The ‘modern’ Ramadan of today's Central Asia

While mosques are filling up with large crowds from Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstan, commercial initiatives related to the Muslim holy month are multiplying. And most telephone operators are also offering electronic almsgiving services, with QR codes approved by religious administrations.

Astana (AsiaNews) - More and more Central Asian believers are observing Muslim rites, and this year mosques are filling up with large crowds of the faithful during the month of Ramadan, leaving the rooms of restaurants and bars completely empty during the day. However, business owners are learning to use modern means of communication more effectively, adapting their services to the needs of the faithful.

The pre-dawn saḥūr breakfast and theifṭār supper after sunset are becoming more organised, and certainly not limited to the dates with which Mohammed broke the evening fast. The Set i Kombo menus are very popular, these are combined dishes made up of many ingredients, with options for 2 to 15 people, with PP Kompleks options for children or vegetarian dishes, which are easy to order from home as well as being available in the restaurants.

In one of the central restaurants in Bishkek, they offer a self-service sahur for 750 som, less than 10 dollars, which you can have from 1.30am to 6am, filling your plate as many times as you can manage to eat all the food. This year the opening hours have been adapted to the needs of the customers, as the manager Baktybek Kylyčbek uulu explained in an interview with Azattyk Azija, saying that they now work non-stop from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

‘After the end of Ramadan we will return to our usual hours from 9am to midnight, with our musical evenings including piano and violin, but this month everything is done in silence,’ explains Baktybek. His restaurant is one of the most renowned in the Kyrgyz capital and offers various Ifṭār-Set dishes for 1800 som, more than 20 dollars per person.

For those observing Ramadan at home, online shops also offer themed decorations, flying balloons with the word Ramazan or similar, garlands and light displays, and even plates with special designs suitable for worship. As Gulnara, a saleswoman at Halal Bazaar specialising in household decorations, confirms, there is a great demand for these decorations during the month of fasting: ‘They are mainly requested by women, they want the letters Ramadan Mubarak and candlesticks with religious inscriptions, decorated with stars and crescent moons’; it is often impossible to guess what customers want, so they invent new items such as the Smart-Tasbik, the electronic rosary, a ring with LED display and vibration, and ‘intelligent’ and interactive ‘carpets’ for daily prayers in 5 languages: Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik and Russian.

Ramadan is obviously not just about fasting and decorations, but also about helping the needy; in this respect too, various companies in Central Asian countries come to the aid of those who are unable to go to the collection tables. Most telephone operators offer electronic almsgiving services, with QR codes approved by Muslim administrations, accompanied by devotional calendars and prayer texts in local languages, avoiding ‘Arabisms’. In Kazakhstan there is a website dedicated to the Qurban charity, where those who wish can choose the animal to be sacrificed and pay the corresponding sum, and then receive an audio and video report of the ceremony.

The supreme mufti of Kazakhstan, Nauryzbaj kaži Taganuly, urged entrepreneurs during Ramadan to lower the prices of all items of social interest and foodstuffs, offering discounts on particular goods and giving out bread for free on Fridays. The head of the Astana office for religious affairs, Sagynyš Žanabaj, recommended that ‘Ifṭār-Dostarkhan not be turned into a sumptuous banquet’.

In fact, the faithful in Central Asia see Ramadan as a great celebration, rather than a period of penance and sacrifice, a feeling that has been heightened this year by the fact that it coincides with Women's Day on 8 March. In Astana, groups of women gathered for the Auyzašar ceremony, the Kazakh term for Ifṭār, celebrating with a Bal Ramazan, an art and fashion competition, with songs and dances also dedicated to the spring festival of Nawruz, combining devotion with folklore and popular enthusiasm.

Photo: depositphoto.com