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The Mohammed VI Institute of Rabat trains Muslim prayer leaders to preach coexistence and is one of the first stops of Pope Francis' visit to Morocco. By FADEL SENNA (AFP)
With its orderly words of dialogue and coexistence, the Mohammed VI Institute, which trains Muslim prayer leaders at the service of Morocco and abroad, was one of the first stages of Pope Francis' visit to the kingdom.
Since 2015, the institute has hosted trainee imams from Morocco, several other African states and France.
Under the patronage of King Mohammed, his mission is to counter the "radical discourse," said director Abdeslam Lazaar.
The temptation of the Islamic State group before the final defeat of its cross-border "caliphate" in Syria earlier this month underscored the reach of the extremists.
In Morocco alone, an estimated 1,600 young people registered to fight for jihadists in 2015.
The institute hosts 1,300 students, men and women, for courses of two or three years. Men are graduates in imams, women preachers.
Ahmed Tijane Kebir, 30, Senegalese, who began his studies last February, plans to return home after graduating and "show the true face of Islam" in his main prayers.
The director describes the task that awaits the teachers of the institute.
The institute attracts imams interns from France and several other African countries, as well as Morocco, for its call for moderate Islam. By FADEL SENNA (AFP) "At the beginning of the course, some students have misconceptions because of a poor understanding of Islam," Lazaar said.
"Teachers start by correcting the wrong concepts and claiming that they are the misinterpretations of takfiris," he said, referring to followers of a Sunni extremist Islam.
One teacher said that it is often newcomers from France whose thinking is "the most radical" and that "there is really a lot of work to be done with them".
The program covers the Qur'an and the Hadith, a record of the words and actions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad.
"Global vision of other religions"
The institute offers an introductory course on comparative religion to give its trainee imams the means to coexist with other religions. By FADEL SENNA (AFP) "We also have an introductory course on Christianity, Judaism and comparative religion," said the director. "It gives them a global vision of other religions to coexist with other communities."
The institute, built in an Andalusian-inspired architecture, has several amphitheatres, a gym, a prayer room, religious recording studios and d & # 39; A library.
Women wear mainly long dresses and jalabiya scarves, traditional costumes or men's tracksuits. The studies are mixed, but not prayers, sports or meals.
Morocco covers catering and accommodation costs with a monthly stipend of 2,000 dirhams (US $ 200).
Since it was hit by a wave of attacks in its economic capital, Casablanca, in 2003, which claimed the lives of 33 people, Morocco seeks to channel religion onto a more "tolerant" path. .
The institute also trains women to serve as Muslim preachers but, although clbades are mixed, prayers, sports and meals are not. By FADEL SENNA (AFP) Imam training programs in Morocco date back to 2004 and official degrees have become mandatory for new preachers.
On the diplomatic level, "the institute is a pillar of Morocco's religious policy in Africa", as well as its distribution of Korans and the construction of mosques, told AFP the author and Salim Hmimnat.
"It's also a way of making foreign imams the ambbadadors of the Moroccan religious model."
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