How Sinai Bedouin make holy month their own
▶ Preparations for communal gatherings begin 10 days before Ramadan begins
Among the sand dunes and valleys of the Sinai in Egypt, Bedouin tribes are keeping traditions alive this Ramadan with hundreds of years of customs passed down the generations.
Anticipating the call to maghrib prayers, members of Al Huwaitat and Al Mazinah tribes gather in a small seating area while the younger men sit out in the desert.
They wait at diwans, or tribal meeting halls, where daily fasts would soon end.
In the diwans, distinctive Bedouin designs are etched into seats and stitched into carpets surrounded by symbols of modern living – a television, an air conditioner and a refrigerator.
As radio speakers crackle with the call to prayer, the tribesmen prepare to take their first bite of food from containers placed on handmade carpets.
In a display that unites the old with the new, mountains of rice and goat meat on huge trays will be their first meal of the day. They will wash it all down with fizzy drinks and mineral water.
Al Huwaitat tribesman Sheikh Fareej Salem, host of this Ramadan feast, says preparations for the gatherings begin 10 days before the start of the holy month.
“The Bedouins set up special areas stocked with food and drinks from family homes in nearby valleys where people can have iftar if they happen to be passing by,” he says.
One of Ramadan’s staples among the Bedouins of Sinai is el gareesha – a dish made from crushed wheat, goat ghee, cumin, herbs and lentils – and zalabiya, a flour-based, deepfried, sugar-coated dessert.
Aside from the colourful aspects of Ramadan in the Sinai that have been kept alive for generations, unique social norms are still observed.
Couples are not allowed to marry in Ramadan, according to Bedouin tradition.
Customary court sessions are also suspended for all cases except murder, when an initial hearing is held and then the case is postponed until the month is over.
“Customary law is firm and strict and compulsory for all tribes that wish to sort matters away from city courts and police stations,” says Eid Salem, a member of Al Huwaitat.
Over a pile of burning wood, two pots full of tea and coffee come to a boil, while plumes of shisha smoke rise from among the newly fed Bedouins who consider Arabic coffee the official drink for Ramadan gatherings, especially if the month falls at hotter times of year.
The coffee – once roasted in bulk and prepared each day for a night of meetings, catch-ups and conversations after iftar – is now bought freshly ground from sellers.
Each cup is taken with a date or two.