Training Program for Religious Guides in Morocco “Reality and Prospects”

Ms. Aisha Abu Atta Allah

PhD researcher, Ibn Tofail University, Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

Kenitra – Kingdom of Morocco.

Religious guide at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.

Summary:

The step of forming religious guides working to spread religious culture in society was described as the first of its kind, by which the Moroccan state seeks to strengthen the process of religious reform and distance society and the individual from extremism. This step also comes in the context of establishing a comprehensive and multi-dimensional strategy aimed primarily at immunizing the Kingdom of Morocco from the means of extremism, as well as preserving its distinctive identity of moderation and tolerance.

This research paper introduces the program of training religious guides, in support of the efforts made by the Kingdom of Morocco to catch up with modernity, on the one hand, and to preserve the unity of the sect and religious authority in the country, on the other hand. Within the framework of these efforts, a program was established to train one hundred female guides every year, to turn the program into a self-contained institute, in which, through the rich and multi-discipline training, which the successful candidates receive in the entrance competition, the abilities of religious guides in the skills of guidance, preaching and religious guidance, in proportion with the Ash’ari creed, the Maliki doctrine, and Al-Junaidi’s Sunni mysticism. The religious guides’ tasks were primarily to establish spiritual security and tranquillity inside citizens, of both genders, so that the religious guide would play the leading role entrusted to her nationally and internationally, and strengthen her present and future position.