Ramadan in Saudi: It's Party Time, Part 1

Ramadan in Saudi: It's Party Time, Part 1


Tuesday, 19 July 2011 03:49 Mirza Ghalib
... for the Saudis and hellish time for the non-Arab Muslims, working there.








The idea of this article is to highlight the pain and burdens, which the non-Arab Muslims, living in democracies, have unfortunately adopted own their own accord in the name of Islam, thanks to their ignorance. This article is not to offend the Arabs or anyone, but to unravel a reality about the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which the world's non-Arab Muslims are unaware of.

Ramadan is the most sacred month for Muslims, especially for the non-Arab Muslims, such as Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indians, and Indonesians etc., and also probably for the newly converted Muslims of the West. It was same for me before I visited Saudi Arabia for my service there, when I was a pious, Indian Muslim.

NON-ARAB MUSLIMS AND RAMADAN

It was a wonderful joy for me to visit the Sacred Land of our beloved Prophet Muhammad, that too in the Holy month of Ramadan. There are hundreds of thousand non-Arab Muslims, who loves Muhammad more than Allah and prefer to die in Medina instead of Mecca (The house of Allah).

On my arrival in Saudi Arabia to work in the Government department as an engineer, myself and my fellow Indian co-workers suffered hunger, and survived on water alone for the first three consecutive days, as no officials cared to take care of us. After knowing the agony of the five newly arrived Indian Muslims, an Indian employee of that firm rushed to our guest house and fed us for two consecutive days in his villa at his own expense and requested the admin department to help us. While chatting with us, he repeated told us that we came to Saudi Arabia at the wrong time, because nobody works there during that season, because “it was Ramadan”. It was difficult for me then to hear odds about my Arab brothers from an Infidel. Yes, that caring Indian was a Hindu, an infidel, who fed us, five Muslims, during Ramadan for two days. I couldn’t express my displeasure at him at that time and restrained my feelings. After this incident, I worked nearly ten years in Saudi Arabia and witnessed ten seasons of Ramadan. Those ten years changed my life, enlightened myself about my ignorance about Islam, and forced me to STUDY Islam carefully, and finally I became enlightened as an ATHEIST. In this essay, I will draw the readers' attention to the scenarios of the sacred month RAMADAN in Saudi Arabia.

SCENARIOS OF THE MONTH RAMADAN IN SAUDI ARABIA

Based on my ten years stay in Saudi Arabia, I felt that Ramadan is not as sacred as we, the non-Arab Muslims, regard it as. Instead, it is a carnival time, Joyous month for the frustrated Saudis.


It is not a fasting, but a feasting, month for the Saudis. They fast and sleep all day long, and eat the whole night by attending parties and playing in between the parties till dawn.


They celebrate this month after an eleven months long frustration of manmade laws. Throughout the month, they won’t sleep at nights. Instead they play cards, carom, dominos and smoke with ‘HABLI BABLI’ – the pipe and apparatus (Hookah). They share this pipe smoking among them in a very unhygienic manner. This play start every day after Ishaan (night) prayer and continues until the morning prayer. At least ten Saudis from close relatives and neighborhood meet up every night at someone’s house in turn. Youngsters and children, who usually have no practice of playing in the normal months, take the full advantage of Ramadan and play football matches at mid-night. Their activities resemble "bats” during this month.


Always the Saudis need servants (literally slaves). During the night parties, they temporarily hire the poor non-Arab Muslims to serve them tea and food, and prepare fire for the “HABLI BABLI”. They eat several times all kinds of special food in between their games. These servants, having served the Saudis the whole night, must attend their normal duties at daybreaks.
The non-Arab servant girls (Concubines - mostly Muslims) cook and serve them the whole night round, and have to take care of the school-going children and infants during day time. So, it is a sleepless month for these helpless maids. It is very painful to hear the stories of these poor souls. It requires pages after pages to write about their agonies. In simple words, it is a curse to be a maidservant in Saudi Arabia, more so during the month of Ramadan.


It is a practice among the Arabs and even among the non-Arab Muslims to enquire one another a week earlier before the arrival of Ramadan about the purchase of Ramadan grocery, because it is a "huge purchase". They spend at least 3 to 4 times more on food in Ramadan than the normal month. Well, that how IT IS A FASTING MONTH. And supermarkets flourish with abundance of groceries with attractive offers.


The office-going Saudis reserve their place of sleep by keeping their blankets and pillows, 2 days prior to the arrival of Ramadan in their respective offices. Their job will be taken care of by the infidel colleagues during Ramadan, while they sleep in office. It is an unwritten law during Ramadan. The responsible senior Saudi officers, who fears “Allah” (!!!), do not sleep like the junior Saudis do. Senior officials sleep in their respective chairs by holding the “Holy Quran” (!!!) in their hands.


The non-Saudi employees, be they Muslim or infidel, have to work as normal as they were. They also have to take care of the duties of the sleeping Saudis of their respective categories. Of course, the non-Saudi Muslims get 2 hours off in their duty hours.
The non-Muslim staffs of any office must take their lunch behind closed doors, because the flavour of their food may weaken the faith of the sleeping Saudis and tempt them to break their fast.


Shops stay closed all day long and open with special illuminating lightings throughout the night and close at the call for the morning Prayer. Women seems to have a little bit privilege to visit shops during the night hours in groups, of course under the watch of a male member, but not as tight as it is in normal months. When the women get this privilege, they too try to grab the advantages of the sacred month by moving freely with non-Saudi salesmen of the shops. Some of my bachelor non-Saudi friends, who worked in shops as salesmen, used to whisper to me about their fondling the Saudi women during Ramadan. This act is mostly initiated from the women's side.


Saudi women try her best to empty the purse of her husband during Ramadan by changing the old furniture, curtains and carpets with new ones. The idea behind this purchase is not to decorate her house, but to empty the purse of her husband. By doing so, she prevents him from “buying” a new wife. It is true whenever a Saudi man felt his purse is heavy, he looks for a new wife. If he already has four wives, he may kick out the odd one. So his wives strive hard to consolidate their positions by these kinds of expenses during Ramadan. Thus, the Ramadan has some good effects too.
Nobody should eat or drink anything in public during the fasting hours. The offender will be whipped by the patrolling religious police.


CONCLUSION: There are more to said, but I like to rest my case here. Above narration is enough for the non-Arab Muslims, working in Saudi Arabia, to realize how the Saudis make their life hellish during Ramadan, and try to seek the path of wisdom. If this is the scenario of Ramadan in the sacred land of Muhammad, then where lies the sacredness and spirituality of Islam?


What makes the Saudis celebrate in such unrestrained fashion in the month Ramadan, the so-called month of fasting for inculcating restraint, held sacred by the non-Arab Muslims?

Is that the real Islam?

Why are non-Arab Muslims so serious about it and consider it to be so auspicious?

Are they more religious than the Saudis?

In simple logic, it could not be, because geographically they are far away from the sacred land. Biologically also definitely they couldn’t be closer to Muhammad or to his companions than the Saudis. Linguistically also they are very far from Arabic.

Are the non-Arab Muslims so ignorant of Islam?

If it is so, what made them to be so ignorant?

Generally the Saudi Bedouins call the non-Saudi foreigners as “MUQH MAAFI” or “MAAFI MUQH”, which means “BRAINLESS” or “FOOLS”.

Do they really mean it?

Are they fully aware of their cheating by Muhammad?

Do the non-Arab Muslims deserve to be called MUQH MAAFI?

We will analyze these facts in PART 2 of this article.