Eid (al fitr) Mubarak, 1432
I have been getting errors from blogspot for the past week or so, so a belated Eid Mubarak.
Islam has two 'official' Eids, and this one (on 29 October 2011 just after sunset) marked the end of Ramadan.
Once, Dubai slowed down for Ramadan and closed completely for Eid.
During previous Ramadans, employers were required to reduce the workday by several hours, sending all employees home in mid-afternoon so the employees could prepare for iftar. This past Ramadan, I saw businesses open all day. Where before, all during Ramadan, Dubai seemed deserted from one hour before sunset until one hour after sunset, this year shops were open and crowded during those two hours.
And during past Eids, all of Dubai seemed closed, but this Eid, most shops were open.
At the same time, in previous years, if one knew where to look, there were restaurants with signs, 'Closed until iftar,' but if one tried, the doors were unlocked, and inside they served the usual menu. I tried a few I knew of, but all were closed, and, when they opened after iftar, they said they'd been warned off by the police: In previous years, the police had been told to turn a blind eye to these few violations of the Ramadan fast--travellers are not required to fast, and women are not allowed to fast for one week during Ramadan, so a few restaurants had informal permission to remain inconspicuously open (with an emphasis on inconspicuously). Not this year (perhaps because last year they mangled the inconspicuously).
So a few strange incongruities this Ramadan.
But now Ramadan is over, restaurants are open during the day, and it's permissible to sip a drink while wandering about Dubai in the heat, which is just now starting to abate.
So Eid Mubarak!
Islam has two 'official' Eids, and this one (on 29 October 2011 just after sunset) marked the end of Ramadan.
Once, Dubai slowed down for Ramadan and closed completely for Eid.
During previous Ramadans, employers were required to reduce the workday by several hours, sending all employees home in mid-afternoon so the employees could prepare for iftar. This past Ramadan, I saw businesses open all day. Where before, all during Ramadan, Dubai seemed deserted from one hour before sunset until one hour after sunset, this year shops were open and crowded during those two hours.
And during past Eids, all of Dubai seemed closed, but this Eid, most shops were open.
At the same time, in previous years, if one knew where to look, there were restaurants with signs, 'Closed until iftar,' but if one tried, the doors were unlocked, and inside they served the usual menu. I tried a few I knew of, but all were closed, and, when they opened after iftar, they said they'd been warned off by the police: In previous years, the police had been told to turn a blind eye to these few violations of the Ramadan fast--travellers are not required to fast, and women are not allowed to fast for one week during Ramadan, so a few restaurants had informal permission to remain inconspicuously open (with an emphasis on inconspicuously). Not this year (perhaps because last year they mangled the inconspicuously).
So a few strange incongruities this Ramadan.
But now Ramadan is over, restaurants are open during the day, and it's permissible to sip a drink while wandering about Dubai in the heat, which is just now starting to abate.
So Eid Mubarak!
posted by Dubai@Random at 1:59 pm
2 Comments:
"and women are not allowed to fast for one week during Ramadan"
Not so... Women can fast for all days during ramadan, but not on the days they have their periods.
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