TEACHER'S CORNER

Ramadan in central Istanbul

Friday, September 19, 2008

This is the fourth time I have been in Turkey during Ramadan. The first time, I was living in a less central part of the city and was very aware of the month of fasting. For one thing, I was woken up every night by a drummer in the streets whose job it was to go about waking everybody up in time to eat before sunrise

Living in the center of Istanbul, on the European side, it would be easy not to notice the Ramadan month of fasting.

Most of my Turkish friends are not fasting this year. Some are not religious, while others are religious but do not feel it is necessary to fast.

All the restaurants and cafes remain open and appear as busy as always. Only in the evenings, when long queues form outside these places before iftar, am I reminded that it is Ramadan.

This is the fourth time I have been in Turkey during Ramadan. The first time, I was living in a less central part of the city and was very aware of the month of fasting.

For one thing, I was woken up every night by a drummer in the streets whose job it was to go about waking everybody up in time to eat before sunrise.

But this year I am living in an area the drummer does not come to, perhaps because there are almost as many foreigners here as Turks.

I have also noticed, in past years, how difficult it can be to get a taxi close to the time of iftar, as drivers are understandably much more interested in eating their first meal since before morning.

I have a lot of respect for the people who are fasting. I could not imagine going without food during the day for an entire month. And with Ramadan coming at the end of summer this year, it must be very difficult to go without drinking water.

This is also one of the reasons I respect Islam as a religion. The fasting is done partly to remember the poor and less fortunate, who cannot eat and drink whenever they want to.

This month I have been reading “Islam, a Short History,” by British writer Karen Armstrong, author of books about a number of religions.

It begins with the time of Muhammad and explains how his people, the Quraysh, had become rich through trading.

But the people who became rich did not care about the poor people. Instead they tried to make more money out of them. It was at this time that Muhammad received his message from Allah.

The message that we need to think less about ourselves and more about people who are less fortunate, is just as important today, of course, as it was 1,400 years ago

.*** Quentin Poulsen is a former New Zealand journalist who has been teaching English and traveling for nine years.

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