The desire for European converts to Islam and their children to so strongly separate themselves from Moroccan Muslims, or any other Islamic culture, is very clear and very uncomfortable to face. I was really stuck on the notion of a “pure Islam” which was free from culture and tradition, when in almost any religion, culture and tradition are what makes the religion what it is. You can’t divorce religion from culture, because everything is informed by culture, and nothing is made in a vacuum. It is disconcerting that they can be so oblivious of the influence of culture on the Islam that they practice, whether it is the Spanish culture around them, the Moroccan immigrant culture which they mimic for authenticity, or they Arab cultures from which the religion came. For them to deny the heritage of the religion that they chose, claiming that their practice is more pure and righteous than that of other Muslims, speaks towards racism and classism against the Moroccan immigrants. They want to associate themselves with Granadan culture, often owning businesses that bolster the local tourist industries, but they claim that the culture is separate from the religion that they practice. What are they practicing, if not tradition and culture?
Writing and other content
