Ramadhan in bosnia
Maha El-Metwally is a Project Officer for Islamic Relief Bosnia, and has lived in Bosnia Herzegovina for 3 years. Originally from Egypt, she offers an interesting glimpse of Ramadhan and Eid traditions in her adopted country, both old and new.
In order to learn about Ramadan traditions in Bosnia in the past, I spoke to Zejnil Kustura and his wife Nefa, both aged 65. They are the guardians of Hatidza, one of Islamic Relief’s sponsored orphans. The family used to live in the countryside and have only recently moved to the city.
Mountain Village
Zejnil grew up in one of a constellation of thirteen villages located behind the beautiful Bjelasnica Mountain. Up until 1952, everybody in this area prayed, fasted and went to mekteb, Quran school. People would pray their Friday prayers at the mosque in the village, while the daily prayers would be prayed in the mekteb. There were three mosques that served the area.
When Ramadan came, people would pray together, eat together and a general sense of togetherness prevailed. People competed to invite the imam to have iftar in their homes. The food they ate came from the ground not from the supermarket, so everything had a distinct taste.
Dairy Delights
The main dish at iftar time was of course pita (thin dough filled with meat, potatoes, spinach or cheese). Since the villagers raised cattle, they had an abundance of dairy products in order to prepare the topa (a dish made from butter, cream and cheese) which the lady of the house considered to be the most healthy food for Ramadan. Soup, pies and Turkish desserts were popular throughout Ramadan, but Eid would not be Eid without baklava (flaky sweet pastry with nuts).
After Bairam (or Eid) prayers, villagers would invite those who had traveled from other villages for the Eid prayers to have breakfast at their homes. Sometimes a man would return home with 15-20 guests for breakfast. People would then split into groups of young and old and go out to visit their neighbours to wish them a happy Bairam (Eid).
Song and Sport
After the visits, it would be time to go outside for a special Bosnian game played during celebrations that involved singing and playing. Girls normally started this off, but then everybody would join in. Athletic competitions also took place at Bairam and the winners would receive presents, usually items of clothing made by the women of the village. Bairam is also the time for performing the traditional practice of circumcising boys.
Changing Times
However, the long era of communism has taken its toll. These traditional ways of celebrating Ramadan and Bairam are almost extinct, especially in the city where people do not share their lives with each other. According to Zejnil, people in the city are cold compared to those in the village. When he moved into the city, he invited his neighbours to his house but nobody came. People do not want to share their lives. Even in the local mosque, people pray but do not stay to chat after prayers, and Ramadan now has a more individualistic nature.
Zejnil tries to pass on some of the old traditions to Hatidza, the 11-year-old orphan that he and his wife are raising. Hatidza also attends mekteb, prays and fasts - and Zejnil is very proud of her. With the old traditions handed down to the next generation there is still hope that they will be revived again some day.
Maha El-Metwally
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