Ramadan in Karachi

This is Day 10 of Hindtrospectives’ #MyMosqueMyStory series for Ramadan 2015

By Asra Zaheeruddin Corcoran

In 2013 my husband and I were in Karachi, Pakistan for the first time and spent the month of Ramadan there. This was my first Ramadan experience in a Muslim country and I was delighted to have this experience. My husband is Caucasian, having converted in 2010. Being born and raised as a Muslim in US, I was used to life as normal during Ramadan. Many people in America aren’t familiar with Ramadan and if they are, they don’t know what it all entails, so more often than not, you are explaining to someone why you aren’t eating that day, or you are struggling to keep your eyes open to make it throughout the day, having gotten up for sehri and Fajr Salat.

In Karachi, my husband and I were amazed at how completely different it was. The entire country was focused on this holy month. Every shop would shut down during prayer time, and many shops only stayed only a few hours day, to allow for their employees to do ibadat or get rest, especially during the humid days. Iftar was a major event; every restaurant and hotel went above and beyond to offer an extensive variety of iftar and dinner foods and Jummah and Taraveeh prayers were offered in 3-4 times more locations and not just the mosque.

The day began with Sehri, and we would head down to the hotel restaurant. Other guests would also be coming down, mostly in Pajamas. The hotel would serve all different types of foods, cholay, rice, halwa, puris made fresh. People would continue to stroll in until time was up; some engaging in chitchat with others, while most quietly focused on filling up and heading back to their rooms. There was a Fajr salat done in jammat, but many headed back to their rooms.

The hotel we stayed at was also known to have one of the best iftar offerings in the city. It was nice to see everyone doing the same thing as a community, all sitting down for one meal, then going in for salat, and then again for dinner. And even though many people would be there for Iftar, not everyone would participate in Maghrib Salat. There was a more secular approach than in the US where, in my experience, if a man does not participate in Salat, eyebrows are raised. That wasn’t the case in the Karachi hotels. No one seemed to care if people opened their fast then proceeded onwards to eat dinner.

The food offered during Iftar was plentiful. Dinner time was a huge production. There were many different varieties of fruit and savory items. There were stations for fresh naan, and kabobs made on grills in front of you. Surprisingly during dinner, they would have a live band playing the latest Hindi film music, which was something I had never seen in America. A live band during Ramadan?! It was like attending a party every evening. As Eid approached, the mood became similar to Christmastime in America. Advertisements were everywhere to prepare for Eid: from getting your Eid outfits ready to ordering food to be ready for all the family that would be stopping by. And not just family, but friends, and sometimes people who you didn’t know very well would stop by and wish you Eid Mubarak. As we were foreign and didn’t know many people we were invited to many Eid gatherings once someone heard we were from America. I loved it. There was no formality. It was just a time to get together and celebrate.

I look forward for the opportunity to go back and spend another Ramadan there, Insha Allah.

Asra Z. Corcoran was born and raised in a Chicago suburb in an Indian Muslim family.  She completed her MBA at Purdue University and has worked for Fortune 500 companies in the past. She lives In the Chicagoland area with her husband and toddler son.