As follow-up to my September 12 post entitled ‘Some tips to touring Jordan during Ramadan,’ I thought it might be an interesting cultural lesson to those traveling in the Hashemite Kindom during this “festival” (Eid) celebrating the “break of the fast” (ul-Fitr).

Starting out with how-to-know when Ramadan is ending – a process nicely described via the VOA Newsire:

The three-day Eid al Fitr holiday begins Tuesday in nine Arab states, with the exception of Egypt and Syria, after Muslim scholars sighted the crescent moon, overnight, bringing an end to the month of Ramadan, according to Islam’s lunar calendar.

The APF news service adds this interesting tidbit and twist to the process:

Religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest shrines, said the new moon had been sighted and that Ramadan would end on Monday with the feast to follow the next day. Lebanon and Jordan made similar announcements.

The Islamic calendar is a lunar one, and most Muslim countries set the beginning of Eid al-Fitr by the sighting of the new moon.

But Libya — where the feast also begins on Tuesday — uses astronomical calculations.

With when out of the way, we wander over to the WikiPedia Eid al-Fitr page to learn what and how; including this media-driven, modern practice:

The end of Ramadan is announced via e-mail, postings on websites, or chain phone calls to all members of a Muslim community.

And it is with that last noteable quotable  I thought it might be fun to list some snippets from a few Jordanian bloggers announcing EID – starting with this marvelous poster via Chocoholic MADNESS:

The author adding:

… Its EID! Woo hoo! I love waking up early on EID! (only on EID i would rather sleep any other day). So we go to EID prayer then ofcourse we go to have BREAKFAST! i miss having a big yummy breakfast! Pancakes! Fried Eggs with Toast and Croissant & jam!

Degrees of Freedom writes – Fitr Mubarak for you:

if you wanna feel something fuzzy about Eid, check this blog post entry, southern muslimah shows how people are celebrating Eid around the world

Kinzi (My Treasure) – A Blessed Eid, Dear Readers

Mabruuk, mabruuk, mabruuk!!!

HeiseHeise.com – Eid ul-Fitr; Ramadan’s end

Today marked the end of Ramadan, which means that a collective sigh of relief seemed to go up all over this side of the world last night when the sun’s last rosy edge dropped below the horizon for the final night of Ramadan. On my way to and from the school, the streets were jam-packed in the morning … But in the afternoon, all was eerily quiet along the main roads – I’ve been told that today is the Eid ul-Fitr, the Festival of Breaking the Fast, and it’s an Islamic tradition to travel great distances to see old friends to have the festival together. Even some of my American teacher friends, none of them Muslim, are joining in with the idea …

Rob Ganim-Live from Amman – Weekend with the Bedouins

The arrival of Eid and the end of Ramadan cut my weekend with the Bedouins short last night, as our group was piled into a late night bus that took us back to Amman, arriving at about 12:30 am. Despite this, I had another great experience here in Jordan. I spent my weekend with a Bedouin family in the village of Naifa on the Baghdad Road, which, not surprisingly, goes to Baghdad.

Jordanian Drift – EID MUBARAK!!!

So, today (Tuesday) happened to be declared Eid in Jordan. Al-hamdoulillah. I went visiting last night and as it turned out wound up with less than 2 hours sleep by the time I rolled out of bed at fajr and had to start getting ready for the Eid prayer. The masjid was full, but not packed which was nice, and EVERYONE (locals, foreigners, visitors, residents etc) went around giving salams, kissing each other, spearding the “Eid love” -

So happy and blessed Eid to all the wonderful people I’ve met in Jordan – I look forward to seeing you again at some point in the future; though when I can’t tell (years?-).

It seems to me that Ramadan is a time when many Muslims in Jordan become especially devout and adhere more closely to certain Islamic doctrines, almost in the same way some protestant Christians become more devout during Christmas, Lent, and Easter.

So writes the author of a blog entitled “My gap year and King’s Academy” – who goes onto cite two examples of Jordanian Muslims seeming to be more devout during Ramadan with observations on alcohol and alms giving – observing:

While the Quran technically forbids any consumption of alcohol, I think; there are still plenty of Jordanian Muslims who drink during the year. Not during Ramadan, however: So many Jordanian Muslims use Ramadan to observe this rule of Islam that most stores and cafes won’t even serve alcohol during the evenings to non-Muslims.

The other example of Jordanian Muslims becoming more devout during Ramadan is the act of giving alms. While one of the pillars of Islam requires Muslims to give alms to the poor, it doesn’t clearly specify when alms should be given or how much. Since Ramadan began, however, I’ve noticed donation boxes almost everywhere I’ve gone. The boxes are the King Hussein Cancer Foundation, and I’ve seen these boxes, usually half about 1/3 full with coins and bills, at the end of check out lines, at cash registers, and even around school.

I’m posting the above as I think it makes a nice follow-up to a post I wrote last week entitled: “Some tips to touring Jordan during Ramadan” as well as affords me a chance to cite these other articles of things one might observe if experiencing the journey that is Jordan during the holy month of Ramadan:

• Students find Ramadan spirit by helping underprivileged peers
• Ramadan unites faiths in Jordan
• i2 launches Ramadan charity campaign in cooperation with UNCIEF

While an excellent lesson in patience, sacrifice and humility, this practice may create some dietary difficulties for those working, studying and/or traveling in Jordan during Ramadan – as described in the following snippet from the Jordan Times:

Expatriates studying or working in Jordan say they face difficulty in locating places where they can have daily meals before iftar during the holy month of Ramadan.

