Ramadan

Tonight is the start of Ramadan, an Islamic holiday that marks the discovery of the Qur’an by the Prophet Muhammad. The Islamic calendar is totally lunar, so Ramadan begins a few weeks earlier each year, at the sighting of the thin crescent moon, hopefully at sundown tonight.

Ramadan is a month of blessing, marked by prayer, fasting, and charity. By night, Muslims read the Qur'an, and celebrate the compassion of God with special prayers. By day, they give liberally to charities, and observe the discipline of fasting: They eat an early morning meal before the sun rises, then eat and drink nothing until after sundown. The Ramadan fast includes abstinence from falsehood and anger in words and deeds. It helps Muslims to develop self-discipline, a strong spirit, generosity, and empathy. 

Even though I don't partake in a fast, I observe Ramadan in this same spirit- renewing my relationship with God, exercising self-discipline and generosity, and building empathy for Muslims as they observe their month-long fast. 

Agenda:

1. Celestial Awareness: 
Ramadan lasts from this crescent moon to the next crescent moon. It's not a seasonal holiday because it falls at a different season every year; I think of it as a celestial holiday, and make an effort during this month to have a heightened awareness of the movement of the moon, and each day's sunrise and sunset. (I subscribe to a calendar ap that lists this information for me on my computer calendar.)

It takes special effort to pay attention to heavenly events. Muslims have the motivation of the fast, in which I am not partaking. I'm going to need to find creative ways to remind myself to be mindful.

2. Sunset Prayer for Peace:

This year I plan to observe a sunset prayer time during Ramadan- a prayer for peace. 

Muslims sometimes use a string of beads to count while they say their prayers. I have a string of 33 beads I will use as I chant PEACE (Peace is one of the 99 names of God mentioned in the Qur'an.) 

My plan:

• Go outside at sunset each night.
• Hold the beads in one hand and center myself a moment.
• Touch each bead around the strand, repeating the words Ya-salaam (Oh, Peace). 
• Muslims traditionally chant the names of God 99 times- three times around my strand; I will aim for that as an ideal.
• Use words for peace from different languages throughout the month.

3. Peace Postcard Project:

To continue my peace theme, and help me practice generosity, I decided to draw a postcard with Islamic-style design to give away during Ramadan.

I started by printing a stamp I made several years ago for peace flags- it says "Salaam" (Peace) in Arabic.



Islamic decoration has three main elements: Arabic calligraphy, geometric designs, and islimi, which are biomorphic floral patterns and arabesques. I found one good tutorial here for geometric art, and also checked out a Dover book of "Traditional Turkish Designs" from the library.

I made a rectangle on the computer to frame the stamp, then free-drew my favorite plant shapes from the Dover book to make a border around the stamp.

I made a copy of my rough draft, and traced it to get a duplicate for the other two sides, then redrew the whole design carefully and inked it.

The next step will be to color it, and make copies on nice paper to give away.

4. Enjoy Iftar tomorrow night: 

The Ramadan fast is broken at sunset with a meal called iftar. I plan to eat a simple Turkish-style iftar meal with Ezogelin (EZ-oh gel-EEN) soup, flat bread, goat cheese, black olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, and dates. The soup is very tasty and filling.









Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 4 c. chicken or beef stock
• 3/4 c. red lentils
• 1/4 c. bulgar
• 1/4 c. rice
• salt
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp. dry or fresh mint
• pepper

Garnish:

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp. mint
• lemon wedges
• red pepper flakes

Yield: 4-6 servings-

1- Chop the onion and saute with olive oil for about 4 minutes, then add the flour and stir until bubbly, but not browned.

2- Mix the tomato paste with 2 Tbsp. water, add to the flour, and stir until well combined. 

3- Next, slowly add the broth while stirring constantly. Continue stirring the mixture over high heat until it comes to a boil.

4- Wash the red lentils, rice and bulgar together in a strainer until the water runs clear. Add them to the boiling soup. Add salt and spices, then reduce the heat and cover the pan. Simmer slowly until grains are very soft and the lentils fall apart- about 20 minutes.

5- For the garnish, melt butter in a small pan until just bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in the mint. Pour it into the soup, stir and serve with lemon wedges and red pepper flakes.