Tourist & Resident Guide to Iran

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Ramezan

Ramezan

We are currently well into the holy month of Ramadan or Ramezan as it is known in Iran. During this month it is forbidden to eat during the daylight hours and charitable donations must be made in the place of meals that would have been eaten. It is common for people to wake before dawn to eat sahar but the more devout will eat only once a day at eftar after the sun goes down.

Ramadan or Ramezan as it is known in Iran.


Unlike fasts for health such as those popular in the Ayurvedic tradition, fasting Moslems are not able to drink water. Other ways in which one’s fast is broken include receiving an intravenous drip, submerging oneself in water and smelling particularly strong odours.

Many Iranians consider Ramezan as a chance to lose weight but the large compensatory meals eaten after sundown often put paid to that. During this month, eating and drinking in public places is forbidden though clandestine meals behind closed doors, at less conservatively-minded workplaces for example, are commonly eaten.

Ramadan in Qatar

No comments: