Khalil Mabrouk - Istanbul
Turkish merchant Amir complains of a significant decline in the number of shoppers during the days of the holy month of Ramadan compared to previous years, due to the outbreak of the Coruna epidemic and the measures of home quarantine that he says have lost the market the joy of Ramadan.
However, this did not erase the smile on the face of the merchant, who sells Ramadan products, foremost of which is "black berry juice" in front of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul.
Ramadan has changed a lot this year due to the high frequency of domestic quarantine measures, and the expansion of the curfew system implemented by Turkey to reduce the spread of the Corona pandemic.
The people of Istanbul and 30 other provinces had to wait for the curfew to be lifted on the fourth day of the holy month, to go out into the street and live the rest of the Ramadan atmosphere that remained despite the epidemic, and to inspect others absent from them this year.
In the different neighborhoods of Istanbul and its streets, the evening rugs trade, which is provided to the fasting people, has returned to Ramadan baked goods, drinks, food and sweets, which are accepted by those who fast in the Holy Month.
Ramadan food served despite the home stone
1- Bida bread
known as “Ramadan bread”, which is a thick fermented pie, which the Turks accept abundantly in the days of the holy month. Turkish bakeries in Ramadan offer Pida pies with meat, cheese and eggs. This year, bakery workers presented their products to customers wearing medical masks, gloves and headgear. .
During the past days, the bakeries did not stop selling bread and bread in general, as they were excluded from the curfew system, but the numbers of buyers were few and sales were organized according to the rules of safety and social separation.
| Display cabinet for bida bread in Al-Fateh area (Al-Jazeera) |
2- Ramadan drinks
Amir puts the black raspberry syrup "Kara Tod" at the top of the list of Turkish drinks in Ramadan, and tells Al-Jazeera Net that this drink is made from 95% natural ingredients, which are brought from Anatolia and Hatay state specifically to filter and squeeze in front of the eyes of those who fast.
The Turks offer another sweet-tasting Ramadan drink called Ottoman Drink or "Osmanli Sharbatly", and it consists of a mixture of foods, the most important of which are cloves, cranberries, grapes, dates, licorice and lemon.
They also offer tamarind drinks, rose syrup, lavender blossom, and kush Borno (bird's beak syrup), which resembles hibiscus, while Ayran (milk syrup) has a great place on the Turkish table in Ramadan, as in the rest of the days.
| Turkish prince sells blackberry syrup in Al-Fateh area (Al-Jazeera) |
"Kalaj" takes over the list of Ramadan sweets, and promises mostly milk and is decorated with fruits and nuts. People in Ramadan also accept the purchase of "al-Luqm" desserts, "kadayf", Ashura sweets, Muhallabiyah, Turkish baklava, halgoum, and other sweets that are still present in Ramadan. Istanbul despite the quarantine.
| A man selling candy or buoys in Al-Fateh (Al-Jazeera) |
4- Cheese and dryers
In the holy month of Ramadan there are also rugs selling cheese, butter, fresh milk cream, pickles, various fruit jams, dried sweets, dates, and nuts like nuts and pistachios.
Ramadan habits that have withstood Corona's face
The Ramadan atmosphere that has survived despite the quarantine and the curfew system is not limited to the restaurant and the drink. The Holy Month still has its own charm in traditions that do not require friction and contact, and it can be achieved even with some modifications in light of the application of safety measures and social separation, including:
1- Al-Masharati
The magicians continued to roam the streets of the city's neighborhoods to wake up the sleepers and invite them to eat the Suhoor meal, and their traditional clothes, their voices and the same phrases they kept, but they will refrain, according to the instructions this year, from knocking on the doors of the houses to receive tips at the end of the blessed month to avoid mixing.
2- Ramadan cannon
Ramadan cannons are still being fired in more than one square in Turkish cities, in continuation of the ancient Ottoman tradition to announce the dates of breakfast and constipation, but this year the cannons do not find the boys and citizens who were waiting for their launch in previous years.
3- Al-Mahya Accessories
It is lighting the minarets of mosques during the night of Ramadan, and it is a tradition that has been alive since ancient times in Turkish culture, and it was embodied in the modern era by extending lightings from electric wires between the minarets in each mosque. Year to phrases urging people to stay indoors.
| Zina al-Mahya shines between the minarets of the central mosque of Basaksehir (Al-Jazeera) |
Ramadan traditions, unseen by the Corona epidemic
1- Tarawih and mosque activities
Ramadan this year misses Tarawih prayer, and imams of mosques in Turkey keep performing 20 rak'ahs of Tarawih each night, as well as the revival of the twenty-seventh night of the Holy Month that people used to perform in all the mosques of the country as the Night of Power.
Besides Tarawih, other mosque activities were absent, such as the conclusion of the "interview", which is an inherited Ottoman tradition where readers with beautiful voices recite a portion of the Noble Qur’an daily in mosques during the day in Ramadan, and worshipers in the mosque follow their recitation secretly in the Mushaf, thus concluding the recitation of the reciter and everyone who The entire Qur’an listens to him at the end of the month.
Also, the spread of the Corona virus was absent from the mosques of Turkey, competitions for memorizing the Quran, its recitation and the beauty of its sound.
2- Group breakfast
The municipalities of Turkish cities and district administrations were preparing daily free breakfast in the public squares and squares, and each region had its well-known breakfast, where people would eat their food together as a form of social communication on the one hand, and to provide the breakfast summit with chastity for the poor fasting alike.
In addition to these breakfasts, the charitable breakfast tents, which each provided thousands of daily breakfast meals to the poor, also disappeared.
| A queue awaiting permission to enter a shop in the Basaksehir area, with limited numbers of shoppers, to limit the spread of Corona (Al Jazeera) |
3- Ramadan evenings
The festive evenings that took place in the gardens and courtyards of the residential neighborhoods disappeared, and the artistic groups performed songs and prayers, and the famous personalities wandering around distributing lanterns and sweets to children.
4- Ramadan tents
It was placed in squares and squares, on the edge of public parks, and people sat there for light drinks and some sweets, usually until midnight hours.
5- Museums and bazaars
It was held in the squares and public squares, the most famous of which are the Taksim and Sultan Ahmed and Bayezid Bazaars. It displays Ramadan foods and drinks, handicrafts and traditional products such as swimming pools, tambourines, drawings, religious, literary and cultural books.