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Every Ramadan when I join with my elder relatives and family members in speaking about the Ramadan/October War of 1973, new thoughts are always generated in my mind. One of my aunts once said: "When our soldiers put their lives aside, sacrificed, and fought with faith and an unbelievable spirit, this spirit was transmitted to each and every Egyptian, each in his domain. There were no thefts, no insults; there was nothing but hard work and belief in the coming victory." In our yearly “10 Ramadan discussion” my grandmother always enjoys telling us that it was rare then to find any adult (away from the front line) who did not donate either blood or money to contribute to this victory. My mother, then in high school, took part in a student request to cancel a planned trip to Aswan, and to transfer the money allocated for the trip's costs to the army. University students waited anxiously to be called for military duty, and they were all ready to go to battle.
My grandfather told me that the battle front was full of holes as deep as 12 meters and as wide as 500 meters caused in the midst of the Egyptian army airfields by special Israeli bombs. These holes were filled by fasting Egyptian soldiers and civilian volunteers, re-flatted, and ready to operate within just 18 hours after bombing. He told me about those heroes who faced enemy tanks without shelters, putting their freedom and dignity as a priority that comes even before their own lives.
What was the spirit that lead every Egyptian to struggle in the best way he or she can, in those most difficult and decisive days of Egypt's history? What made our soldiers insist on fasting while Islam allows breaking the fast during war? Was it Ramadan's spiritual thrust? Was it the sense of regaining dignity and honor after long years of defeat and decline in an overwhelmingly surprising manner? Was it a common massive sense of responsibility that breaks out among our society just in the times of difficulty? Or was that marvelous spirit a mixture of all of these factors?
Why did that spirit end by the end of that war? That is the most crucial question. How are we supposed to regain our place among nations of the world if this spirit has disappeared from our society? Was that Ramadan/October spirit an instantaneous outcome of difficulty and war, which vanishes when direct dangers and threats end? If we are certain that such kind of spirit exists within us (and we do), what can we do, each in his domain to recall it, in order to put our nation in its correct place among the other nations?
Each year at the end of our family discussion, one thought occupies my mind: When will be the next time when the Ramadan/October’s spirit comes back? When the war reaches Cairo?
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Saladin
My name is Ayman el-Hakea, I am a Construction Engineering graduate from the American University in Cairo. My origins date to an interesting mixture of Yemeni, Moroccan, Albanian, and Egyptian ancestors. I always try to be a moderate Muslim, I like animation, geopolitics, comparative religion, and football. I like to be with "people"...and I hope my writing isn't boring for anyone.
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