Umm Abdullah believes that Makkah becomes an even more special place with the advent of Ramadan, but she does miss some of the old traditions of the city. The 55-year-old grandmother of six says that there is a sense of happiness and joy that permeates the place and people seem to treat each other more kindly. There is also a great sense of gratitude to Almighty Allah for giving them the chance to experience another month of fasting. During the holy month, the city comes alive in a way that does not happen in other places in the Kingdom. It is a city that does not sleep during this time, says Umm Abdullah. Makkah's people start preparing for this special time during the last week of Sha'ban, she says. “We buy food from the nearest small grocery in our district, and prepare food for Ramadan like vegetables, sambosa and sweets. We then freeze some of it, so that we can spend as little time as possible preparing food in the holy month. This is because we want to devote more time to worship,” Umm Abdullah says. “In the past, we did not spend a lot of money to buy food for Ramadan. We just bought the necessary things like soup, some rice and milk because we did not eat much during Ramadan.” She says that in the old days, soup, beans and sambosa were the main dishes for breaking the fast in Ramadan. “Sobia has been the favorite drink of Makkah's people throughout the years. Some made it with barley and some people made it from dry bread. We also drank Zamzam water. It was difficult because at that time people would have to fetch the Zamzam water every day from the Haram and carry it back to their family.” “One of the most beautiful things in the past was a man who used to walk in the markets near the holy mosque with Zamzam water in his “jarra” (pottery jug), distributing it free of charge to people, while repeating the words ‘free Zamzam water'.” According to Umm Abdullah, the crowds were particularly intense just before Maghreb prayer at the stalls of the sellers of sobia, beans and traditional Hijazi cakes. “Saeed Al-Kodari was the famous seller of sobia at that time. People called his product “sobia Al-Kodari” or “Uncle Saeed's sobia”. She says that konafa and qurpalia, which is dough stuffed with pistachios or almonds, were then, and are still, the favorite sweets of Makkah's people. The Suhoor table was not complete without sweets such as muhallabia, al-almasia, and kuchaf al-zabib. For Iftar, Makkah's people cooked vegetables or meat in various forms such as kabob, moqalqel and maktoom, says Umm Abdullah. In the past, each family used to invite their relatives or neighbors to share either Iftar or Suhoor meals. According to Umm Abdullah, one of the most beautiful things in the holy month was family gatherings and the exchange of food between neighbors. “We called it “toamah.” “We would only cook a small amount of food suitable for the size of the family. Extra food would be given to the poor people in the district.” “One of the most popular traditions in those days was “al-mesaharaty”, a man who would beat on a drum and knock on every door to alert people about Suhoor before the Fajr prayer.” Umm Abdullah says that al-mesaharaty was not just one person but often several men allocated to each district calling people to wake up for Suhoor. Nowadays al-mesaharaty does not have a role because people stay awake until Fajr prayer, she says. She says that the streets would also start to get crowded near to Isha prayer because people would prepare for Taraweeh prayer. She says that after Iftar she would go directly to the Holy Mosque to read the Qur'an or perform Umrah, and stay in the mosque until Taraweeh. “After Taraweeh we would get together with the neighbors to share news or read the Qur'an, an Islamic book or listen to Islamic lectures. We would then go to our homes to sleep until Suhoor. Now this sort of gathering together with neighbors does not exist because in the modern world things have changed,” says Umm Abdullah. Over the last 10 days of Ramadan, people would buy fabrics for making clothing for their children for Eid. This was the time when tailor shops became busy, as well as barber shops. At that time, Ramadan was perhaps the most important season for barbers, she says.
