Moroccan Airline Tries To Stem Time Taken Off For Praying

Morocco’s state airline Royal Air Maroc has put restrictions on praying at its offices and headquarters. The company says that in the past its workers have abused the privilege of praying, by taking too much time away from their desks and their customers. The state airline, partly owned by the Moroccan royal family, is a great source of pride and prestige in the country. Islamists are regarding the move as another opportunity to rabble rouse and create resentment.

Some workers say that they have been told that they cannot take time out from their duties for prayers and cannot leave work to go to the mosque during their working hours. The company insisted that there was no ban on praying, but that the amount of time that some people were taking away from their work was disproportionate.

RAM workers interviewed by Al Jazeera television said that prayer rooms in the company’s offices would now only be opened only on Friday. The decision follows another measure approved last month under which RAM female employees will not be allowed to wear the hijab but will be required instead to wear official uniforms.

In October, Morocco banned women state employees from wearing the hijab at work and scrapped pictures of hijab wearing women from textbooks. In 2004, Morocco approved one of the most progressive laws on women’s and family rights in the Arab world. To fight the spread of Islamic fundamentalism among youths, it has also started promoting changes to school curricula – reportedly scrapping references to Jihad (holy war) in Islamic textbooks.