The Holy Month

“Ramadan is the month during which the Quran was revealed, providing guidance for the people, clear teachings, and the statute book. Those of you who witness this month shall fast therein.” – (Qur’an, 2:185)

Ramazan (Turkish for Ramadan) starts today, kicking off a month of fasting and religious sentiment where even white Turks remember they are Muslims.

Fasting during the month of Ramazan is a fundamental tenet of Islam where a person must abstain from food, beverages, cigarettes and sex from sunrise to sunset, all while reminding everyone they aren’t eating, drinking, smoking or having sex from sunrise to sunset. Typically, one wakes up before dawn for breakfast (sahur) then resumes their regular daily activities until a feast at sunset (iftar).

Fasting during Ramazan is compulsory in Islam, but in Turkey where religion is not obligatory, the month has developed into something that would both disappoint the devout in other Muslim countries while still remaining “exotic” enough to creep out Europeans.

Sin-postponement

In Turkey alcohol and sex are legal, even though the Qur’an places them somewhere around theft and Christianity as things to never do.

Just looking at this picture during Ramazan makes angels cry

Many Turks carry on with their sin-filled lives, though most try to be a bit more discreet and respectful as it is considered poor taste to have fun near someone being religious.

Regardless of whether they fast or not, most try to curb their vices during the month or at least get as many out of the way beforehand. It is not uncommon for someone to solicit a prostitute in preparation for a month without pornography or binge-drink to make up for a month of being nice to your family. Ramazan is all about sacrifice.

Ramazan Drummers

Dawn is really early (4.30am this Ramazan) and fasters have to wake up a couple hours earlier to eat their sahur breakfast. As roosters are notoriously inept at religious affairs, the Muslim world evolved the Ramazan drummer: males volunteering to wander the streets beating drums waking up faster and non-faster alike, then dropping by homes during the day asking for tips.

Surprisingly, grown men beating drums outside your window seemed redundant after the invention of the alarm clock and many districts have banned the practice and some concerned citizens have even began shooting them. Turkish Ramazan drumming is a tradition that might not stick around once every home has an alarm clock, or once we kill all the drummers.

Fast-breakers

Fasters are very concerned that something might accidentally invalidate their fasts and so the government maintains a comprehensive FAQ asking such questions as whether one can have “wet dreams,” bathe or use perfume while fasting, to which the state-theologians’ respond, “just don’t swallow it.”

Meanwhile, the media is wheeling out experts each year to provide some hard-hitting answers, like if its okay to end your fast at iftar with sex or alcohol or whether lipstick, nicotine patches or seeing girls in bikinis break your fast (yes, no and “only if you stare” respectively, links Turkish).

Mosque Lights

Unlike the drummers which can be seen in Muslim communities throughout the world, Mahya is a uniquely Turkish practice. For nearly 400 years, lights have been strung up between the minarets of mosques offering inspirational and uplifting messages in honor of Ramazan, like “Greetings oh Month of Ramazan,” “the Sultan of the Eleven months” and “Fast and be healthy.”

Because really, not fulfilling God’s orders might warrant His anger, but forgetting which month you are in just earns His derision.