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Paper short abstract:

This project examines the discourse on illness and dying in the context of Morocco in an attempt to provide more nuanced accounts of perceptions of dying of disease. In this paper, I focus on Morocco where religion and science are negotiated in an attempt to discriminate between good and bad death.

Paper long abstract:

This project rehearses the famous couplet of good and bad death in relation to dying of sickness in Morocco. Relying on fieldwork in the city of Fez and media analysis, the contextualized nuances of dying of health issues demonstrates a tug-of-war with the traditional construction of such polarity. In this paper, reference to major western works on Thanatology is crucial as, for the west, which dominates the field of Death Studies, dying of a disease is conceived of as bad death; it connotes the failure of the medical system and the fallibility of science. In the context of Morocco, where Islam is the faith shared by the majority, sickness followed by dying acquires different meanings. This paper capitalizes on the COVID-19 pandemic as a key moment that has underscored alternative discourses on sickness and dying. Dying of COVID-19 is indicative of martyrdom, which culminates in a good death. COVID-infected corpses were not allowed proper Islamic post-death rituals, namely the washing. Such denial constitutes a health necessity, yet, is translated into an affront to tradition. Nonetheless, despite this abrupt shift, the victim retains the status of martyr for the mourners who submit to God’s decree. In this respect, science and religion coexist in a constellation of attitudes that negotiate the power of medicine and the supremacy of God’s will. This project then crystallizes an ability to piece together diverse discourses on sickness and dying by zooming in on Morocco as a lesser explored area in the field of Death Studies.