The Hejra Calendar

   The Hejra year began after the prophet Mohamed fled Mecca and the persecution of the people, he went to Medina. The Hejra year is 354 days or 11 days shorter than the Gregorian year. This means that the Hejra year revolves backwards into the Gregorian year and it takes about 34 years to make a full cycle. With the months of the Hejra year 'moving', the 9th month of Ramadan and it's fast can be either during the winter and cooler time of year or during the summer with the hardships of thirst.
   When I married in 1967, Ramadan was during the winter months and after 34 years of marriage (in 2000), it is again arriving during the winter. It is easy to understand that the winter time is much easier on a person fasting because of the cooler weather.
   An example of the moving Hejra year: If the first day of the Hejra year begins on Dec. 31st then the following Hejra year will begin on Dec. 20th and the next year will begin on Dec. 9th.
  The two holidays of Ramadan and Hajj are only two months apart and during the early 1980's the school summer vacation would begin just before the Ramadan Eid and continue until after the Hajj Eid. This gave the students almost four months of vacation and of course the kids hated this, ha ha....

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The Hajj

   Once in every Moslem's lifetime he should perform the Hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy Kaba. There are exceptions to this, if the person is financially able (does not borrow the money), healthy enough for the journey and will not cause a burden on himself or his family then he is required by God to perform the Hajj.
The actual Haj, during the month Dul Hajj which is the 12th month of the Hejra calendar, is only two days BUT pilgrims begin to arrive in Saudi about a month before and each year about one and a half million people arrive from all countries of the world. Add to this 600,000 persons from inside Saudi and you can imagine the 'sea of people' that are in one place at one time.
   Although it takes only a month to bring these pilgrims into Saudi, it might take three months to transport them back to their homes. Jeddah is therefore filled with all these people and adding to the population and confusion in the airport where many of them camp out until their flights back. The best way to arrange a persons Hajj is through a tour operator, they take care of all the headache of the trip and you will be taken and returned from every step of the Hajj. Of course this has to be arraigned months prior to the Hajj, many poorer people will come on their own and wind up spending weeks sleeping in the airport.
   The actual Hajj begins on the 7th day of the month with Eid beginning on the 9th day, again this is a three day event. this Eid is celebrated throughout the Moslem nations but means more to those that performed the Haj, most of us are just happy for the vacation.....
   This is also known as the Eid of meat because each pilgrim will offer a sheep in sacrifice after his Haj and anyone wanting to offer alms in remembrance of past loved ones will also offer sheep in sacrifice. Our in-laws each year make these sacrifices and the count goes as high as 10 sheep. The Koran states that this meat is to be divided into 3  portions, one share is given to the poor, a share goes to a neighbor and the last share kept for the home and it's usually bar-be-qued for lunch.
   Before 1985 all the sheep slaughtered in Mecca (imagine all Hajj's offered one sheep each, that's 2 million) were  collected and buried in a huge hole just outside Mecca. With so much meat in Mecca there was no one to give it to, realizing that this meat was a huge waste the Islamic scholars agreed that pilgrims could have their sacrificial lamb sent to poor people in other Islamic nations. Now the Hajjie can purchase a coupon which guarantees him that a lamb will be slaughtered in his name as per Islamic law and then flown to other countries with Moslems in need. The sheep are quick chilled and flown by the Royal Saudi Air Force to other countries with hungry Moslems.
   During the Hajj, Saudi television changes from entertainment to educating the Hajies about safety during their stay. Topics like heat stroke prevention, food handling safety, gas stove usage and all health topics are broadcast many times a day and in all the major languages of visiting Hajies.
   The Saudi government does their best to prevent any outbreaks of diseases during the Hajj and this alone is a huge task. I shudder to think how the Hajj would be handled if Saudi did not have the oil money at it's disposal!
In the prevention of heat stroke alone, Saudi has spent millions to have a sprinkler system set up in all areas that the Hajies must be. Very tall pipes spray out a fine mist of water that cools the air and Hajjies down, this helps prevent too many cases of heat stroke.
   There are of course, people that use the Hajj as an excuse to get into Saudi with the intention of staying after wards to find work. Once their Hajj visa expires they avoid being detected and must work at a much cheaper rate than those living here on a work visa. All citizens are reminded that it is illegal to hire or use these workers and they will face a penalty fine if caught. Just before each Hajj the police set up surprise road blocks and catch those without a valid visa and they are jailed then shipped back to their home country.
   The month of Ramadan is felt in many countries and cities around the world, but the Hajj is felt in mainly three cities in Saudi. Jeddah is where the Hajjies usually arrive but they are quickly moved on to their next city destination. they will also visit Medina where the Prophets Mosque is and where the Prophet Mohamed is buried, this visit can be before or after their Hajj in Mecca.
   The actual Hajj is centered in Mecca and the outskirts of the city, this area will have all of the millions of people for at least 5 days continuously. How anyone living in Mecca can put up with these crowds and all that the Hajj involves,  every year is beyond me!!

