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Ramadan
is a time when everything changes, from people’s eating patterns to
their level of productivity and even lifestyles.
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“Long
before Ramadan started, my Egyptian and foreign friends told me about the
craziness and the holiness of this month, about people’s behavior and their
habits. I was told that it was a kind of Christmas that lasts for a month. That
the crowded Midan el Tahrir would be deserted during Iftar-unbelievable! That
people will act strangely; they will be nervous during the day and extremely
joyful and sociable in the evenings. That the city will not sleep. That the food
was gorgeous and that I have to experience the Ramadan cuisine with an Egyptian
family in order to understand this. That I will see 2 million people praying in
the streets together and that this will give me a new dimension for the
understanding of their faith”
These
were the words of Teo Iordache, a Romanian intern in one of the banks here in
Cairo, and a close friend of mine, when asked to describe what he expected
before Ramadan started. Teo is one of many foreigners who had the opportunity to
experience last Ramadan here in Cairo, and whom I asked to share with us their
experiences of Ramadan, as foreigners living in an Islamic country.
As
a Muslim who takes most of the traditions and behavior associated with Ramadan
for granted, it was interesting to listen to how small things, that we do
unconsciously, could be quite surprising to foreigners. These people left their
country and woke up to find themselves in a totally new, and I have to admit
quite complex, culture, particularly during a month which is the true
manifestation of several dimensions of this culture, brought together in a
magical way.
Waiting
for Ramadan
As
a Muslim who takes most of the traditions and behavior
associated with Ramadan for granted, it was interesting
to listen to how our small things could be quite
surprising to foreigners
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Before
Ramadan started, I asked these people what they knew about it, and I was
surprised that most of them knew very little about the value of this month to
Muslims. For some, it was no more than a month that was not linked to the
western calendar, but shifts every year, or simply a month when there is more
focus on religion and faith rather any other issues. For others, it just meant
that all the entertainment venues would be shut, no more pubs, clubs or movies!
However,
when the month actually started, there was a discrepancy between what they had
expected, or had been told before Ramadan, and what they actually experienced.
During the month, they began to understand how Ramadan is more than just a
fasting month. Rather it is a month when everything changes, from the way people
behave in their everyday life, to the way they treat one another. Ramadan is not
only about not eating and drinking, it is a time when everything changes, from
people’s eating patterns to their level of productivity and even lifestyles.
Show
Time: Observations during Ramadan
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“I
found it, mawa’ed al Rahman, very nice how people cared about each
other,” said Jan Celuch
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What
the people I spoke to found most impressive was the notion of charity during
Ramadan, especially mawa’ed al Rahman. “I found it very nice how
people cared about each other,” said Jan Celuch, a Slovak intern who has been
working for one year in a multinational in Cairo. “How they helped the poor,
organized Iftars for them on the streets, initiated collections of food or money
for them. I think it had a great value, not only for the poor, but also for the
rich, as it develops their humanity and nourishes their values and beliefs.”
Pauline
Ndonga, A Kenyan girl who has been working in Egypt for one year in a student
based non-governmental organization (NGO) also commented on the concept of
charity saying, “I was told this was a place where anyone who did not have
food to eat or was late heading home for Iftar, could stop and have a meal. I
was positively impressed”
Something
quite noticeable during Ramadan is how the family comes
together and becomes the center of the community
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Something
quite noticeable during Ramadan is how the family comes together and becomes the
center of the community. They realized that Iftar time was designated as family
time--regardless of any other plans, so they had to adapt to this new way of
life. Acknowledged as an advantage for Egyptian Muslims, ‘family time’ was a
drawback for the foreigners, as their Egyptian friends would disappear because
“Ramadan is a month for the family,” as many of them pointed out. “I
concurred with the notion that this was family time,” said Pauline, “So I
had prepared myself psychologically for my friends to disappear during this
season”. It also brought the foreigners closer together as they found
themselves in their own company more often than not.
One
of the things that positively impressed the foreigners living in Egypt during
Ramadan was the way Muslims were open minded about the fact that they- the
foreigners- were not fasting and usually invited them to family Iftars and other
gatherings. Dr. Abdallah Cole, A professor of Anthropology at the American
University in Cairo, who has converted to Islam said. “Before I came I was
warned that I should not eat or drink in front of Muslims during Ramadan.
However, during Ramadan I noticed that the Muslims did not actually care and
would always tell you that they did not have a problem with you eating or
drinking in front of them. Some of them even used to make jokes about the way
their Christian friends were always apologizing about eating or drinking in
front of them.” Before Ramadan started, some of the foreigners I spoke to
thought they were expected to fast during Ramadan, however when the month came,
none of them felt under any pressure to conform.
