AHLAN YA RAMADAN! (III)
In Iraq, for example, you can go out to the mosque and never return, becoming victim of a suicide bomber. In Palestine, Israeli soldiers decide whether you can go to the Al Aqsa Mosque for Tarawih. In Afghanistan, an American drone may drop a bomb on you, ‘mistaking’ your beard for Osama bin Laden’s or […]
In Iraq, for example, you can go out to the mosque and never return, becoming victim of a suicide bomber. In Palestine, Israeli soldiers decide whether you can go to the Al Aqsa Mosque for Tarawih. In Afghanistan, an American drone may drop a bomb on you, ‘mistaking’ your beard for Osama bin Laden’s or Ayman al Zawahiri’s. In Pakistan’s north-west, you may be killed by your own government fighting a proxy war.
Despite these, Muslims persevere and make the most of Ramadan. Today, we serve a few examples of Ramadan from some of these ‘challenged’ Muslim nations:
PALESTINE (By Khalid Amayreh): “Normally, the holy month of Ramadan is a festive season of heightened spirituality and good will. It is also an occasion where family members share the usually exquisite Iftar meals immediately after sunset at the end of the day-long fast. However, for many Palestinian families, hard-hit by extremely harsh Israeli-western sanctions, this Ramadan has the smell of real penury. Abject poverty is increasingly apparent. How do these poverty-stricken families make things do? How do they explain to the children? Akram Hussein, a Palestinian policeman with a wife and two small children says that all the ‘tricks and innovations’ he has been devising to overcome the financial problem are being exhausted. ‘Now the nearby grocery store won’t give us on credit any more. Sometimes I tell the kids that the money is in the bank but the bank is now closed, but they often squeeze me with all kinds of questions which expose the trick.’ Asked what he is going to do, Hussein looks heavenward, saying the solution is God’s hands.”
CHECHNYA (By Ruslan Isayev): “Since the beginning of Ramadan, many Chechens have been rushing to the markets to buy food to make the special dishes…Ramadan makes everyone equal – rich and poor, since everyone tries to serve up the very best, regardless of expense. The table of a poor family will be no different from that of a rich one. The biggest problem in the month of Ramadan is the increase in the prices of staple foods. Despite a call from Chechnya’s Mufti Sultan Mirzayev not to raise them, some sellers have still increased the prices of their meat and grocery items, even though the price of Chechnya’s main staple – beef – remains 120 roubles (about 5 USD) per kilo. There has already been an increase in the price of chicken, which has gone up 20 roubles in the last month. An average chicken now costs 170 roubles. And vendors say there may be further rises…”
KOSOVO (By Julia Gorin): “Local radio stations prepare a variety of rich programs about Islam in general and Ramadan in particular. Faculty members of Islamic Studies toured Kosovo, especially on Fridays for the khutbah (sermons) and Tarawih Prayer in the more remote villages, according to head imam of the Islamic Council of Kosovo Sabri Bajgora. The ICK also organized religious activities in several cities across the province, including iftar with poor people in traditional restaurants. The main mosques in Kosovo will open their doors in the last days of Ramadan for i’tikaf (spiritual retreat). No doubt the hottest ticket in town for reserving your prayer mat is at Kosovo’s bin Laden Mosque…”
BOSNIA (By Adem Coban): “Ramadan has a special importance in the Balkans. Especially here in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina, Ramadan has become an exceptional tradition. Congregations who come to listen to the chanting of the Qur’an before the morning twilight fill the Begova Mosque. Ten hafizes (hafiz; one who has memorized the Quran) including Prof. Dr. Faris Gavrankapetanoviç; chief of staff in the Faculty of Medicine Hospital, are reading the verses from the Qur’an in turns. Just before sunset people crowd into Bascarsija Market to break fasts and they can hardly find free seats in already full restaurants. Mosques are overflowing with people who come to perform taraweeh prayers. Vice President of Religious Affairs of Bosnia Herzegovina Ismet Spahic says Ramadan is the greatest factor that holds them tight to their beliefs…”
KASHMIR (From indiainfo.com): “Kashmiri pickle sells like hot cake during Ramadan . The markets in the valley are flooded with fresh fruits as well as dry fruits, dates and pickles during the entire month of the fasting. Hundreds types of pickles are available in the market and people buy a new variety of pickle everyday. The chicken pickle sell for Rupees 300 per kilogram, fish pickle for Rupees 250 per kilogram and other varieties of pickle for Rupees 100 per kilogram…”
MINDANAO (From www.sakipuci.momaroo.com): “Continued fighting in parts of Central Mindanao are expected to hamper the peaceful observance of the holy month of Ramadan for Filipino Muslims, according to Amina Rasul of the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy. Rasul posed a question to the government on the eve of the start of the holy month: how can Muslims, especially those in Mindanao, properly observe the holy month, if there is no ceasefire between the military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front?…”
XINJIANG (From www.shanghaiist.com): “Chinese officials in the Xinjiang province have imposed a set of heavy-handed restrictions on the observation of the month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. The restrictions are said to include, among others, a ban on fasting by government officials, Communist Party members, teachers and students, and measure to have men shave off their beards and women to remove their veils. A government website says, ‘We must timely warn and stop religious believers from organising and planning large scale prayer groups and prevent any large crowd incidents that could harm social stability, and for those that maintain beards and the women who wear veils, we should take all effective measures to have them shave their beards and take off their veils, and we must strictly enforce a prohibition on fasting…and to enforce atheist education among minors so as to instill correct life principles, values and historical viewpoints…”
And finally…
SULLEY MUNTARI, INTER MILAN (FROM JEFF ISRAELY): “The timing for the start of Ramadan this year has sparked controversy in Italy where the football season has also kicked off. A prominent coach and a team owner in the top Serie A league have linked the rigors of Ramadan’s sunrise-to-sunset fasting to Muslim players’ poor performance on the pitch. Just 30 minutes into his team’s disappointing 1-1 tie Sunday with Bari, Inter Milan’s Portuguese-born coach Jose Mourinho pulled midfielder Sulley Muntari, a practicing Muslim, out of his home debut…A top Muslim leader in Italy, Mohamed Nour Dachan, president of the Italian Union of Islamic Organizations lashed out at the coach for the seeming bias against the fasting player, Sulley Muntari…”
And so, we who are here must all say alhamdu lillah…Happy Iftar.