Meanwhile, authorities insisted that no exceptions will be made to the strict regulations “to preserve the sanctity of the holy month”, issued ahead of Ramadan.

The Interior Ministry’s instruction should be observed by Muslims and non-Muslims, who are not allowed to eat, drink or smoke in public during daytime.

Suzie Banit, an American student studying at a public university, said it is hard for her to adjust to Ramadan customs.

“This is my first time to be in a Muslim country during Ramadan. I try my best not to eat in front of Muslims,” Banit told The Jordan Times on Tuesday, adding that expatriates may find Ramadan customs difficult to understand, yet, they are willing to respect them.

Eric Benz, a 25-year-old American, said he feels embarrassed to eat or drink in front of Muslims, adding that he tries his best not to do so.

While the elderly, sick, children, and travelers are traditionally exempt from Ramadan’s fasting regulations, it is still something to consider when working out times to tour Jordan as both a number of tourist sites, and eating establishments might be closed during daylight hours; as described in this snip from the same Jordan Times article:

The regulations, which were published in the local media days before the start of Ramadan, ban restaurants and coffee shops from offering their usual services during the day in Ramadan …

… Although Zu’bi said these regulation are applicable to all food outlets, regardless of their classification, several restaurants still open during the day, it is noted.

A restaurant keeper in Jabal Luweibdeh said his outlet is qualified by the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, which means the restaurant can do business as usual in Ramadan.

“We are a three-star restaurant and we open from 9:00am till after midnight,” the restaurant manager told The Jordan Times yesterday adding that “on many days, customers need to make advance reservations”.

This would have been legal last year when the Interior Ministry allowed three-star restaurants to serve tourists during Ramadan days.

But Zu’bi said: “We have nothing to do with Tourism Ministry rankings. We have instructions and we are enforcing them with no exception.” Yet he acknowledged that police cannot raid hotels to check that the law is respected in the restaurants.

And while personally this last time around, I could have done with less eating in exchange for visiting more historic sites, such restrictions may pose a problem for travelers with health issues – as pointed out in this snip from the AP News service:

Ramadan – traditionally a time of abstinence and focus on prayer in the Muslim world has also become, health officials worry, a time of overdoing it and unhealthy habits.

Fasters who abstain from food, water and smoking during the day sometimes binge at night to make up,  …

… Few Ramadan health statistics are kept or publicized. But in Jordan, health officials said heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and simple indigestion cases seen at hospitals and clinics had skyrocketed during the holy month’s first week.

Of course it is not all hardship. In fact for some it might be very exciting time to visit, as described by the blog of a Northwestern student ‘Laura in Jordan’ in her recent post on Ramadan entitle ‘A lamb for dinner, minus the head:’

Ramadan was exciting for the first week because it has all the festivity of Christmas in the U.S. Colored lights — mostly in the shape of the Muslim moon and star — hang in all the windows, strangers greet each other with “Ramadan Kareem!” and the kitchen is a constant whirlwind of activity. Families travel in packs to relatives’ homes and devour heaping piles of meat and rice. I love watching the minutes leading up to the “iftar,” or “break fast.”

All that said, I did note a number of tour companies on the web that offer discounts for travel during Ramadan while Googling some information for this post – whether or not the sites you want to see are open during the daylight hours needs to be confirmed with any travel package.

It also doesn’t hurt to do a bit of online research at sites like the Lonely Planet which can offer cultural tidbits you may not have considered such as:

You can buy picnic food, but it is not polite to eat and drink very publicly when everybody around you is fasting.

The only “problem” we had whas when we came back in Amman and found all the restaurants closed for lunch!

During Ramadan some hotels have very noisy arrangements till late in the night in their restaurant area . Make sure that you are not going to be close to such a “sahra” if you want to sleep.

As you can see, your mileage may vary!

“There are neighborhood mosques everywhere in Amman. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Many of them are striking and quite beautiful. But there are also some cool churches. Here are some steeples with the Amman cityscape in the background. I found these towards the top of Jebel Ashrafiyeh within blocks of each other and also the Abu Darwish Mosque. I think these speak for themselves.” – Brian, Pilgrim Without a Shrine blog

I remember my 2004 trip to Amman, that after a tour of the King Abdullah I Mosque I spotted an Byzantine-fashioned cross adorning the building across the street.

Being raised Greek Orthodox I grabbed Chuck Holton and made a bee line across the street. It was indeed a Coptic Orthodox Church, its pews mostly filled with individuals of Egyptian descent – all engaged in worship during a presentation/practice of the divine liturgy.

Anyway, Brian’s post on Steeples in Amman reminded of that day – and of the diversity and respect this mostly Muslim country holds towards natural born Christians in Jordan.

I only wish I had more time to take more pictures. That said, it appears Brian McMorrow (not the same Brian as the blog post) has already done just that over on his photo gallery pages.