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Article: Islam in Morocco.
- Article from:
- Faces: People, Places, and Cultures
- Article date:
- February 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the seventh century, a new religion called Islam burst out of the Arabian Peninsula. Islam's followers, the Muslims, spread their faith as they swept across North Africa. By the late 600s, the Muslim invasion had reached Morocco and its fiercely independent Berber inhabitants. After 25 years of fighting, the Arabs were at last triumphant. Little by little, the various Berber tribes converted to Islam. Today, nearly 99 percent of Moroccans are Muslim, and Islamic teachings permeate all aspects of family and community life in the country.
Islam emerged as a dominant religion after Muhammad, an Arabian merchant from the town of Mecca (located in present-day Saudi ...