In a village in the state of Karnataka, in southwest India, a mosque dedicated to the Muslim community will soon see the light of day. Called “Mohammed VI Mosque”, it is the work of a Moroccan woman who has been living in the country for several years and completes the project of an Indian Muslim family to which this land belongs.
Abir Kenaan is famous on the YouTube platform. Its channel “Abir Marocaine en Inde” already has more than 450,000 subscribers and millions of views. Since 2019, she has been sharing her daily life with Internet users, making them discover a culture that fascinates Moroccans, especially lovers of Bollywood films.
Born in Casablanca in 1991, Abir never imagined, when she obtained her bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics, that she would settle in India, let alone get married there. “I never imagined going to or living there in India. When the opportunity presented itself to me, I was curious and wanted to discover this culture and this country far away and where few Moroccans go, ”she tells us. “The idea emerged after a friend had her internship in Chennai, capital of the state of Tamil Nadu. I said to myself why not give it a try too, ”she recalls.
Leaving Morocco to go to work in India
Lover of mathematics, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in math sciences before entering the Faculty of Science of Ben M’Sick to study applied mathematics. With his bachelor’s degree in hand, Abir had a first experience in a Casablanca company before an opportunity arose in India. In the country of thousands of different ethnicities, she thus began both an MBA (Master of Business Administration) while working for an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) company, where she met her husband.
This new adventure was not easy. After six months of process and procedures, the project finally started. “I finally managed to start its construction, thanks to donations from my family and that of my husband, the income from my YouTube channel and benefactors from all over the world”, welcomes the Moroccan woman who hopes that the Muslims of many countries can meet under the roof of this place of prayer which now bears the name of King Mohammed VI.
