Amira El-Noshokaty asks intellectual Galal Amin on how social changes have affected the holy month and Egyptians There is no doubt that the traditional connotations of the holy month of Ramadan have changed drastically in Egypt over recent decades. Television commercials, religious programmes, extreme measures in practicing religious rituals, as well as extravagant celebrations and decorations have transformed the month of piety into that of trade and materialism. "This is due to two major factors," explained Galal Amin, professor of economics at the American University in Cairo, and a prominent intellectual and author of bestsellers. "The two major factors that differentiate between Ramadan now and pre-open door policy of the mid-1970s are the spread of television as well as the market culture." Amin's publications include Whatever Happened to the Egyptians and Whatever Else Happened to the Egyptians, featuring the socio-economic changes of Egyptian society throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. He noted that while television was present in Egypt in the early 1960s, its role and presence grew significantly. "Television and the market culture complement one another since television is the means to promote the market culture and all its commodities," added Amin. Although Ramadan is supposed to be a spiritual month, television commercials are not exactly rid of hypocrisy. "When a person acts pious simply to sell you some soap for example, it's more of a con act, especially when it comes in the name of religion," according to Amin. He further explained that a flourishing market culture in itself is a bad influence since it transforms everything that is beautiful into a tradable commodity, including human beings. But the market culture is a global phenomenon that was first monitored by historian and economist Karl Polanyi in his book The Great Transformation, in which Polanyi recorded the huge transformation that happened in Europe over the past three centuries. Polanyi highlighted the growth of the global market, where almost everything is transformed into a commodity and hence becomes for sale. Such a materialistic culture took centuries to dominate Europe, and it took Egypt by surprise during open-door to the West. Unsurprisingly, television became one of the tools of the market culture. "There is a vast difference between what I used to watch on television in the 1960s in England and now," noted Amin. "But the fact remains that the horrific consequences are usually more obvious in Third World countries, where social tension is aroused as a result of marketing on television commodities that are unattainable to the masses watching." On another level, the exaggeration of piety and religious practice including praying all night, wearing the veil only in Ramadan, mawa'ed al-rahman (charity banquets) and religious programmes which answer mostly trivial questions by the audience, have a socio-economic interpretation according to Amin. "Being veiled only in Ramadan is an impossible attempt to adjust between two incompatible realms," he insisted. "It is a sign of the social tension and distraction between what their families preach and what the outside world is telling them." Thus the astonishing phenomena of wearing the veil in Ramadan only, or being veiled and sitting in dark, obscure places with your boyfriends. "This is a reflection of a tense society created by those who are partially hypocritical and partially helpless seeking social approval," believes Amin. This is all attributed to the culture of the middle class. Interestingly, Amin argued, the middle class is not only about annual income, but more about comparing oneself with another and wanting to upgrade your status, or at least fake it. Unlike the street sweeper who is privileged in that he has no doubt how people would perceive him, the middle class is still increasing because of changes in Egypt over the past 40 or 50 years. These socio-economic and political conditions have changed people's aspirations as well as their financial conditions, he said. "A gardener definitely belonged to the lower class in the 1950s; in the mid-1960s his children attained a college education; by the mid-1970s they were employed; soon, two of them traveled to the Gulf region and bought a car," explained Amin. "How would you define them?" The socio-economic expert tracks the changes that altered society and the effects they had on the average Egyptian. Before the revolution social status was stable, but it shifted between the 1950s and 1970s because of free education, the agrarian law and jobs in national industry during the Nasser era. Between the 1970s and 1990s emigration rates were high and numerous foreign investment projects employed many Egyptians, and tourism increased the sphere of the middle class. Amin also explained how since 1985 many hopes were shattered with the decline in emigration and the rise of unemployment. At the same time, the government washed its hands from providing jobs which led to the extreme suffering of the middle class. A problem, he argued, that exists and persists. The middle class, as well as the nouveaux riches, became the source of social hypocrisy leading to this religious pretence. For example, the upper middle class would travel for umra (smaller pilgrimage to Mecca) every year and those who cannot afford it would exaggerate religious practices to get God's approval, and mostly to feel unique and stand out. "Some religious television programmes have also become a middle class notion that is directly related to shallow education, which allows people to take religion at face value by oversimplifying and overlooking its depth and truth," he argued. Amin remembers Ramadan as being "marvelous" before the open door policy. "People were very forgiving if someone wasn't fasting and believed he must have a very good reason for doing so," he recounted. "There wasn't this showing off of piety; devoted people would practice their religious rituals quietly and mostly alone and there was no exaggeration. We never used to see the zebiba [dark skin on the forehead of men denoting their kneeling in prayer] and middle class women, though religious, were not predominantly veiled. The veil was limited to the domestic help and the villagers." As for the spread of mawa'ed al-rahman, it is mostly a result of the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, according to Amin. "In the old days, landlords were way too rich than the rest of the population, but then again they lived far away in their big castles," stated Amin. "However, today they are living next to the poor, driving their expensive cars and showing off their wealth, which became a frustrating part of ordinary and poor people's daily life." One interpretation for mawa'ed al-rahman, according to Amin, is either to make the poor quiet or attain God's forgiveness for their astronomical profits. Last but not least, Amin pointed out, the Ramadan lantern was limited to rural and poorer areas, but today five star hotels commission huge Ramadan lanterns that are equivalent to the Christmas tree, which help celebrate and market their services during the holy month. One could argue that we have high poverty rates versus the expensive commodities that are flooding our lives all year long, but the economic perspective has a very logical explanation. On the one hand, the large population, despite the high percentage of poor, still has a sizeable buying power. "Take India, for example, the number of Indians who could afford to buy a Mercedes are more than those in Germany because India outnumbers them in sheer population size," he explained. The same applies to Egypt, where marketing studies find out exactly where and what to sell. So has the joy of Ramadan disappeared completely over the past few decades? "I believe that it has changed and became more noisy," responded Amin. "Perhaps each era has its joy; but unfortunately today even joy has a price, back then it did not."
