‘Make it to 30 and I’ll pay for your meal’, chuckled Sifat as he slid his backpack over his shoulders.
‘That’s just way too much, dude. How about 25? I did a 20 last time.’ Jaber replied. He took out the pizza place’s pamphlet out of his book on Electric Circuits, musing over the lucrative offers.
‘Maruf, hey.’ He stopped his friend, waving the pamphlet on his face. ‘Sif and I are going to Pizza Mania. They’ve got this Ramadan ‘eat as much as you like’ offer going again. You coming along, right?’
‘Na, man. You guys go ahead.’ Sighed Maruf, commonly known as the ‘smartie’ in their class for his quick wit. ‘Mom’s got some relatives coming over for Iftar today. I have to do host duty.’
‘That sucks big time. They even have that sausage filling crust this time.’ Sifat smacked his lips in anticipation of the forthcoming meal and winked at him. “Also, a little bird tells me Sheila from our Analog Devices course is going to be there as well. Try and wiggle out of it, the host duty thing.’
*******
‘Erm, I don’t know.’ Lamia cast her eyes down, clearly uncomfortable. ‘I mean, I am fasting- but I don’t think this whole eat out together is a great idea.’
Deena secured the last pin on her scarf. They were sitting in their college prayer room, discussing a proposed iftar event.
‘Listen, it’s not an iftar ‘party’. Not one of those chaotic food wasting festive sessions, I promise.’ Deena insisted. ‘We have a lot to know about fasting, why we do it, the right ways of doing it, the merits and rewards of fasting.
Sadia and I thought it would be wonderful to have an all-female get together for this Friday’s Iftar so that we can benefit from some enlightening discussion before and after. And the restaurant is arranging a special prayer room for us as well.
We’ll have the whole second floor to ourselves.’ ‘But I don’t think mom would be cool with that. You know, she thinks wearing hijab and attending such lectures are detrimental for young girls.’ Lamia admitted awkwardly to her friend.
Deena pushed away the momentary hurt she felt. ‘You know what?’ She gave a broad smile, her hijab clad face beaming. ‘Bring her as well. I’m sure she would love it. There would be aunties of her age. Well, we all have lots to learn!’
******
‘Mom, I don’t want to break my fast! It’s the same food everyday!’ Rakib whined. ‘I’ll be fasting forever!’ ‘Hey, that’s not true. We had a completely different menu yesterday.’
Samia replied while carefully placing the steaming casserole dish on the table. ‘Yes, it’s the same, same, same food! The meat tastes the same as the pudding.’ Samia’s eight year old son continued complaining. ‘Why do we never eat out?’
‘Well,’ Samia drew out a long breath and sat down beside him. ‘Because none of the restaurants around have a place for your mom to pray in. You do remember the last time we went out for Iftar and mommy had to pray in that dark store room?’
‘Can I go with dad then? We’ll bring food for you. You and Maimuna can wait for a while and have iftar, can’t you? Mom? Mom?!’
*****
So, clearly, eating out during Ramadan has more than one side to it. More often than not, these eat outs serve as means to load our starving stomachs to the brim, overshadowing the core objectives of fasting in the first place. Sadly enough, whenever I have indulged in iftar eat outs in restaurants and food shops in Bangladesh, I have been met with the demeaning challenge of praying in the filthy store room or the utensil crammed kitchen of the respective place and sometimes even in the children play zone with Mickey smiling eerily at me and Winnie the Pooh monitoring my prayer. During the times I was fortunate, I was ushered into an office room and handed a prayer mat.
Fortunately a clean one!
It has always amazed me as to why no arrangements for females to pray have been made when evidently about half of the guests are women. Alhamdulillah the men can leave their half-finished food and sprint to the closest mosques, and there are plenty around! I guess it won’t be wrong to assume that for females, great eat outs and a comfortable praying place don’t go hand in hand, Ramadan or no Ramadan.
Being a dedicated foodie, I must admit that during Ramadan, as the clock ticks by and the stomach growls like the lion king himself, a vivid visualization of the cheesiest pizza, or the juiciest chicken wings, or the nawabi biriyani can cause a short circuit to the brain. However, there are certain etiquettes related to fasting, and while eating out those are typically condoned by humans. A shocking amount of food is usually squandered because our eyes are hungrier than our tummies. While the Maghrib adhaan calls out, we witness people breaking their fasts by slurping down unlimited soda, eating noisily and attacking their food ravenously, dropping bits here and there and throwing away the excess amount.
“And eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allah) likes not Al Musrifoon (those who waste by extravagance).” [Qur’an 7:31]
While squandering should be significantly discouraged, I am a strong enthusiast for occasional eat outs in Ramadan for a number of reasons. Admit it- we need to give our ladies a break. She should not always be scurrying about in the kitchen heat because the rest of the family members would like to have their desired dishes ready on the table after the ‘tiring’ fast. Eat outs with relatives, friends and acquaintances that allow proper segregation and praying facilities can turn out to be a lot of fun too, especially for the women and the children.
When the gathering is for bonding with others and exchanging useful knowledge with each other, we can surely expect immense barakah in it. Even more so, it can serve as stimulus for our children to find attachment with the Islamic customs and commitments that they are to love with passion, rather than just oblige dutifully.
An important point to mention here, an endorser of occasional Ramadan eat outs, that I am. But I would fervently shake my head to eat out selfies. Ramadan is a sacred time, a time for making and getting our duas accepted, a time of eating and giving, of sharing and exchanging, of laughing and loving. Food selfies with people’s tongues wagging out and peculiar faces, they don’t exactly give off the greatest of Ramadan vibes! Save your Ramadan eat outs from duck faces this time, it might be greater for your soul cleansing to refrain from doing so.
May this Ramadan be the best one yet and may we reap the benefits whether in our homes or at the restaurants, Ameen.
