Islam & Arithmetic

A few days into my Fulbright journey, my guiding question evolved into:

"How does religion affect the school system and science education?"

When I heard I was placed in Morocco, I was extremely excited. For multiple reasons. This is always a country I've wanted to visit, I love camels!, the desert, the food, the ocean and the list goes on. However, I was most excited for the fact that this country is approximately 98% Muslim. Back home in Minnesota, I teach many Muslim students, so I was excited to completely immerse myself in this culture and learn more about the Islamic religion. I was excited to be in the minority to really stretch my brain and learn a very new culture.

Upon arrival in Morocco, we saw a lot of influence from Islam right away. In the Parliament building, there were scriptures from the Quran engraved in various places. The influence of the King was also very prevalent. His official portrait was displayed in every type of building you can think of. We got to know that face very well after 3 weeks! "God, King, Country" was written in Arabic on the side of mountains and on the side of the earthquake ruins in Agadir. Women do wear head scarves. Morocco is a very progressive Muslim country, so it is a choice for women, and I would say approximately 50% choose to do so. Recognizing and respecting other religions is very common there. Non-muslims are not allowed in mosques in Moroccan with the exception of the largest mosque in Africa. This is the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca and we were lucky enough to see it and go inside.

Once I started teaching in the school, I did see some influence of the religion. First off, the structure of the school day. Classes start at 8:30 AM and run until 12:30 PM. From here, students have a two hour break to go home and eat lunch with their families. They return to school at 14:30 PM and have class until 18:30 PM. On Fridays, holy day, break is extended an extra half an hour to allow for couscous lunch. I was told that the schedule will change slightly for Ramadan as well.

In school, students are required to take Islamic education. During the call to prayer, I was fully expecting school to take a pause for prayers, but everyone just carried on with what they were doing. Students are allowed to go pray if they wished, but I did not see any choose to do so. From the surface, they influence of Islam on education seems to be fairly minimal. There may be deep roots in the curriculum that I am completely unaware of. I know in the United States, material can often be presented with a Christian lens. Unfortunately I was there long enough, so I wasn't able to dig deep enough to see if this was the case as well.

One potential religious influence that I saw was Moroccans ability to memorize. Now, this is all conjecture on my end, but it may have to do with the fact that many participate in Quranic school at a young age. In this religious school (which I would compare to Christian's Sunday School), students are required to memorize verses in the Quran. Perhaps this has an influence on their brain development since this is done at a young age (and basically makes them superhuman!). I constantly have to write things down, or I will HANDS DOWN forget. In general, Moroccans memorization ability is amazing! I never once saw students take notes, yet were able to recite facts during class.

What I found... teenagers were MORE progressive! They weren't afraid to tackle social issues and debated these topics heavily. They were vocal about climate change and women's rights. I found it very refreshing that these students felt empowered and weren't afraid to talk about the tough subjects and to voice their opinion.

I did accomplish my mission to learn more about Islam during my time in Morocco. One night, after a beautiful hike in the Atlas Mountains in Tiout, my host teacher and partner teacher had some mint tea (ALWAYS. DELICIOUS.) on a rooftop of a small local restaurant. We were the only ones in the restaurant. Over tea, my host teacher Hassan graciously explained the ins and outs of Islam to us. There were so many things I didn't know, that came as a surprise to me. Jesus is present in the Quran. The similarity in how the Earth was made by God (Allah) and how it was made in 5 days instead of 7 (why their holy day is Friday instead of Sunday), etc. etc. It was a very spectacular moment in my life. After this conversation, I noticed more and more similarities on my own. Their call to prayer is similar to Christianity's church bells. The Minaret on a mosque (the square tower) is similar to a Church's steeple, etc. etc. As I go through life, I now have a new lens to add to my collection and am so lucky to have it. I wish Islam was taught to all American students. I truly believe there would be more respect and understanding if this were to happen.

To help with my guiding question... I chose to expand it! Language and culture coming soon!