SPAIN'S two-million-strong community of Muslims started celebrating the festive month of Ramadan on Tuesday, and tomorrow (Friday) is the first holy day of the holidays – another which will see major restrictions.
Last year brought the first Ramadan in full lockdown in living memory, meaning mosques were shut, so the five daily prayers all had to be performed at home, and families and friends were unable to join each other for post-sunset meals or the major party on the last day, Eid ul-fitr, unless they lived in the same household.
The Eid morning mass prayer, or Masal-la – which, in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, are public outdoor events taking place in the harbour with free shuttle-buses thrown on by the councils – did not happen.
This year will not involve quite such a drastic impact on the festivities – in most regions, up to a maximum of two households can meet up in private homes, and mosques, which act as local community centres and charity headquarters as well as places of worship, are open, albeit with numbers limited.
Spain's Islamic Commission has issued a public announcement urging the community to continue to follow health authority recommendations for virus prevention and safety, and in particular, to avoid crowds or mass gatherings.
Whilst they can go to mosque this year, Muslims are asked to keep the time they spend inside them to a minimum and, for the traditional tarawih or group prayer sessions (pictured above), to check restrictions in place in their region, including the curfew, and numbers allowed in indoor spaces.
As the prayer happens after sunset, the curfew – currently 22.00 or 23.00, depending upon region – may 'get in the way', so the Islamic Commission says anyone who will be unable to complete their prayers and return home in time should practise the tarawih at home.
Although families tend to celebrate the iftar, or post-sunset evening meal to break the daily fast, at home together, public ones often take place in mosques, but this year, the Islamic Commission has strongly advised against doing so in order to prevent possible contagion.
Islam in Spain
Spain's dominant religion was Islam for over 700 years, until around the end of the 15th century, and parts of Morocco and Western Sahara were Spanish protectorates; also, two of Spain's cities, Ceuta and Melilla, share land borders with Morocco, whose citizens have long been the nation's second-largest non-Spanish community, totalling nearly 812,000.
Young women from ACHIME, the Asociación de Chicas Musulmanas en España ('Muslim Girls in Spain Association'), on a road-trip to Paris (photo: ACHIME on Facebook)
To this end, Ramadan is very prominent in Spanish society and, in Ceuta and Melilla, where around half the residents are Muslim, Eid ul-fitr is a public holiday with schools closed.
About half of all Spain's Muslims are Spanish-born, although they include many second-generation migrants who do not hold Spanish citizenship, even though they have never lived anywhere else.
Members of the Muslim community in Spain tend to be 'newer' in generational terms – typically first- or second-generation migrants – to a greater extent than in other countries such as the UK and France, where Islamic followers are frequently grandchildren, great-grandchildren or even farther back, of the original arrivals, or whose families have been citizens in their home countries for centuries due to their nation of family origin's having been colonies and, therefore, integral parts of national territory.
Muslims in Spain who are not Spanish citizens are, in two-thirds of cases, Moroccan, totalling around three-quarters of a million, followed by Pakistani (about 80,000), Senegalese (around 65,000), Algerian (approximately 61,000) and Nigerian (close to 40,000).
Ceuta's and Melilla's majority Muslim communities are largely due to their geographical locations – only around 5% and 10% of the inhabitants in each city, respectively, are non-Spanish, but a high proportion can trace their ancestry back to Moroccans, albeit they have often to date back to generations of people whom nobody alive today could feasibly have met.
Spain's strong links with Islamic culture mean that in addition to the existing provisions in the Constitution covering freedom of religious expression, Muslim customs enjoy even greater protection and come more to the forefront.
Due to Spain's original Catholic origins, holidays such as Christmas and Easter, Saints' Days celebrated as a 'second birthday' by people who share a name with a given patron, and fiestas in tribute to town patron saints are observed, but fewer than 20% of the population are active Catholics and no religious or cultural barriers exist – Islam is sometimes taught in schools where a high percentage of the children are from this culture, and Muslim parents, although they are permitted to take their kids out of class on days dedicated to Christmas or Easter projects, such as Nativity plays, hardly ever do so, as they largely believe it is important for the youngsters to learn about and be exposed to other forms of cultural expression.
Many companies in areas of Spain with a large Islamic community automatically allow staff dispensation to not work on Fridays and to clock off before sunset during Ramadan, even if they have to make up the hours or take it out of their annual leave, or in some cases, permit them to 'trade' these holy days for typical 'Christian' holidays which they do not celebrate.
Ramadan: Purification and empathy
Spanish society also benefits hugely from Ramadan, since a massive food-parcel and cash collection takes place during Eid ul-fitr, which helps to stock up the Red Cross, Cáritas, and national food banks.
In fact, one of the five pillars of Islam is zakat – charity or alms – which stipulates followers must give 2% of their income to the poor, so these same organisations benefit from the community year-round.
Indeed, this is one of the key features of Ramadan: The fasting (sawm) from sunrise to maghrib, or sunset, as well as a way of purifying the body and soul and teaching skills of self-discipline, patience, and determination through adversity, is a lesson in empathy, meaning those who observe it can gain an understanding of how people feel if they cannot afford to eat.
Not everyone is required to fast – pregnant women, the elderly, children, or anyone with a health condition that could make it harmful for them to avoid eating during the day, such as diabetes, is exempt.
Valencia Islamic Cultural Centre mosque (photo: CCIV)
This year's Eid ul-fitr is expected to be on May 12, although the exact date is not always known until the last minute, since it is based upon the moon cycles; Ramadan is the ninth lunar month, rather than calendar month, of the year, and typically goes back 10 days annually.
Last year's started on Friday, April 24, and this year's began on Tuesday, April 13.
To this end, recent years, in the northern hemisphere, have seen Ramadan falling during times with the longest days, meaning many more hours between eating – always compensated for by the big family meal and celebration each night – has not taken place over the shortest days for about 20 years, and is not likely to coincide with the latest sunrise and earliest sunset until approximately the early 2030s.
But this extra challenge is all part of the lessons Ramadan is aimed at teaching, as well as its being a time of reflection and harmonious coexistence, quality time for families or 'chosen' families, to mark the first revelation of the Q'ran to the Prophet Mohammed.
Non-Muslims should be aware that local businesses run by those who observe Ramadan may shut earlier than usual – at present, most trade premises' opening hours are restricted in any case, with some regions ordering them to close at 20.00 or 21.00, but food shops and other essentials are exempt from early closure and permitted to trade any time; these, where they are normally late-night premises, will be shut before sunset over the coming month.
Meanwhile, Muslim-run grocery stores typically stock larger amounts of festive food during Ramadan month, including dates and sweet treats – so now is the perfect time to pop to your nearest one for a supermarket sweep.
Spain's 'State of Alarm' is scheduled to finish on May 9, though, so it is possible Eid ul-fitr will not have to be affected by any restrictions linked to it; this said, the Islamic Commission still recommends caution right through to the end of the festive month.
Finally, if you're one of the two million in Spain celebrating Ramadan, felices fiestas – and if you're among the 3.7 million Muslims in the UK, the 64,000 in the Republic of Ireland, the 10,000 in Iceland, or anywhere else in the world, Ramadan Mubarak, or happy holidays.
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