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Islamic Holidays and Festivals: Difference between revisions
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{{Useful Notes}}
[[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 [[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 [[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.
▲[[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 [[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 [[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.
As a result, Islamic holidays are fairly few and far between. However, there are several ones worth mentioning.
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=== Ashura (10 Muharram) ===
A pretty much strictly Shiite holiday, commemorating the defeat of [[The Prophet Muhammad]]'s grandson Husayn in the Battle of Karbala (in [[Iraq]]) in the
Hijri year 61 (680 CE). Since Shiites regard Husayn as having a right to be the Caliph, they understandably regard the day as one of mourning; salty foods (representing salty tears) are eaten, and self-flagellation and other forms of self-injury (including, famously, cutting the forehead with a sword) are common forms of remembrance. Also, prayer. Lots of prayer.
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Other weirdness comes from technology. [[Arab Oil Sheikh|Wealthy Gulf Arabs]], among others, have been known to jet off to high-latitude places experiencing winter that Ramadan for the month to shorten the fast. Since right now Ramadan falls in Northern Hemisphere summer, these guys tend to go to Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and southern Australia; in about fifteen years, Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Scotland, Scandinavia, and Russia should be more popular. Clerics have condemned the practice of going somewhere just to fast less in no uncertain terms; those with the means to do so have started, very conveniently, to happen to have long business trips and long-scheduled vacations in those countries.
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.
=== Laylat ul-Qadr (The Night of Power) (Odd-numbered day in the last week or so of Ramadan, very often the 27th) ===
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.
=== Eid al-Fitr (1 Shawwal) ===
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#The prayer is slightly different.
#Everyone who has the means is required to sacrifice an animal on this day. Traditionally, this is a lamb or a sheep, but in some places goats or camels are commonly sacrificed; some rich people sacrifice cows. You don't necessarily have to do it yourself; most people get a butcher to do it. Many people who live in cities actually never even see their sacrificial animal, just paying the butcher the cost of the animal, plus extra for his labor in slaughtering it and butchering it. Then you eat at least part of the sacrifice that day, which becomes the centerpiece of the inevitable feast.
** 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.
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[[Category:Holiday Tropes]]
[[Category:Islamic Holidays And Festivals]]
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