The people of Morocco
Morocco has gained its diversity through many cultures, which have great influence throughout history. At first, the region known as Morocco was home to the so-called barbarians and slowly many nations from all over the world. Including Arabs, Byzantines, Romans, Europeans, and French, flocked to it. And the region was home t countries in a colonial period until it the independence in 1965. Although people of Morocco are generally referred to as Berbers. Most of them claim to be of Berber and Arab origin.
Is Morocco Arab or Berber ” Amazigh”?
Morocco is an Amazigh country of origin. But it has seen the influx of many human elements and different races and cultures. The same was the case with the Arab element that was able to succeed to integrate their culture, language, and religion as it now. There was a merger in society and the intermarriage exists between the two of them. Moreover, there are Jewish and a few black African Moroccans.
As a result of all this cultural and linguistic cohesion. We can find various languages in Morocco and most Moroccans speak more than one language. Those languages are Berber, Arabic, French, and Spanish. The Berber is the original and the oldest language. It is mostly an oral language that is among people of Morocco who identify themselves as ethnically Berbers or Amazigh. There are three main dialects of Berber. Tarifit which is in the Rif mountains ( north of Morocco). There is Tachelhit in Souss region and Tamazight in the Alas region.
Moroccan Arabic is widely the most first language and the mother tongue for over two-thirds of the Moroccan population. Yet it is not the country’s official language. It is mostly in social and familial communication and is part of informal conversations in academic and professional settings. Moroccan Arabic is somehow different from the standard Arabic which most of them can understand as well as it is the language of the Quran –Muslims holy book. Besides, there is another type of Arabic, Hassaniyya which is in the Sahara people, in the southern regions of Morocco. French has been the most influential language due to occupation by France from 1912 to 1956. Nowadays it is to be the first foreign language and still used in the Moroccan administration.
The traditional Moroccan clothing
Different cultures have various ways of creating clothes these clothes become a part of their means that shows their lifestyle and also the main characteristic of their culture. Some people see or may think that clothes are no more than a tool for external coverage. But it is not, clothes exceed their external coverage job and go deeper to a level of defining the personality of who put them on. The diversity of the people who came to Morocco including Arabs, Berbers, Romans. This justifies the existence of several dress styles in morocco.
What men wear
Men in Morocco wear Djellabah which is widely known all over the world and is a famous Moroccan traditional dress has different colors. They often wear up to light djellabah along with a traditional Moroccan Tarbouch (Fez). In general, it is usually red with a tassel attached to it and a yellow Balgha. They are a couple of heelless slippers made from the leader and mainly from wedding ceremonies and religious events like Eid El-Fitr or Eid Al-Adha. At the back of a Djellabah. There is Qob which is a baggy hood made to protect against rains and it can be used as well as a pocket for bread to be put in.
People of Morocco’s Qandrissi
Qandrissi trousers are among the traditional clothes Moroccans loves to wear which is seems to be like Alladine’s trousers that have been watched by so many people around the world. These pants are soothing, feasible loose. The Qandrissi trousers can be worn for daily use and it was noticeable in Morocco that they attract tourists and they love it for sure. It should also that Kaftan and Takchita the traditional clothes worn up by women, especially at weddings and celebrations. In Morocco, there is an annual Caftan Show which clarifies to which extent Moroccans are so related to their valuable traditional dresses.
Morocco people in the Sahara
In Sahara, the rough winds of the desert and the rough climate situation obliges Sahraouian people to wear up a different kind of clothes. The ones above to protect themselves from the winds and the burning sun. Melahfa is the dress for women’s everyday use and it is a large bright tissue. Men wear up Daraa which comes in two colors blue for daily use and the white for wedding ceremonies.
North Moroccan people
On the other side of Morocco in the north. The style of dressings is totally different, and interesting women in the Jabala region wear on the bottom of their bodies (i.e. from the middle to the foot) a dress striped in white, red or black “handkerchief”. It was an Andalusian costume, where women carried their belongings during expulsions and deportations and remained a dress adorned by women in northern Morocco. The mountain women’s outfit is accompanied by large hats with bright colors. Djellaba is somewhat short of its counterparts in other cities and is rather loose and is also one of the most important clothing used in Morocco and there are so many other more traditional costumes distributed by each region and destination.
The special Tahruyt
Tahruyt is also a well-known outfit worn by Berber ladies who live in mountain areas and it is commonly found in the southeast of Morocco. It is generally dark in color with stitching and needled colorful thread which gives it aesthetic beauty. Despite the development of fashion and the availability of many contemporary western costumes abundantly. The Moroccans have maintained their traditional dresses which were used by their ancestors since ancient times and are now a traditional heritage that is being emulated worldwide.
As long as customs and traditions are part of a culture and have always been regarded as a measure that enables us to distinguish between countries. The Moroccan people are known to be hospitable and very many guest-loving people with many habits of hospitality. Moroccan sweets are the most important thing that has a lot of features that you may not find elsewhere. They are also keen to give gifts to each other at all events such as weddings, birthday and more as a sign of love and friendliness. One of the beautiful customs and traditions o is to sprinkle the fragrance on the guest as a demonstration of how happy they are to have the guest with them.
Generally speaking, Moroccan people are good and the country is beautiful and full of good things. Hospitality is really part of Moroccan culture, so anyone can easily make friends if you treat them well. Thus, a dynamic and interesting bond is established with these people.
Morocco marriage and wedding traditions
Morocco is one of the countries that give attention to marriage traditions as it is the first nucleus of the formation of society. First, Drib Sdaqis a small ceremony where the bride and the groom sign the marriage contract in the presence of witnesses. Usually their family members and a Moroccan notary. The marriage ceremony differs in every single place in morocco, but the only thing that’s no different in that the wedding is three days long.
HammamDay: on this day, the bride and her friends and family go to the traditional bathroom. The bride enters the hammam which is booked by her family for a whole day so that she and her best friends can bathe alone.
Henna Day: the ritual of this day varies between the bride and the groom. As the bride celebrates it at her family’s house and engraves henna on her feet and hands waiting for the groom to come to her house with his family. On this day the groom performs a brief shaving ceremony and takes a bride motorcade home. The procession’s name is Hadia in which the groom offers the bride various gifts of accessories. Clothes and dresses carried on the board a horse-drawn carriage. The groom enters and sits next t the bride and the ceremony begins.
Wedding Day
It is the “big night” that lasts a few days. It is interspersed with a generous banquet by the wedding owners, and the rise of the bride to “Amaria”. The most important Moroccan wedding ritual. The building is a large wooden box in which the bride is carried on the shoulders. The ceremony only begins with the bride entering with her loaded. Minutes later, she pulls out a little, accompanied by a “Nagafa” and her assistant. To prepare the bride and change her clothes, while the audience completes the celebration with a popular singing band.
The bride returns in another dress to welcome the guests and have dinner with her family and the groom’s family. Then you leave once.
There is Tborida, too, a purely Moroccan tradition of knights. It is with rifles riding their horses and performing ancient war dances addition to Gnawa, Ahidous, and much more.
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