RABAT (Hassan al-Ashraf)
An international wine fair got underway in Casablanca Thursday amid objections from conservatives that it is inappropriate for a Muslim country to host such an event.
The first winemakers meet hosted by the Elbertec group was to take place in what a former Martini and Rossi cave billed in the invite as “the most beautiful and oldest cave in Morocco and possibly the world.” More than 40 wineries from around the world including France, Italy, Spain and Chile were to take part in the weekend fair including according to the French Le Petit Journal.
Alcohol production in Muslim countries and government endorsement of such activity is at the heart of the problem, said Moroccan sheikh Abdul-Bari al-Zamzami, a member of the Moroccan Scholars Association
" This fair is a provocation for Muslims and an affront to their religion " Mohamed Zahl, Muslim scholar "We cannot blame those who bring alcohol to Morocco. Official religious establishments and the Ministry of Endowments should be held accountable. They have to oppose this fair, but they haven't taken any action," Zamzami told AlArabiya.net.
Morocco, like Egypt and Turkey and several other Muslim countries, produces beer and wine, and according to the market research firm Euromonitor International more than 85 percent of Moroccan wine is consumed locally.
But Islam indisputably prohibits drinking, selling, presenting and serving alcohol and therefore the fair is an affront to Muslim sensibilities, according to a founding member of the International Union for Muslim Scholars..
"This fair is a provocation for Muslims and an affront to their religion," Mohamed Zahl told AlArabiya.net. "Morocco is an Islamic fortress targeted by those who want to tamper with the taboos of Muslims."
Member of the Casablanca City Council Dr. Moustafa al-Haya said that regardless of who organized the fair or who it targets, the problem is simply that it is held on Moroccan soil. He scoffed at the organizers' assertions that alcohol is primarily consumed by non-Moroccans.
"The majority of customers at bars and alcohol stores are Moroccans," Haya told AlArabiya.net. But he noted that the City Council did not have the authority to stop the fait.
Alcohol sales in Morocco soared last year, with beer being the most popular alcoholic drink.
Haya described the fair as a kind of "normalization with the prohibited" in the manner of other neighboring Muslim countries.
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid) |
