Mohammad Jabbari: Memories of Ramadan
by Mohammad Jabbari
Chair, Sonoma County United in Kindness
Member, Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California
There are two major events in our Iranian calendar; one is the festive celebration of the New Year, the first day of spring, and the other is the spiritual month of Ramadan.
As a child, New Year meant festivities, eating lots of cookies, visiting family and receiving gifts. However, Ramadan held religious importance and was a rite of passage to adulthood, while offering rituals, discipline, festivities and enlightenment.
Ramadan is a month of purification of soul and body. It is 30 days of fasting from pre-dawn to sunset, rain or shine, summer or winter. Muslim months rotate through the seasons based on the lunar calendar. Each family starts preparations a few weeks in advance by making extra prayers, cleaning house, and even fasting a few days.
The way we fast is to get up before the dawn to eat something and then abstain from eating, drinking and smoking till sunset. We challenge ourselves to control our thoughts, actions, speech and desires. As a child, the changes were noticeable. Restaurants and coffee shops were closed during the day and eating in public was shunned. The whole city felt different. I could hear mosques blaring Quranic recitation, and radio and TV offered special spiritual programs.
By age 10, I was ready to be a part of the adult world and wanted to fast. I insisted my mother wake me to eat early, but the days were long and my parents would tell me to fast until noon, eat lunch, and then fast from noon to sunset. At school we kids would be proud that we were not eating as usual.
As sunset got close, bakeries would open to prepare special breads in huge ovens with open flames -- breads with sesame seeds and sweet breads, too. Confectionery shops baked sweets and candies only offered in Ramadan. People always seemed to be in a rush close to sunset, getting home with their hands full of goodies for the evening. Radios broadcast prayers and people would pack mosques every evening. Kids were highly respected for their attempt to fast, and special care was given to make sure they ate well at the breaking fast dinner.
Ramadan is a time to pay visit to relatives, friends and people who are alone. Our family invited hungry people to break fast with us, an honor to feed the hungry. One chilled snowy Ramadan night I remember walking on crunchy snow coming back from visiting family members at midnight. The street seemed full of life at that time of the night.
The icing on the cake for the month of Ramadan is the last day. This is the day called Eid Al Fitr, when Muslims go to places of worship and celebrate having adhered to a full month of fasting. It is a very festive day which starts with a prayer service and sermons and finishes with lots of good eating, laughing and paying charity for the needy.
I learned important lessons as a child about relating to hungry and needy people, keeping self control of my wants and desires, and am still learning and struggling to become a better person, which I consider a never-ending process.
