The Holy Month Arriveth
You know that jolt of panic you feel when you walk into an American drugstore in early November and see cheap Santa hats and gaudy tinsel lining the seasonal aisle?
That feeling where you shake your head in disbelief and think to yourself, “No, I’m not ready for this, it can’t be happening so soon… wasn’t it just the holiday season a few months ago? How can it be here again already?!”
Well, that was how I felt today when Alex came home with a couple bags of groceries from Spinney’s, our local supermarket…
Ramadan Kareem (“Generous Ramadan”) from Spinneys!
… and I realized, holy cow (language censored in deference to the propriety demanded by the impending holy month), we’re 11-ish days (give or take a day based on when exactly the imams in Mecca see the moon) out from Ramadan!
The only difference between this and your typical CVS holiday-aisle revelation is that instead of thinking “Need to buy presents! Must bake cookies! Have to hang ornaments!” as you might for Christmas, my mind immediately started racing through the classic non-Muslim-living-in-the-Muslim-world pre-Ramadan check-list: “Need to stockpile wine before the booze stores close for the month! Must throw away all my gum so I don’t accidentally chew it during the day and get arrested! Have to remember to stash granola bars in my purse for furtive, illegal midday meals while everyone else is fasting!”
Sigh. No, I jest - Ramadan is a beautiful time of spiritual reawakening, communal generosity, and family togetherness for those who celebrate it. And for those who don’t, the legal compunction to abide by all the strictures of the holy month (no public eating or drinking during daylight hours, no swearing, no loud music, no looking at people funny, etc. etc. etc.) makes for, well… an interesting thirty days.
Anyway, there’s something reassuring about realizing that the commercialization of religious holidays is not just a Western phenomenon… so I join Spinneys (and every other major brand in the region) in wishing my Muslim readers Ramadan Kareem just a few short days in advance.
‘Tis the season!
(And yes, I do track holiday advertisements on Spinney’s bags… why do you ask?)
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foronemoreinch said:
WOW! Ramadan in Dubai sounds tough. It’s easier here in Islamabad. I don’t fast, and while I don’t eat in public due to respect for those fasting, it’s not illegal.
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cupofchi said:
The granola bars sound key. That would be sooo difficult for me because I eat all the time.
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hershapeinthedoorway said:
oh girl, good luck. I’d get a few cases of wine if I were you.
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gubbiofarabia posted this
The (mis)adventures of an All-American girl in the Middle East.
