I remember arches like this at my grandma's old lane
my city so full of history war torn and in tears...
but they called her the devestator.. though she has been devestated much.. each wall, each city street, each corner spoke of history.. you can feel yourself amidst a battle scene ... or alone in dimly torched mosque in the night to pray
yes I walked her street, and of her citadel wrote a thousand prose
holding the hands of my grandmother or aunt, between its archways I ran chasing the sun.. her name rolls of my tongue like a beautiful ballade
my mother country will probably one day hold me in her deep.. as I now hold her in mine.. but no her history isn't my fondest memory nor are her old provinces and streets.. rather sleeping at my grandma's old house in Ramadan.. I wish I can re-live just one day.. living on memories is almost too much to bear seeing how many of them passed on.. nonetheless --I visit them still in my mind from time to time and especially during Ramadan.. we'd be scattered about the huge house me and my million cousins, aunts and uncles.. the grand room had six french style windows on each wall... the 5th window was my favorite.. there was a crooked nail there I used to always put my finger on as if to console it for its asymmetry.. much happened there, from soccer matches, to mothers yelling at their kids, to the cactus fruit man peeling away as we lowered our plates to him in banana leaf baskets along with 10 or 20 piasters...
but it was there too in the wee hours of the night that the 'mos7rati' (night caller) came about drumming... waking people by their first names-- Ms lila , Usama effendi wake up oh you who are sleeping and praise your lord, and with it the old lane would again come alive.. It is probably a pastime that is no longer practised?
I don't know... my uncle has died since, and so did my sweet aunt, my grandmother too, and her niece aunt kawthar and her son nabeel .. long gone is the old house, its old walls probably in some reckless abandon.. but not from my memory...
Anyhow would love to hear your stories too of your old country and your fondest memory of Ramadan..
Last edited by جوري; 09-19-2007 at 03:10 AM.
Reason: typo
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These were all brilliant thank you so much for sharing (jazakoum Allah for putting a smile on my face).. Sob7an Allah.. I believe my two favorites were spitting every two minutes because saliva invalidates the fast and the paper fanoos that turned into ashes .. children do amazingly foolish things.. it is really delightful.. you can't think of this stuff as an adult.. it is as if the originality meter goes down
I too had lovely fanoos.. with 8 doors every door used to open in a different way.. there was one compartment that was especially intriguing.. I don't even know why at the time, it was the most greatest thing.. it was a series of three steps to open It had two interlocking metal hooks.. I kept opening and closing it all day, until the hinges that held the door in place came apart.. and I was the saddest little girl in the world ... well my mom told me she wasn't going to get me another one and I was crushed.. but my dad did try to fix it on multiple occasions, and it never worked .. eventually he put the hinges over the stove to try to melt the metal into itself but it meant I could never open that mystery door again
Anyhow back in the day (which isn't that long ago) most fanoos were made to use candles.. now the ones I mostly see are battery operated.. they are just not as good... but I imagine it is less fire hazerdous...
Thank you all-- still hope for more but won't be greedy
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Same for me besides teasing my elder sis to give me the eatables secretly before iftar In case of her refusal, I used to coerce her by hiding her shoes and books
mA very nice memories peeps..
id have to say when i was around 5ish which where i can remember from, as my family wasn't as big as it is now.. we all used to live under one roof.. and it was really fun just playing about in this really really big house..as it seemed then but now, on the odd occasion i pass that house going somewhere is alot smaller.
But yeah we had alot of fun times there.. mainly there were 6 or 7 kids rather then 30ish which is the case now.. haha.. and we used to play in the garden and all at once we would all climb on our first double swing and see/saw that we had.. it was soo funny how we all managed to get on there at the same time.. and at the end of the evening having played TAG or if you call it IT or football etcetc we would all have our cloaths marked with the green grass or the mud and dirt from playing or something.. except for one person who was always seemed to keep himself clean.. kay: anyway so thats one..
of course ripping the wrapping paper off our presents.. you cant forget that..
Another one would be.. a very famous tradition that we even sometimes do now like the last few years, for old time sake.. we would sing Talalba Darualayna.. all together really loudly.. that was fun.. as that was really the only nasheed we used to know at the time..
And lastly, i can never forget this one..
