Rabat The majority of religious instructions insist on spirituality as a guideline to a perfect way of life. Although the idea of spirituality is often considered an abstract concept, it tends to be concrete if it is linked to time and space.

Ramadan, which is a holy month for Muslims, is cited as a time in Muslim countries and Muslim-majority-countries where spirituality can be felt concretely through various activities: mostly religious and economic. The time and place of Ramadan are two components with strong influence on the spirituality of this holy time.

There is an enormous turnout for prayers to the Tarawih, a payer that takes place after Al-Isha and before the break of dawn. The Imams, reciters of the Quran, recite the Quran in strong melodies, and attract large audiences.. In some areas, mosques are overcrowded where the Imams recite the Quran in dulcet tones. Some prayers recite the Tarawih in parks or football stadiums, because of large crowds or hot weather. Such a spiritual environment should be an impetus for implementing the Islamic values, improving the level of ethics in society, and freeing the soul and mind for forgiveness.

Ramadan is a time when spirituality is supposed to overcome materialism, but, in reality, it is the opposite: there is a massive increase of food consumption during Ramadan. Vegetables and fruit prices rise in Morocco at rates ranging between 50 and 100% in the days preceding the month of Ramadan. The price of a tomato is usually about 3 Dhs, but is rocketed to 7 Dhs in the first days of Ramadan. Bouazza Kherati, the president of the Moroccan League for the Rights of the Consumer, stated that the issue of high prices has become taken for granted, especially during Ramadan, confirming the significant increase of prices in some foods such as tomatoes and various vegetables and legumes. There are several factors behind the increased price, most of which are frequent and increase demand irrationalized consumption, and the large number of brokers, who monopolize specific markets.

This religious activity and economic situation may seem standard, or typical, in Ramadan as they become part of the Islamic culture. These religious and economic combinations contribute to the social cohesion and cooperation inside the Islamic neighborhood. The ethics and spiritual rites need to bring peace into the Islamic life. However, whats observable during Ramadan is the

increased crime. The cases of violence and theft crimes reportedly recorded as a result of what has become known by Moroccans as Tramdina, which indicates a psychological state of fasting. The reasons for the high crime rates during Ramadan are psychological and social; some people find it difficult to change daily habits. As Abdul-Jabbar Shukri, research professor in sociology and psychology, states, in Ramadan, some people are forced to give up a lot of habits and behaviors of daily time, such as drinking alcohol, having sex, attending clubbing night discos; some people come back to those rituals after breakfast. This is due to a variety of reasons, namely:

Those who cannot afford to abandon these daily activities in Ramadan are addicted and cannot resist them psychologically.

The system of religious values is lenient with many forbidden things in which this system justified the existence and practice of these forbidden things.

The widespread of popular religion is separated from the orthodox religion for those who find it difficult to adjust to Ramadan. The popular religion provides a set of justifications and the explanation to some religious texts that go in line with the logic of these forbidden things, and allow them to be practiced in the month of Ramadan after breakfast.

All in all, the addiction is a psychological factor that affects the index of crime in Ramadan. For Moroccans, Tramdina is the most common behavioral and psychological phenomenon during Ramadan. The spirituality of Ramadan is supposed to educate Muslims in the value of tolerance and cooperation, and prevent them from doing prohibited things. However, we find that the addicting system, which is the psychological state, is a scourge that haunts the Muslim.

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Spirituality and Crime in Ramadan - Morocco World News