Job Discussion Forums

[trapezius]

[Stephen Jones]

[Junaid]

Prior to my first post there were only three others. I specifically replied to John's statement: 'I thought Ramadan WAS the silly month', which he later clarified by saying: 'It's not at all the month I meant to call silly but rather the way it is observed by far too many Muslims in Saudi Arabia'

This distinction hadn't been made previously. So my response was solely in demurral to calling the religious month silly not the way it's observed by some Muslims. And as it appears that you're also referring to the latter and not the theological idea of the holy month itself, let's just put this one down to a misunderstanding.

So, on to the next exciting contretemps...

[johnslat]

Dear Junaid.
I'm sorry to have been the cause of your misunderstanding. It's hard for me to see, though, why you would think I would call a month itself "silly." I mean, why would any thirty, thirty one or twenty-eight days (twenty-nine on leap years) be silly in and of themselves?
And I thought the rest of my original post:

" . . . day becomes night, night becomes day, and if you're actually trying to teach classes during the fasting month, well, lots of luck."

would have made clear that it was not the month itself but rather the behavior of some Muslims (so contrary to the real meaning and intent of Ramadan) that I was referring to.

Regards,
John
P.S. Like veiledsentiments, I have the same feelings about the "Christmas season." It, too, has become for so many a travesty that completely disregards and degrades the original intent.

[a_ibrahim]

I truly found it next to impossible to teach last year during Ramadan. Students are hungry and exhausted during the month because they are up so late at night. Even with shortened classes and starting later it was difficult. That's why I'm happy that classes begin after Ramadan this year.

[Sheikh N Bake]

You should see the tempers flare in the electricty-bill-payment line during Ramadan at Ras al Khaimah (you can't pay online there). It's really quite comic. Or at least it was when they had that old office straight out of Lawrence of Arabia. Some local guy would be gesticulating and screaming bloody murder because there was just one inefficient clerk using one unreliable computer...and just when you thought your line might be advancing, some woman would amble up to the head of the line with 50 or 75 bills to pay. Maybe the lines move faster in the new facility.