A few years ago and as an Egyptian Muslim living in America, I celebrate the holy month of Ramadan during the winter month of December — fasting during the shortest days of the year it was a blessing from the sky. As a Muslim who has been married to an American woman for 20 years, I wanted to celebrate Ramadan and Christmas at the same time. Wow, I thought to myself, what an occasion: our two religious celebrations combined into one magic evening in my house, an evening of transformation that would symbolize our great, diverse life in America. A Ramadan-Christmas dinner would bring a real meaning to our two rich cultures.
Then came the sound of my wife’s warning: “We usually celebrate Christmas at my parents’ house . . . we can always invite them to celebrate the Ramadan-Christmas evening with us this year,” she added with a smile.
Invite your parents to our house? Your parents, who each time they visit spend months recovering from clutter shock? Honey, I screamed, this is like inviting the U.N. Special Commission WMD inspection team in Iraq! They come, they inspect, and then they give you a lengthy report of noncompliance. We are talking about a rigorous inspection of our house, then lengthy telephone calls of violations.
Your parents, whom I love dearly, have a talent for pointing out the most minute imperfection in our house. And they look at it as not just un-American but as a sign of mental illness. If they come, we have to declare half of our house a no-fly zone.
Your parents, I pleaded, go to great lengths to mispronounce my family’s names, as if it is their way of Americanizing them. Even our own daughter, whom they madly love and cherish — her biblical name Sara was not spared and became “Saaara,” and my own name Tharwat became “Somewat.”
To keep peace in the family, and in the spirit of the holidays, I finally agreed to have a Ramadan-Christmas dinner with my in-laws in our house. First, to get ready for the UNSCOM inspection team, I would have to make some changes in the menu.
First, there wouldn’t be any Egyptian food of mass destruction, or any garlic dishes that could constitute chemical warfare on the dinner table. That meant getting rid of my homemade pickles. And forget about my favorite Egyptian national dish, mulloklicia with rabbits, which, my wife protested, has too much garlic. “Besides, rabbits are our cute Easter bunnies,” she explained with a shrug. It is ironic that people in the East don’t share the same feeling toward these cute eastern bunnies.
After two weeks of ethnic food cleansing in our house, we finally were ready for our Ramadan-Christmas dinner. Thanks to our President for not invading a Moslem country and not spoiling our dinner.
At the table, it was reassuring to see that some of my favorite Ramadan dishes had survived the inspection process. There was a sense of harmony and understanding.
My homemade katife and konaffa dessert dishes sat side by side with the fruit cake and apple pies. My homemade fattah dish peacefully coexisted with the turkey stuffing. On the tree, Ramadan lantern ornaments cheerfully danced with Christmas ornaments.
We made sure that we started eating at Iftar’s time (breaking of the fast meal). As the in-laws met the outlaws together at the same dinner table, and as I patiently waited to break my dawn-to-dusk fast, my mother-in-law did what she usually does when we eat at her house. She asked us to pray, a prayer that usually involves asking God to take care and bless the relatives who were not invited to dinner in the first place.
When I was growing up in a family of eight children, we didn’t go into a great length of praying every time we ate; there was a brief whispering of God’s name, the merciful and the most compassionate, then a quick jump to the serious business of gobbling the food before it was all gone.
As I was refraining from exercising my First Amendment right about the long dinner prayer, something wonderful happened to me. Spending Ramadan here in my new home America usually brings memories of the past, of my family back home, of my mom and dad, who passed away a few years ago. Sitting at the table with everyone else, wondering about my missing family and listening to my mother-in-law’s routine dinner prayer, I remembered that my mom used to ask us to pray — not because it is a religious requirement, but to slow us down a little before we started grabbing at the food.
As I looked across the table at my mother-in-law, I saw my mom’s face, and I even joined in the prayer: “AAAAmen.”
After enjoying our Ramadan-Christmas dinner, we proceeded to the opening of our Christmas gifts. My first gift was from my daughter, and there was a note on the box that said, “From Sara to the best dad in the world.” In the box was a can of my rejected Egyptian fava beans. It was the best gift I ever had.
