{"id":9813,"date":"2011-08-01T11:59:50","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T07:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=9813"},"modified":"2012-06-26T09:28:10","modified_gmt":"2012-06-26T05:28:10","slug":"iftar-a-brief-etiquette-guide-for-non-muslims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/middle-east-society\/iftar-a-brief-etiquette-guide-for-non-muslims\/","title":{"rendered":"Iftar: A Brief Etiquette Guide for non-Muslims"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>During the month of Ramadan iftar\u2019s (breaking of the fast) become a special time.\u00a0 Iftar\u2019s can be shared events with family and close friends, even if some of the friends may not be Muslim.\u00a0 It is an honor for a Muslim to share the rites of Ramadan.<\/p>\n

If a Non-Muslim is invited to an iftar there are some rules of etiquette and protocol that must be followed.\u00a0 The most important is to not only arrive ON TIME but perhaps five to ten minutes early.\u00a0 Remember, the hosts have been fasting all day and are not going to hold up an iftar for a late arrival.<\/p>\n

The breaking of the fast will generally begin with dates, Arabic coffee and water.\u00a0 The dates provide instant energy and help take the edge off of the hunger that one feels after fasting all day.\u00a0 Depending on the customs of the family, this initial breaking of the fast may take place with everyone sitting on a carpet on the floor or it could be at a table or seated in a salon.\u00a0 Breaking the fast sitting on the floor together does give one the traditional feeling of Ramadan from many years past and in my opinion provides a special closeness among participants.<\/p>\n

Some families after breaking the initial fast will then go and pray.\u00a0 A non-Muslim may simply wait and relax while everyone prays.\u00a0 If a Muslim woman does not join the family to pray nothing should be said or commented about that.\u00a0 She is likely having her monthly menses and women do not pray during that time.<\/p>\n

After prayer or in some cases directly from the initial breaking of the fast the group will shift to the dining room where food will be served.\u00a0 Many families like to start their dinner with a lentil or wheat based soup accompanied with sambosas.\u00a0 The soup is light, appetizing and very tasty.\u00a0 Families are careful not to partake of heavy food too soon after breaking the fast.\u00a0 Once the soup has been finished then there will likely be a variety of dishes, some traditional such as jereesh or garcon and some more Western like fish and chips.\u00a0 The meal will generally end with a variety of fresh fruits offered but do not think that is the end of the iftar.<\/p>\n

Many families after having some fresh fruit will retire to their salons and have traditional Saudi tea.\u00a0 Once several glasses of tea have been consumed, desserts are usually offered.\u00a0 During Ramadan it is common to have a variety of sweet desserts rich in honey or cheeses.\u00a0 By the time the desserts have been consumed with another glass of tea it is generally time for the evening prayer.\u00a0 At this point the iftar dinner can be considered over and a guest may make his or her departure.<\/p>\n

Last of all, an iftar, as with any invitation to a home, it is typical for the guest to bring a gift.\u00a0 During iftar it is nice for the guest to bring a dessert that can be shared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AMERICAN BEDU: It is an honor to be invited to share the rites of Ramadan with your Muslim friends but it’s important to observe a few points of protocol. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":9814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,37,173,482,73,10,5],"tags":[18278,711,91,707],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}