Tag: Ramadan

  • Turkey Tough on Rules for Drummers

    Turkey Tough on Rules for Drummers

    Miss a Beat and Get Drummed Out; ‘We Don’t Want Amateurs Here’

    By JOE PARKINSON

    ISPARTA, Turkey—In most countries, shouting songs and banging drums through residential neighborhoods at 2 in the morning could get you arrested. In Turkey, it is a way to earn a little money.

    Every year, during the holy month of Ramadan, which ended this month, Turks are roused before sunrise daily by an army of drummers noisily celebrating the arrival of the Sahur: the last meal for pious Muslims before they begin the daylight fast. At the end of the holy month, the beat-makers collect cash donations from residents eager to show appreciation for the rigor of the rhythm and the soulfulness of the song.

    Turkish drummers have been facing a call to up their game in order to be able to get a license to drum on the streets in the wee hours of the morning during Ramadan. WSJ’s Joe Parkinson reports from Isparta, Turkey, on the exam potential drummers must pass.

    But residents of one drum-loving town, believing that standards for this 500-year-old tradition have been slipping, are demanding a better beat for their buck.

    The western Turkish city of Isparta, famed for the production of rosewater, is in the vanguard of a movement that calls for drummers to qualify for an official license. It is a response by local authorities to complaints that unqualified percussionists were ruining things with poor rhythm, bad melody and aggressive demands for payouts.

    In preparation for this year’s festival, which began July 19, about 60 of Isparta’s wannabe drummers faced off at a sort of boot camp where they played traditional rhythms and recited religious couplets called Manis to stone-faced judges to prove they were qualified.

    The 50 candidates who passed the July exam each got a license: a laminated card emblazoned with a picture and identity number designed to stop maverick drummers from claiming the certified drummers’ rewards.

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    Eleven hopefuls were rejected by the five-man judging panel of local officials and professional musicians, who cited “substandard rhythm,” “poor knowledge of traditional songs,” and “an inability to perform under pressure” as reasons for failure.

    “It’s not as simple as just banging the drum; you can understand the quality of someone’s rhythm even by the way he is holding the instrument. If he can’t maintain the rhythm while singing the poem, he isn’t a professional and we don’t want amateurs here,” said Cinar Helioglu, Isparta’s police chief, head of the judging panel.

    “Across Turkey, we’re seeing many of our traditions diluted and we won’t let that happen. This year we’ve had no complaints about the drumming and everyone says the quality has improved dramatically,” he said.

    via Turkey Tough on Rules for Drummers – WSJ.com.

    more : https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444230504577615062052946478

  • Tensions in Turkey During Ramadan

    Tensions in Turkey During Ramadan

    By ANDREW FINKEL

    ISTANBUL — It is the holy month of Ramadan and, just before twilight, my Istanbul neighborhood fills with an intoxicating smell from the two wood-fire oven bakeries feverishly producing loaf after crusty loaf of seasonal bread. There’s a bustle of last-minute shopping and of people rushing to get home. When the sun finally goes down and the call to prayer comes, the streets are eerily silent except for the clink of cutlery from open apartment windows as families sit down to break the fast.

    Alevi Muslims at an Ankara rally in November 2008.Ates Tumer/European Pressphoto AgencyAlevi Muslims at an Ankara rally in November 2008.
    Alevi Muslims at an Ankara rally in November 2008.Ates Tumer/European Pressphoto AgencyAlevi Muslims at an Ankara rally in November 2008.

    It’s a ritual I enjoy to watch; it’s not one in which I share. I don’t fast, but, of course many of my Muslim neighbors don’t either. One or two of the nearby restaurants shut for the month, and the local meyhane taverns, where people go to eat and drink raki, take the month off. But most places stay open and the passersby who fast don’t seem bothered by the regulars at the sidewalk eateries having lunch.

    Ramadan is so attractive, in part, because Turkey wears its faith lightly. People are generally tolerant of those who don’t share their beliefs, making those beliefs seem all the more sincere. But Ramadan does occasionally produce tensions, especially in the conservative parts of the country.

