The Story of Kham Al Ramad

A day before the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, many Sudanese gather for Kham Al Ramad, a festive celebration to welcome Ramadan with entertainment and recreation. It also carries a negative connotation as some participate in Kham Al Ramad to ‘practice of sins and deal with evils’ before the holy month begins.

However, the story of Kham Al Ramad is quite virtuous and traditional. It dates back to the time of our grandparents and great grandparents when elderly women used to gather in one of their houses weeks before the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan for awsa or the making of the traditional and popular Sudanese drink, abri or hilo mur, commonly served during Ramadan. These women gathered for days or even weeks before Ramadan until they were satisfied with the abri. 

The making of abri or hilo mur is difficult and requires skill such as the ability to accurately measure time and ingredients, which result in this sweet and sour, dark brown, flavourful, and strongly scented drink. Commonly made by women, it begins by placing maize seeds over burlap and watering it for a few days until it blooms. The maize is then dried, ground and mixed with specific amounts of flour and spices such as cinnamon, ginger, hibiscus and more, then cooked over high heat, creating a batter that spread into thin crepes. This is what is known as awsa. The making of abri into juice is the easy part. The crepes are soaked in water for a few hours then strained, creating the abri juice and sugar is then added to preference.

Historically, as soon as the unique tradition starts, women do not clean or postpone the cleaning of the ashes of the burnt firewood used to make the abri until the last day of Sha’ban – the eighth month of the Islamic calendar and the month before the holy month of Ramadan – in order to show the amount of firewood that they have burned. The ash resembles pride in the amount of handwork they have put in to make the abri – they have achieved great symbolic value in that there is a revival of the culture of mobilisation, compassion and solidarity.

On the last day of Sha’ban, which is the day before the first day of Ramadan, the women gather again to clean and collect the ashes of the firewood. In celebration, each woman brings food, drinks, tea, coffee and more, and enjoy the day being together. And thus, the tradition known as Kham Al Ramad was born. Kham is to throw, and Ramad is ashes.

Although Kham Al Ramad is unique to Sudan, there is a similar tradition in Oman known as Durmah. Families gather a day or two before Ramadan begins and enjoy a meal together to celebrate the last days of Sha’ban and welcome the holy month.

Dr Hassan Adrob is a Sudanese based in Oman and works as an English language and Linguistic lecturer and a teacher trainer at Red Sea University and Sohar University. His MA and PhD are in Applied Linguistics. Dr Hassan is a qualified CELTA instructor and has participated in an accredited IELTS Training Programme. He fulfilled the twin duties of lecturer in English and skills leader. Dr Hassan is a regular participant at conferences and has recently published three books with Eliva Press.