Islamic Holidays and Festivals: Difference between revisions

{{tropeUseful Notes}}

[[Useful Notes/Islam|Islam]] is something of a peculiar religion when it comes to festivals in two ways. One, it doesn't have a whole lot of them. Two, they are linked to the [[Alternative Calendar|Islamic calendar]], which is purely lunar: it is only 354 days long, or about 11 days shorter than the solar year. These two peculiarities are related: because of the length of the Islamic year, the months move through the seasons. Since so many festivals are linked to seasons and seasonal events (like planting or the harvest or the solstice), it would be very difficult to link them to the Islamic calendar. As a result, while seasonal festivals exist in many if not most Muslim countries, they tend to be culturally-based and linked to local solar or lunisolar calendars, many of which date from pre-Islamic times. For instance, the [[Useful Notes/Egypt|Egyptian]] spring festival, Sham el-Nessim, is linked to the Egyptian calendar, which is more or less the same as the old Roman Julian calendar (it falls on [[Orthodox Christianity|Orthodox]] Easter Monday for historical reasons). By the same token, the [[Useful Notes/Iran|Iranian]] spring festival, Nourouz, falls on the first day of the Iranian calendar, which is based on the Islamic calendar and the pre-Islamic Persian and Hindu ones.

* One, its name in Arabic is ''Ra's al-Sanah''. If that sounds like [[Useful Notes/Jewish Holidays|Rosh Hashanah]], it should; Arabic and Hebrew are closely related, and the phrase in both languages translates to "Head of the Year". The word today is also used in Arab countries to refer to the Gregorian New Year; in fact, it's more common to hear the term for 1 January than 1 Muharram.

A pretty much strictly Shiite holiday, commemorating the defeat of [[The Prophet Muhammad]]'s grandson Husayn in the Battle of Karbala (in [[Useful Notes/Iraq|Iraq]]) in the

Bizarrely, the festival has also spread to the English-speaking Caribbean, particularly [[Useful Notes/Trinidad and Tobago|Trinidad and Tobago]] and [[Useful Notes/Jamaica|Jamaica]], where it is known as Hosay (after Husain). It was brought by Shia indentured labourers from [[The Raj|British India]], and was adopted by Hindu Indian labourers as well, as a gesture of cultural solidarity. Eventually, the practice became much more widespread; it is celebrated with the construction of impromptu mosques out of paper and tinsel, along with a lot of balloons. The practice is by no means universal, but it has seen a revival in recent years.

A holiday whose importance varies from place to place. In some countries, it's a big deal, a full day off with parades and special prayers and so on; in some other ones, like [[Useful Notes/Saudi Arabia|Saudi Arabia]], it is banned. There is a long and complicated theological debate about this, with ''ulema'' (religious scholars) having some pretty heated arguments about whether it is allowed or not. (There really should be a Muslim version of [[Jews Love to Argue]].) There is also a difference over the date; Sunnis and some small Shia sects recognize 12 Rabi` al-Awwal, while most Shia recognize 17 Rabi` al-Awwal.

Still other weirdness comes from the nature of modern work. Since fasting can seriously drain your ability to do anything, many Muslim countries provide for shortened work hours during Ramadan. Some businesses just close during the day and operate at night. As a result, many Muslims spend their fasting days languishing about the house, watching television, particularly [[Soap Opera|soap operas]]. Indeed, many soaps in the Middle East are made specifically for Ramadan--since Arab, Turkish, and Iranian soaps tend to be of the Latin American School, this works quite well.

This is a very religious holiday, with multiple significance. It marks the beginning of the revelation of the Qur'an to Muhammad, and is also supposedly the day on which the fate of everything in the world is sealed for the year (rather like the Jewish belief about Yom Kippur). It is generally accepted practice to pray all night that day; even men who don't show up for ''Tarawih'' often go to the mosque on this night. Some very devout people move into the mosque for the last ten days of Ramadan, spending all their time praying and reading the Qur'an, except when they have to sleep or eat.

*#* As a result of this practice, the streets of many a Muslim city tend to sprout sheep pens shortly before the holiday for the purpose of keeping the lambs and sheep that will be sacrificed. The smell is truly something else.

#Customarily, wealthier families that can do so will _ some of their sacrificed animal to the poor. This is often done by instructing the butcher to take a few cuts and distribute them to poorer households. In the past, this was often the only time in a year when the poorest Muslims got to eat good meat, or even eat meat at all; today, meat is rather cheaper and less of a luxury, although having it daily is still kind of out-of-reach for many.

[[Category:Useful NotesIslam]]