The term “neffar” refers to the Man Anyone who wakes up people for the Suhoor meal and the Fajr prayer before dawn during the holy month of Ramadan. The Neffar traditionally roams the streets and alleys in the dark of the night and alerted people with the rhythmic blows of a drum or a horn -like musical instrument called “Ghaita”.
This tradition goes before smartphones and alarms and only lasts one month a year before the Neffar goes back into the dark with the appearance of the Eid Crescent. The Neffar carries out this practice as a voluntary service and collects gifts and drinking money in return at the end of Ramadan.
While this tradition unfortunately dies out, many people keep trying to revive them and maintain them, since they are important in the Moroccan tradition and their collective memory. In fact, anyone who has experienced the soothing noises of Neffar in his childhood that Ramadan is not lacking in taste without him.
While practice is loved and valued, people rarely pay attention to the person behind the drum, simply because such traditions are largely based on selflessness; This may explain the dismay of people about those who have brought tradition to the virtual sphere.
This Ramadan, the inhabitants of the northern city of Tangier, woke up with the voice and drum by Ghizlane, the first female practitioner of the dying tradition of “Neffar”.
Self -known “Merdiyet Mamaha” means “she, whose mother she agrees”, Ghizlane, a woman in the thirties, drove Tiktok to share the roles of her guards of the residents of Tanger This Ramadan.
Your initiative triggered a debate. While many of the mere idea were dissatisfied that a woman took on the role of Neffar, under the pretext that “some things are only suitable for men and others”, others have questioned the way Ghizlane has worn.
While she respected the dress code required for this task and wore a Djellaba – a traditional, loosely sitting dress with a hood – and a headscarf, Ghizlane called for sleeping people who were the point for many. First she called sleeping men with the name before adapting her method by addressing sleeping women instead.
However, the controversy was particularly ghizlan’s catchphrase from “Wake Up, My Love, For Suhoor” in a typical soft Moroccan accent in the north. Some social media users argued that “a (soft) northern accent is particularly unsuitable for this purpose, regardless of what they could say.”
The locals in Tanger also criticized Ghizlane’s approach hard and claimed that he was “provocative” and an “inappropriate representation of women in the region and their conservative community”, and accused them of “famous by breaking social norms”.
In a heated campaign against the woman, some even went so far to demand legal steps and accused them of “increasing immorally”.
However, others supported the initiative and praised Ghizlan’s carefree attitude and saw them as a welcome refreshing and joyful addition to Ramadan traditions.
In the heat of the debate, Ghizlane went to Facebook to defend herself and explained that she did not do anything “shame” and that she never intended to insult or stir controversies, but tried to create an entertaining atmosphere that was suitable for the spirit of Ramadan.
Ghizlane also expressed how discouraging the hard accusations for her, although she hadn’t done anything that did not respect the Ramadan and emphasized the innocence of her intentions.
Regardless of whether she used this tradition to win online strikes or to share her joyful spirit with Moroccan in this holy month, you can almost guarantee that a woman is criticized what she does and whatever she acts, especially in the online world, where people are more encouraged by anonymity.
A further distraction would soon take place, and similar to the practice she had undertaken, the dispute over Ghizlane would hide with the Eid -Crescent.
