NOTHING epitomizes that advent of Ramadan throughout the Arab world as essentially as the Fanous, or Ramadan lantern. Seen hanging in almost every house and street, the glass lamp has been used over the centuries to celebrate the coming of the holy month. In the past, children and adults would carry them about while singing traditional Ramadan songs, or use them to light the way to the mosque or a neighbor’s after dark.
There are a series of tales woven around the historic origins of the Fanous. One romantic version tells how it was established as a tradition on the 15th of Ramadan, 358 H, when Al-Motez Ledeenallah Al-Fatimi, the Fatimid leader of Tunisia that ruled Egypt, arrived in Cairo. Caireans received him carrying colorful lanterns to light the streets leading to his palace. From then on, the Fanous became an integral part of Ramadan celebrations.
One slightly different version has it that during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim Bi-Amr Illah, women were never allowed to leave their harems except during the holy month, and even then they had to be preceded by a little boy carrying a copper lantern. The colored lights announced the imminent arrival of women in the vicinity and warned pedestrians to move away, allowing women to leave whilst remaining isolated from men.
Others say the Fanous has more practical origins — that it was used by Muslims looking for a spot to observe the nearly invisible crescent moon that holy month. Yet another story tells how the Musaharati that wakes people for Suhoor before Fajr used the lanterns to light their way down darkened alleys and streets as they called to their neighbors to Salah.
Egypt is the traditional all-year-round producer of fawanis, found in the Khan El-Khalili bazaar of Cairo. Although its sources have never changed, the Fanous has over time undergone vast makeovers. They were originally constructed from squares of different-colored glass, soldered with copper and aluminum. A simple piece of string was tied to it so the heat wouldn’t burn children’s hands. Today the solder is made from tin, and the glass is cut in various designs, with tens of variations on the lantern shapes. Yet even this form of the lantern is under threat from new rivals. Traditional Fanous makers face competition from an influx of cheap imports from China and South Asia that are electrically wired, equipped with flashing lights and music boxes that sing the latest Arab hit music.
Nowadays, electricity has turned the old essential lanterns into modern-day decorations, yet till today almost every family in Egypt buys a Fanous before or during Ramadan. A candle lit inside the glass lantern sends out shafts of dancing, colored light, and if bought for a child the Fanous then becomes a childhood memory that is an eternal source of joy and nostalgia.
Muhammad Mahran, an Egyptian national living in Saudi Arabia, reminisces, “The Fanous is the most important symbol of Ramadan arrival. In Egypt we grew up celebrating the arrival of the month holding a Fanous and running out in the street singing Ramadan songs. This is something that has been passed down for generations. It is a tradition that we must keep and I will make sure that I pass to my children. My children will love it with the same passion that I did when I was young. It is said that it strengthens the love of Ramadan in the hearts of children.”
