By Brigitte Gisel
Stars are being put up in some households these days. Decorative crescent moons also suddenly appear on bookshelves, and some are even illuminated at night. Window garlands with oriental motifs in some homes also show the outside world that a special time has begun. In recent years, more and more Muslims in Germany have started decorating their homes for Ramadan. “It’s a new trend,” says tuenews employee Lobna Alhindi. For around ten years, she has been observing a trend in which some families want to create an atmosphere for their children that is similar to what other children experience at Christmas. “But my children aren’t interested in decorations, they’re interested in the Christmas tree,” says the mother of three with a laugh.
But Ramadan also plays a visual role in her family. “My 14-year-old son was very happy about the Ramadan calendar,” says Alhindi. Similar to the Advent calendar, the children can open a door every day: 30 days are planned. “But this year, Ramadan only lasts 29 days,” says the native Palestinian, who lived in Syria before the war. Every day there is a little something: cookies, sweets or a picture to color. Alhindi is pleased that she was able to buy the calendar as normal in the local supermarket. And about the print on the back: 100 percent halal. This means that even sweets with gelatine comply with Muslim dietary regulations and do not contain any ingredients from pigs. Son gets sweets from the Ramadan calendar after breaking his fast in the evening. His younger siblings, who are not yet fasting consistently, are also allowed to have some when they come home from school.
Lobna Alhindi herself is ambivalent about the commercialization of Ramadan. On the one hand, she is happy when the special time for Muslims is also visually recognizable. Ramadan decorations can be bought in special stores, but also on the Internet. On the other hand, she doesn’t think it’s a good idea to spend money on them. “I think it’s better to give the money to poor people.” But what she wants to do again this year is bake traditional Ramadan cookies.
Even though she and her family observe the Ramadan rituals, she misses the special atmosphere associated with them in Germany. “In Syria, we went to visit relatives after morning prayers,” she says. In the evening, we would eat together with grandma and grandpa and then visit friends. People invite each other to break their fast there. And the mosque is always close by. There is a special feature there too: after the fifth prayer of the day, a special prayer called Tarawih is said during Ramadan.
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