With the announcement made on Pakistani television that the ‘Hilal’ (half moon) has been seen, the atmosphere suddenly turns electric. Loudspeakers shout reciting praises to Allah, the ‘Azaan’ for the night prayers, the ‘Ishaa’ and the mosques are suddenly filled with the faithful to overflowing. While a microscopic minority are happy with the appearance of the new moon on the 29th of ‘Sha’aban’, the eighth month of the Islamic calendar, the majority nonetheless want it to be postponed for just one more day. The strange group, as usual, loves to have the Islamic month of Sha’aban of 31 lunar days.
From now on, people are charged, at least during the month of Ramadan. They would try to be pious and therefore dedicated to Allah and the principles of Islam. For a long month, in the dead of night, when the witches are active, the reckless ‘Sahar Khan’ will beat the drum and the loudspeakers will resonate in the mosques here and there to awaken the faithful from deep sleep. Women got up much earlier to cook ‘sahari’ (morning meals) and then served it to family members on ‘dastarkhwan’ (something like a tablecloth). With the ‘Muezzin’ shouting Azan for the Fajr, morning prayers, the faithful would stop eating / drinking and refrain from all kinds of nonsense and actions that lead to committing sin. They will be busy offering prayers, reading the Qur’an, paying Zakaat, and giving charity to the poor and needy. In the evening, after sunset, they will break the fast by performing Iftaar and offer Taraweeh before going to bed. At the end of the month, the faithful will be rewarded with ‘id-ul-fitr’, the feast of joy in observing fasts.
During the first days of the holy month of Ramadan, prayer congregations in mosques overflow the streets. However, it doesn’t take many days for attendance to decline and return to normal. Emotionally tall, the ‘Nimazees’ of Ramadan (who offer prayers) push the regular Nimazees to the background. Critics among seasonal visitors scoff at the performance of the ‘masjid-e-intizamia committee’, the organizing committee, and seek an explanation as to why the advice given by them last Ramadan was not implemented during the one-year period. of his absence. . A group of self-proclaimed annoyances retreat after ‘jamaat’ nimaz, prayer offered in a group, to snuggle up in the warmth of ‘ham-am’ and in the process of discussing politics and other worldly things they end up in disputes. The upshot of all this is that most members of the ‘intizamia’ committee invariably resign in the month of Ramadan or immediately thereafter.
What worries a sleepyhead / early riser is that on the dying nights of the month long, some insomniacs incessantly beat the cacophonous drum, shout ‘waqti-e-sahar’, mealtime, from loudspeakers to proclaim that the hapless El companion will have to part with his dew-covered sleep to take an inopportune ‘sahari’. He would rather observe fasts on an empty stomach than watch his sleep disappear. The sleepyhead opens his eyes to nibble on the ‘sahari’ at the last minute before the time of the ‘sahari’ expires. However, it doesn’t take many seconds before they find him again sleeping like a log. Most of the time he misses ‘jamaat’ and offers ‘fajr’ nimaz only after sunrise.
As if the month of Ramadan were to be there until the last syllable of recorded time, the slightly sloping ‘Roz-e-daar’, the faithful observing fasts, conjure up nightmarish visions of mind-blowing hunger / thirst pains and the touch curfew on the freak outs. For him, every day of the month of Ramadan is a desert of vast eternity and therefore he fears that he will not survive its attack. On this spectrum, I would question all Tom, Dick, and Harry, ‘How many days until identification after tomorrow?’ From the very morning he is exhausted and in need of rest. In the afternoon he is unconscious to the point of exhaustion. Eyes peeled for the muezzin to shout ‘Iftaar’ / Azan for the evening’s ‘Maghrib’ prayers, he is ready to fall; he is more dead than alive. You may dare to eat the break from fasting. He doesn’t have the energy to read an hour-long ‘Taraweeh’. He makes a decision. After a day or two, the outlet is struck. He is sick. The doctor advises / issues a certificate not to observe the fasts so that they do not negatively affect him and in the process his precious life.
In families, regardless of status, wealth or education, where there is no “ culture ” of observing fasts, members come to know fasts only on id, which they celebrate with (all) joy and more zeal. than the usual observers of fasts. During the holy month its breakfasts, lunches, brunches and parties are served without any type of inhibition or change of schedule. For beggars, scammers and charlatans, Ramadan is a gift from God. They rake in piles in the name of ‘Zakaat’, ‘sudaqa’ (alms) and ‘khairat’ (charity) asking for / printing sets of hands from fake receipt books and medical prescriptions.
