The holy month of Ramadan this year was an opportunity for Moroccans in the Portuguese capital to come together on the occasion of a collective iftar organized on Friday at the initiative of the Portuguese-Moroccan Friendship Association.
Mohamed Tawfiq, newly elected president of the above mentioned association, said he was very pleased with the success of the ceremony, which was attended by many Moroccan nationals living in Lisbon and the surrounding region as well as Portuguese citizens.
“We also wanted to organize this Iftar in a historic location in Bairro da Mouraria, which is the area of the Arabs, where each street tells an episode of the common history shared by Morocco and Portugal,” said Mr. Tawfiq to MAP news agency.
It is also an opportunity to meet and exchange between our citizens during the holy month of piety, tolerance and mercy, he said, strengthening ties between members of the Moroccan community and bringing them closer to each other.
This initiative, the first of its kind, was met with a very positive response from Moroccans of Lisbon present at this Iftar which allowed them to meet their compatriots and recreate the atmosphere of Ramadan in Morocco.
Abdelhak (39) biology professor finds that this is an excellent initiative that must carried on, because, according to him, it alleviates the feeling of disorientation and nostalgia in a country with a small Moroccan and Muslim community.
Married to a Portuguese, Abdelhak came early to Portugal to continue his studies, eventually settling in Lisbon fifteen years ago.
For Doha (21) Student and mother of a child, Ramadan is the month when she feels the most nostalgic about Morocco. It is very difficult to spend the holy month here away from family and away from the country.
Despite the proximity between the two countries, Doha also finds it difficult to obtain certain foods used in Moroccan cuisine, unlike other European countries where the Moroccan community is more numerous.
Living in Lisbon for 25 years, Mohamed, interpreter in an embassy of an Arab country, has become accustomed to spend the holy month with members of his family, but says that the atmosphere of Ramadan in Morocco remains incomparable with that of Portugal.
If Mohamed enjoys a flexibility of working hours during the holy month due to the nature of his profession, others are struggling to keep up with work, especially in sectors such as construction, given the number of fasting hours (17 hours) and high temperatures during this month.
According to him, a large number of Portuguese know little about Ramadan and the values of Islam in general, adding that the majority of Muslims in Portugal are from Guinea Bissau, Mozambique and some Asian countries.
Portugal has about 50,000 Muslims (unofficial figure) and nearly 4,000 Moroccans are mainly concentrated in the region of Great Lisbon but also in the city of Porto (North).
