First off, Ramadan Kareem!
Despite my many trips to the Middle East, this is my first Ramadan. I'll definitely have more to say about it later, but suffice it to say that it just feels different than the rest of the year. Working hours are reduced and tremendous emphasis is placed on spending even more time with family, as well as volunteerism and spiritual reflection. People, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, are simply kinder and more patient. The difference is tangible.
By way of explaining it to my Christian friends back home, and if my Islamic friends will allow, I'll just quote Ebenezer Scrooge's nephew Fred when, talking about Christmas, he proposed, "There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say. Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anhything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!" And although I am not a Muslim, and paraphrasing Dickens, I think Ramadan has done me good, and I say God bless it. It's a lonely time for me simply because all of my Champlain friends are, well, at Champlain, and my Zayed friends have mostly left for the summer. Fortunately, my sister Lisa and nephew Garrett visited during the first few days of Ramadan, so I was able to have my own mini-versions of Iftar (the meal in evening that breaks the fast). I've devoted more time to reading, listening to music and quiet reflection - and thinking about what really matters in the world.
I'll almost certainly have more to say about it later, but let me throw in a couple more quick thoughts. When Americans think about Ramadan almost inevitably the first thing we think about is the concept of fasting. This is probably because we eat way too much, and the concept of any sort of self-sacrifice is sadly almost anathema to us. Yes, Muslims almost universally refrain from food, water or smoking during the daylight hours of Ramadan. Certainly, there are allowances made in cases of illness or old age. In my mind this is another one of those cases where the more secular mindset of Americans runs counter to the more secular worldview of much of the rest of the planet. Whereas as Americans we might view it as a case of having to pray five times a day or having to fast as compared to choosing to pray five times a day or choosing to fast. Obviously it is very difficult to fast, especially now when Ramadan has fallen in the middle of summer with temperatures routinely hitting 112 F (and a heat index in the upper 120s F). It is made more difficult by the length of the days, and I saw a report the other day where someone proposed that this was going to be the longest Ramadan in memory, factoring in the long days of mid-summer.
So, where does that leave non-Muslims living in an Islamic country during Ramadan? It is not as difficult as you might imagine, although there are definitely limitations and challenges. All restaurants and cafes are closed during daylight hours, so if you're planning a long day trip you have to take that into account (when was the last time you ever went to a mall without getting something to eat or drink?). The Emiratis are very serious about Ramadan and expect non-Muslims to show respect for their traditions by not eating or drinking or smoking in public during daylight hours. However, they have not followed the example of the Saudis who recently threatened any offending non-Muslim with instant deportation (a decision that drew very harsh criticism from the Muslims that I follow on twitter; paraphrasing my favorite tweet "wallah? this is what Ramadan is about?"). Essentially, the Emiratis just want you to be respectful and eat or drink or smoke in private, and will often set up what are called Non-Fasting Areas in work places to facilitate it. I have yet to see anyone called on it by any Emirati official. What I find interesting is that I've found myself quite irritated by my fellow westerners breaking these rules. The other day Lisa, Garrett and I went to the Mall of Dubai to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa (more on that later). All of the restaurants were closed, but for some reason the Subway in the mall was open and it was selling sandwiches to go, which I suppose was the mall's way to dealing with westerners who were just not used to the concept of fasing - or God forbid were just so clueless that they didn't know it was Ramadan. Both my nephew and I were horrified when some Americans just grabbed their sandwiches and went outside the door and began stuffing their faces as if they had just wandered in after forty days in the desert. Garrett had a very interesting response to Ramadan and fasting. At the mall he walked out of the restroom and, without thinking, grabbed a quick drink from the water fountain. He realized what he had done immediately. No Muslim said anything to him, but he was mortified by what he had done and felt sincerely bad. Essentially, he had called himself on it. The next day he actually fasted all day to make amends; his own decision. I had to admire him, although his mother and I had to put up with his late afternoon grouchyness.
