The History of North African Worship Music June 20th, 2008
I just want to make the point that for the last over 100 years now, the North African church has been dependent on music from the outside…
When the early missionaries went to North Africa, they took their English hymnbooks with them and translated the hymns into the Indigenous Arabic dialect. For many years these were the only hymns that the North African believers sang. Later, in the sixties, some North African believers went to study at seminaries in the Middle East. When they returned, they brought back with them some of the popular Arabic hymns and incorporated them into the worship in some of the North African home groups. For over forty years the church in North Africa has been singing imported hymns from the Middle East. This music was a significant contribution to worship in North African churches in those days, but as the Church matured it felt the need for songs of their own.
…and finally, praise God, now they have enough of their own music…
A new era was begun in 1996 when Morocco Praises was formed through music seminars established by Málaga Media Center (MMC), in partnership with the North African Church. These annual two-week training seminars have enabled national believers to gather for creative collaboration and begin writing their own songs. Over the years they have written music for several albums, and last year they produced the first Moroccan hymnbook which contains over 170 songs. As a result, today in some groups, you hardly hear a song from the Middle East during their worship.
…and not only that, they’re starting to think of others. This would be the first time to return something to the Middle East and say “thank you.”
- MDH, MMC Arabic Media Coordinator
In March Morocco Praises recorded the first Moroccan Christian album that is intended for distribution in the Middle East.
Exporting to the Middle East
MDH discovered that a singer in the Middle East had recorded one of Morocco Praises worship songs, failing to acknowledge its authorship. This isn’t their only worship song to become popular in the Middle East, and MDH recognized the problem that no one knows the songs were written by North African Christians. So he began thinking about the possibility of a Moroccan album produced specifically for the Middle East.
The Morocco Praises team embraced and developed this idea. They are excited that their vision has grown to reach not only their home country, but other countries as well. The album has fourteen songs, all written by local believers. They are written in classical Arabic (instead of the Indigenous Arabic dialect) and have a Middle-Eastern flavor so that they can be used by believers in the Middle East.
“As far as quality, this so far would be the top quality for the group,” MDH explained. The team feels that they’ve been almost professional, but that this will be their first professional recording. They had the opportunity to work with well-known Egyptian music arrangers and hired Egyptian musicians to play the instrumental parts of the songs. And of course the experience gained by the Morocco Praises team over the past decade also makes a significant contribution to the quality of the album.
Sweet strains of independence
This is a very exciting time for the indigenous church. To them, this is not only a new music album but in some ways it is their “Declaration of Independence.” They no longer have to import their music from others, but now they are exporting their music. It is also their way of saying “thank you” to the Church in the Middle East for the many years they have blessed them with their worship songs. Now it is the North African Church’s turn to give back some of the blessing.
The successful production of this project, its serving nature and its quality give a boost of confidence to the North African musicians and Church. Pray that God will continue to strengthen the Church, that it may become independent in other areas as well.
A Church leader told MDH, “You are helping us write the history of the North African Church.” He counts it a privilege. So should you!
Hear a sample from the album. Morocco Praises has several music videos as well as samples from several albums online. See their most recent music video or listen to their most recent album.