According to the lunar calendar, Ramadan begins depending on the sighting of the moon at the end of Shaaban 29. If the moon were to be sighted on Saturday evening, i.e. Shaaban 29, then Ramadan would have begun this year on Sunday.
Writer, columnist and former Saudi Navy Commodore Abdulateef Al-Mulhim says the tradition of actually going onto the rooftops and looking for the crescent is no longer in vogue.
“There used to be great fun in looking out for the moon in clear blue skies many years ago,” he told Arab News.
“If one of us managed to see the crescent he would shout with joy and call out to everyone else to look in a particular direction; we would then cheer excitedly and embrace and congratulate each other on the arrival of the blessed month.”
Al-Mulhim says in many towns there would be certain people who were endowed with sharp eyesight and who had the knowledge of differentiating between what is actually a crescent and what is sometimes merely a polar reflection. “These people would go to the elderly religious scholars who would then make the official Ramadan announcement. But we, the children of the family and the big clan, would celebrate on our own after having sighted the moon.”
Senior journalist Merza Alkhuwaldi says technology has killed all traditions.
“I hear from my elders that many years ago when there was no television and no Internet, muezzins would go onto the top stairs of the minarets of the mosques, people would go onto their rooftops and nearby hillocks in groups to look for the new moon. If they were unable to locate the crescent then they would wait for news from major towns. Sometimes the news of the moon sighting would reach them the next day, and in such cases people would start fasting from the moment they received the news.”
The night that heralded the arrival of Ramadan used to be full of excitement.
“We did not have single families then; everyone was part of the big, joint family. Members of the extended family would all be together to look for the moon, and once the moon was sighted, they would celebrate by distributing sweets and making ample preparations for the coming suhour (starting of the fast meal) and iftar (breaking of the fast).”
Alkhuwaldi admits that he has not actually seen the Ramadan moon for years now.
“The tradition has changed. The weather pattern has changed. In this drab, dreary, humid weather, everything is hazy. You look up in the skies any evening, and you only see a ball of haze hanging in the air. Who can dream of sighting the moon? Now we just wait for the official announcement to begin our Ramadan fasting. That is how it is now. That beautiful and nostalgic part of the tradition is now over.”
Fifty-eight-year-old Pakistani national Shahid Anwar Zaman, his wife, son and three daughters were out on the Alkhobar Corniche on Sunday evening in search of the moon.
“I have been here in Saudi Arabia for 32 years now. I have spent time in the Kingdom’s various cities. I have never succeeded in sighting the moon. We have never given up though. For us, it has become a tradition to go out looking for the Ramadan moon.”
Zaman vividly recalls his childhood memories of Ramadan.
“I remember in Lahore, which is where I come from, the night before the onset of Ramadan used to be a great occasion of celebration. Our brothers and sisters would all assemble in the large family home. Lahore used to be very green then. It is green even now. We would go up on the rooftops and would crane our necks casting our eyes in all directions looking out for the moon, and when we would succeed — and we almost always succeeded — we would rush downstairs to greet our mother and father and then all the other relatives. We would immediately prepare for Isha and the special Ramadan prayers called Taraweeh, and then members of the whole clan would visit, congratulating each other on the beginning of the blessed month.”
Zaman says he tells his children about his experience, and they also long for such celebrations.
“Sometimes they feel I am too much of a nostalgic man, but I narrate all that stuff in great detail and full fascination to my daughters Zahra, Fatima, Sarah and son Nabeel and feel that they should relive that long forgotten tradition. One reason for me to take out my children to the Corniche on Shaaban 29 and Shaaban 30 is to give them the thrill of actually looking at the Ramadan crescent. You know how children are; they are fascinated by moon anyways, and I want to see them smile and continue the tradition of actually making the effort of seeing the moon rather than just waiting for the mechanical announcement on television and the emotionless text messages. I want them to feel the moment. So far, however, I have not been lucky.”
His children tell Arab News: “We will be here next year as well. Insha Allah.”
