Ramadhan in Kashmir

M Aamir Khan in Budgam

THE time to break almost a month-long fast (iftar, beginning May 28) is getting near. Scarf-clad young girls are reciting verses of the Holy Quran at a dimly lit room of an orphanage in Srinagar outskirts. Food preparations are underway at the nearby big kitchen-cum-dining room where 120 students of the all-girls ‘Gulshan-e-Banat’ (garden of daughters) orphanage gather for iftar.

The evening is special for the underprivileged girls because they are being served wazwan — a special multi-course meal cooked by chefs for marriages or special occasions. The feast is served once a year every Ramadhan (Ramzan or Ramadan in various parts of the world), says Tariq Ahmad, a manager of the orphanage located at Gopalpora in Budgam district.

He says an occasional feast like this, and the education of these girls is possible only because of the huge donations received during the fasting month. Paying zakat is among the five fundamentals of Islam just like observing fasts in Ramadhan.

Considered a month of high spirituality, the devout Muslims of Kashmir do not just throng the mosques five times a day during Ramadhan, but also pay huge zakat. “The whole work is being performed on the basis of public donations. We utilize the donation for charity works. None of our trustee and ‘nazims’, members and volunteers demand, receive or accept any remunerations from the trust,” says ZA Tak, patron of the J&K Yateem Trust that runs 11 orphanages across Kashmir, including the one at Gopalpora.

There are many other organizations functioning in the Valley that run on public donations mostly collected during the fasting month.

“We receive donations on other occasions as well, but maximum is received during Ramadhan. It is thanks to generous donations that eight girls from Gulshan-e-Banat are now pursuing engineering in Rajasthan,” says Tariq.

The scene at another orphanage at Bemina in Srinagar city before ‘iftar’ is serene too. Young boys are being served dates, babri-beoul (drink made of basil seeds) and firni. After iftar, the boys offer ‘Maghrib prayers’. A young boy leads the congregational dusk-time prayer and adults present at the orphanage too join behind.

The children at the orphanages are being looked after. Most of them have only mothers, with no financial means. The trusts admit students as per their financial strengths. There are many more still living in poverty and have not yet found a home.