How Berber Women Express Love Through Tattoos?

Tattoos on the faces and hands of Berber women in North Africa, once seen as a sign of beauty and belonging to a specific tribe, have now become a fading tradition. Modern life and religious restrictions have accelerated the decline of this local custom. Who are the Berbers? The Berbers are an indigenous ethnic group of North Africa, scattered from the Atlantic Ocean shores in the west to the Siwa Oasis in Egypt in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea shores in the north to the Niger River in the south. These indigenous people have preserved their language against the dominance of Arabic and have proudly maintained their traditions and unique culture for centuries. Linguistically, the Berbers speak Berber languages, classified under the Afro-Asiatic language family, with Morocco being the country with the largest Berber population among other North African countries. Moroccan Berber women refer to themselves as Amazigh, meaning 'free people' in their language. For years, Berbers have faced restrictions in preserving their language, traditions, and specific cultures. One of these traditions is women's tattooing. Hano Moloud, a 67-year-old Berber woman from the Amlchil region of Morocco, shared her experience with tattoos: 'When I was six, we were told that tattooing with henna is a form of beauty, especially when we went to the local Ahidus festival. That's why they tattooed our faces.' She explained the tattooing process: 'We used charcoal to draw designs on our faces, then a woman would prick the design with a needle to draw blood. The wound was cleaned daily with a chewed green plant to form the tattoo.' Another Berber woman recalls her first tattoo: 'A skilled woman came to tattoo our faces with a needle. We girls couldn't hold back our tears during this painful process. Meanwhile, each mother held and kissed her daughter, trying to comfort her until the tattooing was finished.' Historians believe that tattoos are not only part of the Berber cultural heritage but also serve as a means for Berber women to express their identity independent of men. She emphasized that 'this tradition has been passed down to us by our ancestors.' According to the latest census in Morocco (2014), over a quarter (26.7 percent) of Morocco's population of 35 million are Berbers, speaking one of the three main Berber dialects of the country. In recent years, women's tattooing has been widely condemned by Muslims as an act against the human body. As a result, many women and girls have abandoned this custom, or even those who have previously tattooed have removed them, fearing punishment in the afterlife promised in Islam. However, Abdul Wahid Finig, a teacher and researcher in geography in this region of Morocco, believes that the decline of this tradition is due to 'Salafi thinking wrongly claiming that any woman who tattoos will go to hell, a claim that has no basis in the Quran or religion.' He added, 'That is why we encourage Berber women to express their culture and identity freely, to value their heritage and history, to resist dogmatic beliefs, and not to fall into the trap of beliefs that are incompatible with Islam.' In some tribes in this region of Morocco, women are distinguished by tattoos consisting of two or three lines on the chin. Women from other tribes also tattoo patterns on their faces. In the tattoos of this region, each design has a specific meaning; for example, the circular design symbolizes the world and its beauty, just like the moon and sun, which hold significant places in local Berber rituals. Basu Oujbour, a member of a local NGO, states that these tattoos represent the identity of these local tribes: 'Moreover, some tattoo designs reflect the identity of a tribe, similar to the unique clothing of Berber women that is specific to each tribe.' He added, 'Tattoos are distinguished by their symbols and shapes, reflecting individuals' membership in a specific community and their unique identity.' Additionally, these tattoos serve as a means of expressing love, especially the tattoos that a Berber woman gets on her wedding night.