Ramadan with anAlgerian taste

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Religious Tourism

Algiers - Mounir El-Fishawy

Moslems have unique ways of celebrating the month of Ramadan. Governmentofficials are eager to publicise their celebrations and encourage the media to

tell the world about the festivities. This is what Abdul-Ali Tayr, General Managerof the National Office of Algerian Tourism, did when he strongly insisted that adelegation from Islamic Tourism visit his country in Ramadan so we could see

how the Algerian people celebrate this holy month.

Ramadan with anAlgerian taste

All night festivities in houses and public places

The choice of timing was excellent. Mycompanion, Yassa Abdul-Nasser and I,journalists who were observing the fast, startedour day before six in the morning and finishedafter midnight. Our aim was to visit six AlgerianWilayas (districts) very distant from each otherin one week. The highlight of the tour were twoIftars (sumptuous meals at the end of the fast )with Algerian families in Biskra and Tlemcen.

Strangest IftarCan you imagine enjoying an officiallysanctioned iftar when you can still see the sun?It happened to our delegation. We left Cairo for Algiers, on Algerian Airlines atthe moment when the people of Cairo were onthe point of breaking their fast at 5.15pm.Around 6pm our hostess mentioned iftar andsaid that the captain would announce it. Wejokingly asked her to intervene with the captainin our favour, because for us Egyptians, iftarwas an hour ago. She asked astonished 'how?'adding 'wait for the captain's announcement."Half an hour later, iftar was announced eventhough we could see the sun. We were furious:"How can we break our fast when the sun is stillbright and shining in our eyes?" He answered:"You must remember that we are flying at analtitude of 10,000 feet. The sun, which we nowsee on this level, is in another place very far

away from us, and below us, the sun hasalready set". One of us asked: "Are you takingresponsibility for this?" He replied smiling: "It isnot me, it is the captain who takesresponsibility". After a moment's hesitation, wetook it on the good authority of the captain thatwe could break our fast even though the sunwas still shining. But, ten minutes later, to ourgreat surprise, the sun disappeared completelyand darkness fell suddenly. We were not sure ifthe captain was right but we consoledourselves that he was responsible.

Iftar storiesAlgerians break their fast in a specific way. Theyalways start by eating dates and drinking milkand a little water. Then, they say Maghrib(sunset) prayer and break their fast. They startwith soup, which varies according to the area.In Biskra –southern Algeria - people take soupknown as "frigua"; and in Tlemcen - close tothe Moroccan border - they make spiced"hrira", with small pieces of meat. After thatcome the main dishes: meat with sauce, orchicken with couscous and varieties of salads.Lastly, cakes, coffee and sweetened greentea, "Tay", is poured from the teapotapproximately half a meter above the glass sothat it covers up to two thirds and theremaining third is filled with froth.

One evening in Zaatcha, in the Wilaya of Biskra,our host, Moaqui Bennani Abdul-Rahman, toldus that some of his close relatives settled inSaudi Arabia in 1950, following a pilgrimage toMecca. This was badly received by theremainder of the family, who like other Algerianfamilies, are very strongly attached to their land.They sent someone to find out why theyremained in Saudi Arabia and accepted the �

Islamic Tourism – Issue 19 – September-October / 2005 For more information, visit our website www.islamictourism.com

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following answer: "We say our prayers in theHoly Mosque, we eat meat and we cook usingcoal". Several family members subsequentlyemigrated.After Iftar, Algerian houses are transformed intoplaces of life, warmth, love and gaiety. Thishappened when we broke our fast with amember of the Algerian resistance, Abdul-AzizMahdad and his formidable wife, KhadijaMahdad, heroes of the Algerian revolution. Ourvisit coincided with the celebration of the fiftiethanniversary of the start of the revolution. Weobserved a tradition common among allAlgerians: covering one wall with a giantAlgerian flag, and decorating the others withtraditional clothes some dating back more than200 years. Certificates of recognition andmedals for activities in the resistance, alsodecorate the walls. Mrs. Mahdad shared hermemories of the liberation struggle with us. Onleaving those two great heroes of the resistancewe said to ourselves: "Congratulations toAlgeria that has people like Khadija andAbdulaziz", wishing that our Arab-Islamic

community is blessed with many like them.

Festivities in mosques andstreetsRamadan the month of fasting, benefits andredemption, gives Algerians the chance toconfirm their observation of religious rites.Those who have lapsed in their religious dutiescan make amends, hoping to profit from God'smercy. These two groups are found in themosques, forming a unified community, sayingtheir prayers, competing in the invocations andreadings of the Quran, and listening withenthusiasm to religious preaching all day.People fit the religious obligations around theirwork schedules, until the moment of Iftar. Theythen eat dates, drink milk in the mosque, andsay their Maghrib prayers collectively. Somestay while others go home to break the fast withtheir families.Ramadan festivities are evident in the streetsafter iftar. People flock to the main boulevards,especially after evening prayers (al-ichaa) andtarawih (optional prayers). When the mosques

Islamic Tourism – Issue 19 – September-October / 2005 For more information, visit our website www.islamictourism.com

are full the pious have to pray in the street. Thelarge mosque of the Wilaya of Constantineaccommodates 27,000 people inside and13,000 outside. The imam confirmed it is alwayscrowded on Friday, and on the two greatfestivals (Fitr and Adha) and the last ten days ofRamadan.

Coffee shops and BenBella Our excursions in the nights of Ramadanthrough different Wilayas took us to Algeriancoffee shops where men, adults and youngpeople, play dominos and games of chance -this is a male preserve from which women areexcluded. Hubble bubble has invaded thehouses and coffee shops in neighbouringMorocco and Tunisia but is absent from Algeria. I learned that the Algerian people take a realpleasure in sitting at the table in coffee shops,especially during the month of Ramadan. Thebest illustration of this came from the leader ofthe liberation war and first president of theindependent republic, Ahmed BenBella, whenhe honoured me with a meeting on the fringe ofa conference in Cairo. He shared some of hismemories from Cairo's famous El-Fishawycoffee shop, where he met Algerianrevolutionaries during the 1950s to discuss andplan the struggle against the Frenchoccupation. Ben Bella wrote about hisexperiences in his memoirs.

Other activities in the openair theatres In the Wilaya of Constantine, we noted theAlgerians’ refined taste for authentic art whenwe went to a performance by the famous Iraqiflutist Nacir Shammah.In the Wilaya of Oran, in 1st November Squarein the town centre, with a statue of resistanceleader Emir Abdulkader Al-Jazairi, we saw achoreographic spectacle where actors foughtwith sticks, instead of swords. The competitionproceeded between an old man and a youngperson. And the old man won!When we returned to Cairo, we were happy thatthe captain announced Iftar one and half hoursearlier than in Algeria. We watched the sun setprogressively as we accelerated our traveltowards the east. The captain returned to usthe hour and half that we lost when wearrived in Algeria. Happy Ramadan andHappy New Year. �

Religious Tourism

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The former Algerian president Ben Bella welcomes our correspondant El-Fishawy.

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