In the narrow alleys of Shawaka neighbourhood on the banks of the Tigris river in central Baghdad, Sadiq Mohammed took it upon himself to be the suhoor drummer in his area, after his predecessor was killed by a car bombing in 2011.
"The neighbourhood needs a drummer to keep the tradition alive," he told The National.
Mr Mohammed, 33, who is enlisted in the government forces, takes a month off from his job so he can be his neighbourhood musaharati during the holy month.
"It is a responsibility, most of the people in our neighbourhood are elderly, and through my suhoor recitations, they know that Ramadan is about to come to an end," Sadiq told The National.
With his young son accompanying Mr Mohammed and his friend, he calls out "It's suhoor time, may Allah have mercy on you, it's suhoor time", a phrase people have grown accustomed to hearing for years, every Ramadan.
"Nothing has changed in what we say or what we do, we have been doing this since the days of my grandfather."
Mr Mohammed finds joy in the simplest of gestures, as his neighbours greet him on the street and children excitedly plead to take a swing at his drum and assist in waking up the street for their pre-dawn meal.
it is also an opportunity for Mr Mohammed to grab a bite before the dawn prayers, because people usually greet him with a drink or food, a common practice in working-class neighbourhoods he said, as he continued his rounds right up to the break of dawn.
As the holy month draws to a close, Mr Mohammed will adjust his call to bid farewell to the last day of Ramadan, as a reminder to the elderly that Eid is around the corner and the fasting days are over.
Even with the restrictions of the pandemic and the lockdowns, Shawka's alleys are still full of life. The people do not leave the area much.
"This is not the first lockdown, and it won't be the last. The neighbourhood never cared about such a thing," he said.
In many areas, people do it for the money. But Mr Mohammed's dedication to being a musaharati every year stems from his desire to keep this tradition going for his old neighbourhood and for generations to come.
"I wish, when my sons grow older, that they take on this tradition and keep it alive."
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: Barack Beach, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Way Of Wisdom, Connor Beasley, Satish Seemar.
7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Woodditton, Connor Beasley, Ahmad bin Harmash.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Secret Trade, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.50pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Mark Of Approval, Antonio Fresu, Mahmood Hussain.
9.25pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Tradesman, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
INDIA SQUADS
India squad for third Test against Sri Lanka
Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar
India squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul
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Favourite book: What I know for sure by Oprah Winfrey
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Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
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6pm: Dubai Trophy – Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner: Silent Speech, William Buick (jockey), Charlie Appleby
(trainer)
6.35pm: Jumeirah Derby Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (T)
1,800m
Winner: Island Falcon, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
7.10pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Dirt)
1,400m
Winner: Rawy, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
7.45pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
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8.55pm: Dubawi Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Al Tariq, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watsons
9.30pm: Aliyah – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Dubai Icon, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor
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Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
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