Chastity Day initiative stirs controversy in Morocco.

Chastity Day initiative stirs controversy in Morocco.(AA).By Hassan al-Ashraf.The call by a prominent Moroccan preacher to mark a national Chastity Day stirred controversy in the kingdom with some advocating the propagation of chastity and others regarding the initiative as an insult to Moroccans.
Sheikh al-Idrisi Abu Zeid, Quran reciter and leading member of the Islamist-oriented Justice and Development and the Islamic organization al-Tawhid wa al-Islah (Monotheism and Reformation), called for dedicating a day to the annual promotion of chastity and suggested calling it National Chastity Day. This day, he said, will aim at fighting all “unchaste” phenomena that have lately invaded the conservative Moroccan society.
For sociology researcher Mohamed Boulouse, promoting chastity is a must, but one day a year will not be enough.“We need campaigns that would last for weeks and months in order for chastity to become part of our society again and to counter all phenomena that are stranger to all society,” he told Al Arabiya.Boulouse cited the example of “indecent” films, TV serials, festivals, and different artistic expressions that aim at “sexual arousal.”
Such campaigns, Boulouse added, should also include food, clothes, actions, and words that should all be in line with Islamic principles.“There should be a focus on curbing sexual desire and abstaining from all lustful actions.”“There are several democratic powers that have fought for long to create a multicultural Morocco that accepts all intellectual, artistic, cultural, and ethnic differences and those who launch such initiatives are trying to see how they would respond.”
Lakhal argued that the Chastity Day initiative is an insult to Moroccans since it assumes they are not chaste in the first place.“The initiative means that Moroccans have lost chastity and need to restore it. As far as I know, national days are dedicated to urgent issues concerning specific sectors or echelons of society that are facing problems that need to be addressed."Read the full story here.