Al-Ahram Weekly | Living | Break the habit

Al-Ahram Weekly | Living | Break the habit
At the height of Ramadan, Nashwa Abdel-Tawab discusses with Egyptian youth new spiritual and social habits

“I’m going to pray taraweeh [night prayers] at the mosque this year and do i’tikaf [stay at mosque] in the last 10 days.”
“Great, I’d like to join but can we do something practical as well?”
“We can help in packing Ramadan bags and cooking food to distribute among the poor.”
“Wow. Let’s tell our friends to join us.”

This fictional yet no less representative conversation between two Egyptian youth acts as an indicator of the attitude of rewesh, or cool youngsters today towards Ramadan. The choice of topic makes a positive change from young Egyptians’ more habitual concerns, which range from love, music and jokes to the latest movies, drugs, smoking and ringtones.

Neither over-serious nor decidedly playful, the majority of young people today are overcoming numerous obstacles in order to fulfil promises they have made to themselves and which they intend to honour this Ramadan.

That is not to say, however, that young Egyptians are en masse espousing tradition. Their religious discourse, for one, breaks from the religious moulds their elders know. For young people it’s not about memorising the Quran and hadith while seeking spiritual learning close to home, but rather about espousing an entirely new discourse, one which is very often transmitted via satellite television. Among the shows that have grown hugely popular among young Egyptians is that of young preacher Mustafa Hosni, who via TV and Internet uses cartoons, among other things, to reach out to Muslim youth.