RELIGION-EGYPT: Politics and Prices Dampen Ramadan Month

By Cam McGrath Reprint | | Print |

Cam McGrath

CAIRO, Nov 6 2002 (IPS) - The threat of military intervention in Iraq and a depressed local economy have cast gloom over festivities during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting that begins Wednesday.

Ramadan, the 11th month of the Islamic lunar calendar, is traditionally a time of piety and charitable acts. Fasting during the holy month is among the five pillars of Islam. Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink, smoking and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset.

In Egypt, Ramadan takes on a festive flavour. The solemn daytime fasting hours are followed by a lavish fast-breaking meal and all-night parties. Children play in the streets, waving musical lanterns and bursting firecrackers before returning home to gather with their family around big-budget Ramadan television specials.

Other people spend their nights in colourful tents where sweets and entertainment are on offer into the early morning hours.

But many Egyptians say they have little to celebrate at a time when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been ordering attacks on Palestinians, and U.S. President George W. Bush is threatening to attack Iraq.

"We have too much to worry about this year," says Adel Shatir, a security guard. "What’s there to celebrate?" says Hassan Abdallah, a taxi driver. "I will pray for God to end the suffering of the Palestinians and Iraqis." More than 1600 people have died since the Palestinian Intifada began in September 2000.

Ironically for a month of fasting, Ramadan is a season of excessive consumption. Demand for flour, sugar and cooking oil has risen sharply for the month of fasting. Last year, 67 million Egyptians consumed 180,000 tonnes of flour, 200,000 tonnes of sugar and 36,000 tonnes of cooking oil during Ramadan, according to local market figures. Much of it was used to prepare speciality sweets and baked foods associated with the holy month.

Ramadan sweets are not an Islamic requirement, but they are an integral part of the holy season, like gingerbread and cakes for Christmas in the West. Yameesh – a delicacy made of dried fruits, nuts and coconut – is a popular speciality this month.

This year families say the economy, which has been in recession for three years, is forcing them to seek alternatives. Umm Ahmed, a young mother of three, will serve dried dates in place of imported yameesh, which costs up to ten times more. "My children are crying, but who can afford it?" she says.

Fasting through the day is broken at Iftar, the sunset meal. Those who can, host an Iftar on the street, setting up tables and inviting the less fortunate to a free meal. This is an Egyptian tradition going back centuries.

Hajj Ibrahim who served meat last year at his mawaid el-rahman (charity tables) is serving vegetable stew this year. The price of beef has risen nearly 20 per cent.

Others admit they are struggling, but are not compromising. "All prices have gone up, but I will make up the difference from my own pocket," says antique dealer Mohammed Desouky, who manages two dozen tables providing free meals under a busy flyover. "God will provide for us."

Times are tough, but what infuriates Desouky is reports of merchants raising prices to cash in on the Ramadan season.

Chambers of commerce report that the price of seasonal foodstuffs is up more than 30 per cent over 2001 levels. They dismiss suggestions that the increase is due to devaluation of the Egyptian pound, which has fallen eight per cent against the dollar since the last Ramadan.

"These price rises are in no way linked with the dollar exchange rate, because most items now in the shops were imported between May and August when the dollar rate was relatively stable," says Moustafa Zaki, head of the mport section at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FECC).

"Many importers raise prices for no reason except greed," a government newspaper quoted him as saying.

Shoppers say things are tough enough without such price rise. "They raise prices every Ramadan, but this year it will fail," says one angry housewife. "Nobody has any money."

RELIGION-EGYPT: Politics and Prices Dampen Ramadan Month

By Cam McGrath Reprint | | Print |

Cam McGrath

CAIRO, Nov 6 2002 (IPS) - The threat of military intervention in Iraq and a depressed local economy have cast gloom over festivities during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting that begins Wednesday.
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