The
other side of the coin
As
much as these people felt that Ramadan had a great spiritual value for Muslims,
brought the family together and increased charity, they were also shocked by
certain behavior and sometimes could not understand how it related to the holy
month.
Most
of them were impressed by how much people ate during Ramadan, contrary to their
expectations that his month would be one when people wouldn’t eat much. Ms
Jeanne Arnold, a professor of theater at the American University in Cairo says,
“In this month of religious devotion it was shocking to see people not eating
at all during the day, and then eating HUGE amounts of food at Iftar”. When
asked about the behavior that he would consider “negative” Teo told me,
“Unfortunately, Ramadan is coupled with extreme opposites, starting at dusk
people in Egypt eat too much during the Iftar, and for the rest of the night! I
even gained some extra kilos during this period due to the excess of food.”
The
most annoying thing, however, was the unwillingness of people to work, set
meetings, or organize events, citing fasting as an excuse. I have noticed that
many people during Ramadan tend to have a kind of “lazy” attitude. Fasting
was used as an excuse not to make any effort,” said Jan Celuch “Personally;
I was fasting for the majority of the month and did not feel any difference in
terms of ability to do things. I was shocked to see people reluctant to make any
effort because there was an excuse- Ramadan.”
Ms
Arnold was also surprised at the way everything stopped. “It’s like the
whole society goes on hold.” For her, this also had a big impact on her own
work. “As an educator, the downside was apparent in my classes. Students were
not focused and did not do their homework the way they should have. It was
generally very difficult to keep the momentum of the class.” When asked if she
thought this was because students were exhausted because of not eating all day,
she said, “They were probably more exhausted because of not sleeping and
partying all night, rather than not eating or drinking.” She added
“Especially coming from an American culture where work would not stop for a
religious event, I saw Ramadan here as a very interesting phenomenon”
On
the same note, Dr. Abdallah Cole said that Americans and Europeans who come to
Egypt to do business usually complain that they cannot get anything done during
Ramadan, people are lazy, get up late, etc. “I believe, however, that modern
business schedules should adapt to the local culture and not the other way
around. For example, in Saudi Arabia, people have achieved this balance, as it
was quite clear that business was done in the evening rather than in the
morning. In Egypt, we still haven’t made that clear.”
One
observation that was surprising even to me came from Jan Celuch. He found it a
bit shocking that for some people, it was more important what people see and
think, rather than what they do in front of their God. “I have seen people
cheating in fasting, but hiding it and lying to others; just to look like they
are fasting properly. I did not get it, I thought that religious fasting was a
matter between the person and God, and not done to show off to others.”
Although this observation was not common among the people I talked to, I still
felt it was worth mentioning. Some other behavior noticed were the short tempers
of many people, especially smokers, the overwhelming traffic jams and the
increase in the number of accidents before the Iftar time.
After
Ramadan
Finally,
Dr Cole was surprised at the way most people went back to the same lifestyle
they had been leading before Ramadan, as if nothing had happened. “Those who
were drinking would start drinking again; people would stop praying and so
on.”
The
overall experience
As
a general note, it was very difficult for most of the foreigners to cope with
the new way of life. Nevertheless, most of them managed to adapt within a few
days and by the end of the month found the Ramadan experience a cultural
overdose--a true manifestation of the Islamic culture. Teo Iordache explains:
“At the beginning I felt a bit left out and annoyed, left out because all our
friends were spending time with their families and did not have time to meet.
Annoyed, especially at work as I was not able to finish any kind of project due
to the lack of energy and the very short period I could work with my Egyptian
colleagues. After the initial shock, I felt much better and more into the whole
event, as I had friends inviting me to share this celebration with them. I
fasted for several days myself, in order to try to understand how it feels. I
had a lot of questions in my mind which I shared with my Egyptian friends who
gave me a lot of insight and answered my questions”
Dr.
Abdallah Cole said, “Muslims take Ramadan as a fun month, a month for
celebration. I didn’t feel that people were suffering or being tortured as
opposed to Christians who would associate their fasting during Lent with the
notion of sacrifice, self-denial and experiencing the suffering that Jesus
Christ went through”
A
look into the self
I
would like all of us to stop for a minute after reading this and try to question
the way we behave during this holy month. I would like every one of us to use
this month as an opportunity to take a closer look into our own selves and try
to understand why we are doing the things we are doing. Is it because of
religion or is it the social habits that have been inherited from our ancestors
and have become an integral part of this month, just like fasting?
How
can we best maintain and develop the good habits in this month and perhaps keep
them for the rest of the year? Can we really stop using Ramadan as an excuse for
not getting the work done? Should the working hours and business times adapt to
Ramadan or should the latter adapt to them? Thousands of questions…and I hope
you will be able to find the answers within yourselves.
