The Night of Power

18 October 2006

Tonight is laylatu l-qadr, which means the Night of Power. It is said that on this night, the Koran was sent down and revealed to the Prophet. From sundown to daybreak, the imam (the prayer leader) reads the Koran and I definitely can hear him right now at one a.m. Tonight everyone stays awake praying because it is believed that their wishes will ascend directly to Allah and be granted. I think it’s kind of cool. I’m not sure if everyone in my family will stay awake the entire night, but I do know my host dad is at the mosque. I plan on going to bed as soon as I finish typing this. Some of us have Darija class in the morning!

Next week is the end of Ramadan and the big festival called l-عid. On the last day of Ramadan everyone will stay up very late until they hear the announcement that the new moon has been sighted and Ramadan and fasting are over. As soon as people see the moon, they start celebrating…..for three days. I’m not entirely sure what will happen, but I’ll bet there will be tons of food.

My four-year-old host brother Walid said something really cute the other day. When I went to Fez he asked his mom if they could start eating again during the day. Because the first day I came to stay with the family was also the first day of Ramadan, he thought I had brought the fasting to his town! He said he was tired of fasting and asked if I could stay at the neighbors so they could fast for a while instead.