The mosque guide
Fatima Nasser Al Melhi works at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque as a tour guide. As she prepares for the mosque’s busiest month we talk to her about fasting and huge free Iftars in the car park.
‘I started fasting when I was about eight. Before that, I’d try and fast for maybe one day in the whole month, because it’s hard for children. But after that, I’d increase day by day until I could complete the whole month. So I guess you could say that by the age of 10 I could manage the whole 30 days.
‘Is fasting something I worry about? Of course not! Once it has started, it goes quickly. In my house, my mother buys new dishes and tableware because we see Ramadan as a guest – like somebody coming to our home. Maybe the first two days are the hardest, but then it becomes easier. This year it may be harder because it’s in summer. Often it’s in January or February, which is nice because the sunset is at 5.30pm or 6pm. But this year it’ll be 7.30pm, so it’ll be tough.
‘During Ramadan we have to work because the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) also worked – he didn’t take Ramadan as a holiday or anything like that! Our hours are a little less than usual. I’ll work from nine until three, but you’ll notice that the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque will increase in visitors, praying and reading the Koran. The mosque will be open all day and all night, as always. It serves Iftar to 15,000 people every day! Anybody can join – Muslim or non-Muslim. It’s free and it’s in the car park. From sunset, the area becomes like a huge buffet.
‘For me Iftar means that I’ve completed the day but, of course, it’s the start of other things like praying and reading the Koran. Following the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), we have to start with dates and milk. He used to do this. After that, we have to do our sunset prayers, then after that we come back and finish our food. As Emiratis, we have special Iftar dishes in Ramadan like harees, fareed and lugamat. I like fareed. It’s like a thin bread with sauce on it, with either chicken or beef. Do I eat all night? No (laughs). The main meal would be Iftar; then we go to Taraweeh prayer, which takes a long time – an hour, or even two for some people. After that, we’ll have some snacks. Then, before sunrise, we have a little meal like dates and milk to keep us strong throughout the day.
‘During the holy month, we fast – not only from food and drink, but also we try to control ourselves not to do bad things, like being bad to people or saying bad things about people, or even smoking (between sunrise and sunset). Before Ramadan, you’ll notice people will go to each other and make amends. They will speak to each other and say, “You know, Ramadan is coming, so we have to clear our minds so our fast will be accepted.” No bad thoughts or feelings are allowed. I suppose it’s almost like New Year for you.
‘This idea of self control is the hardest for most people. Withdrawing from food and drink is actually the easiest. Even if you say a bad thing about you colleague, for example, in your heart, this will break your fast. Can we do anything to fix a bad thought? Maybe we could pray harder (laughs), or there is a phrase we have to say: “Allah’umma enni sawm,” which translates roughly as, “Please God, I am fasting, so help me.”
‘Ramadan means a lot to me because it’s the achievement of a key part of Islam, one of the things we have to do to consider ourselves a true Muslim.’
The taxi driver
Shaber Hussain is from Parachina, Pakistan. He came to Abu Dhabi three years ago to work, and will not return for another six years. But he likes this city. ‘It’s a very peaceful place, good for business,’ he tells us.
‘Life is good’
‘Ramadan is very nice. I love it. It’s a great time for us Muslims. There is no haram [forbidden things]. It’s quiet and we help each other. We pray a lot – although we pray all the time anyway – but Ramadan is a good month for it.
‘Is it difficult for a taxi driver? Yes, but it’s difficult for all Muslims, not just us. I do get tired – headaches and tiredness. It’s not great for driving. Not easy during Ramadan, but what can I do? No working, no money. But that’s taxi driving – no holiday anytime.
‘During Ramadan, I start work after prayers, about 4.30am, then I stop in the afternoon for another hour of prayer. After that I work through until eating time in the evening, but once I’ve done that and finished evening prayers, I go back to work. My finish time is about 10pm – I need to sleep, too, you know.
