New Respect for Islam---- After Traveling to Morocco

reply to post by aaron2209


You are right on. Its these kinds of gross generalizations that spread hate and ill will

reply to post by MRuss


I'm sorry my friend, I was never accusing you of being ignorant . I was just putting out there my theory on the 5% rule, it seems to apply to 99% of things people have pre-concieved judgement on, and the media has a huge part to play in spreading that sort of information.

I applaud you for sharing your experience with the masses, as it will probably open alot more peoples eyes. We need more people like you in this world.

Dear Bluelight:

Love this story.

Thanks for being a light in the world.

reply to post by MRuss


So you spent two weeks in one of the most westernized Maghreb country, mostly attending lectures and staying in hotel resorts, and now you 'know' and 'respect' Islam. Good for you. Being of Moroccan descent, I can only be happy you enjoyed your time there, but it has nothing to do with religion.

But since you've been there, please share your experience to walk the 'souks' of Marrakech or Casablanca, being a western blond female on your own.

Dear loLaranks, (or whatever you name is, sorry)

Yes, I spent 15 days in Morocco, but of course I could never profess to "know" it. That would take a lifetime. In two weeks, I could smell, touch, taste and feel the country you grew up in. I had enough time to ride camels, eat your food, gaze over your mountaintops, hear your beautiful music, and wind my way through your souks. I also visited several private homes, so I hope that counts for something.

I'm not sure what your point really was?

You seem angry at me for being a tourist.

Tourism, my dear friend, is the very thing that may save this world.

The exchange of cultural information cannot be underestimated. More people are traveling now than at any other time in history.

Bless the travelers.

They bring back good news.

Originally posted by MRuss
Dear loLaranks, (or whatever you name is, sorry)

Yes, I spent 15 days in Morocco, but of course I could never profess to "know" it. That would take a lifetime. In two weeks, I could smell, touch, taste and feel the country you grew up in. I had enough time to ride camels, eat your food, gaze over your mountaintops, hear your beautiful music, and wind my way through your souks. I also visited several private homes, so I hope that counts for something.

I'm not sure what your point really was?

You seem angry at me for being a tourist.

Tourism, my dear friend, is the very thing that may save this world.

The exchange of cultural information cannot be underestimated. More people are traveling now than at any other time in history.

Bless the travelers.

They bring back good news.

Shouldn't your thread be called "New respect for Moroccans" ? I think that was the point of the person to whom you replied to.

2 weeks in a more westernised country is in and of itself a gross generalisation of islam.

But I won't get into this thread, it's swamped with apologists...

I agree that this thread is misleading. You've spent time in Morocco, my cousin lived there for two months and he came back telling me something entirely different.

However, I'll stick to your version. So you've spent two weeks there and now you have a new respect for 'Islam'.....If you were to have a new respect for 'Islam' wouldn't you have had to convert to it?

My understanding is that what you're referring throughout you entire post is simply the Moroccan culture and way of life....not directly attributed to the religion of Islam.

Dear Bad Wolf,

I think you should be careful here.

This was obviously meant to be a positive post. I was saying something positive about Muslim countries and the post was geared towards those who had never visited an Islamic country before.

Taking such offense means that you are looking for offense. And since there was no offense intended, you need to back off a little bit.

Thanks for doing so...

Sleep well my friend.

Dear aiguana,

I am obviously spending too much time in what was intended to be a positive post.

But, let me say this:

My obvious intent was to show other Americans that travel and experiences to a Muslim country were very positive and not at all the way we often envision them.

A bias exists in America in regard to Muslim countries and so my inentions were good.

Your intentions, however, are not good.

So, let's just agree to disagree,,,,,

And call it a night...

reply to post by Dark Ghost


What you say IS true in some parts. I've seen it myself. Beggars do hassle a lot of Moroccans too. But of course if you were a beggar, who would you target the most? tourists with money to spend? or daily Moroccans they see everyday? who is most likely to give you money?

The other thing you mention is about men who try to flirt or stare at women, that is also true in some ways, it's actually quite funny haha. They are mostly harmless, but quite annoying to women. They don't just do it to tourists, but to everyday Moroccans too. And it happens in almost every country, if your a woman, men flirt or stare at you. In morocco when I was there a Moroccan girl wanted me to hang around with her, so boys don't stare at her, so that is their fix on the issue. Hanging around with girl friends works too, but of course men will still stare, it's natural.

Moroccan men are usually very polite with a nice sense of humor, especially the older ones, so most will treat women very nice and respectfully.

Originally posted by Nick_X
All is good in Islam until you try to have a beer on the beach in your bikini

Why must a religion deny such simple life pleasures?

On Moroccan beaches you can wear a bikini, swimsuit etc, plenty of Moroccans do that. And they have great outdoor swimming pools, sometimes with entertainment like music, dancing on stage etc you can watch there after swimming. At least that's what there was where I went.

One place I loved was a stop where you refuel on the motorway, it had restaurants, entertainment, kids playground, stage entertainment like music, dancing you could watch while you eat, I was surprised. And the best thing to me was all the cats there haha, it was cat paradise, quite strange. There are plenty of life pleasures to enjoy, it doesn't have to involve alcohol.

