Dominic Asquith

Ramadhan Kareem and 'Eid Mubarak

Though I am not a Muslim, I have been struck by how included I and my family have been made to feel during Ramadhan.  We have been absorbed into families or welcomed into broader communities. Whether it has been the three iftars at my house or the many I have been invited to, each occasion has been full of humour. My worst mistake was to offer turshi to one of my guests without letting her first quench her thirst with some water.  She was generous enough to laugh, not criticise.  

Beneath the humour, however, I have noted during the iftars something deeper. It is as if people are more relaxed and more forgiving and therefore, perhaps unconsciously, are better able to communicate.  I have had some of the most honest and open conversations over these past weeks.   

This week we had in our garden about 120 former graduates of British universities.  These are people who had the courage to leave the comfort of their familiar surroundings and venture into the unknown abroad.  I know how unsettling it is because one of my daughters has just done the same.  They have also had the sense of responsibility to come back to Egypt and give back to their own society some of their experience.  They are more than bridges between cultures.  Bridges are static, while these people are very active.  Like traders and explorers of the past, they help shape perceptions of one community about the other.  

At the end of this month, some of these former graduates who have, over the past 25 years, won Chevening scholarships will once again team up with us at the Embassy and with researchers from Chatham House, possibly our most prestigious think tank.  Over two days, we will discuss topics that affect both Europe and the southern Mediterranean.  We won't change the world, but I do hope that each one of us, having had the time to think and exchange views about important subjects, will affect in some way for the good the people around us.   

I certainly feel that my experience of meeting people over Ramadhan has affected me for the better,  for which I thank all those with whom I came into contact.

I take this opportunity to wish you blessings, happiness and peace over this 'eid.  

Posted at 12:13 16 September 2009 by Dominic Asquith  |  Comments[1]