    Every Ramadan, news reports circulate of neighborhoods less gentrified than my own where people are bullied for not observing the fast. This is taken by many people as evidence of creeping pressure from the conservative government challenging the secular way of life. But that argument can be flipped around: Pious Turks could make a strong case that they are the ones under pressure to conform. Women, for example, still cannot wear headscarves while working in many professions.

    Still, there are times when stories of conservative pressures grab our attention much like the predawn drumming that rouses people to a meal during Ramadan. Traditionally, a drummer patrols the streets in the last minutes of the night, waking people for an early breakfast so they can have food in their system just as the fast begins at sunrise. Even my neighbors who fast have always objected to the custom — the racket invariably would come too early.

    Last week, a family living in a village near Malatya in the east of Turkey objected vigorously to the Ramadan drummer thumping outside their door. The argument turned into a brawl and, later in the day, into a riot.

    A group estimated to be between 300-500 people gathered outside the sleepers’ home, pelting the house with stones and burning down a barn.

    “I’m not acting in my own name,” the drummer Mustafa Evsi told Radikal newspaper. “I’m doing it for Islam.’’ He demanded that the family “get out of town.”

    The family in question belongs to the Alevi branch of Islam, a form of Shiism mixed with Turkish folk elements complicated by many variations — making it difficult for an outsider to define. Many adherents ignore the Ramadan fast and, unlike their Orthodox cousins, are less strict about consuming alcohol or even going on the Hajj.

    Alevis make up anywhere between 15-to-25 percent of Turkey’s population and yet their rights are systematically ignored. The huge state-funded religious establishment, which pays clerics’ salaries, does not finance Alevi religious leaders’ pay. Alevi places of worship are given a lesser legal status as cultural centers. Compulsory religious education in schools ignores Alevi beliefs altogether and teaches only the Sunni mainstream.

    This institutional intolerance is the product of Turkey’s peculiar form of secularism, which has been less about separating mosque from state than keeping religion squarely under an official thumb. Turkey’s Alevis are just too unorthodox to keep pinned down. And where there are large Aelvi communities next to Sunni populations, trouble can break out.

    The last serious outburst of violence was in 1993 when a mob set fire to a hotel in Sivas where an Alevi celebration was taking place. Thirty-seven people died.

    Andrew Finkel

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    What happened last week in Malatya was a comparatively minor incident. But the government has been slow to react. Indeed, the prime minister made matters worse by referring in a television interview Sunday night to a particular Alevi place of worship not far from where I live as “an eyesore.”

    “Secularism means respecting people’s differences,” my electrician told me when he came to fix the lights. He is an Alevi, also from a village in Malatya, and no stranger to discrimination. “But how do you expect uneducated people to respect us when the government doesn’t?”

    The current government was elected with a mandate to end discrimination against religion in public life, not to discriminate against those Turks whose faith is different from the mainstream. If they need lessons in tolerance, they should visit my neighborhood.

    Andrew Finkel has been a foreign correspondent in Istanbul for over 20 years, as well as a columnist for Turkish-language newspapers. He is the author of the book “Turkey: What Everyone Needs to Know.”

    via Tensions in Turkey During Ramadan – NYTimes.com.

  • Non-Muslim Turks Share Ramadan Spirits

    Non-Muslim Turks Share Ramadan Spirits

    Sharing the spiritual experience of Ramadan fasting, Turkey non-Muslims are celebrating the holy month’s customs with their Muslim counterparts like one family.

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    Non-Muslim Turks Share Ramadan Spirits

    (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – “Ramadan, to me, is a time of celebration like American Thanksgiving, for 30 days in a row,” Roberta Olson Ozgunduz, an American married to a Turk who has been living in Istanbul since the 1980s, told SETimes on Thursday, July 26.

    Ramadan is the holiest month in Islamic calendar.

    In Ramadan, adult Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.

    The sick and those traveling are exempt from fasting especially if it poses health risks.

    After sunset, a special atmosphere colors Istanbul with illuminated mosques and crowded restaurants offering special Ramadan menus.

    Sharing Muslims iftars, non-Muslims find such customs colorful, with delicious dishes specific to Ramadan.

    “It is always a nice feeling because when breaking the fast with Muslim friends even when I don’t fast is still very special, and it makes everybody feel a part of the same family,” said Ozgunduz.

