So, this week marked the beginning of our first Ramadan here.
Ramadan, apparently, is the time when the Qu'ran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. During the month, the gates of heaven are open and the gates of hell are closed. It is also a time of charity, generosity and sympathy towards the poor.
Muslims are fasting for purification from sin, and in sympathy for the poor and hungry, from sunup till sundown. They are are also not allowed to do things like smoke (you could swallow the smoke and thus break your fast) or chew gum (which produces saliva that breaks your fast). Apparently really pious Muslims will even spit all day rather than swallowing any saliva! They are also supposed to eschew sex during daylight hours (at night is okay), follow Islam's proscriptions against gossip, lies and bad speech more strictly, and read the Qu'ran through at least once during the month. There are Qu'ran readings every night in the mosques for a couple of hours after the last prayer...we can hear the ones going on across the street in our living room!
Before the dawn prayers, usually around 3am, they have a small meal called suhoor. Then right before the sunset prayer, they break their fast with a small snack--traditionally an odd-number of dates, soup and water. After prayer they have the first real meal of the day, called iftar. All the restaurants in town are having big iftar buffets, of course, many with an "arabian tent" decor and including shisha, etc.
Pregnant women, old people, prepubescent children, and sick people are not required to fast. Neither are menstruating women, though they have to make up the days of fasting after Ramadan is over. I am wondering if that last is an example of pollution taboos or an acknowledgement that a menstruating woman's body is already purifying itself! I'd like to think the latter, but don't really hold out much hope. People who don't fast are supposed to feed the needy each day they miss.
What all this means for us expats is we cannot be seen eating, drinking, smoking, etc. in public from sunup to sundown. Store and office hours are reduced, so one must take that into account when running errands, and apparently we should be more careful than usual about modest dress.
In the past, bars have been closed completely during Ramadan, leading to the expat tradition of stocking one's liquor cabinet and having Ramadan parties every weekend. However, as of last year, the bars are staying open. I am assuming it's because our neighbor, good old Miami-meets-the-Middle-East Dubai with its more liberal ways, has been keeping their bars and nightclubs open for a while now, and Abu Dhabi is feeling the need to be competitive. Yet most of the expats of my acquaintance are actually unhappy with the new policy, and most are having parties at home this month rather than going out anyway! It seems Ramadan work hours in some places are also stretching longer than in previous years. Just another example of global homogenization, I suppose :(
As for the menstruation thing, I would also consider that losing large amounts of blood makes a woman weaker and thus of lesser constitution with which to handle fasting for long periods... I lose a lot of iron during mine for some reason, and can get lightheaded if I don't take the right vitamins. My first thought would be to consider menstruating women "sick" or weaker, and thus exempt - I'm told sick people (unless terminally so) must also make up the fast afterwards.
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