Yesterday evening, around 20h30 a canon - probably in Taourirt - shot. The imam saw the first very thin part of the new moon, and the Holy Month, the Month of the Fast, just started, for 28 or 29 days. It depends on the instant when the next new moon will be seen… And if it is impossible, for any reason, like heavy clouds and storms, to see it, in any case, Ramadan won’t last more than 30 days.
Every morning, one hour before sunrise, the canon will shoot again, to warn the believers, for some of them it’s the last meal before breakfast after sunset. The time to eat arrives when the iman cannot distinguish anymore a thin white thread from a thin black one. When the call to the evening prayer is heard arrives the breakfast, with whey, dates, eggs, msamen (a thin pancake eaten with melted butter, honey or jam), many little cakes, bread cooked with meat fat, or with onions, some soup (harira), tea or coffee. Later on, around midnight, the second meal, nourishing and abundant, you always cook too much to be able to share with your neighbours, and give to the poor.
Ramadan is indeed the month of Charity, the time of the year where nobody should be hungry. When you invite someone to eat with you, it is in the spirit of Allah, and your house becomes a little be holy, like a small mosque. That is so understandable, Ramadan’s discipline is hard enough, if on top of that one must be hungry in the evening, it becomes impossible !
During the whole day it is forbidden to eat and drink. To smoke also, and one must avoid perfume and all the pleasures, including love and fondling. As well as thinking about it, like always in Islam, intention is as important as the observance. The man who would fast the whole day but would think also about his evening meal would not be true to the spirit of Ramadan. Neither someone who would get nervous or angry. He would have to replace his missed fasting day by another one, after the end of Ramadan.. It is so hard to be hungry and thirsty all day long, in the heat (yesterday was around 30°), and to remain patient and quiet !
Several penances are possible when one does not follow Ramadan. When this is purely by mistake, for example a drop of water drunk without intention when one refreshes himself (at least you can water yourself to get a little bit cooler), one has just to replace the day by an extra one at the end of the month. If someone can’t resist and eat or drink one day, the penance is harder… either to fast another 30 days, or nourish one meal for 60 poor people.
Sick ones, women pregnant, breast-feeding or bleeding, and people travelling far away (more than 80 kilometres) are allowed not to follow Ramadan (but they can fast if the wish so). They will have to “pay back” later the missed days, whether a few of the whole month.
And many Muslims also decide to extend the month with 6 extra days.
Labels: moussem, Ouarzazate, Ramadan
