Religion in Morocco - Culture

From International Business Wiki

The dominant religion of Morocco is Islam; with more than 31,100,000 followers Islam represent 99.7 percent of the Morocco population. The second main religion of Morocco is Christianity but it only represents less than point three percent of the population, followed by Baha’i and Judaism with less than point one percent of the population. Having in mind that Islam corresponds to almost the whole population of Morocco we can consider it as an Islamic country; consequently, it has a huge affect in the country’s culture and business.

In Morocco, the Islamic culture is very strong, habits and traditions of the population are guided by the Muslim holly book called Quran which was sent from “Allah” to prophet Mohamed. The requirements of Islam are five; one of them is “salaat” which is to pray. Muslims pray at the mosque, or at home; in addition, on Fridays’ noon most of the Moroccans go to the mosque so the majority of the business close. Another duty in the Muslim culture is fasting during the Ramadan (the ninth month of the Islamic calendar). During the Ramadan Muslims may not eat or drink anything, including water, while the sun shines.

Professional habits in Morocco are also affected by the Islamic culture. For example, many Muslims prefer talk about business and also close their business deals at the mosque after performing the “salaat”. Having in mind that the mosque is a holly place for the Muslims they believe that every business closed there will be protected by Allah (God in Arabic) so it might became a challenge for people that refuse to attend to a mosque to close good quality business deals in Morocco.

During the Ramadan business are also affected by the Islamic culture. Since in the month of Ramadan Muslins are not allowed to eat during the day many businesses like restaurants are forced to close doors during day light. During Ramadan business owners aren’t able to expect full performance of their employees because they might fell weak since they haven’t eaten or drink before came to work. International business may face financial problems in Morocco; for example, a fast food chain like MacDonald’s have to accept lower sales activities during Ramadan; moreover, restaurants like Chili’s would have to change their menus a little since eating pork is not allowed by the Quran. Having in mind that Islam has a huge impact in Morocco; outsiders should research about their religion before attempt to make business deals with this North African country.

References:

http://i-cias.com/e.o/morocco_4.htm (statistics and numbers)

http://www.alinaam.org.za/fataawa/musj-wait.htm (specific information about Islam)

Interview with: Amine Fikri, born in Rabat (Morocco) and raised in Lyon (France)

By Filipe Monteiro 10/31/07