Despite my many trips to the Middle East, this is my first Ramadan. I'll definitely have more to say about it later, but suffice it to say that it just feels different than the rest of the year. Working hours are reduced and tremendous emphasis is placed on spending even more time with family, as well as volunteerism and spiritual reflection. People, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, are simply kinder and more patient. The difference is tangible.
By way of explaining it to my Christian friends back home, and if my Islamic friends will allow, I'll just quote Ebenezer Scrooge's nephew Fred when, talking about Christmas, he proposed, "There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say. Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anhything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!" And although I am not a Muslim, and paraphrasing Dickens, I think Ramadan has done me good, and I say God bless it. It's a lonely time for me simply because all of my Champlain friends are, well, at Champlain, and my Zayed friends have mostly left for the summer. Fortunately, my sister Lisa and nephew Garrett visited during the first few days of Ramadan, so I was able to have my own mini-versions of Iftar (the meal in evening that breaks the fast). I've devoted more time to reading, listening to music and quiet reflection - and thinking about what really matters in the world.
I'll almost certainly have more to say about it later, but let me throw in a couple more quick thoughts. When Americans think about Ramadan almost inevitably the first thing we think about is the concept of fasting. This is probably because we eat way too much, and the concept of any sort of self-sacrifice is sadly almost anathema to us. Yes, Muslims almost universally refrain from food, water or smoking during the daylight hours of Ramadan. Certainly, there are allowances made in cases of illness or old age. In my mind this is another one of those cases where the more secular mindset of Americans runs counter to the more secular worldview of much of the rest of the planet. Whereas as Americans we might view it as a case of having to pray five times a day or having to fast as compared to choosing to pray five times a day or choosing to fast. Obviously it is very difficult to fast, especially now when Ramadan has fallen in the middle of summer with temperatures routinely hitting 112 F (and a heat index in the upper 120s F). It is made more difficult by the length of the days, and I saw a report the other day where someone proposed that this was going to be the longest Ramadan in memory, factoring in the long days of mid-summer.
So, where does that leave non-Muslims living in an Islamic country during Ramadan? It is not as difficult as you might imagine, although there are definitely limitations and challenges. All restaurants and cafes are closed during daylight hours, so if you're planning a long day trip you have to take that into account (when was the last time you ever went to a mall without getting something to eat or drink?). The Emiratis are very serious about Ramadan and expect non-Muslims to show respect for their traditions by not eating or drinking or smoking in public during daylight hours. However, they have not followed the example of the Saudis who recently threatened any offending non-Muslim with instant deportation (a decision that drew very harsh criticism from the Muslims that I follow on twitter; paraphrasing my favorite tweet "wallah? this is what Ramadan is about?"). Essentially, the Emiratis just want you to be respectful and eat or drink or smoke in private, and will often set up what are called Non-Fasting Areas in work places to facilitate it. I have yet to see anyone called on it by any Emirati official. What I find interesting is that I've found myself quite irritated by my fellow westerners breaking these rules. The other day Lisa, Garrett and I went to the Mall of Dubai to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa (more on that later). All of the restaurants were closed, but for some reason the Subway in the mall was open and it was selling sandwiches to go, which I suppose was the mall's way to dealing with westerners who were just not used to the concept of fasing - or God forbid were just so clueless that they didn't know it was Ramadan. Both my nephew and I were horrified when some Americans just grabbed their sandwiches and went outside the door and began stuffing their faces as if they had just wandered in after forty days in the desert. Garrett had a very interesting response to Ramadan and fasting. At the mall he walked out of the restroom and, without thinking, grabbed a quick drink from the water fountain. He realized what he had done immediately. No Muslim said anything to him, but he was mortified by what he had done and felt sincerely bad. Essentially, he had called himself on it. The next day he actually fasted all day to make amends; his own decision. I had to admire him, although his mother and I had to put up with his late afternoon grouchyness.
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| The common room where I live. In the background you can see the curtains that were put up during Ramadan. The folks who stay here are mainly ex-pats so we have our normal eating hours in the morning and evening, but we do so in private. |
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