ID :
19964
Wed, 09/17/2008 - 14:22
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/19964
The shortlink copeid
RAMADHAN IN A NINGXIA VILLAGE By Tham Choy Lin
YINCHUAN, Sept 17 (Bernama) - It was still several hours away to the breaking of fast but the three women work swiftly, two of them chopping up green vegetables while the third prepares the dough to make noodles.
By the time a handful of mostly elderly men gathered for Asar prayers, the
delicious aroma of mutton boiling in soup wafted from a huge pot inside the
spartan kitchen.
Pieces of the noodle dough were already rolled out, ready to be sliced into
strips and thrown into the bubbling pot.
Since the start of Ramadhan, the mosque in Ta Qiao village, a short drive
from Yinchuan, the capital China's Muslim-dominated Ningxia autonomous region,
prepares food for the men who come to pray and break their fast at the
mosque.
"Normally, we get about 70 to 80 people coming to pray daily but during
this month, the number increases to 100 and they break their fast here," said
Yang Yonglu, the mosque's administrator.
"There is a mix of young and old men. We get up at about 4am (for sahur -
meal before fasting) and begin fasting from 5 am to 7.25 pm," said Yang, who is
from the Hui minority, the largest Muslim community of 10 ethnic groups who are
Islam followers in China.
COMMUNITY RAMADHAN
The breaking of fast at the mosque is usually a simple fare of mutton soup
with rice and noodles.
The white and green-tiled mosque, with a green dome and flanked by a pair
of minarets bearing the crescent, dates back three hundred years to the Qing
dynasty but bears little resemblance to the period after renovations through the
years.
To the left of the door leading to the main prayer hall is a blackboard
showing the monthly income and expenditure of the mosque.
On the opposite wall, contributions for the daily Ramadhan meals are noted
on a large piece of red paper. Cash donations are recorded on the left while
other items like meat and other food are scribbled on the right.
"The living standards of the people here are getting better. More
youngsters are coming to the mosque and they are learning how to do business
from those who are successful," said Wu Zhongcheng, the "ahong" (imam) of the
mosque, after leading the Asar prayers.
"More will turn up in the evenings for tarawih (a special prayer Muslims
perform only in Ramadhan). Most of them work in flower and vegetable farms,"
added the 38-year-old who took up religious studies in a Ningxia Muslim
school.
Hui men recognisable by their custom of wearing a white skullcap, don
another six-pointed white cap to perform prayers.
MUSLIM HISTORY
Here, girls take to fasting from nine years old, earlier than boys who
begin the practice of the dawn-to-dusk abstinence from food and water as
according to the tenets of Islam, when they are 12.
Ta Qiao has 400 families and nearly half of the village's 3,400 people are
Hui who make up a 36 per cent of Ningxia's six million population.
The Hui are descendents of Persian and Arab traders who came China on the
ancient Silk Road bringing with them trade and Islam religion. Ningxia was one
of their favoured stopovers.
SIMPLE CELEBRATION
Yang's wife, Jin Cuiying, said while the men go to the mosque, the women of
the village prepared food at home for the rest of the family.
"We make the usual dishes, nothing special, but for the celebrations, we
will get some new clothes," said Jin referring to what is known locally as "Kai
Cai Jie" literally meaning Breaking of Fast Festival, or Aidilfitri to
Malaysians.
Fried dough cakes like "youbin" and "youxiang" are served to visitors
during the festival.
From under a bed, Jin pulled out a plastic crate and took out a pair of
Chinese tea bowls with Arabic inscriptions which are used to serve tea to
guests.
The porcelain sets that come with covers for brewing the tea have long been
used by Muslim communities in China, unchanged in shape through time.
Historical relics of such porcelain have been unearthed and are displayed
at the museum of the Chinese Hui Cultural Park opened two years ago in
Yinchuan.
By the time a handful of mostly elderly men gathered for Asar prayers, the
delicious aroma of mutton boiling in soup wafted from a huge pot inside the
spartan kitchen.
Pieces of the noodle dough were already rolled out, ready to be sliced into
strips and thrown into the bubbling pot.
Since the start of Ramadhan, the mosque in Ta Qiao village, a short drive
from Yinchuan, the capital China's Muslim-dominated Ningxia autonomous region,
prepares food for the men who come to pray and break their fast at the
mosque.
"Normally, we get about 70 to 80 people coming to pray daily but during
this month, the number increases to 100 and they break their fast here," said
Yang Yonglu, the mosque's administrator.
"There is a mix of young and old men. We get up at about 4am (for sahur -
meal before fasting) and begin fasting from 5 am to 7.25 pm," said Yang, who is
from the Hui minority, the largest Muslim community of 10 ethnic groups who are
Islam followers in China.
COMMUNITY RAMADHAN
The breaking of fast at the mosque is usually a simple fare of mutton soup
with rice and noodles.
The white and green-tiled mosque, with a green dome and flanked by a pair
of minarets bearing the crescent, dates back three hundred years to the Qing
dynasty but bears little resemblance to the period after renovations through the
years.
To the left of the door leading to the main prayer hall is a blackboard
showing the monthly income and expenditure of the mosque.
On the opposite wall, contributions for the daily Ramadhan meals are noted
on a large piece of red paper. Cash donations are recorded on the left while
other items like meat and other food are scribbled on the right.
"The living standards of the people here are getting better. More
youngsters are coming to the mosque and they are learning how to do business
from those who are successful," said Wu Zhongcheng, the "ahong" (imam) of the
mosque, after leading the Asar prayers.
"More will turn up in the evenings for tarawih (a special prayer Muslims
perform only in Ramadhan). Most of them work in flower and vegetable farms,"
added the 38-year-old who took up religious studies in a Ningxia Muslim
school.
Hui men recognisable by their custom of wearing a white skullcap, don
another six-pointed white cap to perform prayers.
MUSLIM HISTORY
Here, girls take to fasting from nine years old, earlier than boys who
begin the practice of the dawn-to-dusk abstinence from food and water as
according to the tenets of Islam, when they are 12.
Ta Qiao has 400 families and nearly half of the village's 3,400 people are
Hui who make up a 36 per cent of Ningxia's six million population.
The Hui are descendents of Persian and Arab traders who came China on the
ancient Silk Road bringing with them trade and Islam religion. Ningxia was one
of their favoured stopovers.
SIMPLE CELEBRATION
Yang's wife, Jin Cuiying, said while the men go to the mosque, the women of
the village prepared food at home for the rest of the family.
"We make the usual dishes, nothing special, but for the celebrations, we
will get some new clothes," said Jin referring to what is known locally as "Kai
Cai Jie" literally meaning Breaking of Fast Festival, or Aidilfitri to
Malaysians.
Fried dough cakes like "youbin" and "youxiang" are served to visitors
during the festival.
From under a bed, Jin pulled out a plastic crate and took out a pair of
Chinese tea bowls with Arabic inscriptions which are used to serve tea to
guests.
The porcelain sets that come with covers for brewing the tea have long been
used by Muslim communities in China, unchanged in shape through time.
Historical relics of such porcelain have been unearthed and are displayed
at the museum of the Chinese Hui Cultural Park opened two years ago in
Yinchuan.
