Makkah, September 08: During Ramadan, Makkah bustles with sleepless life. The streets are always congested and literally become impossible to traverse during peak times. The crowdedness becomes more noticeable in places where ful (mashed fava beans), tameez (popular Afghani flatbread), sobia (a traditional drink made either from raisins or bread) and other treats are bought by the people to break their fast at Maghreb.
In these places and just few minutes before iftar, the nerves become very tense and people willing to fight at the slightest provocation. Some of them will not shy away from fisticuffs and end in a police station.
With the call for Maghreb prayer the traffic and movement on the street becomes quieter before it picks up again near Isha prayer where all people are keen to perform Isha and Taraweeh at the Grand Mosque or other mosques in the city.
The Azan (call for prayer) has a different tone in Makkah. It touches the heart and reminds one that all the prophets have, since the creation of mankind, called for believing in God and His messengers. It also brings to the mind the great struggle of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to purge the Holy Mosque from the filth and contamination of the non-believers.
In Ramadan, people are also keen to purchase different kinds of meat to be used in making soup, sambousa and other delicacies.
The four food items: soup, sambousa, ful and tameez, together with various sweets, constitute the basic components of iftar food in Makkah and other Saudi cities. So there is always a crowd in places where these items are sold.
Another feature of Ramadan in Makkah is the getting together of the family around the iftar table. Families are very keen to take their first meal in the day together and this is a source of real joy for them.
Though those fasting are keen to drink sobia in Ramadan, this drink is available all the year round. Sobia is a drink made from a mixture of barley, raisins or dry bread, and yeast with the addition of other components.
Uncle Saeed Al-Khudari is very famous for his high-quality sobia. Saudis living in Makkah or coming to the city from other areas will be keen to drink Al-Khudari’s sobia.
The baleela (chick beans) is also a feature of the fasting month though it is sold all the year round. The most famous “baleelist” is Uncle Fahd Brashi who participated several times in the yearly national heritage festival (Janadriya) cooking this traditional dish.
Camel or sheep liver dishes are also sold in the streets of Makkah by the sons of famous Makkah families, including Khalil Kamal, Al-Maghrabi, Al-Tawfeeq and others.
The second half of the fasting month sees people crowding markets for clothes to buy for their sons and daughters for Eid. This is another cause of congestion in the holy city these days.
—Agencies