Hyderabad: With the change of time, the traditions and customs are also changing.
The city of Hyderabad has now become a city of changing customs and traditions as with every passing day the old values are being replaced by the new trend.
For many years, the old city of Hyderabad had a tradition of drawing curtains or screens during the holy month of Ramadan. Curtains or screens were put on the hotels to respect the fasting people and to prevent non-fasting people from eating and drinking openly. This culture has changed now.
No hotel in the old city is now screened during Ramadan and non-fasting people eat and drink openly in these hotels even in the afternoon hours.
The elders of the old city of Hyderabad said that since the time of Nizam of Hyderabad, curtains were put up in the hotels and people used to avoid eating and drinking openly in the hotels during this month to respect the fasting people. But with the changing times, people’s thinking has changed and so have the traditions.
The number of hotels in the old city has increased in recent years. When these hotel owners were asked about this tradition, they were surprised because there are many hotels whose owners who are completely unaware of this tradition.
Some say that nowadays no customer likes to put up curtains in the hotel during Ramadan. During the day time in the month of fasting, these hotels offer food and drinks openly.
The tradition is no longer followed in old hotels as well. Hotel owners expressed their helplessness saying that they are constrained by the changing values.
In this regard, Maulana Anwar Ahmad Naib Sheikh Al-Tafseer Jamia Nizamiya told UNI that in the earlier period, curtains were placed in hotels for travelers, patients and non-fasting customers so that Ramadan and especially fasting people would not be disrespected. This is not happening with changing times and values.
He said that during the reign of Sultanate of Asafia, when Maulana Anwarullah Farooqi, the founder of Jamia Nizamiya, was made the Minister of Religious Affairs, he issued a circular on behalf of Sultanate of Asafia directing hotels to put up screen.
After the start of Ramadan, although mosques are seeing crowds of worshipers, there is still no special attention being paid to respect Ramadan in hotels during the day time.
In the commercial areas of the old city, hotels are still doing business without screens during Ramadan and the practice of curtaining hotels in respect of Ramadan has become a thing of the past, soon this practice of our ancient civilization will become a relishing memory of the past.
