Celebrating Navroz, the Persian New Year, through the lens of Ismaili Muslims

Whileeye-catchingscenes ofpeople jumping overfires duringNavroz the Persian New Yearthat marksthe arrival of spring may be recognizable images in Metro Vancouver, the ancient festival is celebrated in different ways by people from around the world.

CalledNowruzin the Persian language Farsi, but Navrozin Ismailitradition, it occurs at the same time as the vernal equinox,falling on March 20 or 21, when the sun crosses the celestial equator and night and day are equal in length.

"Navroz ... is the celebration of the new year and it comes to us particularly from Persian traditions. But of course Persia itself was wide reaching at various points in history," saidSalima Versi, an Edmonton-based Ismaili scholar.

Celebrations, traditions, meals, and even clothes are differentdepending onwho is taking part, especiallywithin the IsmailiMuslim community.

"So you have Iranian Ismailis, but you also have Afghan Ismailis, and Indian and Pakistani and so on and so forth. So our contemporary celebrations of Navroz [are] a little bit of all of them," saidVersi.

Different traditions

Take Aly Sunderji for example.

"We celebrate the exact same thing but in a total different way," said Sunderji.

Coming from an East African family, Navrozsymbolizesthe start of a new beginning for his family as well.

"We attend early morning prayers on Navroz and after that we always havebharazi and mandazi ... that's Zanzibari food since we are Tanzanian," said Sunderji.

Bharazi is a stewin coconut sauce, typicallyserved withcoconut cardamom doughnutscalled mandazi.

That's quite different fromthehaft-sin table, a Persian custominwhich seven specific items whose names start with the letter 'sin' in Persianareset out assymbolsof prosperity, health, and happiness.

Feroza Gova Jamal, also an East African Ismaili, says for her family the day is focused around a big meal.

"We do a family-style dinner," and this year because of COVID-19, "we're partnering up with a restaurant to provide meals to lists of seniors," said Gova Jamal.

She says her connection to the day is through one of the pillars of Islam: volunteerism and giving back.

"Three charities we support ... our girls collect money from birthdays, Christmas ... and then divvy it up and donate," says Gova Jamal

For Zarmina Afghani, a Central Asian Ismailioriginally from Afghanistan,Navrozis a time for her familyto wear traditional clothing from back hometo ring in the new year.

The Afghan community has a similar table to that of the haft-sin because of its close proximity toPersian culture.

"The main thing we prepare for Navroz is haft mewa. That literally means seven fruits," says Afghani.

Haft mewacontains dried fruitsand nuts soaked for 48 hoursand served to guests coming to celebrate the auspicious day. The seven fruits are meant to represent different elements of life including fire, earth, air, and water.

For Ismailis, the celebration doesn't wait for the vernal equinox, butis set specifically for March 21.

A new beginning for all

Whether it's for an Iranian community memberor anyIsmailiMuslim, the overall meaning of the Persian New Year remains the same: a chance to celebrate a new beginning.

Across traditions, the greeting"Navroz" or "Nowruz Mubarak" is appropriate for all well-wishers.