Cosmopolitan Ramadan in UAE

Khadijah Al-Zegheimi, IOL Correspondent

DUBAI, October 6, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosts a mosaic of foreign workers from across the Arab and Muslim worlds. With the advent of Ramadan, each community lives its own traditions, drawing a colorful cosmopolitan image of Ramadan in the Gulf Arab state.

The picture includes various parts, ranging from the Sudanese habit of collective meals for neighbors in Ramadan, to Maghreb traditions of distributing food to passersby and Palestinian tradition of women gatherings for Tarawih Prayers.

Omm Seif, a Sudanese who has been living in the UAE for long, told IOL that one of the Sudanese traditions is that “nobody has iftar (breakfast at dusk during Ramadan) alone.”

“Neighbors come together and they have a potluck. Men and children eat in the street or while they are in Noble Qur'an reciting circles, while women gather in one house for iftar.

"After Tarawih Prayers, family and friends usually have a dinner gathering and they might stay up all night till dawn.”

The Sudanese lady added these traditions were brought to the UAE through Sudanese workers keen on observing the traditions they have left back home.

Catering

Omm Montaser, from Tunisia, gives another Ramadan picture from the Arab Maghreb, saying welcoming Ramadan in her country takes the form of catering food and inviting people for iftar or distributing food among the poor or passersby, who usually are villagers coming to work in the city.

She highlighted that such traditions are most noticed during some Ramadan special nights such as the 15th and 27th.

Omm Montaser emphasized that she and other Tunisians in the UAE are keen on “preserving these traditions especially in those two nights”. Still she added she does not experience the same thrill she feels back home, since not many people take part in highlighting the traditions.

Palestinian Omm Mohamed highlighted a tradition that is not doing with food, but rather spoke of female gatherings that used to take place in one of the houses in to perform collective Tarawih Prayers.

“These gatherings are called Jam’a (meetings) where women perform the Tarawih Prayer in the house, led by the most religiously educated woman among the group."

The Palestinian lady emphasized that the tradition was taken to the UAE, just like other communities took along their own habits.

Hala from Syria added that female gatherings for prayers during Ramadan nights are also common in her native country, emphasizing her keenness on observing the religious tradition, along with other Syrian and Palestinian women in the neighborhood.

But she said sometimes these gatherings would include also Tahajjud (late night prayers that are not mandatory).

“In this case, ‘Jam’a’ includes sahur, followed by Fajr (dawn) prayer, after which all women leave to their house as sun rises."

But Hala regrets the fact that time constraints make it hard to hold such gatherings in the UAE as frequently as the case was back in Syria.

“In the UAE, we do not hold these gatherings. We only perform Tarawih and Tahajjud Prayers in one of the mosques,” she explained.

Asian Muslims

Ramadan traditions projected in the UAE are not limited only to Arabs. Indian and Pakistani traditions also find their way to the overall cosmopolitan picture, with the presence of large communities from both countries.

Seema Nasim from Pakistan prefers not to serve many dishes in Ramadan, but she still sends out some food for her neighbors, especially her son’s bachelor friends.

“In Ramadan, we care more for worship, donate sadaqat and gather for du`aa’,” she said.

Abu Bakr from India believes Ramadan is a chance for more religious and spiritual performance, adding being in the UAE adds to the merits of the holy month.

“Mosques in my town in India are very few. Therefore, many people gather in houses in Ramadan to pray in jama`ah (collective prayers), especially the Tarawih Prayer, whereas there are so many mosques here (in the UAE), thank God.

“In Ramadan, good deeds increase, since religious sermons augment and some are even delivered in Indian in some mosques,” he added.

Foreigners in the UAE make about 85% of the approximately 4 million total population. This is one of the highest rates in the Gulf countries.

Indians represent the vast majority of foreigners.

The economy of the UAE depends heavily on cheap foreign workers from South Asian and Middle Eastern countries.