A Way of Life
Jordan Journals is published by six women, four of whom are out of the country at the moment. It’s possible that their trips are related to the fact that we are now observing Ramadan. For readers who don’t know much about Islam, this is a holy month marked by fasting during daylight hours. This rigorous practice slows the pace of life in Jordan, and one might travel more conveniently when his routine schedule is put on hold. Since the onus of posting has been left to J and me, I thought I would write something about Ramadan.
It was Ramadan when I came to Jordan in 1959, so my first impressions of this country are uniquely bound up with it. We had spent a few days in Beirut and from there drove through Damascus enroute to Amman. In Beirut and Damascus I wasn’t aware of Ramadan at all. Restaurants were open; life hummed normally from what I could see. However, we arrived at Ramtha, Jordan’s border, just after sunset. The border guards barely noticed us since they were intent on eating. How clearly I remember the four guards sitting on low stools in the light of a kerosene lantern, hunched over a tray of food. As soon as they finished, they offered us a small glass of very dark, very sweet tea, and we drank together. (Drinking tea with border guards was another first for me as well.) After tea, they finished our papers and we continued on to Amman. For the rest of that first Ramadan I was repeatedly startled by the canon firings at sunset every day, when the fast ended, and again, one hour before sunup so people could eat before the day’s fasting began. Every year since then I have learned a little more about this holy month – the importance of special prayers, self sacrifice, and charity. The daily gathering for iftar, the meal that breaks the fast, must certainly strengthen love and caring in families.
There is nothing in my background that remotely compares with Ramadan. The religious observances that I know are not arduous, do not last long, and for the most part have been commercialized outrageously. For most of us in the West Christmas has changed from a strictly religious holy observance to a time marked by a frenzy of shopping and gift giving. Little children have fused Santa Claus’s arrival and the birth of Jesus into one happy event.
Since my husband is a Christian Arab, we do not fast, but we are caught up in the customs of the country nonetheless. I find it fascinating that a modern nation adheres to a month long religious practice. Ramadan is a way of life in Jordan, one that allows people to take time out and reflect on their spiritual life, if they so choose. I will always be a foreigner in this land, but I admire many customs here; Ramadan is foremost.
ASH
It was Ramadan when I came to Jordan in 1959, so my first impressions of this country are uniquely bound up with it. We had spent a few days in Beirut and from there drove through Damascus enroute to Amman. In Beirut and Damascus I wasn’t aware of Ramadan at all. Restaurants were open; life hummed normally from what I could see. However, we arrived at Ramtha, Jordan’s border, just after sunset. The border guards barely noticed us since they were intent on eating. How clearly I remember the four guards sitting on low stools in the light of a kerosene lantern, hunched over a tray of food. As soon as they finished, they offered us a small glass of very dark, very sweet tea, and we drank together. (Drinking tea with border guards was another first for me as well.) After tea, they finished our papers and we continued on to Amman. For the rest of that first Ramadan I was repeatedly startled by the canon firings at sunset every day, when the fast ended, and again, one hour before sunup so people could eat before the day’s fasting began. Every year since then I have learned a little more about this holy month – the importance of special prayers, self sacrifice, and charity. The daily gathering for iftar, the meal that breaks the fast, must certainly strengthen love and caring in families.
There is nothing in my background that remotely compares with Ramadan. The religious observances that I know are not arduous, do not last long, and for the most part have been commercialized outrageously. For most of us in the West Christmas has changed from a strictly religious holy observance to a time marked by a frenzy of shopping and gift giving. Little children have fused Santa Claus’s arrival and the birth of Jesus into one happy event.
Since my husband is a Christian Arab, we do not fast, but we are caught up in the customs of the country nonetheless. I find it fascinating that a modern nation adheres to a month long religious practice. Ramadan is a way of life in Jordan, one that allows people to take time out and reflect on their spiritual life, if they so choose. I will always be a foreigner in this land, but I admire many customs here; Ramadan is foremost.
ASH
posted by joladies at Saturday, October 07, 2006
1 Comments:
you are one of us and always will be dear jolady if i may say that, and thanks for the kind words. even though i have followed ur posts, this is the first time i respond. love ur shots too.
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