Discipline and containment

6pm, the sunset starts. Meanwhile, families gather around the table, ready to enjoy a copious dinner after a whole day without eating or drinking anything. This is iftar, the meal when people break the fast during Ramadan, the holy month in Islam, which started on May 6th. This is the first time I am in a Muslim country during this event, which affects everyone’s life, regardless each one’s religion.

 

Fasting or sawn is the most known characteristic in this period and it is one of the five pillars of Islam. It starts at dawn, right after the suhur, a strong breakfast to resist the rest of the day, and it ends with the sunset. During this time, eating, drinking (even water) and having sexual relationships are forbidden for the Muslims. Elderly people with health problems, pregnant women and children younger than 12 years old are exempt from this practice. Besides fasting, the Muslims also celebrate these days of sacrifice and spirituality, performing good deeds, helping the most needy people and giving alms, action known as zakat, another pillar of the Islamic religion, which happens more often these days.

 

Donation of food organized by Thai Embassy

About my daily life, in this month we have a reduced work schedule and less students in the classrooms. The shops also modify their opening time these days and some of them close completely during the whole month. The obligation to stop eating and drinking during daytime is also applied to Non-Muslim people. Any person, regardless his/her religion, who can be seen breaking the fast or smoking in the streets or any other public place can be penalized with a 100 KD (almost 300 euros) fine and one month in jail. mes de cárcel.

Many shops and supermarkets offer discounts during this month

But, beyond the restrictions related to Ramadan, I would like to highlight that it is also a good occasion to celebrate meetings with relatives and friends, where happiness, generosity and solidarity truly reign. This happens almost everyday after sunset. In part, it can be perceived as something equivalent to our Christmas events in our Western countries. Certainly, it is worthy to attend some of these celebrations if you have the chance and sharing the moment.

¡Ramadan Kareem for everyone!

Finding the right tune

Among the new things at the school where I work this year compared to the previous ones, I have to highlight the fact of not including the subject of Music in the school curriculum. The music, logically, is present at the life of every student, teacher and other staff member, but here they prefer to keep it for private life and leisure time. It is perceived as a entertainment and distraction, rather than a learning source and interaction with the environment, as it should be inside my mindset. This matches with the Islamic values at my school, very conservative as I could realize in these two first months.

The topic of the music provokes some controversy in the Islamic world. While some orthodox approaches see it as a something as offensive as drinking alcohol, other persons understand it as admissible and even as a element to be included in religious rituals, like the dervishes in Turkey. At the end, as it happens with other cultural characteristics such as using the veil, everything depends on the interpretation of each person has of the Koranic scriptures. I would like that some Muslim person correct me if I am wrong, but I couldn’t find any concrete verse prohibiting music, although it is suggested that it can be connected to sinful acts.

Sufi musician in the Muslim quarter of Nizalmuddin in Delhi (India)

Besides restrictions and prohibitions, actually in Kuwait the music is present in many events. Only in the last month I could attend a musical Broadway style, a performance of Korean dance groups, both traditional and break dance, and a concert of traditional Andean music. It is true that most of the performers are foreigners, resident or visitors, but there are also some local groups trying gain some recognition.

I don’t think that someday we will enjoy Music lessons at my school, but I guess it could be possible to arrange a short musical performance for some special event, such as the international week, for example. I have to check it with caution because you never know what might happen. Living inside a different culture is good for learning to perceive things from different points of view and mindsets. Many situations that we can see completely normal in our countries, here it could be a scandal, and vice versa. The most important, as always, is respect and tolerance in order to adapt and understand that there are multiple ways to perceive the World.

Walking in the Mosque

The good weather is already here, with temperatures no higher than 35 degrees and a perennial sun, it is the best moment for exploring Kuwait and visiting its main landmarks. My first remarkable place has been the Grand Mosque, where AWARE association organized one of their guided visits. It was worthy joining to the group, not just because of the monument itself, but also because of the explanations the guide was giving, very useful to know better the Islamic religious rituals.

