{"id":9269,"date":"2021-05-03T18:08:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T18:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.kaleelah.com\/blog\/easter-in-the-middle-east\/"},"modified":"2021-05-03T18:08:43","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T18:08:43","slug":"easter-in-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.kaleelah.com\/en\/blog\/easter-in-the-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Easter in the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><p>Since Easter in Middle East 2021 was yesterday, we thought it\u2019d be fun if we shared the varied ways Christian Arabs observe their Holy Day. Thus, today we\u2019ll look at how the Middle East has celebrated the day Christ rose from the dead 2,000 years ago.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-big-holiday\"><strong>The Big Holiday<\/strong><br \/><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Christians in the Middle East call Easter \u201cthe big holiday\u201d compared to Christmas, which is a smaller celebration here. One reason it\u2019s called the big holiday is that it begins 40 days before Easter which Christians call \u201cLent\u201d. Within those 40 days, Arab Christians forego eating dairy and meat products. Also, you won\u2019t see weddings and other such festive times during Lent as its serves to remind Christians of how Christ suffered.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>A week before <em>eid al fash<\/em> (\u201cEaster\u201d in Arabic) there is Palm Sunday. This is a day when the whole family dresses their best. &nbsp;Then, as <em>ahd alshaeanin<\/em> (Palm Sunday) services start, children file into the church carrying these huge candles that have been decorated with flowers and olive branches. Incidentally, for those asking, \u201cHow do you say \u2018Happy Palm Sunday\u2019 in Arabic?\u201d it\u2019s \u201c<em>saeid alnakhil al\u2019ahad!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Families attend church services all week with the apex being Good Friday, or \u201c<em>jinazat almasih<\/em>\u201d (Good Friday in Arabic). Finally, the festivities end on Easter Sunday, usually followed by a couple days vacation.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-a-holiday-treat\"><strong>A Holiday Treat<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<p>Traditionally, families celebrate Easter by making date-filled shortbread cookies for their guests known as <em>ma\u2019amoul.<strong> <\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;Of course, they also make a few for themselves as they are the perfect treat after fasting through Lent. <em>Ma\u2019amoul<\/em> is made from the dough of wheat flour or semolina that pressed into these beautifully carved molds before baking. Usually, Christian women will spend long hours making them during Holy Week.&nbsp; In some countries, Christians will even send some to their Muslim neighbors as a gesture of good will. In return, Muslims will do the same during their holidays.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-\"><\/h2>\n<p>So, why is <em>ma\u2019amoul<\/em> so special at Easter? Well, the cookies actually represent the Easter Sunday story. You see, the outside of the cookie symbolizes Christ lying in the tomb. On the other hand, the inside is an explosion of sweetness to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus on the third day.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps you\u2019ve heard people greet each other with the traditional greeting on Easter: \u201c<em>al massih qam<\/em>\u201d (Jesus is risen from the dead). The correct response to this greeting is \u201c<em>haqqan qam<\/em>\u201d (He has truly risen). You can use that if you happen to be a Christian attending Easter service in the Arab speaking world.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kaleela.page.link\/SMART\">Kaleela \u2013 Learn Arabic the Right Way!<\/a><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since Easter in Middle East 2021 was yesterday, we thought it\u2019d be fun if we shared the varied ways Christian Arabs observe their Holy Day. Thus, today we\u2019ll look at how the Middle East has celebrated the day Christ rose from the dead 2,000 years ago. The Big Holiday Christians in the Middle East call [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[70,65],"class_list":["post-9269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-about-arabic-language","tag-arab-culture"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.0 (Yoast SEO v25.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Easter in the Middle East - Kaleela App<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Easter in the Middle East\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since Easter in Middle East 2021 was yesterday, we thought it\u2019d be fun if we shared the varied ways Christian Arabs observe their Holy Day. 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