One eid when we were maybe 7ish or 8ish, one of our uncles.. pilled us all in the car.. this still being 6 or 7 of us, and as our eid gift each we went out to the park and played for an hour or something which was really fun and whilst in the car.. we would again sing Talalba Darualayna which i still love today.. the classic one sung by Yusuf Islam.. and then the real present came in..
the same uncle after the park.. took us to this Ice cream palour.. where he bought us these huge ice cream sundays.. and these were really really big to us at the time.. never had one like this before in our life.. and he let us get any flavors and toppings, sprinkles etcetc we wanted, and we had one between two.. and all i can remember was none of us were able to finish them.. we just about eat half and then my uncle ate as much as he could of the leftovers.. and we were smothered in ice cream and chocolate and everything.. and that was a very fun eid..
oh and one more Another eid, a different uncle.. my chacha once piled us all up into his van and drove us to the park.. and before we got there.. as some of us were in the boot.. one of my cus's cut his hand and didnt even realise till i told him.. and these were really bad cuts..they were at the joints of his fingers like if you look at your hand and on each finger you have two lines.. he cut all his four fingers on one of his hands, it wasnt really deep but enough for him to start bleeding.. but yea the best thing was he never cried, not once.. he was soo brave mA..but its a memory that will last forever.
And this time lastly, wrestling.. there were three of us boys.. and my uncle. he would make us wrestle each other for entertainment.. that was funny.. it was like a proper match.. where we had all our aunties and uncles as the audience.. and i have to say i did happen to win most of the time.
But yeah those are my most prized memories of Ramadan from when i was little.. :smile:
In malaysia we have this market called the pasar ramadhan, or the ramadhan market, you can buy allll sorts of things to break your fast with in that market..its soo nice. So one day, when Mummy didnt feel like cooking, she sent my brohter there and told him to buy "all sorts of stuff" and gave him 20 RM. And my rascal brother went and ONLY bought his favorite sweet..with the whole 20RM.. which is ALOT. when he came home we were all sooo mad, but then my aunt came in and said its okay..We'll jus eat this for dinner then..Because she was calm and smiling, it did make a nice iftaar after all even though we all felt sick after that lol.
I am still a child , but my fondest memory was actually quite funny. My sister and I were little kids in elementary school (I was in the 3rd grade, and she in the 4th) and my mother allowed us to fast on the weekend. So I was upstairs watching TV with the family and my older sister came out of the washroom. My eldest sister noticed her wipe her mouth and asked her, ''Sis, did you drink water?" My other sister said, "N-n-o..! No! Of course not! I promise you I didn't!!" And then my sister asked her, ''Then why did you wipe your mouth of water?" My sister then replied, ''OK fine, it was because I was thirsty.'' And then my whole family laughed and my mother led her into the kitchen to get some food. Man, it was so funny!!
i like those lanterns. are they a tradition in all muslim countries?
is there any symbolism in them, stories about them, or are they just plain pretty?
each man thinks of his own fleas as gazelles
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i like those lanterns. are they a tradition in all muslim countries?
is there any symbolism in them, stories about them, or are they just plain pretty?
I am not sure if they are popular else where? I did find this on the BBC
The streets of the Egyptian capital Cairo are currently alight with special festive lanterns. These have been used to light up Ramadan nights there since the Fatimids empire-- which ruled Egypt from 969 to 1171
I put empire.. they put 'dynasty'.. I don't think they have their facts straight most of the time ...
I was also able to find these two sites of it
Since Ramadan is considered to be the most joyful month of the whole year, children also have their share of fun. The "fanoos" or lantern is a must for every kid. These are traditionally made of tin and colored glass, with a candle inside. More modern examples are battery operated, but really lack the spirit (though each year there seems to be a trend to see who can produce the most snazzy fanoos). All mosques and streets during the whole month are full of colored lights in a festival fashion, and in the past, children played in the streets with their lanterns, singing "wahawy ya wahawy". This tradition is still practiced, though rarely now in the streets, except in middle class or poor neighborhoods, and in the countryside.
and I got it all from this site but one of the links there seems to be having a mal-function... Ramadan fanoos question
they are really adorable.. I used to chant along with other kids... come to think of it, I don't know what I was chanting?.. maybe some of the Egyptians or syrian or Morrocan members can tell us what 'wa7awy ya wa7awy eyoo7a' means?
thank you
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look what I found on same site.. it is the mosa7rati... the night drummer that wakes people up for si7oor
The natives must be restless. Are those drums I here?
