As I began to examine the importance of fertility in Morocco, I came across this article by Nikki Keddie, who explains that this emphasis on fertility in Islamic communities is a result of the ideology of the role of Muslim women, who are seen primarily as reproducers. And, indeed, when I looked at it statistically, as Kevin McQuillan does, I saw that countries with Muslim populations, such as Morocco, “figure prominently among the shrinking of societies that continue to experience high rates of fertility” (p25). The fact that reproduction is most highly revered within Muslim nations comes from a more primitive root; Cynthia Becker argues, the “fertility and sexuality of women are crucial to society because they ensure the continuation of the group” (p.106). Western communities are considered sustainable if they are able to provide for themselves economically. Islamic societies, on the other hand, depend on their ability to breed the next generation to ensure the continuance and sustainability of their society and culture. Therefore, in order to guarantee the prolongation of the Islamic community, a woman’s fertility must also be protected. As members of a patriarchal society, Islamic men have held onto the belief that through control and maintenance of a woman’s virginity before marriage, her fertility could be preserved. In order to get the best understanding on the Islamic view on virginity, I looked to the Quran. There are many Surahs that mention virginity, all of which seem to revere girls who are virgins. For example, Surah 55:57-58 states that “Virgins are as fair as corals and rubies” and Surah 55:70-77 says, “In each there shall be virgins chaste and fair…Dark eyed virgins sheltered in their tents whom neither man nor Jin will have touched before”. The Quran goes on to state, in Surah 56:70, that “We created the houris (beautiful women) and made them virgins, loving companions for those on the right hand”. This implies that women are created with the expectation of staying virgins, and not only are they protecting it for themselves, but for their future husbands and for the entire Islamic community.
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| the Quran |
Furthermore, just as Meriem Aherdan describes, many believe that virginity, on an incorporeal level, is representative of a woman’s family’s honor, so unmarried women must remain pure to guarantee that the family’s honor is untainted. Should a female fail to remain a virgin before marriage, great dishonor would be thrust upon the family name, for the girl’s actions show a failing on the part of the father and brothers in that they were unable to properly support and raise her to become a woman of honorable conduct. As a result of the dishonor she brought to the family, she would face harsh punishment, such as disownment or even a beating.
On a more physical level, I found that many people, as Carla Obermeyer explains, believe that women are “more vulnerable to the danger of pollution — ritual and moral—a point that has ramifications not only for moral judgments but also for notions of illness and sexually transmitted diseases” (p.245). Thus, premarital abstinence is the best way to prevent the possibility of contracting any illness or STD that may affect a woman’s ability to reproduce. And so to preserve the future of the Islamic world, the responsibility relies both on the woman and the whole Islamic community to protect her virginity and by association, her fertility.
With the actual arrival of a woman’s wedding night comes the moment of long awaited truth: the exhibition of virginity. This centuries old tradition dictates that the marital sheets are shown to both families after the wedding night. Becker describes it as “a time when her virginity will be tested and her family’s reputation and honor will be upheld or destroyed” (p.113). For in the eyes of traditional Moroccans, a woman’s virginity places her in the position of, as M .W. Buitelaar describes it, “guardian of cherished family and community values” (p.250). Virginity is such an important aspect of the wedding process for the couple and their families that the bride will go to drastic measures to ensure that she is a virgin on the wedding night. For instance, in an article by Elaine Sciolino she describes how Gynecologists have reported that a significant amount of North African women have requested what they call “Virginity Certificates” at their appointments. Additionally, if the bride-to-be is not a virgin she might take the most drastic action a girl could take to protect her honor and get a hymenoplasty. A hymenoplasty is a surgical procedure involving the reconstruction the hymen which is often broken during initial intercourse (the lack of which would indicate the loss of virginity). Hymenoplasties are costly procedures but many females are too desperate to care, for, as Sciolino says, some girls believe that “not to be a virgin is to be dirt”. If a woman were fount not to be a virgin not only would the marriage end in divorce but she would have disgraced the family honor and that is unforgivable. From the mouth of Rachim Acid, “[This is] why conservative families tend to lock the females inside the house and hardly let them access the outside world. They are afraid of shame”. Hence, the maintenance of one’s virginity not only benefits the individual but rather protects the entirety of the family line and the Islamic community.
The Moroccan community took the task, of maintaining the virginity of young maiden women, upon their shoulders to personally guarantee the continuation of a strong and healthy society. Within Moroccan legislature a law exists stating that Moroccans can be put in jail for up to a year for having sexual relations outside marriage (Article 490 of the Penal Code). Moroccans strictly follow this law greatly out of fear, for if a woman were to have children out of wedlock, many traditional Moroccans would perceive her to be flaunting her lack of chastity in front of them. In an article I found by Ranya Alaoui, she emphasizes this point that, “Sex out of wedlock is forbidden in Islam, for both boys and girls... A non-virgin girl will always be considered as a slut, if not a whore but if on top of that, she manages to get pregnant, she just bought her ticket to hell. And in Morocco, hell starts before she dies”. As mentioned earlier, to lose your virginity before marriage brings dishonor to the family, and the woman must suffer disownment or a beating. Should a girl become pregnant outside of wedlock, though, immediate disownment would ensue and she would be left with nothing. As a single, unwed mother she would be scorned by all, making the task of finding work, to support not just herself but also a child, impossible (Welchman). In the city of Meknes, not too far from the university I am studying at, the Rita Zniber Foundation takes in children who are abandoned by such mothers, who have no means at providing a safe, healthy and nurturing life for the child. While at the foundation, the children are taken care of either until they are adopted by a Moroccan family, or until they reach the age 24, when they are allowed to leave the orphanage as an independent adult.
The importance that Muslims, especially in Morocco, place on fertility and thus virginity is so heavy that they will go to any length to ensure that they are protected even if it means instilling in the youth the fear of religious, familial, political and social recrimination.
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| Symbol of Fertility |
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