Almost everything changes during the Holy month of Ramadhan - from waking
to working hours and daily habits (both physical and moral). Many people
become more religiously observant. Women in particular have extra duties
during this month.
After following the day of four 'typical' professional Yemeni woman
and mothers, a few differences and many similarities have been revealed.
Umm Salah:
My son Salah wakes me up at 9 AM, asking for his breakfast. I do some
cleaning around the house and prepare a few things for iftar (breaking
the fast) later on in the day. I perform the noon prayers, and prepare
to go to work at 1 PM. On my way to work, I drop Salah at the nursery.
After finishing work at 3.30 PM, I return home, perform the afternoon
prayer, and start cooking the iftar meal - shurba (boiled oats with milk
and sugar), shafoot (pancakes mashed in yoghurt and mixed with spice and
herbs) , and samboosa (ground meat and herbs in a triangular pastry envelope).
The whole
family gathers around the table just before the sunset call for prayer.
Following the Prophet's (P) tradition, the fast is broken with a date followed
by a simple dish. Then we do the sunset prayers either at home or at the
mosque. Eating the other Ramadhan dishes follows after that.
The men of the family stay at home for a while watching TV, while,
I do the washing and cleaning. At the evening prayer, men usually go to
the mosque and women either pray at home or go to the mosque also.
Then we prepare supper for the men when they come home from the mosque
at around 7.30 PM. This meal includes rice or pasta, meat or fish, salad,
Zahawiq (crushed tomatoes with ground black pepper), and bread.
I later clean the house and put Salah to sleep. At 10 PM we go out
to visit friends and relatives , go shopping or stay at home to watch TV.
Following a two-hour sleep, I wake up at 2AM to prepare suhoor (the last
meal before sunrise) which usually consists of coffee or tea with pancakes
and zahawiq with cheese. Following this meal we read the Holy Quran until
the time of the sunrise prayer after which we go to bed and sleep until
9AM.
Umm Jameel
I wake up at noon, perform the noon prayer, and go to work. On coming
home at 4 PM, I perform the afternoon prayers and start preparing for iftar.
Our iftar meal consists of bajia (fried balls of tiny crushed horse bean-like
legume), qamruldeen (dried apricot drink), rice, shafoot, tabeekh (mixed
vegetables with gravy), hilba (phenigree with gravy), and bread.
We break our fast with dates, qamruldeen, hilba , shurba and white
radish. Following the sunset prayers, we resume our meal. I do the house
work after the evening prayers after which time I chew qat with my husband
and watch TV until midnight.
Suhoor usually consists of what is left from iftar with some beans,
zahawiq with cheese, and mateet (yoghurt simmered with flour). After suhoor,
we read the Holy Quran, perform the sunrise prayers, and go to bed.
Umm Ahmed
I wake up at noon, do the noon prayers, clean and tidy up the house,
and go to work. Returning home around 3 PM, I do the afternoon prayers,
and start cooking for iftar. Following iftar, the sunset and evening prayers,
and the washing and cleaning up, I settle with the rest of the family in
front of the TV. Otherwise, we go out to visit friends and relatives or
go shopping, especially on Thursday night. I give our visitors orange juice,
qamruldeen, or other soft drinks and cream caramel.
I start preparing suhoor at 1 AM. We have our suhoor, read several
verses from the Holy Quran, do the sunrise prayers, and go to bed.
Jmeela
I stay awake watching TV until 7 or 8 in the morning, and sleep until
12.30 PM. I perform the noon prayers, and go to work at the school where
I teach. In between classes, I read the Quran or talk with my colleagues
about issues related to our students and other administrative concerns.
I return home at 4 PM, and immediately start preparing the iftar food with
my mother and the rest of my sisters. My parents go to the mosque for the
sunset prayers, then come back to have supper with the rest of the family.
