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Thank you . I'm supposed to be at mosque, but am tired and ill, so hiding here. Still, there's always the weekend for celebrating...
Posts: 1550 | Registered: Jun 1999
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I didn't know you were Muslim Speed! Is it something that you came to as an adult, or were you raised in it?
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Personally, I'm more on the agnostic end of the spectrum, but with great respect for anyone who peacefully uses any religion as a tool for self-reflection and improvement.
My wife was raised Sunni Muslim, though. She hasn't practiced regularly since she was about 19, but all of her family is Muslim, and I've absorbed a bit of the culture through them. The people on her mother's side of the family who tend to follow the religion more closely seem markedly more happy, kind and open-minded than the people on her dad's side who are more "Muslim-in-name-only", although that could have as much to do with genetics as religion. Nevertheless, I've gained a lot of appreciation (if not complete understanding) for the culture from them.
I have one question for other Muslims on the board. My wife's family is Albanian, and the country became Muslim when they were ruled by the Ottoman Empire. So I've always known the last day of Ramadan as Bairam. But I was looking up the word before I posted this (to make sure I was spelling it correctly), and it was more commonly referred to as Eid ul-Fitr. I'd never heard that term before. Is Bairam used outside the Turkish Muslim world, or is Eid ul-Fitr more proper? Just curious.
BTW, I didn't know you were Muslim either. Were you raised in it or converted?
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Speed, my community uses Eid-ul-Fitr - which, I believe, is the Arabic name for the festival. I've never heard it called anything else, but it doesn't surprise me that the Turkish community might call it something different.
What's your religious background, Speed? Just curious...
Posts: 1550 | Registered: Jun 1999
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I was raised in Utah, so... guess . But I've always been more interested in the idea of religion in general than I have been devoted to a single one. All through high school and college, even when I considered myself an "active" Mormon, I always spent as much time in other churches as I did in my own. Even on my mission I went to other churches as often as possible. They always thought I'd try to start an argument, but I just wanted to see what went on.
As an agnostic it now makes more sense for me to study a variety of religions. I've always been of the opinion that even if there is no God (which is not a position that I'm anywhere near ready to espouse), there are still elements of religion that are worthwhile. I've never found a single religion in which I haven't discovered some positive elements. That's why I was bummed that I didn't get to go to Mosque with my wife this morning, and why I'm glad she went anyway.
I don't know if you wanted that much info, but there you go.
What about you? Have you been Muslim your whole life? And what kind? Is there a large Muslim population where you live?
Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
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That much info is good, Speed! More would have been good too!
I was born into the Ismaili Muslim community. It's pretty small - about 15 million world wide. There are about 5,000 or so Ismailis in London, I think. Maybe not as many as that. We're a minority Shi'a sect, and our beliefs and practice are different in a lot of ways to what you would think of as "mainstream" Islam.
I guess I'm "lapsed" these days, in that I don't go to mosque weekly or pray daily or anything. But I still think of myself as Ismaili and my values and the way I do things are definitely shaped by it. I'm like you, Speed, in that I am interested in religion in general and quite happy to go and see what goes on in other places of worship. I remember going to a Shabbat morning service in our local synagogue when I was at school, which was a pretty awesome experience.
Posts: 1550 | Registered: Jun 1999
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Fahim and I went to Kurunegala on Thursday to spend Festival there - the English way of saying Eid ul-Fitr. Eid was yesterday, Friday, for us here.
There are traditions that go along with that. One is the giving of new clothing to each other. Fahim and I gave his mother a sari (peach with gold, silk - very nice), and shirts to each of his father and brother. In return, they gave Fahim a new shirt and to me, a sari.
Another tradition is that they have to take showers on Festival before they put on their new clothing. Oh, and since I don't yet have the blouse or underskirt to go with the sari, I wore my new shalwaar, which Fahim's mother was impressed by (I sewed it myself. )
Since it's the day after Ramadan ends, it also means eating. Food was bought from outside - and it was an enormous amount of food. Fahim's mother's sister and her children (2 men, 1 girl) came over and spent Eid with the lot of us. At lunch time, a cloth was spread out on the floor and on it were placed a huge bowl of rice surrounded by smaller bowls of various kinds of curries. The men then at around the rice bowl and ate communally out of that bowl.
The women were supposed to do something similar, but with a separate bowl from the men. We ended up using plates instead - I suspect that Fahim's mom took sympathy on me, hence the plates, even though I was willing to try out the communal rice pot.
Anyway, with a communal rice pot, you put a bowl of one kind of curry on the rice and eat that up, then put on the next bowl of curry and eat that up, and so on and so forth until everyone's done.
After that, we had Wattalapam, which is a coconut milk and jaggery custard (jaggery is from the kitul palm, and the best way I know of to describe it is as wet brown sugar that's been pressed into blocks). I've had it before - bought from the grocery store or had it at fancy restaurants - and like it very much, but his mom's was far far better than the rest. Fahim's told me that wattalapam is a Muslim specialty here, and no one else gets it quite right. Now that I've had Fahim's mom's, I'm inclined to agree with him. It was . . . better than I could possibly describe.
And there was lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of talking. Most of it in Sinhalese, and a little in English. Oh, and some in Tamil, as well.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Actually, kq, his mother was sooo impressed that she bragged about the fact that I made it to her sister and niece. In other words, I scored her points. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Yep. With a few caveats. As in, I need to fix them, because they bunch more than I would like them to at the armpits, but it doesn't affect fit or comfort. It's visual, and I'm likely the only one who'll ever know unless I stand around with my hands up high.
It's a stick-up!
Yeah, it worked great. Although I didn't like the look with the extra fabric, so went with a pure box shape rather than what we talked about.
Oh, the other thing. Until Fahim's mother saw the shalwaar, she thought that me saying I can sew was like Fahim saying he can sew. If ya know what I mean. Now, she really believes me. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Oh, the other thing. Until Fahim's mother saw the shalwaar, she thought that me saying I can sew was like Fahim saying he can sew. If ya know what I mean.
Oh, like when my husband says he can cook. *giggles*
And a pure box shape is good, too. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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. I'm supposed to be at mosque, but am tired and ill, so hiding here. Still, there's always the weekend for celebrating...
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