Word: ramadan
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Bourguiba, 70, was educated in French schools and has tried to modernize Tunisia by welcoming Western investors. As long ago as 1965, he called for recognition of Israel. He abrogated many strict Islamic laws, banning polygamy and urging his people to ignore the dawn-to-dusk fast during the Ramadan holy month, in order to work better...
...Ramadan, Islam's holy month, ended last week with Id al-Fitr (Feast of the Fast-Breaking). As the new moon rose over the horizon, Arab families sat down to traditionally sumptuous meals of lamb, rice, mahshi and sharab (eggplant and yogurt), sticky sweets and fruits. The celebrations, dulled by the uncertainties in the Middle East, were unusually subdued among the 1,000,000 Arabs who live on the Israeli-occupied western bank and the Gaza Strip...
Last week Sadat was directing the fighting from an office at army headquarters on the edge of Cairo, where he is residing for the duration of the war. A devout Moslem who has made the hadj (pilgrimage) to the holy places of Mecca, Sadat observed the strict Ramadan fast. Most days he napped from 4 until 6 in the afternoon, then worked late into the night holding operations meetings with his staff. He has a reputation for listening closely to his generals and of deferring to their expertise; but he makes the decisions himself...
...Cairenes seem affected mostly by what the war has done to their observance of Ramadan-the holy month of Islam during which devout Moslems abstain totally from food, drink and tobacco from sunrise to sunset. From Cairo, TIME Correspondent Wilton Wynn reports that "normally, Ramadan nights are more lively than the days. The Cairene's habit is to have an enormous 'lunch' at about 2 a.m. and go out on the town celebrating. But now, because of the war, restaurants shut at 11 p.m., as do most cabarets...
Besides dampening the nightly revelry of Ramadan, the war has affected Cairo in other ways. Street life comes to a halt during the infrequent alerts, as the people duck into air-raid shelters. Thanks to the war, Cairenes are paying more for food and for bus and train fares, driving their cars less because of gasoline rationing, and eating less meat. With the opening of Cairo's universities delayed, many of the 130,000 students have entered the army or the civil defense force. Crowds form in front of the military hospital on Roda Island in the Nile River...