Ramadaan Around the Globe 2021 (1442): Ramadaan and Eid Traditions
Written by Farah (Travel Unravelled)
What is the one tradition you look forward to the most during Ramadaan?
Reading taraweeh prayers together with family, and having iftaar gatherings with the rest of my siblings and niblings. As most of my siblings are now married and moved out, I love it even more when we all get together for iftaar and pray together like we used to when we were younger.
Is this a tradition that you had grown up doing as a kid or is this a new tradition?
I can’t actually remember much from when I was younger, just that we used to pray together. However, when I have my own family in the future, I would like to set up a specific room or corner in the house with Ramadan decorations for my children, to make it more special and to motivate them insha’Allah.
What do you typically eat for sehri (suhoor) and iftaar during Ramadaan?
We open our fast with dates or water, and usually go on to eat curry with chapattis or rice. My mum mostly cooks the Asian dishes, and I cook other dishes such as fajitas, pies, pasta or salmon dishes etc. I keep it simple for suhoor. We don’t over indulge normally for iftaar. Our appetites decrease a lot so we don’t eat any more than usual. Before lockdown, we would sometimes have iftaar with the rest of the family, either at a restaurant or ordering takeaway together at home.
What are some of the Eid traditions that you do in your home?
A night or two before Eid we have a chaand raat at my mum’s where we put mehndi (henna) on everyone, and make puris (soft fried dough) to have with either chana (chick peas) or halwa (a sweet semolina dish). On Eid day, we do the usual dressing up, the men go to the masjid in the morning, and all my siblings and their families gather at my parents’ house. I put an Eid Mubarak banner up for decoration. I used to spend hours getting myself and everyone else ready, as I’m the beautician of the family!
In the morning, we usually have seviyan (vermicelli) which is a sweet milky dessert. We don’t normally have sweet things for breakfast, Eid is the only time we do! For our main meal we have pilau rice, chicken and lamb curry, roast chicken and masala fish, and my sister normally bakes a load of desserts like cheesecakes and truffles etc. We have our feast, the niblings open their presents, then we play some games in the evening such as charades and ‘gestures’.
Is this a tradition you have grown up with or is it something new?
Yes it has been like this for as long as I can remember, but we only started playing games in the past few years, as our family got bigger to keep the niblings occupied. We never used to decorate at all either, but I’ve been trying to change that so it feels like more of a celebration.
Is there anything else you would like to add that may be relevant to this topic?
The feeling I love the most in Ramadan is having more willpower and motivation to read the Quran and pray more than I usually would, with less distractions. I have found it much easier this year being in lockdown as I am currently working from home and so grateful for this. I feel like it has given us all more time to focus on this spiritual month. I’ve loved reading everyone traditions in Ramadan from around the world, it has given me plenty of inspiration and ideas on how to make it even more memorable and special for my future family. I hope everyone has a blessed Eid .
Farah has a travel blog on her Instagram where she shares amazing nature, food and travel experiences. You can follow her Instagram page at the link below:
https://www.instagram.com/travel_unravelled/