Ahmed Tharwat, Minnetonka, is host and producer of BelAhdan, a Middle Eastern television variety show in the Twin Cities, which airs at 10:30p.m. Mondays on PUBLIC TV, Ch.202
Day: September 25, 2010
Build Your Body not your Mosque
On September 28th of 2000, then the prime minster of Israel Aerial Sharon visited the Islamic holy site, Temple Mount, also known as AL Haram Elsharif” in Jerusalem , unleashed the second Palestinian intifada that lasted for moths and caused tenths of death. The Israeli general confrontational visit to the Islamic holy site was looked at as insensitive to Muslims not so much that the site was holy , but occupied, adding insult to injury. Now and 10 year later, we have the American intifada against the so called “Ground Zero Mosque” A whooping 70% of Americans oppose the building of the Mosque in lower Manhattan. Thos are the same people who rallied around the Bush family to liberate Muslims in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan, and assured their religion freedom. Recently America crowned a Muslim American to the beauty pageant. Muslims Americans are free to build their body, but not their Mosques. Most of the Muslims I talked to don’t care one way or another about the Manhattan Mosque. Muslims look at Mosque as a place of worship, however aren’t fixated on the divine place, Muslims don’t need a Mosque to pray, “The Earth is a Mosque” the prophet teaches us. American sudden idolatrous. obsession of the Ground Zero hallowed site has a long history of merican sense of exceptnalisim as the new chosen people. Americans Intifada turned the secular site of ground zero to a holy place, at the same time turned Muslim holy place to a scary one. This extreme love and extreme hate to places is a dogma found only in sects and Taliban like extremists; who also has an avid hate to place and statue. So many Americans are afraid of Mosques, and most of Americans never been in a Mosque , and without any evidence or rational think Mosques are center command for terrorists. Where in fact Mosques are the ones been threatened and terrorized in this country. I have been going to Mosques all my life, here and abroad, after each visit, the only people I would like to terrorize is the Mosque Imams themselves with their incoherent boring sermons, and my biggest concer is to find my own shoe among hundreds of other scattered shoes outside the Mosques door. Mosque is the most diverse place in America where people from all walks of levies with and backgrounds come together and practices Islam based on their own unique customs, and ethnicities; which makes it a very hard place to agree on anything let alone plot to hurt America. The 19 hijackers of 9/11 tragedy were plotting at bars in Florida not in mosques, bars are the places that should be barred from the hallowed site in Manhattan. Americans seem to blame the 1.5 Billion Muslims for a single act by a few criminals on 9/11, this guilt by association and the collective punishment that Americans have toward Muslim Americans,. Muslim Americans are actually the most moderate Muslims population in the Muslim world, who incidentally were victims themselves of 9/11 have become the American new bogyman in post 9/11 paranoia. The irony of all this, the Ground Zero Mosque intifada is taken place during the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims, at the end of this fasting month comes the celebration of Eid Elftr (Breakingfast feast) which will be for the first time on 9/11, an anti-Muslim church community in Florida is celebrating on that day by planning to publicly burn copies of the Islamic Holy book, .You would never see a Mosque no matter how radical or wacky it is reciprocate to a such pervert behavior. Here is my advice to Muslim Americans on 9/11, abandon your Mosques, celebrate Eid Eftar only in shopping malls, Americans would be more likely to accept you as a faithful consumer but not as a faithful Muslim.
Ahmed Tharwat/ Host
Arab American TV show BelAhdan
Airs on MN Public TV , Saturday 10:30pm
Blogs at www.ahmediatv.com
Celebrating the Edi at the shopping Mecca of the world
Last Friday, Ramadan the glorious fasting month for Muslims has finally come to an end, no more day fasting, no more anticipation of Iftar (breaking fast) under the big tent at Marina Grill, no more sweets Katife, Konafah, and no more Majoul dates to break the day fast, and no more spending the night drinking tea and shooting the breeze under the bright moon, as our conversation spiced up by the sweet flavored hookah smoke. This is the Muslim tea party. Ramadan, 30 days of cleansing of our bodies and our souls, and a yearly reminder to rid ourselves of all excessiveness in life. Now it is time for Muslims in America to go out there and unapologetically celebrate the end of Ramadan feast, Eid El Futr; after living through the paranoia of the “Ground Zero Mosque” Intifada , and the wrath of Pastor Jones; our modern Moses, descending on us in Florida with the eleventh commandment, “we shall burn the Qura’n”; for lots of Muslim Americans this Eid celebration was a welcomed diversion. I went to share with some Muslim Americans the celebration of the biggest Muslims event of the year, Eid El Futr. I rushed in the heavy morning traffic and visited several Mosques in the twin cities, more than 1000 of miles away from “ground zero” . The Eid celebration started with an early Morning Prayer at the Mosque. Before entering the gender segregated praying area, everyone started taking off their shoes, not for an airport like security reason, but no outside impurity is allowed inside the mosque, Target plastic bag was provided for those who didn’t want