ABOUT ISLAM

Islam means: "To surrender".

And the surrendering is to Allah, or The God.

It is to His will that a muslim hands over his or her life.

The islamic world, or "Dar Islam", which means "the house of Islam" is growing rapidly.

2007 was the first year in which the number of muslims world wide surpassed the number of Christians.

With the explosion in the world's population being at its strongest in North Africa and
Asia, it is expected that within 30 years there will be more than 2.5 billion Muslims.

Being such a large and known religion it is surprising that many people do not know that Islam simply builds further on the foundations of Judaism and Christianity...

Islam is the third religion based on the same book.

But whereas judaism is based on the Old Testament, Christianity on Old Testament and New Testament, Islam is based on both, with the addition of the Koran. Muslims share the same prophets, from Moses to Jesus.

WHERE TO FIND IN-DEPTH LITERATURE?

One of the most insightful and interesting books written on Islam by an outsider is "Islam, a short history" by Karen Armstrong.

Also from her hands is "Muhammad, a biography of the prophet".

For the view of an insider, we highly recommend "No God but God" by Reza Aslan.

Tangier souks

WHAT IS "THE MAGREB"?

The Maghreb, also rendered Maghrib, means Place of Sunset.

The word is generally applied to the north west of Africa, or the western part of the Arab world : Morocco, Algeria and Tunesia.

Partially isolated from the rest of the continent by the Atlas mounains and the Sahara, the Maghreb has long been closely tied in terms of climate, landforms, population, economy and history to the Mediterranean basin.

The region was briefly united as a single political entity during the first years of Arab rule in the early 8th century, and again under the Almohads in the 12th century.