Badea Abu Al-Naja

Saudi Gazette

MAKKAH — The residents of the holy city have made it a habit to have foul (beans) and tamis (round brownish bread) on their iftar (breaking of the day-long fast) table during the entire month of Ramadan.



Makkawis are keen to go early to foul and tamis restaurants to obtain the quantities they need. Most of the time, they start their quest for foul  (pronounced “fool”) and tamis immediately after Asr prayer. Though this may be about three hours before iftar time, it will save them the hassle of quarreling with salesmen and buyers in the queues.



Makkawis realize that most of those fasting are usually hot-tempered in the very few hours before iftar. They are easily irritated and ready to enter into a round of verbal insults or even physical fights.



Saudi Gazette conducted a tour of the foul and tamis restaurants, only to find that they were more fights than expected.



The tour started at Uncle Qaid's, the oldest restaurant in Makkah. It was overcrowded with customers and Uncle Qaid was busy selling his foul and tamis. For him, this is a season for making some money that may enable him to live comfortably for the rest of the year.



Half an hour before iftar time, a young man broke the line and came to Uncle Qaid, who is an old man in his 60s. He asked him for six plastic cans of foul, the price of each was SR2. The old man looked him right in the face and asked him to go back to his place in the line. He told him that there were people who were standing for a long time in the queue and they had to be served first.



The irritated customer was not happy with the logic of the owner. He threatened to hit him if he was not served first. Uncle Qaid was not ready to lose other customers for the sake of one. He stood fast in his refusal to serve the angry customer who did not respect the line.



The customer grabbed a large steel ladle and hit Uncle Qaid on the head. The old man staggered, but was saved by some of his customers before he fell down on the ground.



The police were summoned and the two men were taken into custody. The police made it clear to them that if they did not reconcile they would have to remain under detention and that their case would be taken to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution (BIP) prior to taking them both to the court.



The two decided it was much better for them to reconcile and let bygones be bygones. They came out from the police station hand in hand. However, Uncle Qaid was determined more than ever not to allow any customer to break the line while the angry customer learned his lesson and decided to remain calm no matter what happens.



Bakr Banamah, a Makkawi, recalls that he almost lost his life one day while trying to buy foul and tamis. He said he was standing in line waiting for his turn, when suddenly a young man cut in line and asked the salesman for foul. He was carrying a thermos and asked the salesman to put the quantity in it.



Banamah said a man in the queue became angry with the customer who had no respect for the line and asked him to go back to his place in the queue. The angry customer hit him on the head with the thermos he had in his hands. "Blood started gushing. The poor man almost lost conscious. He was saved from the hands of his assailant by the police," he added.



Banamah said he learned his lesson and buys his foul and tamis immediately after Asr prayer. "I do not have to wait until just before iftar to buy it," he said. Fahd Baata, another Makkawi, noted that fasting people seem to lose their temper and patience as the iftar time approaches. "To avoid any skirmishes with them, I buy my foul and tamis very early," he said. One day he went home without his usual foul and tamis. The reason was that a strong-built customer furiously punched a salesman in the face and head until he knocked him down. "I left the place quietly without any foul or tamis for fear that I might also get greeted with a violent customer," he said.



Bandar Badr found a simple solution. He goes before Asr prayer to the restaurant and buys his food peacefully without encountering the short-tempered customers.