to leave their shoes by the door, (Is Target corporation sponsoring this Eid event) People line up quietly and sit-down in rows on the carpeted floor, elders may use chairs to sit-down if they can’t go through the up and down kneeling ritual required for praying. After a brief chanting of god’s greatness … “Allah Akbar, Allah Akber, (God is greater) they began the short Eid prayer, then comes the part that Muslim endure and suffer every time they go to a Mosque, the Imam Sermon -for that alone most Muslim should go to heaven – the bearded Imam stood up grabbed the Microphone and desperately tried to keep everyone quit and shouted at those who were abounding him and leaving the praying area, “the sermon is required and it is part of Eid prayer, brothers and sisters”, he desperately informed the crowd, as he was losing his audience quickly, especially those sitting in the back rows and closer to the escape exit, the Imam started his sermon, much to most people surprise it was all in Arabic, the language of prophet but not the language of most people in the Mosque. The Imam is pretending to speak and the people are pretending to listen, the sermon was a long series of divine threats to those who don’t pray, don’t fast, or don’t give charities. I left for another nearby Mosque for another late Eid praying shift, the parking lot was packed with cars, as the local police on the lookout, organizing the late comers, I quickly rushed inside, kids with their new bright color cloth were running all over the Mosque joyfully celebrating their Eid, in the noise chaotic hall, the sermon has already begun, and it was in English; “We need to stay true to our faith” Imam told the crowd “Don’t listen to the rants of Pastor Jones, “ The Qura’n is in our heart and not just ink and paper” he assured everyone, “Be nice to your Neighbor, up to 40 neighbors” he explained our Muslim nice zoning. “We need to reach out to the community at large, our Mosque sent some brothers to hand out the Qura’n at the state fair” he explained, What next, a Mosque on a stick at the state fair. After the sermon comes the recovery period, the Social hour, lots of warm kisses and hugging, bagels and Oreo cookies replaced the traditional Eid cookies. Parents and relatives presented Elediah a few new fresh dollar bills to their eager happy kids. Everyone wished everyone else a happy Eid. I then headed to iHop restaurant, where it has becomes customary for lots Muslims to have their early Eid breakfast, this is the first time in 30 days, Muslims can eat after sun rises and not after sun sets, I talked with one of the iHop management and asked him if there is any concern about the Muslims invasion, “ it is not an invasion” he quickly responded with a smile, “we are blessed by all these Muslims, and we will treat them with at most respect” he added, how about the menu, any dietary accommodation for Muslims, I asked the iHop owner “ we make sure that there is no Pork products floating around, and we clean the grill more often” he confidently explained . “I came here with my family to celebrate Eid with Muslims and non-Muslims” said an Algerian American sitting with his two young daughters, two brothers and their wives. In a corner booth a Somali family enjoying their breakfast, as as their beautiful kids flashed their hands showing their artful henna works for everyone to see. After the iHop breakfast extravaganza came to an end, I headed to of all places; Mall of America; the shopping Mecca of the world, the consumers’ cathedral where millions visit to worship Calvin, Liz, Loren, Tommy and unveil the secrete of Victoria . For Muslims in America, Mall of America has become a new cultural sanctuary. Thousands of American Muslims of all ethnicities, nationalities, races and creeds gather to celebrate our own native customs and identities. Next to Star Bucks cafe , A few Egyptian men catching up on their latest political jokes in Egypt, their 83 year old president Mubarak is providing them with plenty of materials nowadays. “Did you know Egyptians changed the traditional Eid greeting “Eid Mubarak, to Eid Elbaradei”, one explained. Several Arab women watch nervously as their kids vanish into the maze of indoor playground. A group of Iraqis enjoy a rare peaceful moment by the indoor garden, while not too far away, some Somali men kneeling down in the corner getting ready for the noon prayer. Next to them, a cluster of young Pakistani men are listening to latest flood news from home as they are comparing latest features on their iPhone. By the Rainforest Café, some West Africans in their crisp white robes and hats seem oblivious to the strange artificial noises coming from the tropical theme restaurant. On the rollercoaster Muslim boys ride with Muslim girls, who laugh as their headscarves ; hjjab, fly over their faces above their unconcerned parents. in the middle of the mall a Somali families, cloaked with their traditional black dress, walking together in concert, their black unified bodies eclipse the front window of Victoria’s secrete, seem oblivious to its window undressing displays. They are not shopping, just celebrating. There Are no shopping bags to carry, just their kids, No culture idol to worship except their Allah, No fashion trends to follow, only their traditions. It’s Christmas without the shopping craze, every year, thousands of American Muslims turn the biggest shopping center in the world into a non-shopping mall; that is only in America.
Ahmed Tharwat, Host Belahdan,
Arab American TV Talk Show
Minnetonka, MN
Click to watch the TV Coverage
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W44zltaRwg4&feature=player_embedded]
