{"id":2777,"date":"2021-05-02T17:19:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-02T21:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/gracecoloredglasses\/?p=2777"},"modified":"2021-05-02T17:19:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-02T21:19:44","slug":"ramadan-for-christians-a-literal-wake-up-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/gracecoloredglasses\/2021\/05\/ramadan-for-christians-a-literal-wake-up-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramadan for Christians: a literal wake-up call"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Today\u2019s Ramadan anecdote is one you\u2019ll be hard-pressed to believe \u2013 it\u2019s something we in the West can\u2019t imagine, an age-old ritual that is still practiced today in parts of the Muslim world.<\/p>\n

(By the way, I apologize for being away so long. Real life got temporarily super-hectic, but inshallah<\/a><\/em><\/span> I\u2019m back!)<\/p>\n

\"musaharati\"
Jerusalem, Old city. These young men are \u201cAl-Musaharati\u201d, who, during the month of Ramadan, walk and beat drums in residential areas to wake worshippers for their \u201csuhoor\u201d meal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The word is musaharati<\/em>\u00a0(moo-sa-ha-RA-tee), and it comes from the same root as suhoor<\/a><\/em><\/span> (suh-HOOR), the pre-dawn meal that is eaten just before the fast begins each day.<\/p>\n

The musaharati<\/em>\u00a0is the guy (or guys) who walk around the neighborhood in the wee hours before sunrise, beating on a drum and hollering\/calling to everyone to wake up for suhoor<\/em>. In some places, they go from house to house, making sure that the residents wake up; in others, they just walk down the streets calling and drumming, and leave the results up to the sleeper and his God.<\/p>\n

Here are a couple of videos that you have got to see. Imagine someone doing this in front of your house at 3:00 in the morning! The first is in Syria<\/a>, the second is Palestine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The feasting-and-fasting cycle is as much community as it is individual, particularly in Muslim areas, of course. It is neighbor looking after neighbor, a collective ritual (the wake-up call) practiced privately (the meal).<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a very short video<\/a> of a rare female musaharati\u00a0<\/em>(Cairo), and some neighbors describing the importance of the tradition.<\/p>\n

To me, it\u2019s a little like when I drive through my neighborhood in mid-December: many houses have lights, decorations, and a tree in the window. The radio plays Christmas songs. There\u2019s an unspoken understanding between us, a shared joy \u2013 we are community at Christmas.<\/p>\n

My husband loves to go Christmas shopping with me \u2013 he doesn\u2019t even mind the crowds. He loves the sense of anticipation and celebration in the air. It\u2019s communal.<\/p>\n

The musaharati<\/em>\u00a0is welcomed, not cussed out for waking the whole neighborhood \u2013 he is inviting every household to join with every other household: \u201cwake up, sleeper, and meet with God!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

SOME OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ramadan for Christians: fasting in wartime<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ramadan for Christians: fast, feast, FAT!<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ramadan for Christians: a story of smuggling<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ramadan for Christians: then sings my soul, \u201csubhanallah\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWait, the Bible says THAT?\u201d Faith that catches Jesus\u2019 attention<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

FEATURED IMAGE: occupied Jerusalem, Old City, Ramadan 2019. These young men are \u201cAl-Musaharati\u201d, who, during the month of Ramadan, walk and beat drums in residential areas to wake worshippers for their \u201csuhoor\u201d meal.\u00a0With the current technological development, this tradition has disappeared from almost all neighbourhoods, even though it had long been a common profession in the Arab world. Photo from the Int\u2019l Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) archive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s Ramadan anecdote is one you\u2019ll be hard-pressed to believe \u2013 it\u2019s something we in the West can\u2019t imagine, an age-old ritual that is still practiced today in parts of the Muslim world. (By the way, I apologize for being away so long. Real life got temporarily super-hectic, but inshallah I\u2019m back!) The word is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4414,"featured_media":2782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,51,584],"tags":[637,571],"class_list":["post-2777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interfaith","category-islam","category-ramadan","tag-musaharati","tag-ramadan"],"yoast_head":"\nRamadan for Christians: a literal wake-up call<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today's Ramadan anecdote is one you'll be hard-pressed to believe \u2013 it's something we in the West can't imagine, an age-old ritual that is still practiced\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/gracecoloredglasses\/2021\/05\/ramadan-for-christians-a-literal-wake-up-call\/\" \/>\n<meta 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