Editor's
Note:
The
following item of interest is the fourth selection from a series
entitled, "Ramadan Diary." SUSRIS will present part five
in the coming days. This article originally appeared in The
Christian Science Monitor.
[Click
here to read other articles in this series, "Enough
Faith to Fast?"; "Enough
Faith to Fast?"; "Ramadan
Diary: A Month of Fast and Feast"; and "Halfway
through the Ramadan Fast"]
Waging
'Inner Jihad' on an Empty Stomach
As Ramadan enters its final days, a Muslim reporter goes to Mecca
and Medina and grapples with the double standard for female
pilgrims
By Faiza Saleh Ambah
After struggling with my first fast during Ramadan, Islam's
holiest month, my sister Reem arrives from overseas, and we decide
to visit both Mecca and Medina, in spite of the fact that close to
2 million Muslims are expected in the holy cities this month. 
We arrive in Medina Tuesday morning before dawn prayers. Pilgrims
are walking down the dark streets, silently and in ever-increasing
numbers as they approach the Prophet's mosque as if hypnotized.
Long crenelated minarets pierce the skies. The mosque, brightly
lit from within, glows in the night. I can make out the singular
green dome which marks the area where the Prophet is buried.
Later in the day, before the sunset prayers end the daily fast, my
cousin, already in Medina, and I walk to the mosque. It's packed
with women sitting in line on the red carpets praying, sleeping,
reading the Koran, or just chatting. We squeeze in between a group
of Tunisian pilgrims. My cousin takes out a prayer book, and we
huddle together and recite out loud, "God, let there be light
in my heart, light in my hearing, light in my tongue, light before
me, light behind me."
Someone taps me on the shoulder and I look up. An elderly woman
speaks in Urdu. I smile and shake my head. A few minutes later,
she spreads out a plastic sheet. An Egyptian woman hands out free
cups of yogurt while a Moroccan pilgrim on the other side hands
out whole wheat brioche. It's considered a blessing to feed
someone fasting during Ramadan and by the time the call to prayer
rings out, we have water, dates, and bread in front of us.
We recite the prayer for the occasion, "God, for you I have
fasted and on your bounty I break my fast." We dig in. At the
end of sunset prayers, the imam asks the congregation to perform
more prayers for the soul of someone who's being prayed over at
the mosque that day. "We're going to pray for a
stranger?" I ask my cousin.
"You recite the opening verse of the Koran, and then you pray
for his forgiveness."
"What if he was a bad person?"
"He was a Muslim," she says by way of explanation.
I want to visit the prophet's burial chamber and the Rawda,
described by the prophet as a small stretch of heaven on earth
beside his pulpit, but my cousin warns me there are long queues
because women are allowed access to those sites for only a limited
period. After two days in Medina, she'd been only once, while her
husband had gone more than three times. "They act as if God
is for men only, and it's not," she says.
Her words remind me of my visit to the Grand Mosque in Mecca last
Saturday. My sister and I had gone for a minor pilgrimage, or umra,
which during Ramadan is equal to, but does not take place of the
hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam. While praying on the
marble skirt that surrounds the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure
in the direction of which the world's Muslims turn in their five
daily prayers, a group of women veiled in black from head to toe
and sporting mosque badges stood in front of us and clapped their
hands. "Pilgrim, pilgrim, over there, over there."
With my head on the cold marble floor, I was remembering the words
of a Muslim preacher, "You are never as close to God as when
you have your forehead on the floor in supplication."
One of the women stands in front me and claps her hands again to
get my attention. "Pilgrim, over there," she orders.
I stand up. "Why?"
"No women allowed here."
"Why not?" I ask, with an edge to my voice. "Who
said?"
"Orders."
One of her colleagues comes to me. "Don't break your fast by
fighting. Sit by the stairs, and I'll try to find you a place on
the skirt," she tells me. I'm not mollified.
What has struck me most with fasting is that the challenge has
been neither thirst nor hunger, but trying to make it through the
day in the Ramadan spirit; without getting angry, getting into
arguments, or thinking bad thoughts.
"This is inner jihad," says my other sister, Taghreed.
"You struggle with yourself. You practice reining in your
negative impulses during this month and hopefully it stays with
you for the rest of the year."
Late Wednesday, we debate whether to eat at home or go out for
suhoor, our last meal of the evening, when Reem walks into the
living room. "It's the first night of the last 10 days of
Ramadan. Tonight could be the Night of Power. Instead of going to
Caspar & Gambini's [restaurant], it's better to stay home and
pray."
|
The night of power was when the first verses of the Koran
were revealed to the prophet Muhammad, and on this night,
according to the Koran, "Therein come down the angels
and the spirit by God's permission on every errand."
Nobody knows what day in Ramadan coincides with the Night
of Power, only that it is during the last 10 days.
According to his biographers, the prophet said, "One
who spends the Night of Power in worship, one's motive
being faith and devotion, will have all one's previous
sins forgiven."
|
Chastised,
we decide to stay home. We eat a light meal of fava beans and feta
cheese with tomatoes, then everyone heads out. Just in case
tonight coincides with the Night of Power I make a prayer.
"Peace of mind, God," I pray. "Peace of mind."
When is
Eid al-Fitr in 2008?
Eid al-Fitr in 2008 is on Tuesday, the 30th of September.
Based on sightability in North America, in 2008 Eid al-Fitr will
start in North America a day later - on Wednesday, the 1st of
October.
Note that in the Muslim calander, a holiday begins on the sunset
of the previous day, so observing Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr
on the sunset of Monday, the 29th of September.
Source: http://www.when-is.com/eid-al-fitr-2008.asp
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