Images circulating on social media platforms of an unveiled woman speaking from a corner podium in the central Moroccan city of Fez have sparked controversy.
According to Moroccan media, the images circulating are related to the organization of a cultural meeting hosted by the corner of Abdelkader Fassi Fihri located in the pier area of the old city of Fez on the occasion of the "Heritage Days", held from May 12 to 14, in celebration of the tangible and intangible heritage of the scientific capital of the Kingdom.
An unnamed source from the Memory of Fez Association said that the lecture was delivered in a space dedicated to teaching Arabic calligraphy and Arabic to non-native speakers, a space belonging to the Zawiya of Abdelkader Fassi Fihri.
"The chair that the intervener took in the activities of this thematic activity does not belong to a platform for delivering the Friday prayer sermon, but rather a chair that is taken to give lectures on religious and secular topics inside the aforementioned corner, and is allowed for Muslims and foreigners," he added.
The same source pointed out that the circulating images do not concern the author giving a religious lesson, but her intervention on the subject of "human rights and heritage" was delivered by a human rights activist in Fez on the occasion of organizing heritage days, in the presence of veiled and unveiled women.
Lawyer and political analyst Nawfal al-Bamari explained the details of the photo in a post on his Facebook page on Sunday, saying, "The woman concerned (whose name was not mentioned) contacted me personally with this picture and the attack she is subjected to because of her, personally I know her as a human rights activist and a respected friend, and she cannot allow herself to offend any religion, let alone Islam."
"This is about the corner of Abdelkader Fassi Fihri, and it has nothing to do with the Qarawiyyin mosque. "The place where you sit is not an imamate pulpit, but a lecture chair open to foreign or Moroccan attendees who come to Zawiya constantly and on several occasions."
"The audience was attended by Muslims and non-Muslim foreigners sitting on ordinary chairs, some wearing headscarves and some not," he said. This is not a sermon, but an intervention I gave under the title of human rights and heritage."
Preacher Dr. Rachid Benkirane criticized the incident, saying, "Most of the zawiyas in Morocco are mosques as well, especially if they have a mihrab like the mihrab of mosques, as in the picture, and open their doors to the general public to hold obligatory prayers in congregation.
Benkirane called for a boycott of Zawiya, saying in a Facebook post, "Given the seriousness of the incident religiously and socially, I call on all those who frequented that zawiya not to go there until what has been corrupted is repaired, in support of the religion of God and anger for violating its sanctities."
Preacher Sheikh Hassan bin Ali al-Kettani al-Hasani commented in a Facebook post, "What is this tampering with the houses of God in Morocco? Does this please Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? Does it please Imam Malka (may Allah have mercy on him)?"