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Ramadan

   The ninth month of the Hejra Calendar is Ramadan and during this month all Moslems observe a fast during daylight hours. They fast from food, drink, smoking, sex and anger, using the time to reflect on their faith. Each day a Moslem will read the Koran (holy book) and by the end of the month, should have finished the entire book. Children begin to fast as early as 6 years old so that by the time they reach 12 they will be able to observe the full fast which is mandatory at this age.
   There are exceptions to the fast, Islam is very lenient, pregnancy, nursing mothers, menstruating women, people injured and has lost an amount of blood and anyone that is on medication that must be taken on a regular basis. When not fasting a person MUST feed a poor person two meals a day for the duration and then they should make up the missed fast later during the year.
   At the crack of dawn the fast begins and continues until sunset, in Saudi the daily schedule is adjusted so that work and school begin 2 1/2 hours later because most people will have waken up to have the 'sa-hor' meal and to drink water, around 3 or 4 am. Nights during Ramadan are like a festival, visiting with friends or shopping or just out for a drive. Now in Saudi the malls and stores make very good sales during this month to draw the crowds to them. A  person knowing the traffic of Saudi can see what empty streets look like by driving during and after sunset! 90% of the people will be in their homes to have the 'fa-tor', breaking of the fast meal and the streets are empty.
   There are special prayers during Ramadan, each evening, those that are able and available for will perform the 'ter- weih' prayer. This is done after the last prayer of the day, worshipers will perform another 35 minutes of prayer. During the last 10 days of the month there is also the 'ge-am' prayer which is performed from 1 am until about 4 am. It is during one of these last 10 nights (it is believed) that the prophet Mohamed received the verses that make up the Koran.
   During the last 10 days most people are out shopping just as in the west during Christmas. Every person gets a new outfit plus shoes and shopping is quite a job at this time with the last night being almost impossible to shop.
On the first day of Eid, families will gather at the home of the father or eldest brother. In our home, the men will have been awake all night and will go to the Eid prayer at about 6:30 AM and continue on to my mother-in-law's home. With each of our children marrying and having their own children the group has become very large. We all mingle and chat until a huge breakfast spread is put out at about and all eat. Around 12 noon we will disband and each returning to their home and everyone finally sleeps until about 7 PM.
   Now everyone has to get their sleep pattern readjusted to the normal day schedules and it takes a few days!! The official Ramadan holiday begins on the last three days of the month and the first three days of the following month and is called Eid Al Fiter. The last three days of Ramadan are mostly spent shopping and it's like the Christmas season in the West, EVERYONE, it seems, is out for that last minute item. The first day of the Eid is usually for family, visiting each other to offer greetings and the children receive money gifts from the uncles and grandfathers, when they are lucky, also some of the women will give them money. Then the evening is spent running those kids around to spend all their loot!! During the 80's (and the height of the boom in Saudi) my three were able to collect about $350 and on three occasions they got over $600!! The following two days of Eid is spent visiting friends and the rest of the family that they didn't get to during the first day.
   You can read much more about Ramadan and it's meaning and benefits by clicking here www.ummah.net/ramadhan/

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My 'men' go hunting

  When my husband had a chance to go desert hunting he didn't hesitate! He, with a friend (who had a large entourage to do ALL the work) and my three children (then aged 11, 9 and 8) went to a northern stretch of desert in Saudi for four days during the school mid year break.
  The desert is cold and during the month of Feb. they had to wear long wool underwear, sleep with heaters running, an electric generator was among the desert gear, and keep moving to stay warm.
  Returning home I heard all the stories and was 'presented' with a desert turkey that my husband had bagged. I put the 'turkey' in the freezer while the two boys told me of how they got to use and shoot several types of guns and even a machine gun..... oh boy, they did have fun for themselves!!
  After four days of desert cold all four needed showers badly and that was my first priority, get rid of the smells they were carrying home with their memories!
  The 'desert turkey' was forgotten and several months later I quietly threw it away, I WASN'T going to pluck feathers and clean out the innards.....

This was sent to me by my mother, taken from Harpers Bazar magazine 1977, during the height of the Saudi oil boom.

In 1976 the Saudi oil industry (representing 1 % of the work force and about 90 % of the gross Domestic Product) earned about $37.8 billion or just over $100 million a day!
At this rate, the Saudis would be able to buy:
---All stocks listed on US stock exchanges (market value) in 26 years 5 months 14 days.
---The Fortune 500 companies (total tangible net worth) in 9 years 8 months 9 days.
---All Central Banks gold (including IMF) as of May 1977, at $145/oz in 4 years 5 months 8 days.
---Exxon Corp.. in 5 months 29 days
---All taxable real estate in Manhattan in 5 months 27 days
---General Motors in 4 months 19 days
---Bank of America in 2 weeks 5 days.
---DeBeers Consolidated Diamond Mines in 13 days 21 hours
---CBS in 7 days 5 hours
--All professional football teams in the US in 4 days 1 hour
---New York Times Corp in 1 day 4 hours 11 minutes
---Tiffany's in 5 hours 49 minutes
---Velasques' Juan de Pareja (the Metropolitan Museum of Art's most expensive acquisition) in 1 hour 17 minutes.

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