ONE of the iconic features of Ramadan in bygone days in the Hijaz and in the wider Arabian Peninsula were the extremely punctual Misaharatis who, prior to suhur, would wander the streets singing songs and hitting drums waking people up in Ramadan.
In Saudi Arabia the Misaharatis are no longer to be seen, they disappeared around 20 years ago. Modernization and the changes accompanying it have led to the disappearance of Misaharatis in the Arabian Peninsula. People have now adopted different ways of waking up during Ramadan to take their suhur.
Misaharatis were generally sincere and honest people who were punctual in their prayer. They first appeared in the Abbasid era. In 238 Hijrah Uqba bin Ishaq, the then ruler of Egypt, was the first person to walk around Cairo waking people up late at night and encouraging them to take suhur. In the Fatimid era, the government issued a decree-advising people to sleep early during Ramadan while soldiers were given the task of knocking at people’s homes waking them up for suhur.
Arab News met Amm Hamdan Ahmad, a 70-year-old Saudi who used to work as a Misaharati in the Al-Ruwais district of Jeddah. “Time has changed, we are no more respected. We used to be considered important and reliable but now people do not have any respect for us.”
Amm Hamdan lives in an old house and survives on donations he receives from people. However, with memories of the Misaharati in the back of people’s minds, the younger generation does not even know who he is, or what he used to do. No one now knocks at his door to pay a visit or even to say Ramadan Kareem.
For the last 600 years the Misaharatis have been an integral feature of Ramadan in the Arabian Peninsula. They used to be called the Zamzamis and would wander the streets carrying a drum covered in goat leather that would be fastened by glue. The Misaharati would walk around hitting his drum and singing songs and chanting certain phrases that would differ from region to region. Most of these chants or songs would be words of encouragement calling on people to awake for suhur.
People living in the old districts of Jeddah remember the Misaharatis who are considered to be an important sign of Ramadan — especially their drums and chants. However modernization has replaced all the traditions and has spoiled the beauty of Ramadan.
In bygone days the Misaharatis traditionally started the craft of waking people up, wandering the streets singing songs and hitting drums at the age of 15. They would accompany their fathers to get a feeling and understanding of how the work is carried out and in order to be introduced to local people. After a couple of years Misaharatis would then begin working on their own. In the old days the Misaharatis were very popular and much appreciated, they would assume the role of alarm clocks. More importantly the Misaharatis were very much respected for their piety and were renowned to perform their prayers on time at mosque and would never divulge the secrets of people that they would accidentally come across while on their rounds.
The Misaharatis would walk with their drums, singing Sahuran Ya Saim (awake oh you who are fasting, awake to eat). The Misaharatis would strike their drums twice after chanting. In the old days people would easily hear the Misaharatis since there were no air-conditioning units to block their voices.
Misaharatis traditionally were never given monthly salaries but rather used to receive financial help from the noble people in the district. Others would offer them foodstuff, clothes, and all kinds of presents, as a reward for their efforts during Ramadan.
It is true that ‘time has changed.’ The Misaharatis now exist only in the minds of old people, who sadly remember the banging of their drums and chants.