‘Iftar is really my best time in Ramadan. It’s very, very nice! I’ll eat anything! But first, to break my fast, I want to eat an apple or orange. It’s important to do that in my region of Pakistan. After food, I’ll take some tea and then start smoking. Smoking is fine in Ramadan, but only after dinner, not before. If you smoke before dinner you’re head starts spinning! But lots of smoking is nice. I like it very much. Ramadan is one of my most enjoyable times.
‘I do Iftar with my friends in my room, or in the mosque. My favourite is in my room. There are six men living in my one room. They are my village friends from Pakistan; we’ve known each other many years, and we stay together very close. We cook for each other, not just one cook. Whoever gets home first, it’s his job to start cooking. The mosque’s Iftar is also very nice, but I like my room because it’s a soft, silent Iftar. My friends are like my family.
‘If a non-Muslim gets in my taxi during Ramadan and starts eating, it’s not really allowed. Of course, some people are new from outside Abu Dhabi and they don’t know. It’s no problem, I just tell him, “Excuse me, it’s not allowed in the taxi during Ramadan.” Nobody has a problem with that, but if he gets angry and says, “No, no! I want to eat!” – well, that’s also no problem for me. I’m OK.
‘If someone is angry with you, even if you want to do bad talking back to them, it’s not allowed in Ramadan. For example, if you want to talk to me badly, I will not respond to you like that. If you want to box with me – punch me – I will not box with you. It’s not allowed.’
The fishermen
The fishing industry is not notable for its luxuries. Out in the elements, the hours are long and the work can be physically exhausting. We spent a morning in the fish souk in Al Meena to find out how Ramadan impacts upon this nocturnal lifestyle.
Hisham is testing our knowledge of sea life. He laughs as Time Out mistakes a barrel of hammour for something less prestigious. ‘That’s Abu Dhabi’s favourite fish,’ he tells us. ’Dhs45 per kilo. People want it the most, even in Ramadan [when fish is usually avoided as it is thought to make fasters thirsty].’ So the holy month doesn’t affect the fisherman’s tiring lifestyle? ‘Why should it?’ he chuckles. ‘We all have to do it. They are not any different.’
‘Many of the fishermen are not actually Muslim,’ explains Munsif, a tired-looking fellow working on the wharf. ‘No, many are Indian, so they don’t have to fast. But there are some UAE nationals working on the boats. It’s good for us, though. Heavy work is good for ajr.’ What is ajr, we wonder? ‘If a Muslim works hard, he can get ajr. How do you say in English?’ Like a bonus, we venture? ‘Right,’ he laughs. ‘Like a bonus from God!’
As the sun comes up, the men move their fish from the dockside into the icy marketplace, where the smell is almost overwhelming. The fish needs to be inside by about 7.30am, before the open air gets too warm. Anything that makes it this far will sell throughout the day, until about 5pm. Much of it has already been sold at mezad (morning free market), however, which starts at 4.30am and peters out three hours later. Hisham tells us that people attending this morning’s mezad have travelled from as far away as Oman, and customers from Dubai and Fujairah are regular faces. This remains the same during Ramadan, when mezad starts up after fajr (dawn prayers).
By 6am, the fishermen are scrubbing their boats. Job done, they traipse off to find some rest. One kind Emirati gentleman tells us that he worked the fishing boats for more than 45 years, from the age of 10. ‘Ramadan in summer can be difficult for the fishermen, of course,’ he says. ‘The bigger boats can go out for as long as five days, and it can be a 24-hour job.’ He pauses for effect, and then adds with a grin, ‘At least they have air conditioning. When I was a boy, we had none of that. Abu Dhabi was a very different place.’
The construction worker
Ramadan 2009 takes place at the height of summer, so you’d be forgiven for assuming that the construction workers, fasting from food and water in the heat, sand and concrete dust, have the hardest lot. We spoke to a Pakistani worker (who wished to remain anonymous) at a building site in the Mussafah industrial area and found out all is not as it seems.
