Though Ramadan is mainly known as an Islamic month where the faithful fast, it is beyond that for Muslims. A month of charity where the generosity is highlighted, it also includes Islamic rituals such as fitr and the “zimem book” tradition of the Ottomans in Turkey.
Fitr or fitre in Turkish, involves the payment of money to the poor, similar to zakat, before Ramadan Bayram at the end of the month. Zimem, a tradition practiced by the wealthy in the Ottoman times, aims to spread this act of good will throughout the month. The word literally means debts and refers to notebooks where businesses (usually grocers) keep the track of customers with outstanding debts. Every Ramadan, the rich goes around, visiting grocery stores, to pay off the debts of any impoverished people living in the area.
The practice is almost exclusive to grocery stores, which are among the rare places nowadays that give credits to customers in dire straits without a written document, except a name and amount of debt the grocers keep in the notebook.
In some cities, business associations openly pay off the debts of random customers picked from zimem books while some businesspeople prefer to keep their identity hidden. Ibrahim Kayaoğlu works as a "messenger" of these hidden benefactors in the eastern province of Elazığ. With money he was entrusted by the rich, he goes door to door, visiting grocery stores. On behalf of wealthy people, Kayaoğlu pays off the debts of the needy in each neighborhood he visits. “We have to do it secret because the giving hand and the hand that takes (the money) should not see each other,” he told Demirören News Agency (DHA) on Sunday, referring to a version of a saying of Prophet Muhammad, who advised the faithful to do their charity work in secret for modesty and prevent possible embarrassment for the part of beneficiary.
