How Ramadan is being observed around the world

Muslims around the world welcome the arrival of Ramadan, a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting, intense prayer, charity, and festivals that begins for many on Sunday night.

But while they savor the traditions of their various communities – from Christmas delicacies to nightly fun – the tribulations faced by their Muslim brothers are never far from anyone’s mind. This year, War and famine in the Gaza Strip casts an especially dark shadow over the festivities.

Many are also struggling to buy food, as inflation remains high in many countries and has worsened in some.

Still, even Muslims struggling financially or otherwise look forward to what are widely considered the true blessings of the holy month: prayer and reflection, fueled by a day’s fast and time spent with loved ones.

IN PAKISTAN, A CITY THAT DOES NOT SLEEP

No one celebrates Ramadan better than the people of Karachi, at least according to Maulana Tanveer Ul Haq Thanvi, an Islamic scholar from the southern Pakistani city.

The congregation at his family mosque swells from 10,000 to 15,000 people during the holy month, and volunteers are working to make sure there is enough space, food and water for evening prayers.

From dawn to dusk, practicing Muslims around the world will abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual relations. Even the slightest sip of water It would invalidate fasting, which is intended to help focus the mind on prayer and charity.

“In Ramadan, our prayers are heard and religious observance is day and night,” Thanvi said. “People want to help others who are more in need than themselves, even those who don’t have much to give.” His sermons will focus on “how people should behave toward each other, even when Ramadan ends.”

In the evening, many break their fast with one or two appointments, as the Prophet Muhammad is said to have done, before attending evening prayers. They will then gather for “iftar,” a typically lavish feast shared with friends and family, and a festive atmosphere will prevail well into the night.

“The locals are not going to sleep. You will see children playing cricket on the street after iftar,” Thanvi said.

___

Riazat Butt in Islamabad

IN INDONESIA, HIGH PRICES THREAT THE PARTIES

Muslims liven up their iftar with their own local delicacies. In Egypt, shelves are filled with qamar el-din, a sticky apricot delight. In Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, street vendors prepare qatayef: small pancakes filled with cream and nuts and drizzled with syrup.

In Indonesia, with the world’s largest Muslim population, Ramadan rituals vary by region, reflecting the country’s rich and varied culture. Many celebrate with rendang: meat braised in coconut milk and local spices.

This will be more difficult to achieve this year, as the country faces soaring food prices due to global inflation and a poor local rice harvest.

Sari Yanti, a mother of three, stood in a long line at one of several distribution points in the capital, Jakarta, to buy rice and other state-subsidized staples, saying it had never been so bad. “Prices are going up these days; everything that has to do with cooking is going up,” she said.

Mosques and charities across the Muslim world host free iftars for the poorest, and sometimes it is the only meat they eat all year.

___

Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia

IN EGYPT, MANY STRUGGLE DESPITE THE FESTIVE ATMOSPHERE

In Cairo, streets are decorated with colorful Ramadan lanterns, bakeries sell Christmas sweets, and television networks promote prime-time soap operas, hoping to cash in on late-night food comas.

“Ramadan is a month of prayer, but also of desserts,” one man joked as he waited in line outside a bakery displaying trays of Christmas sweets, including baclava, qatayef and kunafa, a syrupy treat made with grated puff pastry and topped with with crumbled pistachios. .

But here too, under the normal holiday veneer, many are struggling. Government floated its currency last week as part of an emergency bailout from the International Monetary Fund, causing prices to soar.

One in three people in Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, was already living in poverty, and in recent years even the middle class has struggled to make ends meet.

“The situation has been very difficult,” said Abdel-Kareem Salah, a civil servant and father of four, as he shopped for groceries before Ramadan in the working-class neighborhood around the famous Sayeda Zaynab mosque, where alleys are festooned with lights. . and flashlights.

“We only buy what we need,” he said. “For us, and for many like us, meat has become a luxury.”

___

Samy Magdy in Cairo

IN THE UNITED STATES, ‘A FEELING OF GUILT’ FOR GAZA

Sonia Uddin, a second-generation Pakistani-American who lives in Orange County, California, said her family sometimes enjoys hamburgers for iftar and coffee and donuts for suhoor, the predawn meal just before it begins. daily fasting.

She strives to maintain the traditions of her immigrant parents, but says her 14-year-old son “is actually more Western than Eastern” and insists on eating American-style food as they observe the holy month half a world away from his crib. of her faith.

He looks forward to attending night prayers, drinking tea with friends and catching up with people he hasn’t seen in the past year.

But for her and many other American MuslimsThose moments of joy will be overshadowed by concern over Gaza, where a five-month Israeli offensive has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, forced most of the population from their homes, and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee. leave their homes. on the brink of famine.

Israel launched the campaign in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 hostages. The United States, Israel’s main ally, has provided crucial military and diplomatic support while pushing for more aid for civilians.

“Ramadan has typically been a time when I distance myself from the outside world and focus on my connection with God,” Uddin said. “But this year, disconnecting is not an option for me. “I need to continue my activism so that those who do not have a voice can be heard.”

Zulfat Suara, a Nigerian American and the first Muslim to serve on the Nashville, Tennessee, metropolitan council, said Gaza is “at the top” of her prayer list.

“That’s the goal of Ramadan: just that weight. That is the reason we fast,” Suara said.

She plans to attend Music City Iftar, an annual community event for Muslims and non-Muslims. She said interfaith dialogue has broken down barriers and likely helped her get elected.

“Muslims are no longer strangers. Our customs, our traditions, become part of our society,” he stated.

Ahmad Ayoub, a 20-year-old Palestinian-American native of Nashville, said he looks forward to Fridays at the city’s Islamic Center and iftars with his family, but the guilt is already taking over.

“I will return home to break the fast and hunger with a full meal, while our aunts, uncles and cousins ​​in Palestine are forced to continue starving,” he said. “There will definitely be a feeling of guilt knowing that I have this entire meal in front of me.”

___

Deepa Bharath in Los Angeles and Holly Meyer in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.

___

Associated Press religion coverage gets support from AP collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.