Ramadan Libyan Style!
*I wrote this in 2010.....
Ramadan is supposedly the month of forgiveness, good deeds, prayers, soul searching, reciting our beloved Koran ,feeling the hunger of the poor when fasting…
But in Libya, it is a completely different story! It saddens me that when I see crowds of people who shop for an enormous amount of food which will then go to waste due to fasting thus cooking more than required.,Household items are bought; from carpets to kitchenware, ovens, refrigerators.
It is all a show of copy cat functions at its best. Neighbors, family, relatives distance ones and near, all speak the same lingua that of an imaginary checklist in which the more checked items the more experienced and respectful a person will be judged and valued.
This is a Libyan DNA issue. It’s in our people’s blood and it gets worse come Ramadan every year.
The fasting month should also be one to feel the need of the hungry and upon breaking the fast consume little food so as to concentrate the prayers not feeling bloated with a look of being 7 months pregnant. This is the case for the average Libyan woman or man in general.
Food is the main topic of the day. All that is shared is the food. Neighbors share. Food is placed at nearly all mosques for the poor and needy to have great food to enjoy, here again also goes to waste due to lack of organisation.
I went shopping and told a friend who said I was “brave”,in doing so,this the latter was what I experienced and interested me, that of something I’d never seen before due to the fact of having no idea where all these people had derived from. Most were Libyans obviously. So I’d chat some up just out of curiosity where they were from as their faces were by no chance familiar. Sure enough I was correct. They came from the outskirts of Tripoli – from as far as Zuara.
So the first part of Ramadan’s mainly focus is the food, new recipes are experienced from the famous “Fatafeet Chanel “being the latest craze in town! Even at the Taraweeh Prayers recipes are exchanged between a prayer and another. At times the imam would have to shout out to the women to plainly be “be quiet”.
Every time I’d want to go to the mosque for the prayers to find myself starting to never go back again the cause being :the recipes and chit chat being whispered from woman to woman. This upsets me causing me to lose concentration thus alternation my focus on what is being gossiped or criticized!
Many young ladies go the mosques during the holy month of Ramadan to be seen and asked for. The mother isn’t approached, only the daughter is; if she fits the groom’s future wife which is usually white and tall, to which I find sickening as the bride is looked upon as a fridge!
Such mentalities need to be changed for us to become more organized and literate of what is expectations we are to have not only as Muslims but as decent open minded humans who value life and what is given us for appreciation to take place.
The last days of Ramadan are spent with the buying (yes, buying again) of the “Eid” clothes. Now we switch to the “shopping of clothes revolt”. A revolt it is if you could see what families go through to get the right outfit for all members of their family.The screaming kids with their no end tantrums who should be in bed as its way past their bedtimes! Libyans just love crowds and starring (fanassing).The more crowded the better .
Pushing ,pulling and grabbing everything in sight..
True enjoyment is derived from having spent so much time for specific good/foods in question.
When my kids were young I’d always organize myself so I’d not need to buy any clothes in Ramadan as I’d have made due with buying 3 – 6 months prior to the holy month.
Creativity what is that? There’s just no place for it for we are copy cats of one another – nothing more, nothing less.
With this last note I end and please dear reader ,do not take my post personally for I am a true Libyan who criticizes positively for better awareness of this crazy attitude of ours.
May Allah help us through this holy month of Ramadan in being safe as well the latter due to the fasting and late nights thus minimum sleep leading to accidents which quite often at times are fatal....
………
When one fasts one becomes alive and laziness decreases .An alertness to all that surrounds is also noticed, even the sense of smell is awakened as aromas are triggered from a distance though we may be smokers or caffeine addicts.
Fasting is by no means to blame for the fatal accidents that occur during the holy month of Ramadan. But late nights, lack of sleep and an over indulgence of food are the sole reasons which trigger the many deaths which occur during this holy month. From the last research done into death caused by car accidents Libya came second in the world, first was Saudi Arabia!
Again I wish all Muslims in the world a safe, happy, and healthy Ramadan filled with great blessings in hope that our prayers be answered.
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