What will Ramadan bring?

By Tarek Atia

Of yameesh, fawanees, and televised contemplation

This year, supermarket chain Metro is offering a Ramadan bag -- a medium-size cloth sack with the store's logo on it -- filled with items like oil, rice, lentils, sugar, dates, tomato sauce, and canned fuul. Would it be cheaper to get all the items separately? Does it even matter? It's all a question of preferences and style.

Is Ramadan in Egypt becoming khawagati, more like the way Christmas is celebrated in the West? Maybe -- I've argued that before.. (see "Ramadan Riddles", published in Al-Ahram Weekly in 1999, considered by scholars to be the first labeling of the phenomenon "The Christmasization of Ramadan").


In fact, the fawanees lanterns are becoming -- more and more each year -- the Muslim equivalent of the Christmas tree. By which I mean they've become an annual necessity -- and an annual burden on the family budget.

But whereas before -- in 1999 -- this was something new, it has now -- in 2001 -- taken on the aura of a historic given. Every house has to have one, and there are ample models to choose from, at all prices. That it's also a matter of the bigger the better goes without saying.

Another interesting parallel with Christmas is the debate over whether to get an authentic or modern fanous, much like the one between real and plastic Christmas trees. The original Egyptian fanous -- made mainly of sheet metal painted gold, and framed over colored pieces of glass -- still carries pride of place, whether fitted with a light bulb and a plug or the more traditional candle. But the Chinese models that have filled vendors' stalls in recent years might actually be more popular now. These fawanees take liberty with the design -- they look more futuristic, their plastic frames featuring sleek curves and additional features. One looks like a genie bottle. They all sing songs. This year, one does a dance as well. The entire top 40 is there for your choosing. They also light up with a simple flick a switch. There are also religious models that sound out the call to prayer.

Vendors have said they prefer the Chinese models -- since they're usually the kind of things that break or get lost and have to be replaced every year.

As for yameesh -- the tasty selection of dried fruits and nuts that have also become a Ramadan staple and pocketbook burden -- most stores also offer easy-to-buy packages with a little of each type of sweet included in the deal. The dates always have interesting names -- this year's picks are "Bin Laden", "Bush", "Who wants to be a millionaire", and "Pyramid of dreams" (the last two named after popular game shows on Egyptian TV)

As always, customers are complaining that the prices have gone up, while store owners are complaining that demand is way down. Both sides are probably right -- in general this year, the economic climate hasn't been much of a help.

In fact, this year's Ramadan has been somewhat overshadowed by -- while completely caught up in at the same time -- the events of September 11 and their aftermath. The world's collective mind has been wholly pre-occupied, still trying to comprehend the myriad ramifications of that event and whatever is going on in Afghanistan right now. It is in that continual, intense dynamic that Ramadan arrived. The month in itself -- and the religion it belongs to -- have been thrown into a massive philosophic-political-socio-cultural debate worldwide.

What will Ramadan bring? Fasting? Contemplation? Relief? Who knows. What is clear -- and reconfirms itself no matter what the world is going through -- is that Ramadan is a special month, meant to make Muslims feel both the hardships felt by the less fortunate throughout the year, as well as the strength of community and brotherhood.

Hopefully, these things -- rather than lanterns, dates and TV game shows -- will have a stronger impact on both the global and the Muslim psyche by the time the month is through.

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