Built in 1986, the Grand Mosque is the biggest among the 1487 mosques in Kuwait. It covers an area of 20000 square meters, ranking the eighth position in the list of the biggest mosques in the World. As all temples of this type, it consists of a main yard and a prayer hall, in whose central part there is an impressive dome which is decorated with the 99 names of God according to Islam. The interior decoration is fascinating and it has nothing to do with the restrained appearance from outside. Apart of the prayer area, there are other halls such as a library and a reception hall, decorated with andalusian style tiles, very similar to those which can be found in many places of Cordoba, Granada or Sevilla, in the South of Spain.

The main prayer hall can host around 10000 people praying at the same time, all of them men. Women do it in a separated hall hosting approximately 1000 worshippers. According to the guide, this segregation is done in order to avoid possible distractions in terms of furtive glances and sinful thoughts from the men. The most hly and important part in the main hall is the mihrab, a kind of alcove, decorated with verses of Coran, indicating the direction where the worshippers have to pray, towards Mecca.

During the visit, as I said, the guide was telling us some particularities related to Islam, like the prayers a Muslim has to do every day and in which moment. The prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam and it has to be done five times a day, a bit earlier than sunrise, at noon, in the afternoon, around sunset and before going to sleep. These moments are announced by the muezzin from the mosque but, as my Palestine friend told me, there is certain flexibility and, if one can’t pray in that instant, it is possible to leave it for a bit later. About the praying place, it is not necessary for a Muslim to pray inside the mosque but he or she can do it in any place with enough tranquility, as long as the direction towards Mecca is respected.

A very interesting and didactic visit which, by the way, sparked a kind of homesick feeling off, since I perceived some similarities which reminded me the place where I am from. The emotional connection is obvious and it makes me think that I am not so far as it seems. Here one Spanish song from a group from Cordoba, my city, “Paseando por la Mezquita”, walking in the mosque, as this post. I hope you like :)

The muezzin's chant

 

It’s six o’ clock in the evening; the sun begins to set in Kuwait. Suddenly, a sound through a megaphone breaks the usual silent in my neighborhood in Al-Fintas district. It is the chant of the muezzin, the person who calls the believers from the mosque to come for praying. This is called adhan in Arabic and it takes place five times a day, between the sunrise and the night. This moment is part of some features related to the Islam and they already start to determine part of my daily life in this country.

 

 

In Kuwait, despite being considered as one of the most tolerant and liberal countries of the Islamic World, there are certain limitations and restrictions based in the Sharia, Muslim code of conduct and moral, affecting to anyone living here. As I already knew before my departure, the consumption and sell of alcoholic beverages or pork products are penalized. Pornography and whatever other material which can be considered obscene are also forbidden. Then, there are other curious laws I am discovering day by day. For example, few days ago I found out that it is illegal that two persons from the opposite sex live together if they are not married. Concerning this topic, last week I also discovered that there are separate cinema rooms for couples and families, and for single men.

 

Non alcoholic wines, for those miss a toast

 

Actually all these prohibitions are not traumatic at all for me and they don’t stop me to have a normal life, more or less similar to the one I always had. Let’s say that they are circumstances which may be stressful for those persons who can’t live without drinking a cocktail or having a ham sandwich. For me, what really changes my rhythm of life is the fact that the weekly holiday here is on Friday. I guess that it is a matter of getting used to it, but right now working on Sunday is a bit strange for me. But anyway, facing Thursday knowing that is the last working day of the week is quite pleasant.

 

One of the questions that some persons who know me worried before I left Spain was how people in Kuwait would treat me once they know I am not Muslim. There is nothing to worry about here; I didn’t feel any kind of rejection, pressure or bad manner towards me yet. On the contrary, everybody is being very nice with me so far, I feel very safe when I go for a walk and I don’t see hostility anywhere. If I would be Christian I also would have the chance to go to Church here.

 

I hope that my personal testimony on this and future posts can help a bit to eradicate some prejudices and fears related to these places. This is not, of course, a country where I could stay all my entire life, but things are not so bad here. If you live or have lived in a Muslim country, I hope I can read your comments about it, how did you feel?