As for the alcohol, there are places you can go for that. And you can buy it from the big supermarket places. And most big hotels provide it. The general rule is, try to respect the Muslims around you when you deal with alcohol. Make sure your in the right place for alcohol. Like clubs etc. Don't go walking around the streets with alcohol and stroll into a mosque

Morocco believes in the right to having your own freewill when you practice Islam, that's why it's more relaxing and laid back compared to more strict countries that practice unislamic laws of forcing people to do as they say. Although there are limits to everything. But that is mainly common sense.

reply to post by MRuss


Interesting post MRuss. I can't speak for Morocco, but back in 2004 i traveled to southern India. I originally thought that most Indians were Hindu or Sikh, but found out there is a lot of Muslims interspersed particularly around the outer edges of the country. I was half expecting a lot of sideways glances and a stand-off attitude but found the complete opposite. Very friendly, warm people who actually show a lot of affection towards each other (particularly the men, which can seem odd for those who haven't seen it before) and showed me the same respect. I'm not of any religious denomination either, i just believe in God and equality.

Individuals from all walks of life make trouble, but lumping the people i met in with terrorists was the last thing on my mind. Certainly was an eye opener for me!

reply to post by Chevalerous

Originally posted by Stonesplitter
reply to post by MRuss

 

Very friendly, warm people who actually show a lot of affection towards each other (particularly the men, which can seem odd for those who haven't seen it before) and showed me the same respect. I'm not of any religious denomination either, i just believe in God and equality.

Yeah I've seen the same thing in morocco, probably more in the past. You would often see men holding each others shoulders, or hands. They also do that french cheek kiss thing. And the younger people often kiss the hand of the oldest lady or boss of the house when they enter.

Next time, come to Turkey

Originally posted by laiguana


However, I'll stick to your version. So you've spent two weeks there and now you have a new respect for 'Islam'.....If you were to have a new respect for 'Islam' wouldn't you have had to convert to it?

My understanding is that what you're referring throughout you entire post is simply the Moroccan culture and way of life....not directly attributed to the religion of Islam.

Her point is valid, morocco is an Islamic country. And what she saw passed as being decent enough to respect that Islam doesn't always mess up a country, the people, the families.

reply to post by MRuss


good to read mate - living in west yorkshire, it's pretty diverse, i have quite a few muslim mates that i have made mainly through playing sport, or a few through business, the majority are just really good people, getting on with their lives, with tremendous work ethics and family values.

a few years ago i was doing a lot of work within the asian community in London, I took the wife with me one weekend, and the hospitality and friendship we were shown, literally had her on the verge of tears..

just take people as you find them, good and bad in every race, creed, colour.

I was in Casablanca last year. I walked of a Celebrity cruise surrounded by gobby Americans (not all yanks are gobby). One next to me remarked "if any of these muslims eyeball me I'm gonna f@ck em up"

I thought "yeah, right"

A wonderfully cultured remark I mused to myself. It was such a filthy dangerous and grabbing city that most of us were grateful to get back onto the coach within 10 minutes. We were scared, very scared, there was menace in the air, I felt like I might be murdered there.

Later on, I saw the yank chap with his tail between his legs. He went waltzing into smelly Casablanca (raw sewage spilling onto the pavement) wearing his ten gallon huge hat and U.S.A T-shirt, complete with blonde dolly bird who was wearing very little. He went into a local cafe spouting his verbal cack no doubt, and was found an hour later in the gutter, robbed and badly beaten. His Dolly Parton lookalike wife was found screaming and clawing at the next bus back to the cruise ship.

My wife remarked I had a wry smile on my face all evening

reply to post by breadmaker99


That's quite a story, I'm not sure if I should believe you. I think your making it up lol it sounds sarcastic, am I right?

Casablanca is probably a city like London, there are bad areas and good areas. I've only been to the airport. But my dad says he doesn't like Casablanca for some reason. But I'm sure it's a nice city, plenty of people like it. It's modern with plenty of beaches.

Originally posted by stumason
reply to post by torqpoc

 

Funny you should bring up the Saudis..

Much of the extremist groups in the UK that either preach hate or try to subvert the British way of life through the promotion of Sharia have their cash funneled to them from Saudi Arabia.

We've been chasing Ghosts with regard to hutning the "terrorists". The real problem is SA, not Afghanistan or Iraq.

Hello Stumason,
It's actually a very little known fact in the grand scheme of things. If I could find the link about the amount of money spent by Saudi Arabians preachers to push their version of Islam out there I would, but I can't. The figures were staggering, billions not millions.

Thank you for your reply =)

Regards,
T

Thanks for posting...I have travelled many many places in the world...and i find that for the most part people are the same....but i do find more hospitable people in third world countries more than in the so called civilized western world.
I truely think that world travel should be part of the school curriculum as it does open eyes to different cultures and it shows that people as groups for the most part are not the evil doers that the media shows....it is call the propaganda machine.
Most people i believe want to be able to feed their families ,put a roof over their heads and live in relative peace...it is the aggression of the western world for food,resources and cheap labour that these things are brought about...people in the west live on the backs of these very people yet they greet us with respect and look up to us in many ways...(which is a shame).
We should be looking up to the poor in the world for enduring such hardships with dignity...as we here worry about what great school to get our youngsters in...while in many third world countries they just wonder what to feed their youngster.
enough of my ranting....good thread...and do not get discouraged.
I made a thread that was truned around....about the poo habits of people in some countries but it was my fault for calling it a muslim loo....but that was only cause it was a muslim sueing.
It all comes down to common sense i think...and that is something that seems to be lacking....I think there is a new term being developed called MEDIA NONSENSE.