Eid al Fitr, 1430

Today is the third and last day of Eid al Fitr, the Islamic festival after the end of Ramadan. For the last two days, I've seen relieved smokers puffing away during the day, and most businesses are closed for the Eid (since, if they don't close, they must pay a special tax), so people have the time to stand around and smoke.

One commentator said I was 100% wrong because I didn't get all the details about Zakat correct. Zakat is the mandatory contribution every adult Muslim must make, and is approximately 2½%, but the details are a) quite complicated; and b) I wouldn't have gone into all of them if I'd known them; and c) I don't know all the details.

According to the commentator, part of Zakat must be paid during Ramadan, and it has a different name from the part that's paid in other months and the two Zakats must never be co-mingled in anyone's mind, such co-mingling being 100% wrong. The easiest way to describe Zakat is just to say that it's similar to the Christian tithe, but the word 'tithe' means 10%, and Zakat is not 10%, but saying it's similar (but a different percentage) is close enough for me.

Several years ago, a Muslim told me that all Zakat must go to Muslims; Farook says it can go to any meskin, Muslim or not. I suspect, after reading some Islamic writings, that Farook is closer to being correct than the person who said it can only go to Muslims: there's a famous Islamic saying (called a hadith) about a man who barely made it out of the desert. Almost dead, he came to a well, climbed in, and drank until he was fully revived. On climbing out, he saw a dog panting, almost dead with thirst, and climbed back in to get some water for the dog, which, the hadith assures us, was the correct thing to do. Which should mean by analogy that feeding non-Muslim meskins is acceptable.

But, as is implied by the commentator who said I was 100% wrong, these things are a) quite complicated; and b) vary between the different schools of Islam (of course, only his school has things 100% correct).

I tend to go back to my basic understanding: Zakat is an obligatory contribution every adult Muslim must make, is similar to the Christian tithe, and includes (among other things) feeding meskins after sunset during Ramadan.

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Several of my sources (including the aforementioned commentator) said that the food (and/or money) handed out for Eid al Fitr should be given during Ramadan, so the recipients can prepare for a bounteous Eid. The next Eid in about 10 weeks time celebrates the time the Prophet Ibrahim (AS) (Abraham in the Anglicised form), went to sacrifice his son but was told at the last minute to sacrifice a ram instead, so for that Eid (but not this one) fathers should take a kid or lamb and their sons out to commemorate the day. There doesn't seem to be any requirement to sacrifice a kid or lamb for this Eid, Eid al Fitr.

However, my first Eid al Fitr in the UAE, I heard the bleating of lambs and kids coming from many of the villas in town the last day or two of Ramadan, and shortly after the early morning Eid prayers, I saw people leading their lambs and kids out to make a feast for Eid. I assume some of the meat went to the meskins these people knew. It's not clear where the custom of sacrificing a kid or lamb on Eid al Fitr came from, but it seems quite common in the UAE outside of Dubai.

Last of Ramadan, 1430

It is now Saturday, 19 September in the Western calendar.

Today should be the 29^th and last day of Ramadan, since, according to my Chinese lunar calendar, the crescent moon should be clearly visible tonight at sunset, so tomorrow should be Eid al Fitr, the festival at the end of Ramadan. Of course, if there is a dust cloud obscuring the moon in Saudia, then the crescent won't be seen here, and tomorrow will be 30 Ramadan 1430.

As Ramadan runs down, Farook must pay his Zakat, the Islamic equivalent of the Christian tithe, only a bit less (2½% rather than 10%). Farook showed me his pot, which is huge, much too large to fit into any home cooker. On alternate nights, he either buys a goat and a 20 kg sack of rice, or a bunch of chickens and a 20 kg sack of rice, then takes them to a public oven for cooking and gives some to the Dubai religious authorities (called the Awqaf) to distribute, and distributes some himself to the meskins he knows. One of these meskins is Dubai@Random, so I've been given huge quantities of goat or chicken biriani and harees (whatever that is) every night for the last 10 days or so (and I've managed to put on several kilos as a result).

Last night, we went to a Ramadan tent. People sit around and talk from around 10 pm until 11:45 pm when they bring out six roast goats on beds of different items, plus accompaniments such as pancakes with date syrup, pasta, and beans, and everyone digs in for fifteen minutes, then goes outside the tent for tea, coffee, thanks to the host, and goodbye (in Arabic is masalama).

As we ate, I kept asking, 'What's this,' meaning, not the goat, of course but the different items on which the goats were sitting. 'Shhh,' I was told.

After, Farook explained that it is very rude to talk while eating.

'But I want to know what the dishes are called,' I tried to explain.

'Why? You must eat what is put before you. No need to know name.'

So (other than goat) I have almost no idea what I ate, except for the pasta, pancakes and beans (and they wouldn't tell me the Arabic names for the type of beans or for the pancakes or pasta).

So, after today, Eid meaning festival, for a few days, then back to what is considered normal for this part of the world.