Exchanging Food For Thought, in Ramadan

By: Summer Yasmin

Shakespeare said “all the world is a stage.”  Perhaps if Shakespeare celebrated Ramadan he may have perceived the entire world as a table and men and women merely guests where each one has his or her place. This month millions of Muslims around the world began the annual Ramadan fast. Refraining from food and drink during the daylight hours during peak summer means 17 to 19 hour fasts per day. Sounds daunting, but Muslims anticipate and welcome this special time with enthusiasm and vigor, despite the hardship.

What may not be initially apparent to the outside eye is that although fasting involves not eating, Ramadan is actually the month of food and all that it represents!  Food is not just to suffice one’s physical needs; it has deeper, symbolic meaning.  God’s grace, gratitude, mercy, hospitality and sharing are all found in the essence of the meal.

Sharing is an ancient interaction, as old as mankind itself. The Sharing of a meal is not only practical but very symbolic of the human ideal. Every society recognizes the gesture of sharing a meal.  When you invite someone to your table, you are reaching out to them on a personal level, dissolving the formality of acquaintance for the familiarity of friendship.

The York Mosque in London, this past May, demonstrated this idea beautifully when it dealt with protestors outside its doors by inviting them in for tea, biscuits, football and of course, a side of open dialogue.

“Breaking bread” together breaks down barriers and sets a tone of camaraderie that can sometimes achieve great things. It has often been used as the premise for a sort of grass roots peace talk. Historians suggest that the very first social networks were in fact coffee houses.

First frequented by the Arab Fuqaha (scholars, teachers and students) in the 1700s, and later spreading to Europe in what were called “penny universities” because anyone could come in for a cup and conversation. Through them, social class, religion and even nationality were set aside in exchange for a chance to learn, giving the saying “food for thought” a new and literal meaning.

Centuries later, we still amalgamate around food and drink. Ramadan is a walking, talking and eating social network, in a time and place where technology has virtually taken over human interaction. “Everyone comes together, everyone stops and has to eat at the same time. Regardless of if it’s at home with your family, at a larger gathering in someone else’s home, or at a masjid where almost everyone is a stranger, you come together” reflects Salima Jivraj, founder of Halaalfoodie.ca and Halaal Food Fest Toronto.

The holy month of fasting has a way of making people put away their laptops and phones and join hundreds of others at the oddest hours of day and night to eat and pray. From the hope of Suhoor to the gratitude of Iftar, young and old, Muslim and non-Muslim find some way of becoming a part of Ramadan.

“At first it was hard, but after a while I felt connected with everyone else doing it,” says Tommy Robinson Blyth, who is participating in fasting this year along with his Muslim friends. In 2013, we are the most “connected” civilization, yet we often feel lonely. Perhaps it is the sound of voice, laughter, talk and trading of ideas that traditionally happens over the table, that people are thirsting for. In Ramadan the heightened personal interaction that fasting creates, results in the satisfaction of this basic human need that is often neglected.

This idea isn’t a new one and it isn’t limited to Muslims alone. Every nation of the world, past and present preserves some aspect of their culture, history, geography and sociology in their food. Basically, man speaks through food. During times like Ramadan, this notion really comes through.

It is especially relevant in war torn regions of the world that are struggling to hold on to their identities and find common grounds with those they share their borders with. Lee Weissman an Instructor of Jewish Studies notes how food is a process of sorts that defines the human condition. “In the mystical tradition, eating (and digesting) is symbolic of the entirety of the human mission in a material world. Our job is to find the spiritual ‘sparks” in the world and reject its negative materiality. When we eat we do just that. We extract all that is nourishing and good, and transform it into life and into action, and excrete the negative and useless. That, some say, is why eating is so central to Jewish practice. Its the paradigm of the service of God.”

They say the family that eats together, stays together; because over the table we get to know each other. We share not only a meal but an existence. If the humanity is seen as one massive, multicultural family, then the process of growing, sharing and enjoying food is an important piece in the process of peace.

Comments

comments