Ramadan in Yemen … with songs, decoration and hygiene campaigns, this is how they welcome the month of fasting

Yemenis welcome the month of Ramadan with a varied festive atmosphere, divided between welcoming songs, decorating houses and neighborhoods, and cleaning them up despite difficult economic conditions and the ravages of war, which has entered its seventh year.

And Uncle Nasser used to participate in cleaning up his neighborhood in the capital, Sanaa, every year with a number of neighborhood residents, a few days before Ramadan, to celebrate the coming of the holy month. Read also ”Ramadan is the time” in Algeria .. This is how Algerians feel the perfumed spirit of Ramadan Ramadan is a moment in Kuwait… joy and preparation a month before his arrival and the strong presence of “Boutabela” In the video – Hilal, a lantern and a coffee .. Special congratulations on Ramadan from the depths of the sea in Jordan In Palestine… “white or green” is the first food of Ramadan for mothers

The 66-year-old says that this custom is a tribute to the month of Ramadan, which gives the souls of the people an atmosphere of faith, purifies the soul and refines behavior, and he deserves more to receive it with a pure spirit, clean neighborhoods. and pious behavior.

Nasser added to Al-Jazeera Net that the habit of cleaning and decorating neighborhoods and houses is not modern, but ancient, practiced by residents of Sana’a and the rest of the cities, in honor of the holy month. in which all acts of worship were embodied. , including the translation of the teachings of the Islamic religion which urge to link cleanliness with faith.

Decorate homes and neighborhoods

Expressions of welcome and joy with the advent of the month of Ramadan were not limited to cleaning streets and neighborhoods, but broadened to include decorating homes with crescents, paper and electric lamps.

Children and women are eager to prepare and craft decorating requirements and write welcome phrases that express the meaning of the holy month.

Umm Sarah says she bought the paper decorations before Ramadan, and with her two children, she drew crescent moons, made lanterns, and decorated rooms and hallways as an annual tradition expressing their happiness with the advent of Ramadan.

Shaban’s last nights

According to Umm Sarah, on the last nights of Chaaban, children wander between houses with songs and welcoming chants during Ramadan, as a cheerful guest who adds a spiritual atmosphere to people’s lives and gives them the opportunity. to conform to the teachings of religion. in fasting and stay away from all sins and sins.

Ramadan is the shopping season

On the other hand, traders are keen to decorate the facades of their shops and the streets with various lights and decorations, and Ahmed Al-Dobai, one of the traders, explains that this holiday leaves an impression on everyone that the season good deeds and rituals have given birth to a spiritual atmosphere that deserves to be illuminated by the universe alongside hearts.

Al-Dobai added to Al-Jazeera Net that Ramadan is not just a season of worship. It’s a shopping season for traders. It is not limited to the needs of the holy month, the various Ramadan tables in Yemen and the decoration tools, but in addition to that, it is a shopping season for the needs of Blessed Eid al-Fitr such as the clothes, nuts and the like.

Children’s songs

Child Abdullah Hussam and his friends prepared to celebrate the holy month in their own way by memorizing songs and preparing lamps to receive Ramadan with songs and welcoming rituals.

Abdullah and the children of his neighborhood repeat a few songs in an ecstatic spirit as we hear these rhyming verses:

O Ramadan, O Abu Al-Hamahim, a month of convergence, and kindness is always Advertisement

Oh Ramadan, O Abu Al-Hamahm .. I wish Abu Qaraa a series of dirhams

O Ramadan, O month of worship. The one who fasts will be more rewarded.

These are some of the songs that carry devotional meanings, and encourage him to do good and charity, and to use the month of Ramadan for good deeds.

With the beginning of the holy month, Quran memorization sessions begin daily in mosques, with two periods, the first after the Asr prayer and the second in the evening.

He studied the Quran

Abdullah Salem, an imam of the mosque, says that knowledge circles flourish in the month of Ramadan to memorize the Noble Book of God and its teachings, and to give religion lessons to clarify the meanings of the Quran and benefit from the biography. of the Prophet, the best of prayers be upon him and peace be upon him.

He explained that they are also holding a competition to memorize the Quran and its decisions within the framework of the mosque and among other mosques, and to honor the distinguished and the participants.

For his part, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture in the government, Abdul Hadi Al-Azazi, believes that the continued appearance of Ramadan, despite the conditions of war and the difficult economic situation, is due to the great religious status of the holy month among Yemenis, who consider it a month of mercy, solidarity and charity.

Al-Azazi added to Al-Jazeera Net that this holy place of the month of Ramadan among Yemenis is increasing because they practice the rituals of two pillars of Islam namely fasting and zakat.

Rituals extinguished

Al-Azazi points out that religious chants celebrating Ramadan vary between those who hold Mawlids and religious tawasheh, and remembrance memories especially the last days of Shaban, and there are those who celebrate the night of 14 Shaban with songs and children move between houses and muwashahat, especially in the countryside of the cities of Taiz and Ibb.

He added that rural farmers welcome Ramadan by planting crops needed at the Ramadan table, such as radishes and vegetables, in addition to decorating mosques and buying new furniture for them.

The head of the Ministry of Culture mentioned some customs that began to disappear due to the development of timekeeping and the presence of loudspeakers in mosques, so that the task of the Masharati, who passed through villages and residential areas , would disappear. to inform people of the entry of Suhoor time

Among the aspects that disappeared – according to Al-Azazi – the cannon firing of Ramadan, which was also used to inform people of the time of Iftar and Suhour.

Al-Azazi insists on the need to highlight these customs so that they do not die out in the future, as they form an essential part of the Yemeni personality and the atmosphere of the coming of the holy month.