HRH Princess Lalla Aicha

From AllAfrica:

French historian Charles Saint-Prot said that all Morocco's friends were saddened by the news of the death, on Sunday, of HRH Princess Lalla Aicha, "one of the leading figures in the fight for the emancipation of the Moroccan women."

The late princess made history during the historical visit of Sultan Mohammed V to Tangier in April 1947, Saint-Prot told MAP.

"Princess Lalla Aicha, who was also the first women in the Arab world to hold diplomatic positions, was a brilliant symbol of the reformist aspect of a Moroccan monarchy that has been geared towards progress," said the historian and author of the book "Mohammed V or the popular monarchy," to be published by Rocher in late 2011.

Saudi Arabia: Moroccan Women Banned From Pilgrimage

From the Guardian:

In banning Moroccan women from a pilgrimage in case they are prostitutes, Saudi Arabia is failing in its Islamic duties ~~~

Recently, however, two Gulf countries – Kuwait and Saudi Arabia – have provoked Morocco's ire. The Kuwaiti channel, al-Watan, has apologised to Moroccans for the animated comedy series Bu Qatada and Bu Nabeel, which sparked outrage for its improper depiction of Moroccan women as scheming witches plotting to ensnare rich Kuwaiti husbands by casting spells on them.

Last month, in another, rather under-reported incident, Saudi Arabia banned Moroccan women "of a certain age" from umra (the lesser pilgrimage), for fear they would abuse theirs visas "for other purposes" even when they are accompanied by male relatives.

This is a reference to an underground sex industry that is believed to be staffed by Arab women smuggled in from the Maghreb and north Africa. Short of calling all Moroccan women prostitutes and their men pimps, there is little more that could have been done to summarily insult the nation. The implication that Moroccans will exploit a visa for a sacred religious ritual to trade and facilitate sexual favours only serves to rub more salt into the wound.

Morocco: Female Murshidas

From Syracuse:

In most of the Muslim world, while women have served as informal spiritual leaders, official positions of religious power have been the preserve of men. But now in Turkey, hundreds of women preachers, known as vaizes, are working in state-run mosques, and women have also been appointed to lead Turks making the pilgrimage to Mecca. In Egypt, Al-Azhar University has approved the printing and distribution of the first Koranic interpretation written by a woman. From India to Syria, women are becoming muftis, authorized to issue fatwas, or religious decisions.

The women spend much of their time at the mosque, giving lectures to women, taking questions and offering counseling on personal problems. They also often visit hospitals and prisons. Sometimes they appear on television and radio programs and take calls from listeners.

Prerequisites for admission to the murshida program include an honors bachelor's degree and memorization of at least half of the Koran. The 45-week training includes courses in psychology, law, history, communication and religion-the same coursework an imam goes through.

Moroccan Women

From the New Zealand Herald:
"It was backed by the king and finally passed, a hotly disputed reform to empower women, cast off their vulnerability and set a trend in North Africa -- Morocco's landmark 2004 family law.

Five years later, the reform of "Mudawana", as it is called, is "positive overall" but still falls short of expectations, according to the rights' activist and outspoken head of Morocco's Democratic League for Women's Rights (LDDP), Fouzia Assouli.

Moroccans today have "embraced the idea of women's rights but we are still behind in terms of society's expectations," she said in an interview ahead of International Women's Day on March 8.

Her group was created in 1993 and today counts 13,000 members in this North African country that, much like Turkey, often acts as a link between the Arab and Western world."