    “So, it is one of my favorite times in Turkey.”

    Fasting is meant to teach Muslims patience, self-control and spirituality, and time during the holy month is dedicated for getting closer to Allah though prayers, reading the Noble Qur’an and good deeds.

    During Ramadan, Muslims dedicate their time during the holy month to become closer to Allah through prayer, self-restraint and good deeds.

    It is customary for Muslims to spend part of the days during Ramadan studying the Noble Qur’an.

    Turkey celebrated the start of the holy fasting month on Friday, July 20.

    Socializing

    Capitalizing on the holy fasting month’s spirit of sharing, Ramadan offered non-Muslims a better opportunity to foster relations with their Muslim neighbors.

    “Ramadan is for us to socialize, blend with other religions of the society, and to understand them,” Ceki Baruh, a Jewish resident of Istanbul, said.

    For Baruh, sharing iftar with her Muslim friends is always a celebrated event.

    “One of my favorite activities is to share Iftar with my Muslim friends and live that enthusiasm,” she said.

    “And if I can, I try not to eat during those days in order to bring a value to my activity.

    “We should also emphasize that during Ramadan, the representatives of different religions in Istanbul organize joint dinners to celebrate the holy spirit of that month.”

    Muslims make up approximately 99 percent of Turkey’s population, but the country is also home to several ancient Christian communities and Jews.

    They include nearly 70,000 Armenians, 20,000 Greek Orthodox — mostly based in Istanbul — and 20,000 Syriac Christians, who speak a form of Aramaic, the language of Jesus.

    /106

    via Non-Muslim Turks Share Ramadan Spirits.

  • Eid al-Fitr celebrations: Ramadan ends in feast-filled bliss

    Eid al-Fitr celebrations: Ramadan ends in feast-filled bliss

    Celebrate Eid al-Fitr, a three-day holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan

    Good Eating staff Chicago Tribune

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    Today Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Fitr, a three-day holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The tradition calls for family and friends to go house to house visiting and enjoying festive meals both sweet and savory.

    To commemorate the food-rich holiday, we’ve compiled a few recipes to help you celebrate. But remember, the options for a Middle Eastern feast are endless.

    Pistachio baklava

    Preparation time: 35 minutes

    Cooking time: 50 minutes

    Cool down: 1 hour

    Serves: 35 pieces

    Note: Adapted from a recipe from Hamdi restaurant in Istanbul.

    Ingredients:

    13 sheets thawed phyllo dough

    11/2 sticks (3/4 cup) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

    1 3/4 cups shelled, chopped pistachios

    Sugar syrup:

    11/2 cups sugar

    1 cup water

    1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Keep phyllo dough sheets covered with a damp towel as you work. Layer eight sheets of phyllo dough in a buttered 13-by-9-inch baking pan, brushing each layer with butter. Spread the chopped nuts evenly over the top layer. Top with five more sheets of dough, buttering each layer. Cut into squares or diamond shapes to mark dough without cutting all the way through. Bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes.

    2. For the sugar syrup, mix the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat to a boil; lower heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring, 10 minutes. Let cool; pour mixture over the baklava. Set baklava aside to cool at least 1 hour. Cut into pieces.

    Nutrition information per piece: 130 calories, 52 percent of calories from fat, 8 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 12 mg cholesterol, 14 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 35 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.

    Saffron-perfumed mussel soup

    via Eid al-Fitr celebrations: Ramadan ends in feast-filled bliss – chicagotribune.com.

  • Istanbul marks Ramadan with spirit of tolerance

    Istanbul marks Ramadan with spirit of tolerance

    The advent of Ramadan transforms the face of Europe’s largest metropolis Istanbul, rendering it a unique place to witness the traditions associated with the holy month of Muslim and the spirit of coexistence among its residents.

    Since Monday, millions of Muslims across the world will refrain from eating and drinking from dawn until sunset for a whole month, which intends to train Muslims about patience, humility and spirituality.

    The minarets of the main mosques in Istanbul are decorated with Mahya, a pattern of light bulbs hung high to send a message of Ramadan, and local markets are busier than usual as people shop for Iftar, the evening meal when Muslims break their fast.

