Rabat-

The holy month of Ramadan is associated with the evening and night sessions after Tarawih prayers. After a day of fasting and prayer, people spend fun and joyful evenings with family and friends at home or in cafes and open spaces.

Moroccans’ Ramadan evenings are linked to a number of recreational activities and popular games that differ according to regions. The people of the south have games that they play in Ramadan, and the people of the north have their own games.

The researcher in Moroccan heritage, Ibrahim Al-Haysin, explains - to Al-Jazeera Net - that the night rallies after Tarawih prayers in southern Morocco are one of the most important popular customs circulating in the desert, during which the drink "Azrek" (which is tasted milk that is two-thirds of water), is prepared and eaten according to local rituals. The well-known, with its poetic creations and forms of entertainment with puzzles and funny tales, as well as exchanging views and discussing topics and issues related to daily life in the desert desert.

In addition to their interest in worship and building mosques during this holy month, desert dwellers are interested in playing popular mental games to pass the time and entertain themselves.

Sand sik patch (networking sites)

Sik..the most popular in the desert

Among the most prominent of these popular Ramadan games is the “Sik” game, which is played by both women and men, as well as the “Cror” game for women, and “Domino” and “Marias” (the card game) that men play.

According to al-Haysin, “Seek” (al-Kaf is pronounced as the Egyptians pronounce al-Jim) is a collective game practiced by the Sahrawis on a popular scale after breakfast.

This game consists of 8 specially equipped wooden sticks, and is played by two competing teams using sticks or stones that are moved on the playing floor according to special rules and calculations.

To play the “Sik” game, a number of conditions are required, explained by Al-Haisen - to Al-Jazeera Net - including a sandy patch called “Lear” that forms the playing floor divided into two parts, with a length of up to 60 centimeters, and divided into two parts in which each team places its pieces in parallel and symmetrical lines with The other group is separated by two lines of dots and small pits that mark the movement range of the skewer.

Playing also requires 8 sticks, each of which is between 30 and 40 centimeters in length, and is made of wood or reeds in a few cases. Each of these sticks is called a “sika.” miscellaneous.

Then the players need pawns, which are called “rashum” in the local dialect, which is usually formed from camel’s hair, pebbles, or small sticks, which are pawns that are moved on the back of the “labra” (playing floor) in the direction of the opposing team.

Zamt, Karur, and Marias

In addition to the "sik", which is more popular with the Sahrawis, in Ramadan men also play a game of zamma, or zamat, according to the local name.

This game takes place on a grid drawn in the sand and is divided into more than 80 squares, played by two people surrounded by a group of friends (supporters) who motivate the players and encourage them to make the greatest effort to win and win.

Al-Haysin says that this game contributes to raising the human skills, pushes him to think, motivates him to confront mentally, and excels with quick intuition and the ability to discover weaknesses in the opponent in order to be able to overcome him.

He adds, "This popular game helps to prove oneself in an atmosphere of honorable competition that seeks fun and entertainment and stimulates the impulses of intelligence and talent."

As for the Crore game, it is one of the women’s games that girls play and helps them practice to play more complex games. The idea of ​​this game is to compete to fill a group of holes with stones or some kind of fruit.

And the game of Marias - a modern card game - is based on a competition between 4 groups or tribes, which are "Al-Baik", "Al-Kur", "Karo", "Al-Tarifil", and "Al-Baik" is the largest of the tribes in the game, followed by "Al-Kur", then "Karo" and finally “Al-Tarifil”, if one of the participants has the “Al-Bik” cards and their pronunciation, then he eliminates all the cards of the rest of the groups/tribes, and so on for the next tribe.

Barchi patch (networking sites)

Barchi in the north

In northern Morocco, other games spread during Ramadan, the most prominent and popular of which is a game called “Al-Barchi” or the dice game. After breakfast, cafes turn into an arena for competition, and there is hardly a table without competitors around this game.

Civil activist Youssef Shabaa says that this game entered northern Morocco from Spain and became the most popular game in the region.

He points out that "Al-Barchi" is a morning ritual in popular cafes on normal days, and in Ramadan it plays after Tarawih prayers, where cafes are filled with patrons, pointing to the initiation of organizing the Al-Barchi game in recent years in Tangiers, Tetouan and Chefchaouen.

The Barchi plays with 6-sided dice and 4 discs for each player. Each player tries to deliver his discs from the starting point to the end slot, trying to obstruct his opponents and avoid the traps they set for him, and the winning player is the one who delivers his entire discs to the end slot.

Barchi is the most popular game in northern Morocco in the month of Ramadan (communication sites)

The origins of the Barchi

The original parchi game is related to the Mughal Emperor Jalal al-Din Akbar, as it is said that this game was played in his court in the fifteenth century.

The playing board at that time was his palace garden, while the discs currently used in the game were Indian girls moving on the playing board, while the dice were bags filled with shells, and each girl threw the shells in her bag and the progress boxes are calculated according to the number of shells that fell from each bag The maximum number of shells allowed was 25, and it corresponds to the Hindi word "pachisi", from which the game took its name.

One of the Ramadan "Al-Barchi" patrols in northern Morocco (communication sites)

And the English's passion for the game when they invaded India in the mid-nineteenth century, so they transferred it to the rest of Europe and then to the world, and since 1999 the Spanish town of El Cardo has hosted a world championship for parches.