Some residents of the village of Moulay Ibrahim in Al Haouz province welcome Ramadan in tents (Al Jazeera)

Al Haouz Province -

“Ramadan under the tent alone is not like Ramadan while I am with my family inside my warm house.” This is how Lahassan expressed his feelings in the first week of Ramadan, which falls 6 months after the Al Haouz disaster. He lost all his family members when his house collapsed on top of people. It was caused by the earthquake that shook Morocco on September 8, 2023.

On the way to the village of Moulay Ibrahim, which is about 50 kilometers from Marrakesh, we leave the Red City after a noisy night celebrating the arrival of the holy month, and the majestic Atlas Mountains loom on the horizon before a contemplating eye and a mind that wonders: What do these mountains hide?

Do its residents live with the same enthusiasm?

Or is it a barrier between two opposites?

While proceeding on foot to the top of the mountain village, the eye cannot miss the tents spread throughout, and how the road was paved after clearing them of stones, and the feeling in the soul was not mistaken that “Our Master Ramadan” (a Moroccan name) had landed in this place as well.

The Abdel Kabir family, affected by the Al Haouz earthquake, spends Ramadan in a tent in a cold atmosphere (Al Jazeera)

Ramadan tents

Inside a tent exhausted by the harsh winter, Uncle Abdul Kabir distributes “Harira” soup while waiting for the Maghrib call to prayer. He says, “Ramadan came to us this year under the tents. The weather was cold and we did not feel hungry or thirsty. Praise be to God, today was a good day, despite the bad conditions inside the tent, but You must be patient."

“A person spends his day with what God has allocated for him,” says Abdel Kabir’s wife, Thauriya, pointing to the table, identifying a source of food, among which the sympathizers found it.

In a corner of the tent, a small television was placed. Thoriya said in a painful tone of voice, “They reminded me of the time of the earthquake.” The husband shared her feeling and they watched the Amazigh series “Baba Ali” in a moment that was shared - at breakfast - by most of the village’s families, as if the scene with which the series began had brought back to Their minds feel pain and scenes of destruction.

“We lost our children and our property...only I survived.”

A scene from the series in which Badr Ibn Abdul Kabir saw the story of Hassan, the only survivor of his family, and other members of the village who Al Jazeera Net met after Tarawih prayers had the same impression.

Saeed, a young man in his thirties, says, “I felt pain while watching the scene. It took me back to what happened to Al-Hassan. I was present and will never forget the moment his wife’s body was recovered while she was holding her child.”

Hassan spends Ramadan alone after the death of his wife and children in the Al Haouz earthquake (Al Jazeera)

Ramadan without family

The next morning, Al Jazeera Net met with Hassan and found him at the door of his shop arranging his goods. He greeted us with a kind smile that crept from among the features of his sad face.

“How are you, uncle?”

He welcomed us and replied: Thank God for everything.

He told Al Jazeera Net, "I lost all of my family members, my wife, my child, and my three daughters. Ramadan this year will not be like the previous one. The house that protects us is gone, and the family that we worked hard to care for and whose family we became accustomed to is gone."

As he moved things from one place to another, he added, "I am trying during this period to be busy with anything. I have started to live like a fool who is haunted by pain, but thank God, this is a test that my Lord grants patience with."

After the afternoon prayer on the first day of Ramadan, the ear was greeted by fresh voices reciting the Holy Qur’an collectively. We tracked down the source of the sound, and there we met a young imam in his Moroccan robes, with children gathered around him inside a small annex of a temporary mosque, built by donors.

A modest bed on which children were sitting. A blackboard hung in front of them read: “Eat suhoor, for there is a blessing in suhoor.”

Suddenly the crowd's voices rose in harmony as they memorized Surat Al-A'la, before the imam left them to talk to us about the conditions of the village after the Al-Haouz earthquake.

We came across a number of villagers cooperating to establish a mosque specifically for women, and one of the participants said, “It is a month in which they are accustomed to joining Tarawih prayers to experience its distinct atmosphere, especially after spending a tiring day during the day.”

During prayer, Saeed enters the mosque, taking his daughter with him, and says to Al Jazeera Net, “I bring gardens with me to Tarawih so that she can get used to and learn, and for the mother to rest and take care of her newborn sister.” He adds, “I usually spend most of my time working in Marrakesh, but I preferred to spend this month next to my family so that I can live with them in an atmosphere of peace.” "Ramadan."

Imam Amin Ozal teaches the children of the village of Moulay Ibrahim the Qur’an and the Noble Hadith (Al Jazeera)

Gaza is present

“Do not forget Gaza, do not forget Palestine,” was the imam’s commandment at the end of his sermon on the second night of Ramadan, before he raised his hands to the sky and dedicated prayers to the people of the Gaza Strip, hoping that God would grant them victory.

One of the attendees told Al Jazeera Net, "What we suffered here because of the earthquake is a very small part of what the people of Gaza are suffering from."

The events in Gaza were also the subject of Abdul Kabir’s tent, who invited us to a tea session after prayer. His wife, Thawriyya, said, “I see that we are living in a somewhat similar situation.” She sent an invitation from inside her tent, hoping to cover a child or a mother like her in that land.

This is how they lived the first days of Ramadan, with a thankful and patient heart, despite the harsh conditions and the destruction that reminded them of the stories of relatives who had passed away a short time ago, but their condition was not worse than the condition of the villages that followed them, especially those close to the snow-covered peaks, and their residents were no less worthy than the people of this village. The village in their adherence to patience and hope.

We bid farewell to Hassan with a poignant sentence, “I will build my house again and create a family and offspring. You are always welcome,” as if he did not want his story to leave any sadness in the heart and wanted to say to everyone, “Hold on to hope as long as you live.”

These are the inhabitants of the Atlas Mountains who resemble their land. Their resolve is solid and their souls are generous and love goodness.

Source: Al Jazeera