One of the most important holidays in Turkey, which comes after the holy month of Ramadan, which is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the month in which the Quran was revealed – Ramadan Bayram.
In Gaziantep city it might be obvious that it is a holy month of fasting – from the dawn until the sunset people are fasting without putting a piece of bread, nor drinking. During this month most of the cafeterias are closed and this might be observed in people's spirit, in their believe, that is why Gaziantep and people here used to be conservative.
From one hand local people are very closed and straight, but from another, they are open-minded people and very kind. If you ask a child why it is important to fast during this month, he would reply without any hesitation – in order to understand those who doesn't have such possibility to eat a loaf of bread, to understand those who is starving in the world. This explanation which leaves you without a word and makes you understand their deep believe.
Most of the people usually organize dinners called “Iftar”. It is believed that feeding someone iftar as a form of charity is very rewarding and that such was practiced by the Prophet Muhammad (saw). Iftar is a fast breaking dinner and fasting people should break their fast just after the sun sets. At the minarets of mosques, lights called kandil are switched on from sunset to dawn. As soon as the sun sets, a traditional "Ramadan Cannon" is fired as a signal to start eating the iftar. The whole month of Ramadan is celebrated with great joy and iftar dinners play a big part in this. Some of the restaurants offer special deals and provide these meals for free. Most of the set menus start with a soup or an appetiser platter called "Iftariye". It consists of dates, olives, cheese, sujuk, Turkish Pide bread (which is a special bread only baked during the Ramadan) and various pastries called "börek". The main course consists of various Gaziantep foods: rice meals, kababs, meatballs. The meatballs come in varieties of cig kofte, meatball with malhita (lentils), Sour small meatballs, Small meatball with yoghurt, Icli kofte. Its desserts are a must try for the tourist as well and they include the sweet pastry baklava, burmali, kunefe, sari burma, kadayif.
Most of the organizations or rich people organize concerts or shows , mostly for children. Different fairs are organized as well, presenting different goods and handmade crafts. Usually dring this month it is very crowded after iftar, because families with their children go out for a walk and meet their friends, or just to observe all the performances.
After 30 days of fasting, the first day of the next month, Shawwal, is spent in celebration and is observed as the "Festival of Breaking Fast" or Eid al-Fitr. The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the 29 or 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan. In Turkey there are three days of holiday and people congratulates each other saying Bayramınız kutlu olsun or "May your Bayram – Eid – be blessed" and children, and young generation kiss the right hand of older generation. Muslims are also encouraged on this day to forgive and forget any differences with others or animosities that may have occurred during the year.
Typically, practicing Muslims wake up early in the morning—always before sunrise— offer Salatul Fajr (the pre-sunrise prayer), and in keeping with the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad clean their teeth with a toothbrush, take a shower before prayers, put on new clothes (or the best available), and apply perfume. And do shopping. In Gaziantep all the bazars and shopping malls work 24 hours during these holidays.
In Gaziantep city it might be obvious that it is a holy month of fasting – from the dawn until the sunset people are fasting without putting a piece of bread, nor drinking. During this month most of the cafeterias are closed and this might be observed in people's spirit, in their believe, that is why Gaziantep and people here used to be conservative.
From one hand local people are very closed and straight, but from another, they are open-minded people and very kind. If you ask a child why it is important to fast during this month, he would reply without any hesitation – in order to understand those who doesn't have such possibility to eat a loaf of bread, to understand those who is starving in the world. This explanation which leaves you without a word and makes you understand their deep believe.
Most of the people usually organize dinners called “Iftar”. It is believed that feeding someone iftar as a form of charity is very rewarding and that such was practiced by the Prophet Muhammad (saw). Iftar is a fast breaking dinner and fasting people should break their fast just after the sun sets. At the minarets of mosques, lights called kandil are switched on from sunset to dawn. As soon as the sun sets, a traditional "Ramadan Cannon" is fired as a signal to start eating the iftar. The whole month of Ramadan is celebrated with great joy and iftar dinners play a big part in this. Some of the restaurants offer special deals and provide these meals for free. Most of the set menus start with a soup or an appetiser platter called "Iftariye". It consists of dates, olives, cheese, sujuk, Turkish Pide bread (which is a special bread only baked during the Ramadan) and various pastries called "börek". The main course consists of various Gaziantep foods: rice meals, kababs, meatballs. The meatballs come in varieties of cig kofte, meatball with malhita (lentils), Sour small meatballs, Small meatball with yoghurt, Icli kofte. Its desserts are a must try for the tourist as well and they include the sweet pastry baklava, burmali, kunefe, sari burma, kadayif.
Most of the organizations or rich people organize concerts or shows , mostly for children. Different fairs are organized as well, presenting different goods and handmade crafts. Usually dring this month it is very crowded after iftar, because families with their children go out for a walk and meet their friends, or just to observe all the performances.
After 30 days of fasting, the first day of the next month, Shawwal, is spent in celebration and is observed as the "Festival of Breaking Fast" or Eid al-Fitr. The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the 29 or 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan. In Turkey there are three days of holiday and people congratulates each other saying Bayramınız kutlu olsun or "May your Bayram – Eid – be blessed" and children, and young generation kiss the right hand of older generation. Muslims are also encouraged on this day to forgive and forget any differences with others or animosities that may have occurred during the year.
Typically, practicing Muslims wake up early in the morning—always before sunrise— offer Salatul Fajr (the pre-sunrise prayer), and in keeping with the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad clean their teeth with a toothbrush, take a shower before prayers, put on new clothes (or the best available), and apply perfume. And do shopping. In Gaziantep all the bazars and shopping malls work 24 hours during these holidays.
Meeting the guests for iftar
Boy in the corner
Boy and a pigeon
Waiting for the sunset
Everybody is hungry
Our friend Emurlah and his kind mother
Comments
Post a Comment