‘Our schedule is very different during Ramadan. We become night workers. Our day starts at sunset, when we take Iftar, and then begin an hour of prayers, Taraweeh. After that, we go to work. We build through the night, from maybe 9.30pm until 3am. After that, there are some more prayers, some more eating, then sleeping for the rest of the day. This is not the same for all construction workers, but this is how our company looks after us.
‘Is Ramadan an easier time for us? Yes, it becomes more like a holiday. Our sponsor provides us with the food for our Iftars, and we see that the region is very charitable. People come out of the neighbouring buildings and compounds and bring us some fruits, or perhaps something to drink. What do we break our fast with? Well, it’s usually dates and milk, followed by the food that the sponsor gives us – probably biryani or some other kind of rice.
‘Our accommodation is on site, so we never have to travel anywhere. In each room there are about six men sleeping and breaking fast together, but this is low season. Many men go away during this time, maybe back to India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. On our site, we only have 16 men at the moment. More will come.’
The chef
Ahmed Al Daikh came to the UAE in 1994 from his home country of Syria and is the chef de cuisine at the Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi.
‘We have no choice, we have to fast and we have to do our job properly. When you work in the kitchen it’s usually busy and you’re in a hurry to finish because all the Iftar functions start at the same time. We don’t care about the food, but we get tired because you are not allowed any water. In the kitchen it is hot, particularly when working over the barbecue. It makes your throat really dry and you get very thirsty, but I am Muslim, so I have no choice. There are a few chefs I have known who just can’t do it, but even when I cook with charcoal, I stay fasting.
‘In Syria, it was easier. We would start preparation after 10am, but it was not so hot as this country. I was more comfortable around Iftar time in Syria. We’d leave the kitchen to eat or go home. Here, we stay until the guests are finished, so in the evening you are very tired.
‘There are many traditional dishes made at this time of year. One of the most popular is the makhlouba. It is basically a stew. It‘s not spicy and it’s a very simple dish for Ramadan.
‘In Syria, Ramadan dishes normally consist of vine leaves and lamb chops, then there is the Ramadan soup – usually lamb’s tail. Juice is another important part of Iftar. We usually serve tamar hindi and jallab, with the pine seeds fixed inside the juice.
‘At home, you normally spend the first two or three Iftars with your family – usually my father, my sister and my wife and kids – and after that you tend to eat outside with friends. But in the last week we never eat at home; you always try to go out. We like to do something special for the kids as a treat.’
The expat
South African Brian Turner has lived in the capital for 10 years, working as a paramedic. In recent years he has also started up his own butcheries in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
‘Over the last 10 years I haven’t noticed a big difference in the way that Ramadan affects me; although, when I first came, nowhere was open for lunch during the holy month. Because of this there were a lot fewer tourists, because the hotels would not serve food and there was nothing for them to do. Now you find that, more often than not, there is somewhere to go.
‘In the hospital, we see a slight decrease in patients. I think that with Ramadan being a big family time, people tend to stay at home. Eid is probably one of the quieter times of the year because everyone just goes away. For the hospital staff, our lounge is a Ramadan-free zone. You get to drink in there, but we still try to be respectful to our Muslim colleagues. Many people go away somewhere, but I tend to stay in the city because the benefit is often shorter working days and lots of national holidays.
‘I’ve been to Iftars before, but not many. I don’t have many Muslim friends, but anyone can go to them and no one ever looks at you funny. Besides, I’ve been here long enough to know what sort of things to observe – eat with you’re right hand not left, and so on.
‘It is common for people to slaughter their own livestock for an Iftar feast. This can only be done at the public abattoir. We run a pair of butcheries, but we don’t do any slaughtering here.
‘In the end you are only really conscious of Ramadan’s restrictions if you go out during the day. For example, you can’t leave your apartment eating a banana. People would just look at you strangely. I guess it is a time of year when you become more respectful of the Islamic culture and religion. You just try to observe what the Muslim people are observing. If you do that, you’ll be fine.’
