TEHRAN — Despite the differences in language and some traditions and rituals between Persian and Arab cultures, experiencing the Arab Ramadan atmosphere in detail in Tehran is available, as the "State of Abad" district has turned into the largest concentration of Arabs south of the Iranian capital.
Nearly four decades after the first batch of Iraqi immigrants landed in Wilayat Abad, this neighborhood has become known as the "Arab region", attracting Arab communities from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and other Arab countries, as well as dispelling the obsession with alienation among Ahwazi citizens who prefer to live in the capital, Tehran.
The "State of Abad" neighborhood embraces many members of Iranian nationalities, such as Persians, Kurds and Turks, but its Arab character makes it a favorite destination for the residents of the capital in Ramadan, because Arab communities do not deal with the holy month as a month of fasting only, but also represent a splendid occasion that increases the neighborhood's elegance.
The names of the shops suggest the nostalgia of their owners for their Arab cities (Al-Jazeera)
Dawlatabad district. Arabic Stamp
As soon as the visitor sets foot in this neighborhood, he is greeted by shops with their Arabic names, along with Persian signs. Although the wearing of the Arabic dress of dishdasha (thobe) has declined in recent years, the language of passers-by may delude the visitor that he has entered a Baghdad neighborhood.
"Kabab Layali Baghdad", "Shawarma Al-Sham", "Beirut Sweets", "Ahwaz Dates" and others... The names of many mosques and places of worship indicate the gathering of the people of some Arab cities there, including "the people of Karbala", "Kadhimiya" and "Fayli Kurds"... and other names.
The Iraqi community celebrates the nights of Ramadan by reciting the Qur'an to create an atmosphere that makes them feel like those in Arab countries (Al-Jazeera)
Ahead of the Maghrib call to prayer, the elderly begin to gather in front of the gate of mosques and husseiniyas to chat, and the service of religious shrines and processions is preparing to prepare Arabic tea and coffee, in order to create an atmosphere that makes them feel like those in Arab countries during the holy month.
Through a conversation carried out by Al Jazeera Net with the crowds in front of mosques and husseiniyas, it was found that most of them are from Iraq, despite the presence of other worshipers from inside Iran, whether Arabs or others.
Iranian citizen Talib Al-Qaini recalls his displacement from Iraq under the pretext of his Iranian roots in the era of the former regime (Al-Jazeera)
Ramadan rituals in the "Arab region"
Talib al-Qaini (a shopkeeper in the Dawlabad neighborhood) explains that he is an Arab-Iranian citizen who was forcibly displaced by the former Iraqi regime under the pretext of his Iranian roots. Many members of the Iraqi community have obtained Iranian citizenship, while others still hold residency that is renewed annually.
Al-Qaini says to Al Jazeera Net that there is no difference in Ramadan rituals between Arabs and other Iranians, but that breakfast among Arabs is usually hearty, unlike what the Iranian citizen prefers to eat snacks after the Maghrib call to prayer.
Iranian segments share their religious rituals with the Arab community, he said, and mosque preachers are keen to summarize their words in Persian, taking into account those who do not speak Arabic.
After sunset prayers, the Arab community is quick to "break the fast" on tea and dates, and then go home for iftar, but some Iranians prefer to break their fast at tables laid out in mosques after congregational prayers.
An Iraqi migrant prepares Arabic coffee to distribute to passers-by after Iftar (Al Jazeera)
Popular dishes
Not far from mosques and places of worship, popular restaurants are full of fasting people before the Maghrib call to prayer to eat Arabic dishes to the sound of soft music that takes customers to Baghdad at times and to the Levant at other times.
Karrar, a waiter at a popular restaurant, said that the neighborhood has become a destination for Iranians wishing to learn about Arab culture and participate in religious events organized by the Arab community during the months of Ramadan and Muharram, noting that some Arab foods and sweets - such as Najafi Luqaima and beans with fat - are only available in the capital Tehran in the "Statebad" neighborhood.
Alongside Husseiniya, Commander of the Faithful, an Iraqi migrant serves Arabic coffee to passers-by, explaining the latest serving customs and drinking rituals to Iranians who admire Arabs' commitment to their cultural heritage.
As for tea, it must be dark in the Iraqi way, to remind Iranian citizen Maziar (56 years old) of the "fortieth visit" to Karbala, which he is keen on on the twentieth of the month of Safar every year.
The Iraqi community in Iran holds a ceremony to recite the Holy Quran after Iftar in the "Statebad" neighborhood (Al-Jazeera)
Popular Sharing
After Iftar, the crowd returns to mosques and husseiniyas to read the aphorisms and recite part of the Holy Quran, before the cleric rises to the pulpit to present an awareness and jurisprudential lecture in Arabic, interspersed with sentences in Persian to facilitate understanding for non-Arabs and the new generation of members of the Arab community who were born and grew up in Iran and did not see their original homeland.
As we leave the Dawlabad district, which falls into the middle of the blessed Ramadan, we hear loudspeakers singing the anthem "Gergean and Gergean... May God give you babies," he said, amid a large crowd of the Arab community and Iranians, in a scene that expresses the depth of the relationship between the segments of Iranian society.