‘Sweet Blessings’ and moon sightings in Pakistan
Posted: Monday, September 21, 2009 11:36 AM
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Islamabad, Pakistan
By Amna Nawaz, NBC News Producer
LAHORE, Pakistan – Religious piety isn’t something you normally associate with McDonald’s. But during the holy month of Ramadan, everybody gets into the game.
For one month every year, Muslims around the world fast from dawn-to-dusk during the ninth month on the Muslim lunar calendar. Every day, from sun up to sun down, millions aim to practice restraint by abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking and indulging in anything in excess.
It’s meant to be a time of reflection, modesty, and spirituality, but the mass-market appeal is hard for retailers to ignore.
McDonald’s pushes a dessert deal called "Sweet Blessings." Pizza Hut offers a "Ramadan Special" all-you-can-eat buffet after sundown. Even Dunkin Donuts has a "Ramadan Feast" meal package on its menu.
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| McDonalds's |
| McDonald’s advertises a special dessert deal during the holy month of Ramadan called “Sweet Blessings” as a treat for people breaking their daily fast. |
According to Pakistani writer and blogger Asif Akhtar, corporate marketing teams across all industries latch on to this idea during Ramadan.
"Cell phone companies have Ramadan packages where you can call a certain number and get Quranic verses sent to your phone," said Akhtar. "Radio stations, instead of playing more hip and happening party songs, they start playing more religiously oriented music."
The pressure to adhere to religious practice can be intense. Even those not fasting feel they must at least pretend to fast in public, so as not to incur the wrath of others. One young man in the capital city of Islamabad said that despite the fact that he’s unsure of his faith, and therefore chooses not to fast, he keeps up appearances in public because it’s easier than the alternative.
"Chewing gum in public will get you some dirty looks," he said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject. "Drinking water in public may lead someone to say something disapproving or nasty to you. And eating in public? Forget it."
Moon sighting
The month of fasting finally ends with the sighting of the new moon and three days of celebration called Eid al-Fitr, but even that can be a source of tension here. The science behind officially "seeing" a new moon is shaky, and the process relies on a special council of clerics and mullahs known as the Ruet-e-Hilal, a quasi-government group whose sole responsibility is sighting the moon.
On the expected last day of Ramadan, the council meets. News cameras and reporters with notebooks at the ready turn out to cover the event. The clerics’ lay out their cell phones across the table. Official "witnesses" from around the country call in to report whether they’ve seen the new moon or not. A representative positions himself with a telescope on a rooftop. Another takes his search to the skies in a helicopter.
Yet despite all these efforts, a faint sliver of light in a sky is a tough thing to see – leading some Muslim countries to celebrate Eid on one day, while others celebrate it another.
Even within a country, there can be disagreement. The semi-autonomous Northwest Frontier Province in Pakistan makes its own moon-sighting decision, which this year led to a public rumble among the clerics played out in the papers. One cleric "rejected" the Frontier Province’s decision. Another called the decision "shocking." The move by Frontier leaders to celebrate Eid early was seen by some to be as much about politics as it was about religion.
But as of Sunday night, the new moon was officially sighted. So that means the end of fasting, the end of pressure to prove your religious conviction, the end of public battles over the moon – and instead three days of celebration.
Amna Nawaz is an NBC News Producer reporting from Pakistan on a grant from the International Reporting Project (IRP).
