Over the past 25 years, Morocco, a thousand-year-old country at the crossroads of cultures, has embarked on “important” reforms which have contributed to the renewal of an Islam built on the values of moderation, coexistence and togetherness, Casewit, a professor at University of Chicago’s Divinity School, told MAP on the occasion of the celebration of the glorious Throne Day.

As an extension of this reform momentum, paramount importance has been given to establishing an efficient supervision and a religious education aimed at protecting the Kingdom's authentic constants, namely the Commandery of the Faithful, the Achaarite dogma, the Malekite rite and Sunni Sufism, he stressed.

Among these flagship reforms, Casewit cited the launch of the local religious supervision support plan, the creation of the Mohammed VI Foundation for the promotion of social works for religious clerks, and the Mohammed VI Institute for the training of Imams, Murshidin and Murshidat.

Thanks to a carefully thought-out multidimensional strategy, the Moroccan religious model has emerged as a bulwark against any ideological or political exploitation of religion, thus contributing to efficiently fighting the adverse ideologies of terrorist groups and supporters of violent extremism, he noted.  

As such, the Moroccan response to the terrorist threat in the aftermath of the 2003 attacks in Casablanca was marked by a smart and proactive approach which prioritized the reform of school curricula, the creation of training institutions and the promotion of authentically Moroccan religious practices, he said.