- Title: RELIGION-RAMADAN/IRAQ-RAMADAN NIGHTS Ramadan nights bring joy for Erbil residents
- Date: 14th July 2015
- Summary: GROUP OF PRAYERS SITTING ON GROUND PLAYING AND DANCING TO TUNES OF MUSIC PLAYER OPENING CUP TO SEE IF DICE HIDDEN BENEATH CLOSE UP OF TRAY AND PLAYER TURNING CUP UPSIDE TO FIND DICE
- Embargoed: 29th July 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAD8P5FM18U1LASCIHVR5DEY3SU
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The holy month of Ramadan is often a time for prayers and reflection. But it's also a month where people come together to socialise and enjoy the company of others.
In Iraq's northern Kurdish region, residents in Erbil are spending their Ramadan nights outdoors playing traditional boardgames.
Every night after breaking their fast, the men congregate in groups of opposing teams to look for a dice hidden beneath eleven cups on a tray. The atmosphere is jubilant -- filled with music and laughter -- and continues into the early hours of the morning.
The game they're playing is Siniya wa Dharuf -- Kurdish for 'Tray and Cups' - it's the Kurdish version of the popular Iraqi Arab traditional game Mhaibis (Arabic: the ring).
"This game is called Siniya and it is played with 11 cups. In Baghdad and the south a similar game by hiding the Mhaibis (the ring) in one of the hands of the members of the team and the other team tries to find it, but here we use a tray with 11 cups to hide a dice. If the player turns nine cups and the dice is not found, then he wins and it will be his turn to hide the dice and if he fails to find the dice a score will be given to the opposite team. The team, which collects 110 points, is the winner. This game is usually played during Ramadan, but I also play it with my friend on Thursdays and Fridays," said Haj Falah.
Governor of Erbil, Nozad Mohammed Hadi, said the games offer a distraction for many of the people living in the area, now home to a growing population of internally displaced people.
"There are tens of thousands of displaced people here and they enjoy and take part in the special evenings of Ramadan despite their ordeal and suffering they lived in their areas. By providing help and support to others we help make Kurdistan government and people more secure," Hadi said.
The playing of these games has become a Ramadan tradition in both Arab and Kurdish regions.
Siniya wa Dharuf pits two teams of four to six players against each other in search of a dice that could be under any of the eleven cups placed face down on a tray.
In one version of the game, fifty men organised in two opposing teams take turns to hide a golden or silver ring in their clenched fists. When the ring is hidden by one group, a ring-finder is elected from the opposing team.
The opponents score points at the expense of each other whenever a ring isn't found.
In both the Arab and Kurdish versions, winners are rewarded with popular sweet desserts, usually Zalabiyah and Baklava, but traditionally they share their prize with the losers.
For those taking part in the activities here, security and stability is one of the main factors that enables them to soak up and enjoy the Ramadan atmosphere.
"Security and safety in Kurdistan are achieved by the peshmerga with the help of the Almighty God. If it were not for the peshmerga, we would not have been able to sit here and enjoy. Despite the burdens felt by people because of the financial crisis and fighting with Islamic State, people are keen to go out and practice heritage games to preserve them. Besides people of Erbil we have here people from Kirkuk and others from the central and southern parts of Iraq and also the displaced who have come here to spend good times by watching these traditional games,'' said Kurdish Man, Sayyid Fakhruddin.
"Different people come to this café including people of Erbil and displaced Arab people. We offer them good services and in return we get financial benefits. They are enjoying their times. Each evening of Ramadan, people gather here after fast-breaking time until pre-dawn meal,'' added one of the cafe owners Kak Zuhair.
Baghdad lost control of nearly a third of the country to Islamic State last summer, allowing the Kurds to expand their territory in the north unopposed, while doubts about the future of Iraq as a unified state have strengthened their case for independence.
Having held their ground against Islamic State, the peshmerga have emerged as the most reliable partner on the ground in Iraq for the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, earning military support and raising the Kurds' profile abroad.
The Kurdish region, autonomous from Baghdad since U.S. intervention after the 1991 Gulf War, has experienced little of the violence that has plagued the rest of Iraq since Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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