Morocco, a face of modern Islam

The Arab world is in a bloody ferment. The Yemen conflict is just the latest in the upsurge in regional unrest, compounded by the spread of extremist forces with their violent ideologies, that threaten to take the region and beyond into a vortex of uncertainty.

The continuing instability in some of the countries in the Sahel and Maghreb has created a fertile ground for the spread of fundamentalist ideology and spread of terrorist networks such as the Al Qaeda in the Maghreb, Ansar Dine and Boko Haram in western Africa and the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

"The Arabian Gulf is in a dangerous confrontation, its strategic security is on the edge," says the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash. Amid the political volatility and ideological chaos, one country that has stood out as a beacon of peace, stability and modernity is the low-profile nation of Morocco, wedged at the crosscurrents of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

Morocco sees itself as a "strategic link" between Europe and Africa. Because of its cultural origins, its multi-ethnic heritage and its civilisational linkages with Europe, it has been able to promote a moderate and tolerant brand of Islam that has been a counterpoint to the radical fundamentalism and religious orthodoxy seen to dominate much of the Arab world.

"Morocco remains an island of political and social stability in a region where the forces unleashed by the Arab Spring have engendered political and social chaos, heralding a transformative process," remarked Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East), in India's Ministry of External Affairs.

Why is Morocco different? Two reasons stand out: one, it is an adherent of the Malikit school of Islam, one of the more moderate strands of the religion, that not only advocates gender equality but also stands for women's emancipation, religious modernisation and zero-tolerance against radical thinking.

Two, it is led by a modernist, young monarch who has done a lot to instill a sense of confidence in him by the people of Morocco and the region. King Mohammed VI has undertaken path-breaking political and social reforms, begun by his visionary father, King Hassan II, and has been recognised for his efforts to resolve regional crises and play a useful mediatory role.

Morocco not only ensures that mosques remain free of radical teachings but also has taken pioneering steps to train imams from the Arab world and Europe. An Institute for the Training of Imams - a first in the Muslim world - has come up in Rabat as part of an integrated strategy aimed at inculcating values of moderate Islam as a bulwark against all forms of extremism.

But Morocco realises that countering terrorism is not just a religious or security matter. King Mohammed VI launched a rural and urban development plan called The National Human Development Initiative, a $1.2 billion worth of social programmes that have created thousands of income-generating activities and improved the lives of nearly five million Moroccans.

The French newspaper Le Monde wrote that "while many states are looking for the means to counter the influence of radical Islam, Rabat has come up with a Moroccan model" promoting its brand of "religious diplomacy" to complement its political reformism and economic progress.

It is important for India to work together not only with Morocco but with other moderate countries in the Maghreb region like Tunisia - which has been one of the democratic successes of the Arab Spring and also follows a reformist Islam - to develop a joint strategy to fight terrorism and counter the spreading poison of radical extremism.

By Tarun Basu