Morocco Day 7 - Rabat Symposium
Well this was quite a day full of surprises! I gave a talk in front of a couple of hundred of invited guests at the Scientific Supreme Council of Rabat (all Muslims of various professions) and got interviewed on Moroccan TV!
We left Fez early this morning to return to Rabat for the second day of our symposium on Spirituality and Giving in Ramadan. We were hosted here by the Scientific Supreme Council and the idea was to initiate interfaith dialogue between selected members of the academic and civil service and religious community in Morocco and our delegation. When we arrived at the hotel, Masud told me that Imam Bashar had asked if I would "say a few words" at some point in the afternoon about our experience visiting Morocco and observing Ramadan. I said "Sure, no problem." So after lunch, off we go to the Supreme Council. We are met by Sheik Abdullah, who runs the place and escorted into his receiving parlor where introductions and well wishes were offered all round. We thought that we were just going to sit in there and talk with our Muslim hosts. I was surprised to see TV cameramen as we entered the building. The cameras followed us into that room. When introductions were over, we were then ushered into a big lecture/presentation hall, with a podium high up with microphones and name cards for the scholars who were going to present. We started to listen to the proceedings, which were all in Arabic, and only loosely translated for us every 10-15 minutes or so. Then one of our hosts comes up to me with my name tag and puts it up on the podium and ushers me up there with the Muslim scholars and our Muslim trip leader, Imam Bashar. I suddenly realized that I was going to be expected to give a presentation too! So while the first presenter was speaking in Arabic, I made some fast notes and then strained to try to understand the translator who followed the first speaker. It was very hard to follow. Then the next scholar presented, a very sharp woman scholar, who, mercifully, speaks English and so I was able to follow her talk. Then Imam Bashar made a few remarks and then the Moroccan host launched into another barrage of Arabic, at the end of which I recognized my name and realized it was my turn to speak. I made Bashar sit next to me and do a simultaneous translation of my talk. I mostly focused on the importance of interfaith dialogue, what it is and what it is not, why it matters in our modern context, how important it is to involve youth in this work and made observations about how our trip fits within the larger context of dialogue. The Moroccans listening to this afternoon's proceedings were excited to be there, but are very new to the whole concept of interfaith dialogue and cultural exchange. After our presentations, we heard another series of Sufi chants and then broke up into small discussion groups. I was surprised to learn that I was assigned as facilitator of one of those groups! I was then approached by a reporter for the local news station and asked to step out into the entrance hall for a brief on camera interview for the evening news. So again, I had to do a short riff on why interfaith dialogue is important, blah, blah blah....
Then I had to return to the big hall for our small group (which wasn't so small actually - nearly 25-30 folks in circle, with only three of us English speakers in the whole group.) We then had some conversation with questions back and forth, but it was exceedingly tiring to try to hear when the translator was summarizing what had been said in Arabic. She clearly does not do translation very often and did not have the knack of translating manageable bits so that folks can follow. We were kind of amused at the long speeches and animated conversation our Moroccan hosts would be having in Arabic and then the translator would give us a one or two sentence summary of what had been said!! Towards the end, one of the Moroccans, who spoke some English started asking me some theological questions, challenging Christian beliefs, which amused me as it is clear that these folks are very, very new to interfaith dialogue and still have not wrapped their head around the idea that one is not to debate with the other person, but rather to engage in deep listening and respectful compare/contrast dialogue. The Moroccans were still very much intent on defending Islam and "proving" to us that it is "right" even as they don't say that Christianity is "wrong." As Imam Bashar said, this is a first step for these folks and what is exciting is that there is interest on their part in being part of these kinds of international interfaith exchanges and so hopefully, there will be more opportunities to continue conversations and dialogue with them in the future.
While I enjoyed the experience, overall, it was a bit stressful given that I had absolutely no warning that I was going to be up on the stage and part of the presentation cohort!! When we returned to the hotel for our before iftar rest break, I was bemoaning the lack of a bar in this hotel. Unlike the luxury we knew in Fez, this hotel's bar is closed in Ramadan so no food or drink, alcoholic or otherwise is available until after sundown. I could so use a G&T at this point!
After our rest we went to visit a small not-for-profit organization, run by some Moroccan women (one of whom was the translator at our afternoon break out session and is a pharmacist by profession). This organization works with "orphans" which we learned in Morocco means children in single parent homes, primarily single mothers who are financially strapped. This organization offers tutoring, food, medical care and mentoring to over 100 young people, and they are particularly focused on working with gifted underprivileged kids to help them reach their full potential academically and professionally. We visited their offices and library and then proceeded to the home of the woman who founded the organization for another truly elegant iftar. I sat at the table with Sheik Abdullah and our Imam Bashar and enjoyed pretty stimulating conversation about religion and politics. After the iftar meal we retired to the salon where the children performed songs and dances for us, which was truly delightful. Then as the kids were leaving for home, we had a chance to talk with the women who run this organization and it was really wonderful to have the chance to talk with Muslim women. Most of this trip has been interacting with Muslim men exclusively, and so the opportunity to have dialogue with the women was really a treat. These are very well educated women with a strong commitment to the work they are doing.
After we left there, some of us did one last turn through the night market, which was hopping even at 11:45 PM!
Pics tonight are me at the symposium, me in front of the little mini-kaaba (the holy building in Mecca that Muslims circumambulate as part of their religious pilgrimage) that is in the entrance hall of the Scientific Council building, and shots of the iftar meal and the salon where we visited with the Muslim women and the kids doing one of their performances and our group.
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