ABSTRACT
In June 2008, the cover of the international news magazine L'Express read “Special on Morocco: The Duel Tradition-Modernity.” Five young women stand in front of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, one of the largest mosques in the world after Mecca and Medina. Built between 1986 and 1993 and named for the country's king during construction, Hassan II, the mosque can hold up to twenty-five thousand worshipers at one time. 1 Three women in the foreground are dressed in skirts or jeans with sweaters, whereas the women in the background pair teal-colored hijabs with long skirts. The article “La Fracture Morale” (The Moral Divide) that accompanies this image highlights the struggle between religious revival and secularism in Morocco and states that the two sides are trying to find a balance in a peaceful manner. 2 The magazine cover and article highlight that religion is just one of the many lines along which public debates emerge in Morocco. Equally as important, they emphasize that women's bodies are the means by which political and social struggles are carried out and the outcomes are gauged. I borrow a term here from Rhoda Kanaaneh (2002), who sums this up nicely in her work on Palestinian women's fertility in Israel. She describes women's bodies as “fields of contests” through which the nation along with its conflicts are inscribed.
