Oh, how I wanted to do a Holiday themed column. Indeed, how it would have been grand to rattle off a few dates and facts and line them up with some kind of linear ease. However, when you’re discussing the character of the holiday season in question, and especially from a Western (i.e. US) viewpoint, it’s all too easy to just equate the various holiday celebrations with one and other. So, in this case, what’s a freelance historian to do?
Why, summarize of course!
And since we (or more correctly, “I”) here at the Tarboush seek to illuminate first and grin in satisfaction later, I’m going to take the time to spend a moment of your time reviewing the pertinent ‘holiday-esque’ celebrations that take place in the Middle East at around this time and season. And, hopefully along the way, dispell any misconception you may have regarding any of them.
Ramadan: Celebrated by Muslims who constitute 91% of the Middle East population.
First off, let’s start with the holy month of Ramadan, which is celebrated by Muslims the world over. Whether you are talking about Sunni Wahabis or an Shi’a Alewits, the holy month of Ramadan is perhaps the most important holiday in the faith (aside from, arguably, the Shia holiday of Ashura). It is a time for followers of Islam to demonstrate their piety through fast and charity, as well as abstinence. The point is to engage in a kind of self introspection while also engaging in a kind of catharsis; all of which is for the purpose of cleansing the soul and for the forgiveness of sins. Krusty the Klown was right when he wished his viewers a Ramadan that “solemn and dignified” (Simpsons “Grift of the Magi”), his grouping of it with the other holidays is only somewhat correct (we’ll cover this discrepancy very shortly).
The origins of Ramadan are said to come from God himself, as communicated through the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad. During the Ramadan period, which occurs during the ninth month of the lunar calendar, Muslims will fast from sunrise to sunset as a testament of their devotion to God. An explanation of the practice is sometimes attributed to 2:183 of the Koran, which states “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may learn self restraint.” As per material and worldly deprivation, the belief is that you are cleansing yourself of worldly impurities and, from that, exemplifying your devotion to God.
As mentioned earlier, Ramadan is inturpreted by Muslims as the ninth month of the lunar calendar and, unlike Christmas for instance, does not consistently line up with the same day on the Georgian calendar we use today. As such, the fasting periods between sunrise and sunset can vary depending on the season, and also location as the length of the day varies depending one’s position on Earth. With this in mind, one might wonder “what am I to do if I live in Alaska, where the peroids of sunlight can extend a bit farther than my metabolism may allow?”
This question has been discussed within religious circles, and various answers have been given. Traditionalists belive that no matter your location or circumstance, it is necessary to fast from sun-up to sundown. However, may be rather difficult for children or the elderly in situations like this, some critics say. Some believe that the times for beginning and ending fast should be attached to Mecca, one of the three holy cities in Islam, as followers should recieve instructions straight from an authoritive source. Critics to this idea contend that these times should be set by the local Mosque officials.
In light of the overall goal of fortifying one’s faith, however, these concerns are better classified as pedantery, and shouldn’t take away from the overall scope of the holiday.
Christmas: Celebrated by Christians who constitute 4% of the Middle East population.
I won’t delve too deep into the history of Christmas, since Lucard does it well from a good anthropological perspective. Also, because of the scope of this article, I am barred from going into the individual histories of the varied Christian communities in the region, which include everything from Roman Catholics to the prominent Orthodox offshotts, to the Coptic Christians in Egypt or the Maronite communities in Lebanon.
However, it’s important to remember that Christmas is celebrated there too, with varying degrees of how public they can do. In East Jerusalem, we get yearly footage of Christmas marches and parades by the indiginous Palestinian Christian population and extra-territorial Christian pilgrms alike. In Lebanon, where the religious split can be simplified (for discussion purposes) to 65/35 (Muslim/Christian), they enjoy relative freedom to celebrate it, and given the high degree of Westernization that has taken place there, probably add a little bit of Western commercialism to their equations. The Coptic communities in Egypt enjoy celebrations, and in Syria and up until recently Iraq, a historical mutual understanding has preserved Christmas celebrations for their respective Christian communities. In places like Saudi Arabia, however, the small contingent of Christian workers that span both the public and private sectors celebrate the holiday behind closed doors due to the existing social climate in the area.
Chanukah: Celebrated by Jews that constitute 1.2% of the Middle East Population.
The celebration of the Festival of Lights spans outside of Israel, but only in scant populations of Jews living in largely culturally Muslim areas. Chanukah, according to the statistic link above, is a rememberance of the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 BCE, following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire. It’s cultural significance to Jews worldwide reflects the “Miracle of the Oil,” in which a scant supply of lamp oil was made to last 8 days when it was only enough to last far less.
As one could imagine, the majority of the celebrations occur in the Israeli territories. Howver, populations exist as far as east as Iran (many of whom emigrated West following the Islamic Revolution in Iran) and as far west as Tunisia.
Chanukah follows a lunar calendar, but due to the nature of their leap-year, almost exactly coencides with the Georgian calendar, as does Christmas. According to the Encyclopedia of the Orient, “The calendar [consists] of 354 days a year, but has a leap month 7 times every 19 years, so that the count of years in the Jewish calendar more or less follows the Christian (Gregorian).”
A light entry, but hopefully it’ll satisfy the substance condition. Either way, and whatever holiday, I wish you and yours the very best.
And that’s what’s Under the Tarboush.
Sources: Wikipedia searches (‘Orthodoxy,’ ‘Judiasm,’ ‘Chanukah’ ‘Islam,’ and ‘Christianity’), Encyclopedia of the Orient.