Tidying and cleaning up is followed by the evening prayer, watching
some TV programs, or going out visiting. I read the Holy Quran until 1.30
or 2 AM, have suhoor, go to bed, or read a prayer book.
Some Facts About Observing Ramadhan
* Fasting during Ramadhan is the duty of every Muslim once he or she
reaches puberty - around 15 years old. However, children should be taught
to fast for half a day starting at the age of 7 up to 9. Once they are
10 years old, children should be taught to fast for a whole day - not necessarily
for the whole month. This is quite helpful for the children so that they
will be able to endure fasting the whole month of Ramadhan once they are
15 years old.
* A sick person is permitted not to fast until cured. He or she can
then fast the same number of days after Ramadhan.
* Old people who are unable to fast can give alms to the poor as a
substitute for not fasting.
* A menstruating or a post-natal does not have to fast, but has to
fast the same number of days after Ramadhan. For menstruation, 7 to 10
days are allowed.
* Zakat, or holy tax, is levied from the rich to be given to the poor
during Ramadhan. When the month is over, rich people usually give fitra
such as flour, sweets, meat, dates, money, etc.
Restoring Precious Manuscripts
Mr. Ronald Kon works in Leiden University and teaches Arabic at the
Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies in the Netherlands.
Q: What is the project you are working on in Yemen?
A: It is a project to further develop
Al-Ahqaf library in Tareem in the Hadhramaut valley. This is a form of
a cultural present which has been given by the Dutch government to the
Yemeni people to congratulate them on the unification of Yemen. We are
trying to develop the library in such a way that the Islamic manuscripts
will be preserved for future generations. We are also trying to develop
the personnel working there so that they will be well aware of modern preservation
techniques, using computers to retrieve information and things like that.
Q: What work do you perform in this project?
A: I evaluate the collection as it is
to see which manuscripts are the most interesting. We do this together
with the local library. With Mr. .Abdulah Al-Aidros, a key figure, together
with the director Abdulrahman Al-Saqqaf, we have been able to work very
nicely on the manuscripts.
Within this phase we have been doing a lot of work to manage, to organize,
to re-do the infrastructure of the whole collection. We should be able
to really start the scientific work in a second phase and to teach the
people how to make use of the material which is in the manuscripts.
Q: How long will this project take?
A: Last year, two of my colleagues spent
three months initiating the project. Their work had mainly to do with the
pre-infrastructure of the project. This means to try to make the building
in which the manuscripts were kept, a place where scientists could work.
Now the project is finished and one of the main tasks was to re-formulate
the project in order to be able to continue.
Q: Who funds this project?
A: The Dutch Embassy and the local public
authorities have been very helpful until now. We can try to get more funds
for this project in the coming years. We cannot exactly see for how long
that will be, but we are very optimistic that it will continue.
Q: How important are these manuscripts for researchers?
A:The
manuscript tradition is still very much alive. For example, we bought photocopies
of a book in a book shop called Al-Jawher al-Shafaf. The original is owned
by someone from Jeddah and the same text is also available in the Tareem
library. People still want to read other copies of the same texts.
Q: Are people generally aware of the importance of
conserving these manuscripts?
A: People here consider it to be part
of the heritage of Tareem. They feel it very much part of themselves. I
mean they really are eager to help during the work. They offered all kinds
of services which we think are necessary. The people in the library are
friendly and eager to help too.
The place is not just a local mosque. People from Egypt, Singapore
and Indonesia make their way to Tareem to study these manuscripts. From
a conservation point of view, everybody can read manuscripts. But if we
can scan them electronically, it is much easier to have them available
from more people locally and worldwide on the Internet.
Q: Do you think the library as a building should
be renovated?
A: The building is not bad. It is a part
of the mosque. However, the roofs and infrastructure have been repaired
and a generator was installed for a continuous electricity supply. If you
work with electronic equipment you can not tolerate power cuts. We try
to attract tourists, they are very much interested in Tareem. We want to
give them a nice display of the beautiful manuscripts.
