Morocco’s Islamic Party Links Earthquake to ’Collective Sins’, Sparks Controversy

"We must be aware that the fact of ’returning to God’ means that we have moved away from Him in certain aspects of our life. We must therefore return to God, so that He may heal our wounds and compensate us for our ordeal. But we must also reflect as a nation to determine if what happened is perhaps the result of our sins, our transgressions and our violations, not only in the individual sense, but also in the collective and political sense," the PJD general secretariat said in a statement issued after its Saturday meeting.

To read: Extremist Groups Claim Morocco Earthquake as Divine Retribution, Criticize Aid Efforts

The Islamist party will explain: "Because the question does not only concern individual transgressions, but also sins, transgressions and violations in the political sense, present in political life in general, elections, responsibilities, public management, and many other areas." After saluting "the central role of the king (Mohammed VI) in managing the consequences of this earthquake", Abdelilah Benkirane, its secretary general, "stressed his repeated meetings as well as the speed, efficiency and generosity with which decisions have been made to relieve the inhabitants of the regions directly affected by this earthquake."

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The violent earthquake of September 8 killed more than 2,900 people, injured more than 5,000 and damaged several infrastructures, including 530 schools and 55 boarding schools. More than 300,000 people have been affected by the disaster, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).