Who the Moroccan Arab are
Moroccan law criminalises 'shaking the faith of a Muslim.' There is no legal Moroccan church; the buildings that exist serve foreigners. Two decades ago the number of known Moroccan believers was very small.
It is now several thousand, meeting in homes. The change that mattered most was linguistic: Scripture, worship and media in Moroccan Darija rather than classical Arabic. Darija is the language Moroccans think, argue and joke in; classical Arabic is the language of the mosque. Hearing Jesus speak Darija is a different experience entirely.
Signs of hope
Scripture, worship and media in Darija — the heart language rather than the language of the mosque — and a house-church community in the thousands.
The honest difficulty
Conversion is legally penalised, believers face family rejection, and there is no lawful route to public worship.
What "Frontier" means
Fewer than 1 in 1,000 follow Jesus, and there is no indigenous movement large enough to grow on its own. Most people in this group will never meet a Christian.
This describes access to the Gospel, not the worth of a people or the sincerity of anyone's faith.
How to pray for the Moroccan Arab
Take one of these for a week rather than all of them for a day.
- Pray for Moroccan believers meeting in homes with no legal protection.
- Thank God for the Gospel in Darija, the language of the heart.
- Ask God to sustain converts rejected by their families.
- Pray for Berber communities in the Atlas Mountains with no known believers.
Where the Moroccan Arab live
Each nation profile carries church size, unreached peoples, what is going well, what is hard, and four prayer points.
Questions people ask about the Moroccan Arab
Who are the Moroccan Arab people?
The Moroccan Arab (also called Maghrebi Arab) are a people group of roughly 25 million, living mainly in Morocco. They speak Moroccan Arabic (Darija) and are predominantly Islam (Sunni). A church the law says cannot exist has grown from almost nothing to several thousand. Population figures for people groups vary considerably by source and by how a group is defined.
Are the Moroccan Arab an unreached people group?
The Moroccan Arab are classified as frontier. Fewer than 1 in 1,000 follow Jesus, and there is no indigenous movement large enough to grow on its own. Most people in this group will never meet a Christian. Scripture status: New Testament and growing portions in Darija.
How can I pray for the Moroccan Arab?
Pray for Moroccan believers meeting in homes with no legal protection. Thank God for the Gospel in Darija, the language of the heart. Take one of these for a week rather than all of them for a day.