The belly dancer
Esmerelda is half Brazilian, half Italian. She came to the UAE in 2002 and regularly dances at Marrakesh in the Millennium Hotel. However, during Ramadan, dancers find themselves unemployed in the city. So what’s a girl to do during the holy month?
‘In Ramadan it’s kind of magic, because it’s a holy month and a lot of things considered as entertainment totally disappear. They have songs, cinema and dinners, but they don’t have us – the belly dancers. It has been like this forever.
‘Usually, during Ramadan, all the belly dancers go home. Most of the time I go back to Brazil where I dance maybe one or two nights – but it’s one of the few times of the year that anyone uses my real name, Giovanna, and not my artistic one [Esmerelda], which feels good. It’s also a month to replace everything we were using last season: new costumes, new shoes, and new routines. It’s a bit like hibernation for us. As a dancer, I live more during the night than the day, these 30 days are one of the few chances I get to eat well and sleep decent hours (laughs): I’m counting the minutes until Ramadan!
‘Brazil was the first time I came into contact with belly dancing. I was a ballet student from ages four to 14, but in my teenage years I decided it was a little bit boring for me. Then, on my 16th birthday, we went to an Egyptian teahouse in Sao Paulo and suddenly these dancing girls appeared from nowhere. My mother was against it, but I went back and found a belly-dancing teacher. She was looking for a girl to enter a competition. I told her, “I have no money to pay you”, but we soon became firm friends.
‘Belly dancing is about more than just the movements. During Ramadan I have the chance to discover some new designs. I believe every belly dancer has her own style and I have a few designers back in Brazil who create dresses just for me. You’ve got to find the right look. We have so many accessories: the sword, the sticks, the shamadan [a huge ornament, which looks like a candelabra, that you wear on your head], and they all need replacing from time to time.
‘For the music, what I try to do is find new contacts, usually in Egypt. No one really writes new belly-dancing music, so I try to find classic songs given new arrangements and a new entrance. I usually don’t need to choreograph my songs – except for the entrances – because in Arabic restaurants people like to request a song and sometimes you just don’t know it, so it’s important to understand the rhythms and the tempo of the music.’
The musician
Kamal Musallam is a Kuwaiti-born oud master, well known across the UAE for his innovative fusion of traditional styles and modern jazz. But how’s business during the holy month?
‘Musicians are stuck at this time. This isn’t just a UAE thing – it affects musicians across the Arab world – but our audience falls into two ways of thinking during Ramadan. Some people think that music is a spiritual path, especially when it uses Arabic acoustic instruments such as the oud and the kanoon. Others believe that music is haram [forbidden]. Of course, I’m with the first type of thinking, though I recognise that very loud music is probably not good – the acoustic route is the more contemplative.
‘During Ramadan it becomes difficult for musicians in Arab countries to get performance permits. This is frustrating, as often the person granting the permit does not realise how we intend to perform. He won’t have any idea of our style or sound, and yet he has the right to call it haram. What we need is someone who is musically literate, who has knowledge of what we intend to do.
‘Do our chances of work increase during the holy month? No. Definitely not. The lucky ones among us who get more work are usually versed in traditional Arabic styles, as the hotels have Iftar tents that require music. That I specialise in the oud gives me the chance to play more at such events. I don’t always play. If I get a good offer, or meet the right people, I’ll do it.’
The convert
While most Japanese nationals follow Shintoism or Buddhism, Abu Dhabi resident Kyoko Al Shurafa converted to Islam after meeting her Egyptian husband, then living in America. While she has taken part in Ramadan several times before, this will be her first experience in a Muslim country.
‘The first time I fasted, my husband was supportive. There wasn’t a lot he could do to help, but he didn’t force me to do anything. He wouldn’t have minded if I didn’t complete it, but I managed. It wasn’t as difficult as I expected. I was working in a coffee shop in America at the time, so I was serving and fasting at the same time. But it was like I could think separately – I wanted to serve people, but I was fine with not drinking. It’s like my mind was set.
