Ramadan in the city

By Amina Elbendary
Monday 27 November/1 Ramadan:
Ramadan is a month of miracles -- of the Qur'an -- but also of memories. There are rituals associated with the month, rituals that recall childhood memories. Today, I took the fanous my mother bought us many years ago out of its plastic wrappings and placed it in its usual corner in the living room.
An iftar for the extended family on the first night of Ramadan is a tradition. My aunt prepares for it weeks ahead. She has a traditional menu that is flexible enough to allow for special requests every year. We voted for stuffed pigeons this time around and insisted on her kunafa. This family atmosphere, this getting together around the dinner table that is seldom -- if ever -- repeated throughout the year, is very much a part of our Ramadan. There are cousins and relatives one only meets on such occasions, and these iftars are milestones of sorts. You see how far the children have grown: which boys have started to shave, the girls who are now wearing make-up. You meet new members who have joined the family since the last Ramadan. But you also feel the loss of those who are now gone even more painfully than on other days -- the empty seat at the dinner table a reminder of the sweet memories of other iftars.
Friday 1 December/5 Ramadan:
Another family iftar tonight. Almost all the talk was of television. The series Awan Al-Ward is causing quite a stir. I have to admit it's my favourite so far. I suppose I like it most because it's controversial and daring, different than the regular TV series. I seem to be (typically) in the minority, however. Its frankness and liberalism shock many. It has monopolised not only dinner-table conversation but work gossip as well. Several of my colleagues and cousins are offended by the frankness of the dialogue, not only the issues discussed (ranging from inter-sectarian marriage to virginity and pre-marital sex) but the way these issues are discussed. It's as if the writer is intent on breaking all taboos, one of my colleagues remarks. Copts on Egyptian TV has become a trendy topic in recent years -- a direct response to charges of religious discrimination and sectarian strife. What's new with Awan Al-Ward is that this time there's inter-marriage involved. You can't quite tell where the Coptic family ends and the Muslim one begins. And this is the point that has made many viewers visibly uncomfortable. Co-existence is one thing, inter-marriage quite another. Other than that the thrill is gone out of Ramadan TV. Thank goodness they cancelled the fawazir.
Is it my imagination or are there fewer mawa'id Al-Rahman (charity-sponsored iftars, literally: tables of the Merciful) this year? Is the liquidity crunch, the economic crisis, taking a toll on traditional charity?
Thursday 7 December/11 Ramadan:
Today I decided to do something slightly more creative post-iftar than eat, gossip on the telephone and generally behave like a couch potato in front of the TV. After consulting the listings sections of our prestigious weekly newspaper, I decided to visit Gallery Salama in Mohandessin which is hosting its annual collective exhibition -- Ramadaniat. I wasn't quite sure what to expect of Ramadaniat: perhaps spiritually inspired paintings with a Sufi dimension? What I encountered was less earth shattering, less deep, yet more down to earth and quite in sync with the dominant image of Ramadan. It centres around what I might tentatively call "popular Ramadan." Faris Ahmed Faris's paintings really capture the movement of the month, especially one that includes children dancing around with their fawanis and one that includes the echoes of whirling dervishes. You can almost hear the Qur'an in the background. There was an allusion to religious tolerance here, too, or at least to the multi-layered cultural legacy that is the heritage of any modern Egyptian, a heritage we are -- unfortunately -- all too often alienated from. In this Ramadan exhibition Faris included a triptych resembling an altarpiece. The carving on the wooden frame includes traditional Egyptian floral and geometric motifs topped by three triangular pyramids. The angelic ecstatic face in the central panel is androgynous while the right panel depicts a little girl and the left a potted plant...
Ibrahim Shaker's pieces I found confusing. They looked like colourful cartoons of the city to me. Predominantly red and orange they depict decorated streets, games in public squares, children flying kites, minarets rising in the distance, laundry hanging on balconies. The odd thing was that all the faces were blank, pink ovals devoid of features. Is this a parody of life in contemporary Cairo or what?
Having gone home I couldn't resist getting my daily share of religious correctness from Awan Al-Ward. It is starting to disappoint me, I'm afraid. It seems it's too much to expect a television series to subvert inherent cultural biases. Madame Rose just declared that her marriage to a Muslim was a mistake, after all... So much for popular entertainment provoking new modes of thought.
Channel surfing, I came across a live coverage from Minya of an evening of chanting by Sheikh Yasin El-Tuhami. It was so beautiful. El-Tuhami is extremely popular all over Egypt and this time the mosque was spilling over with young and middle-aged men swaying and dancing to his chanting of verses of poetry by famous Sufi masters. These Sa'idi men hardly live up to their austere, hard reputations. I MUST make it a point to be there when El-Tuhami comes to Beit Al-Harrawi later this month. Interestingly, however, this Minya evening was attended by representatives of the Coptic Church, another testimony to religious co-existence in Egypt but ultimately also a testimony to how ingrained popular religion is in the Egyptian psyche.
Friday 8 December/12 Ramadan:
Christmas is coming. Poinsettas are starting to colonise the street corners and flower kiosks. I bought us a leafy one today and placed it right next to the dining room window -- just as mummy used to do. It's about time to begin Christmas shopping.
Saturday 9 December/13 Ramadan:
A hip aspect of Ramadan are the cultural events at Beit Al-Harrawi and Zeinab Khatoun, historic houses that have been restored and are now attached to the Cultural Fund. I've always wanted to attend something there and I finally got the chance this evening. Two of my friends were going and I begged to come along. Getting there (and actually finding a parking space beside Al-Azhar mosque) wasn't as difficult as I had anticipated. On foot, we meandered through the rain-muddied narrow winding streets with their little cafés, shops and old buildings. The area around the houses was quiet and serene. We sat outside for a while before the performance started, sipping tea with mint, my friends smoking shishas.
The Egyptian group Rahala was playing. They promote their music as Egyptian jazz. I couldn't really get the jazz, to tell you the truth. The first song they played seemed to me a modernisation of traditional chanting, and a noisier adaptation at that. I was quite surprised and put off, frankly, when their nay player-come-singer Hani El-Sayed took out a little piece of paper while reciting the 99 names of God. Following the first two pieces, the qanoun player, Hosam Shaker, smugly informed the audience that the piece we had just listened to was titled "You are my lover," in which "with our instruments we talk to God, in our own way." Shouldn't they at least remember the Beloved's name(s)? And why the smug smile while making that declaration? Isn't this spiritual striving what a lot of art is about anyway?
The song that garnered the most applause was one obviously in reaction to the Intifada. That too was imbued with religious tolerance and correctness -- "God is peace" --but also with a sense of militancy and references to war.
Monday 11 December/15 Ramadan:
Attended AUC Press's annual Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature Award ceremony (see opposite) -- another one of those cross-cultural occasions that are so much a part of this city. The Ramadan spirit at AUC was seemingly confined to the karkadeh and qamareddin served at the reception. But the award is also about tolerance, which seems to be the theme of this Ramadan/December. Generally conceived as a vehicle for promoting Western culture in Egypt and the Middle East, AUC is also trying, through its press and this award, to promote Arab culture abroad by translating major works of Arabic literature into English.
Ramadan is halfway through already. I have to admit that fasting in winter isn't that difficult. My childhood memories are of summer Ramadans, of infinitely long days and continual celebration and festivities. This year I feel something heavy in the air and something missing. Is it the economic crisis that has dampened people's spirits? Or the heart-wrenching calamities of the Intifada?
It's time to start planning for the Eid and finish Christmas shopping.
Ramadan Karim and Merry Christmas!
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