Q: What should be done to help continue the process
of preservation?
A: Foreign aid should also concentrate
more on cultural aspects. Yemen is so culturally rich, both before and
after Islam. So what we would advice is to give a person like Abdulrahman
Al-Saqqaf who is working there in his library as much assistance as possible
in terms of training of his personnel. More facilities can really be installed
to make it a nice center.
Q: Would you like to add any thing?
A: Tareem has always been a very famous
center of learning. So what we are trying to do is to develop the Tareem
library to put Tareem back on the intellectual map of Yemen.
Mr. Hans Van Der Meulon teaches at the Department of Arabic and Islamic
Studies, Leiden University, Holland
Q: Could you tell us a bit about the Ahqaf library?
A: The library is located on top of the
mosque of Tareem. There are about 3300 manuscripts which contain more than
500 texts on different subjects. The most recent one is from about the
middle of this century and the oldest, dates back to the fourth century
after Hijra.
Q: What is your main task in this project?
A: Before I studied Arabic, I worked in
the Dutch telecom company as a technician and this has helped my main task
in installing computers. I also do book binding and am making a data base
for the library. This is very useful because we are also putting this on
the Internet for the whole world to see.
Q: What else does the work involve?
A: We try to describe Arab scripts, identify
the author, the man who made a copy, the date it was made, and other essential
data. Also, the dimension of the manuscript is very important so as to
know the number of lines, what type of handwriting, and what type of paper
was used.
There are some medical books and most of the texts are just known by
name and author but work still needs to be done to know what the real subjects
are because many scholars are unknown in the world.
Q: In what conditions are the manuscripts now?
A: Their condition is quite good because
it is very dry in Hadhramaut.
Q: Are all manuscripts going to appear on the Internet
A: The catalogue will be on the Internet.
Not all of manuscripts will be on the Internet, just the most important
ones.
Q: Do you think tourists are interested in seeing
these manuscripts?
A: In the month we were there, we saw
several hundred tourists coming to the place. They are really amazed. We
are now preparing a booklet as an introduction to the library and postcards
for the visitors to take home.
Q: Would you like to add anything?
A: I want just to say I agree with Mr.
Ronald Kon and I think it is important that the library get as much support
as possible from the government and also our government should inform the
local people as well.
Al-Hijjra Village
Al-Hijjra village is one of the most important landmarks in Yemen, since
it has tourist attractions and an excellent climate. This village dates
back to the Al-Salihiya state (1050-1170 A.D). It is built over a big rock
and is fortified by a strong wall which has made it invincible until today.
The
villagers restored some of the high buildings to good condition. Many visitors
are surprised when they visit the village because it is built on a hill
and the buildings are prominent. The climate of Al-Hijjra is moderate because
it is located between Sana'a and Hodeida. Public services such as electricity,
water and a paved road to Manakha are available. The roads of the village
itself need to be paved.
Tourists who arrive in Yemen by ship visit Al-Hijjra village because
it is near the port of Hodeida. Agriculture is the main activity in the
village. The villagers plant wheat, corn, maize, coffee, tomatoes and qat.
The village has a population of 1160. Al-Hijjra Hotel is considered to
be one of the most beautiful tourist landmarks in Al-Hijjra. It was built
6 years ago and has become famous for its excellent services.
The Hotel offers many services such as delicious meals and can host
parties and wedding ceremonies. The prices are competitive and reasonable
and it has a capacity for more than 60 persons.
I have written several articles in some local and foreign newspapers
such as the French and Spanish publications.
The hotel provides the tourists with guides who speak several languages.
The hotel arranges activities such as walking, camping and touring by donkeys
to different tourist and archeological areas such as Al-Amir house, Al-Haymi
fortress, Al-Kharaba, Al-Sehab, Kahel, Al-Hatib and others.
The hotel conducts walking excursions to Al-Mahweet, Hajja and Yaro
mountains.