Ramadan has a mysterious tradition that has come to be associated with it for various reasons. The Misaharaty (Musaharati) is one of the oldest, most deep-rooted traditions found during Ramadan. El Misaharaty is the name given to the person who walks and beats a drum in residential areas to wake people up to eat their sohor (a meal eaten before the beginning of the fast) before morning prayers. Yet, today, this ancient practice seems to be in decline.
El Misaharaty is always accompanied by the children of the neighborhood who enjoy helping him in beating his drums and calling out: Es ha ya nayem…Wahed el dayem….Ramadan Karim…Es ha ya nayem… Wahed el razaq… meaning "Awake, oh faster and praise Allah. Welcome to you Ramadan, month of forgiveness." He starts his round at 3:00 am sharp and beats his drum three times, after his chanting. He goes from his house and walks to nearly every house in the neighborhood. As he reaches each house he stands in front of it and calls its residents by name. Typically, since his duty is to wake people up, the Misaharaty makes so much noise that he can be heard for several blocks in all directions.
the one in my grandmother's old lane knew everyone by name.. except the kids.. I used to peak out and scream my name to him .. and they would be so upset with me.. sometimes he'd make errors and just say jumbled words when he couldn't remember, it sounded so hilarious.. I believe people paid him in 3eed with cookies... kids used to take cookies from his cart and give it back to him, so I hear I have never done this ...
I am just dying to know other people's traditions in Ramadan though.. I didn't even know there were Muslims in Bosnia until war broke out.. I am sure country and province has its own traditions?...
peace--
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interesting stuff.
i would think at least the first few years in a non-muslim country, ramadan would be kind of sad, or lacking some of its special-ness.
each man thinks of his own fleas as gazelles
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It had lost its 'special-ness' for some time.. only recently I have tried to regain it .. but you know when you are a kid.. it is a month that is entirely beguiling!
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I remember when I was 12 or something, I wanted to help my sisters with their fasting, to do something so they wouldn't think about the hunger.
So my two younger sisters and I went outside to play. There was this big tree and we played underneath it, pretending it was our house. Then we took berries from bushes and flowers, stones, sand etc. acting as if they were ingredients, herbs and spices... We had toys suppoused to be plates, knives, fork, teapot, pitcher etc.. and acted as if we were preparing iftaar-dinner. lol
We played until my Mum called us to come to eat iftaar. MashaAllah, the imagination of children is just fascinating.
“If only I had checked myself”
—
Guy who wrecked himself
True leaders don't create followers...
.... They create new leaders.
i like those lanterns. are they a tradition in all muslim countries?
is there any symbolism in them, stories about them, or are they just plain pretty?
In Malaysia, the Malays have "Malam Tujuh Likur" which is on the final week of Ramadhan. They will decorate their houses with all sorts of lights as they are welcoming the angels to bless their houses in Lailatul Qadr (Night of Power) and these lights will be displayed until the end of Syawal.
i remember my first ever fast, my mum held a little iftaar party. i broke my fast 1 or 2 minutes before the iftari time with a kujoor, and the camera was rolling on me the whole time
really its hilarious to watch!
"So after the truth, what else can there be, save error?" [Quran 10:32]
i like those lanterns. are they a tradition in all muslim countries?
is there any symbolism in them, stories about them, or are they just plain pretty?
It seems more like an arab tradition and maybe malay/indo too if i'm not mistaken. You won't find those lanterns hanging in SE Asia, but you will find drummers (even those without drums) walking the streets and calling others to wake up.
^ yeah my mum said when she lived in Pakistan people would play drums at Sehri/Suhoor time and wake everyone up saying the losers are the people who miss out on such a valuable time.
Sounds sooo coooolll!!
"So after the truth, what else can there be, save error?" [Quran 10:32]
^ yeah my mum said when she lived in Pakistan people would play drums at Sehri/Suhoor time and wake everyone up saying the losers are the people who miss out on such a valuable time.
Sounds sooo coooolll!!
you make it sound like it was so long ago
i know they did it in the 80s, not sure after that. It has gotten pretty modern there lately...
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... well my mom told me she wasn't going to get me another one and I was crushed.. but my dad did try to fix it on multiple occasions, and it never worked .. eventually he put the hinges over the stove to try to melt the metal into itself but it meant I could never open that mystery door again 
most fanoos were made to use candles.. now the ones I mostly see are battery operated.. they are just not as good... but I imagine it is less fire hazerdous...
besides teasing my elder sis to give me the eatables secretly before iftar 
kay: anyway so thats one..
:smile:
but one of the links there seems to be having a mal-function...
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