AMINA IBRAHIM-ALI
IN MARCH and April, after having observed three seasons of Ramadan under social distancing protocols, Muslims experienced what can only be described as exultation as they converged freely again in the mosques.
While the sense of community remained strong, some changes that appeared to have occurred overnight were hard to miss. Renovations, for instance, were under way at the 81-year-old Jama Masjid, a heritage site located at the corner of Queen Janelle Commissiong and Piccadilly Streets in the capital city.
Worshippers, who now accessed the site through Duncan Street, met modern and spacious accommodation. Yes, time had passed. Former babes in arms, who now marched with fanfare through the prayer area, received disapproving nods, while toddlers, who had once clung desperately to their mothers, stood quietly alongside their parents in prayer. Adult members who could no longer prostrate as easily they had before, joined the congregation from the support of chairs.
As a child being trained to fast, I quickly learned that the month of Ramadan was a month of comparisons. The plight of those in need was more palpable when we experienced hunger and thirst and, from early on, we developed a keen appreciation for our sustenance while becoming keenly aware of those in the community who lacked equal means.
This fact is still most striking towards the close of Ramadan as mosques collect and distribute a charitable donation called Zakat ul Fitr to enable needy Muslims to share in the Eid celebrations. Meant to purify the fasting person from any shortcomings in the fast, Zakat ul Fitr is compulsory upon every self-supporting Muslim who must pay it also on behalf of each of his or her dependents, including new-born babies.
During my childhood, I noted also that the pre-dawn meal or suhoor and the meal to break the fast or iftar were, from household to household, vastly different. My cousins spoke of leftover dinner like dhal and rice for suhoor, whereas we consumed traditional breakfast items such as eggs, cheese, toast and cereal.
Back then, like today, although dates were the staple item for iftar, some people opted for boiled channa and others prepared fried kachoris, saheenas and samosas. Some preferred hot drinks and others, cold.
I discovered early on that everyone did not have the same endurance level either. While my younger siblings consumed suhoor and fasted as easily as our parents did, I readily accepted a glass of milk or two from my mother to help sustain me until iftar.
Over the years, the Bhojpuri terms brought by three generations before us, those that we had used as children, were no longer heard. These terms are now expressed either in Arabic - the language of the Quran - or English - our official language, perhaps for increased intelligibility.
Our grandparents called Ramadan, Ramzan. The fasting person used to be the rozadar, keeping fast was keeping roza and to break fast was kholay roza. I
