Glossary

Amazigh: the indigenous people of North Africa, often referred to by the pejorative term “Berber.”

Anouilh, Jean (1910–87): a renowned French dramatist.

bedaia: a Moroccan garment.

Ben Barka’s murder: Mehdi Ben Barka was a prominent left-wing Moroccan politician who disappeared in Paris in 1965. The factors involved have never been explained.

Bidaoui: from Casablanca.

Bni Yessef: a small village in Morocco.

Bouhmara: also, Bou Hmara. His real name is Jilali ben Driss Zirhouni al-Youssefi. A contender to the Moroccan throne by claiming he was the prince Moulay Ahmad, the eldest son of Sultan Moulay Hassan, and that he should be king of Morocco instead of Moulay ‘Abd al-Aziz. He established a kingdom in the East and the North of Morocco. He was later arrested and executed in Fez in 1909.

Caid: the term used to describe the governor of a particular district within Morocco.

cherbel: traditional Moroccan women’s shoes.

choro: churo, a Spanish fried-dough pastry.

comptoir: counter, bar.

dama: checkers.

doum: chamaerops, a kind of flowering plant, sometimes called “dwarf palm.”

fqih: a Muslim jurisconsult.

Garde Mobile: Moroccan Auxiliary Forces, a paramilitary group that supports other branches of the security forces and operates under the interior ministry.

Hajj, Hajja: the honorific title given to Muslim men and women who have performed the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. Usage: al-Hajj, “the Hajj.”

Yahya Haqqi (1905–92): a prominent Egyptian short story writer and critic.

harira: a characteristic Moroccan soup dish, made with lentils and spices

Hawziya: a Moroccan singing style.

Ibn Abi Dunya (823–94): a prominent Muslim scholar, renowned for his prose style.

Ibn Masoud (7th cent.): a companion of the Prophet Muhammad.

Yusuf Idris (1927–91): a famous Egyptian writer of short stories.

jallaba: the ankle-length garment worn by both men and women in Morocco and elsewhere.

jinn/jinni: supernatural beings prominent in both Islamic and pre-Islamic myth. Often mentioned in the text of the Qur’an, they can be forces for good or evil.

ka‘b al-ghazal: (gazelle’s ankles) crescent-shaped Moroccan cookies.

kas’a: a terracotta dish for Moroccan couscous.

kif: a product of cannabis resin.

Carlos Menem (b. 1930): the former president of Argentina (1989–99) is of Syrian extraction. Following his presidential term (2001), he was arrested and charged with corruption.

mokhazni / makhzan: a member of the Moroccan Auxiliary Forces. The “makhzan” is the general term for the Moroccan government and its organizations.

Mu‘awiyah ibn Hady: also known as Mu‘awiyah ibn Hadaij, a governor who was sent by the Caliph Mu‘awiyah to conquer Sicily.

Muslim ibn al-Walid (c. 748–823): one of Arabic’s most famous love-poets, often known as “sari‘ al-ghawani” (victim of beautiful girls).

General Muhammad Oufkir (1920–72): initially a confidant of King Hassan II of Morocco and appointed minister of the interiors, he led a plot against the king in 1972 and was assassinated. His entire family was sent to a desert prison, described by his daughter Malika in the book Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail.

Rojo: a member of the Republicans who were called Los Rojos (the Reds) during the Spanish Civil War.

saykouk: a Moroccan cold dish usually for summer heat, made of buttermilk and small-, medium-, or large-grained couscous.

shikhat: Moroccan female singers and dancers.

tajine: actually the name of a cone-shaped cooking dish, the word is also used to describe a characteristic dish of Moroccan cuisine, involving a mixture of meat (chicken, lamb, or fish), fruit or vegetables, and couscous.

Tamazight / Tashelheet: two of the local dialects of the language-family of the Amazigh (see above).

‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan: the third Caliph of Islam, who headed the Muslim community in Arabia from 642 until his assassination in 656.

zakat: the Arabic word for “almsgiving,” it being one of the five “pillars” of the Muslim faith.

Zammori: a Moroccan singing style.