the MENA region, including on the long-lasting Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Although the possible reinsertion of Morocco in the international scene is encouraging, the prospects for freedom of religion of Moroccans in Morocco differ widely from the foreign policy actions of the government. Indeed, the authorities present a friendly face for religions if they are outside their territory, and as long as their members are not Moroccan converts from Islam. The Moroccan citizens that do not follow and practice Islam as mandated remain discriminated, at risk of prison and hefty fines, and other measures clearly associated with the non-respect of Article 18. The prospects for religious freedom for the Moroccans remain poor.
Morocco