    Iftar tents are also set up across the city where hundreds of people gather to break their fast together, which are generally operated by local communities and free of charge. Moreover, restaurants and cafes remain open during Ramadan.

    While Ramadan is marked across the Islamic world, perhaps it is only in Istanbul where one would be able to see a group breaking their fast and another enjoying a cold beer at adjoining tables amid the friendly atmosphere.

    It is a combination of such attitudes and traditions that render Istanbul an organic link between East and West.

    For the city’s local residents, Ramadan means different things. Mehmet Alkin says apart from fulfilling his religious obligations, Ramadan also provides him with the opportunity to detox his body.

    There are still plenty, though, who find the noise generated by the pre-dawn drummers an irritant and an obsolete action.

    “I don’t see the point of these drummers in this day and age. Those who want to get up early could set their alarms. Why do they wake up the entire neighborhood,” said Hamit Coskun, a student living in Istanbul’s central district of Beyoglu.

    An Iranian tourist Arash who did not want to reveal his surname and visited the city for the second time during Ramadan, expressed his surprise at how different Ramadan feels in Istanbul.

    “This is actually quite amazing. It is much more authentic when it is not forced upon people,” he said. “I can feel the people fasting here are out of real faith.”

    Source:Xinhua

    via Istanbul marks Ramadan with spirit of tolerance – People’s Daily Online.

  • Ramadan drummer of Istanbul hopes the beat will go on

    Ramadan drummer of Istanbul hopes the beat will go on

    Drummers fear for future of tradition dating back to Ottoman times in which they wake people for pre-dawn meal of Sahur

    Constanze Letsch in Istanbul

    guardian.co.uk

    Carli the Ramadan drummer  Carli, the Ramadan drummer, walks the streets of Elmadağ in Istanbul. His drum reads: 'Welcome to the Sultan of the 11 months'. Photograph: Jonathan Lewis
    Carli the Ramadan drummer Carli, the Ramadan drummer, walks the streets of Elmadağ in Istanbul. His drum reads: 'Welcome to the Sultan of the 11 months'. Photograph: Jonathan Lewis

    Just after two o’clock in the morning, Carli arranges his red velvet costume one last time. “The first night is always exciting”, he says.

    He is one of Istanbul’s last few Ramadan drummers: upholders of a tradition going back to Ottoman times, they walk the streets with their drums, waking the inhabitants in time for Sahur, the last meal before a long day of fasting that starts with the call to prayer at sunrise.

    Carli – who asked to be referred to by his professional name – has been working as a Ramadan drummer for more than 20 years, and as he makes his way through the Istanbul neighbourhood of Elmadağ, residents greet him like an old friend.

    On the first night of Ramadan, he explains, he sings a traditional mâni – a folkloric four-lined stanza – that greets the arrival of the 11th and holiest month of the Islamic calendar. “There will be a greater variation in my songs as Ramadan progresses, but tonight I want people to be happy that Ramadan is here,” he said.

    As he beats his drum, apartments light up and people poke their heads out of doors and windows; some children wave. Every now and then, the music sets off the occasional car alarm. Do people ever get angry about the noise? Carli shakes his head. “Sometimes there are people who ask me not to play in front of their houses because someone is ill, or there is a new-born baby.”

    Elmadağ is a traditionally non-Muslim neighbourhood: an Armenian hospital is situated here, as is the Vatican consulate. Walking past a retirement home run by a Christian Foundation, Carli chooses not to sing. “Not everybody fasts, and not everybody here is Muslim. It is simply a matter of respect.”

    Ramadan drummers like Carli fear that their tradition is dying. Istanbul’s traditional neighbourhoods are gradually being replaced by tower blocks, and nine out of 32 municipalities in Istanbul have banned the drumming as noise pollution, arguing that in times of TV, mobile phones and electric clocks, nobody is in danger of sleeping through Sahur any more.

    For Carli, the drumming in Ramadan is a crucial source of income – residents give him tips of up to £500 – but it is also a vital part of the city’s calendar. “It is one of the most important traditions,” he says. “Ramadan without the drumming is impossible.”

    via Ramadan drummer of Istanbul hopes the beat will go on | World news | The Guardian.