‘I don’t come from a religious background. When I met my husband, I started studying Islam. It made sense to me. I found that Islam represented values that I already had anyway. My family reacted badly at first, but eventually they started taking me seriously, and my husband made them feel more comfortable. In the end they were happy for me.
‘Ramadan is very powerful. At that time, you just feel religious. Even if we do nothing else for the rest of the year, when Ramadan comes, we read the Koran and concentrate more on praying. A first-time faster will be surprised by how much time you consume eating and drinking in normal life, or how much time you spend online. If we do these things in Ramadan, we feel guilty, so in your spare time you turn to the Koran.
‘It’s easier in the first week and gets harder towards the end, as your energy is used up. You don’t necessarily lose weight, though, because once the sun goes down, you really eat a lot. Some people actually gain weight. I really enjoy Iftar, but it’s tiring because I have to cook. It’s more difficult because it has to be ready in time – you don’t want to make your family wait much longer. I don’t have a favourite Iftar dish; I’m not Arab, so I don’t really know the traditional dishes. We just eat what we usually eat. The only unusual thing I prepare is a kind of apricot juice that comes from my husband’s region.
‘This year will be my first Ramadan in Abu Dhabi. I expect it to be different, because it will be long and very hot. I think it’s going to be my hardest yet. The last two years I was pregnant and raising my baby, so I haven’t taken part for a while. To tell the truth, I’m kind of scared. But if you have your mind set, it’s not too difficult.’
The desert guide
Peter Bergh came to the UAE about 10 years ago. He was as a field guide at a desert resort before beginning his own business, Shaheen Extreme, offering desert retreats at his camp on the Al Ain road.
‘Business slows down quite substantially during Ramadan. The tourist side goes really quiet as a rule; no one comes here at this time of year. But that’s just the showy stuff – the falcons are my main source of income. I also do shows and demonstrations for companies, although, being Ramadan, you can’t have champagne before sundown, so these tend to slow down a little, too. But this year, with Ramadan being so close to summer, it’s not really going to affect me that much. The birds are all moulting at this time of year, so it works better for me.
‘Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as an Arabian falcon. All my falcons come from outside of the UAE. It’s summer, but we keep them in air-conditioned rooms. It’s all about food. They come back to me because I’ve convinced them I’m the easiest place for a free meal. In the summer we want them as fat as possible in order for them to grow good feathers. Because of that you can’t really train them while they’re moulting. You also have to carefully monitor their weight at the same time. You can still fly them during the summer, but only first thing in the morning at sunrise and at last light.
‘It is important that you get falcons out of the heat as quickly as possible. Falcons can get major medical problems from too much moisture and humidity. Summertime is not friendly for them. But there is more to it than just that. These are also working falcons. I use them to chase pigeons from Sir Bani Yas Island where I do bird control. It means that I get year-round work when the tours slows down during Ramadan.’
The doctor
Dr Samia Tufail has been in Abu Dhabi for 10 years. She is the consultant physician at Dr McCulloch Medical Centre.
‘Ramadan is a peaceful time for me here. It’s a month-long celebration, and you just can’t miss its spirit. It’s all around you.
‘Work wise, I personally like to work through my fast and, although I have the option of changing my timings, I prefer to work a straight nine-five shift. All schools here start at a later time in morning, which is handy as you get some rest before you go to work. The traffic is less congested as well.
‘Does Ramadan create difficulties for fasting patients? It depends on their actual situation. If somebody is unwell, they are, of course, exempted. They can make up later. Most of our patients are expats, and I do appreciate that out of respect for people who are fasting, they don’t eat or drink in public; although, to me, not eating or drinking is a very small part of the equation, and abstinence from bad habits and thoughts, being patient and helpful to others, are all a vital part of Ramadan.
‘Before I came to Abu Dhabi I was practising in England, where you have to make an effort to involve yourself in Ramadan. Here, everything is geared towards making it easier for you. I especially enjoy the Iftar buffets at some of the restaurants, though only as an occasional treat. When I break my fast, I think it’s best to keep it light.’
