Maybe you know all about Ramazan/Ramadan, or maybe you know nothing. We knew generally about it, but not in depth. We have observed, asked questions, and read and would like to share what we have learned.
Ramazan (or Ramadan in other countries), is the 30 day Islamic holy month of fasting, prayer and celebration. This year it is August 11-September 9. It is based on the solar calendar and is 11 days earlier every year. It is believed to be the month in which the first verse of the Qur'an was revealed to the prophet Muhammad, more specifically on the most holy night or "Night of Power" which this year is on the 27th day, or September 6.
Fasting takes place from the first prayers at sunrise to the first prayer at sunset. It means nothing passes the lips - food, drink, smoke, and for the very strict, even licking an envelope. Sex is forbidden during these hours as well. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly attributes and cleanse the inner soul. It also teaches patience, humility and spirituality. They are to offer more prayers and ask for forgiveness and pray for guidance and purity of thought and deed. There are exemptions, however, the elderly, chronically ill or mentally ill, pregnant women, lactating women or women at "that time of the month". For all but the mentally ill, if they chose to forgo fasting, they are expected to "make it up" at a later date or feed the poor for the days missed fasting. Also, if you are traveling more than 40 miles from home, you are exempt, but the same above applies.
We observe that the tea houses are quite void of all the little men that sat out there daily, some all day. Even if the establishment is shut, there are still some who will just "sit" . Think I would rather be in a cool mall, as the weather is extremely hot right now. Getting closer to sundown, you notice the traffic pick up outside the tea houses and also the bakeries. They bake a particular pide (peeday) which is a round, lightly risen bread. They use it for the first meal to go with meat, cheese, olives, fruit. You can eat it plain or stuff it with whatever is your pleasure. I can tell you from first hand experience, it is really good hot, fresh from the bakery. I guess you could compare it to a pita, just a lot bigger, bigger than a dinner plate, and thicker.
Most restaurants remain open for regular trading hours, although there are some that do not open until nearer sundown and into the late evening. They will not sell liquor during the fasting hours, but will in the evenings, but usually will have you sitting in an area different from those that are abstaining, so as not to offend. You cannot buy it in a hotel bar, but if you are a guest, you may order room service. Technically, they are not supposed to have alcohol at all but they more strictly adhere to that during Ramazan. As with all religions, you have the devout, the loosely practicing, the "Christmas and Easter" participants, in other words, the ones that participate in Ramazan, but no other time, and then those that do not practice at all. We have discovered that the best time to go to the grocery store is in the evening during Ramazan while they are having their evening meal. It is all but deserted. There are a lot more sweets in the store, and apparently a lot of them are for the children. Other than the bread, we have not seen or eaten a "special" dish, but we will ask if there are some and what they are.
During Ramazan they are encouraged to read the entire Qur'an, either on their own or at Mosque in the evening. There are 30 sections in the Qur'an, one for each night of Ramazan. Ramazan is considered the month of blessings.
Because it is also a Celebration, there is lots of food, some buy gifts for family and friends. They are supposed to help the poor and needy. There is a lot of socializing in homes and in the streets and restaurants. There is a carnival atmosphere, with lights in trees and the Mosque minarets are lit with green lights. We see the lights on the Mosque, but have not "heard" anything out of the ordinary here in our area. We live in a closed subdivision, so I am sure it is very different in the villages, especially the rural ones.
The sundown meal, "iftar" begins with the ritual of eating a date, as Muhammad is believed to have done. We had wondered why all of a sudden there were so many dates in the markets. There is prayer, then the meal, which usually consists of the pide, some cheese, salami, olives, fruits, then a larger meal later on. But there are some that have the huge feast just at sundown. In the middle of the night, at around 3 am, the drummers roam the street to awaken the citizens to get up and prepare the "Sahur", the early morning meal before sunup. Supposedly the next day, the drummers go around knocking on the doors, asking for money for "waking" them up to prepare the meal. Then the cycle begins again.
At the end of the 30 days, there is a 3 day festival called Ramazan Bayrami or Sheker Bayrami. It really begins at noon on the last day of Ramazan and gets into full swing the following day. Then the streets will be teeming with people partying, eating, drinking, and the tea houses will once again be full. These three days are a national holiday, stretched into 4 or 5 days we understand.
We are usually not awake in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning to observe anything different then, but like I said, where we live, you hear and see nothing. Might be interesting to venture out to a village near here to see.
I hope we have enlightened some of you with this little bit of information that we have gathered. It is all interesting and we try to learn all we can and do the right things to respect their religious choices and not to offend. Geoff is very careful at work to always ask. They do still serve meals at lunch, just the "tea lady" does not come around, but you are welcome to go and get your own tea or coffee. The owner of the seed company gave every employee a Ramazan gift packet with sunflower oil, rice, Bulgar pilaf, navy beans, and sugar. These are all staple items that they use to make dishes with; however, we now have enough of the above items to probably last us until next Ramazan!
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