ramadan event suggestion [ 70+ supporters! ]

[nyabeille]

i think it irks me a little that there's a celebration for christmas and hannukah, and none for ramadan. i understand after a bit of looking around, the community is small on chicken smoothie, but i'd love to see the site incorporate it. i've been considering converting to islam for years, i've had times where i felt i shouldn't convert, and others that i should. i have yet to, but to see efforts for the muslim community here would be very wonderful!
i also think it's weird nobody else has suggested this that i can find. if theres other threads please link! :3c
ideal response i'd like is from tess, but any other site members are encouraged with input!

edit #2: this post as been up a while, and i feel an update is in order.
thank you so much for all of your responses, its wonderful to see the support and feedback from the community

things pointed out by users that i feel would be important:

- no quran item, as this would be insensitive
- the animals of which certain things can fit on is important.


You could put it on a dragon, zebra, horse not that controversial but if you put it on a pig, dog, rat lots of controversy.




some people may be offended about the hijab thing but I wouldn't mind it. maybe you should make hijabs fit for only certain animals, like horses and cats, versus unlawful animals like dogs and pigs. it would be so nice to have a matching abaya (a long black religious dress) to go with the hijab.




Wearing a headscarf isn’t limited to islam, it’s practiced by a wide range of people from so many different cultures. I feel like that is something that would be difficult to appropriate as long as some thought was put into it (like someone here said, if they made the hijab, make it only fit halaal animals).


- pet designs could incorporate different foods/cuisines (i like this idea a lot!! imagine the cute designs!!)


I'm muslim myself, and I think that foods that are eaten during iftar (breaking fast at sundown) should be shown on the pets, for example, samosa patterned animals would be cute. I have a list of cultural foods that the people around me and myself consume when we break our fast, if you'd like that. I would say to focus on middle eastern, asian, and African cuisines.


- alternatively, instead of ramadan, we could celebrate eid fetr


Maybe instead of celebrating Ramazan, CS could celebrate Eid Fetr, which marks the last day of Ramazan and fasting. Items could be foods from different Muslim dominant countries? Also signs or speech bubbles saying stuff like "Fasted all the way this year" .




Actually, this is a much better idea, and I think that could be really neat. That way, in my opinion (as someone who has muslim family members and practices Ramadan) it would make it less like something that is commercialized and more of a way to just celebrate such an achievement. That way it’s not taking sensitive items like the Quran into question. Because of what Ramadan is about too, maybe it could just be a really simple, low-key event. (like the occasional one day events with a few animals and items).




But i don't think that Ramadan would have a theme for items and pets, I like to see events like Fetr holiday and pets and items themed like this. Like Hijab scarfs, special foods and etc
Well, CS has some Muslim players that they also like to play CS, Target of this site is to make everyone happy.




edit: after a few responses, i think an appropriate way to celebrate ramadan on cs would be a 3-4 day event (one day of gifts, which could be just items) that include cultural items, like the quran, and headscarves. maybe some monument figures and a theme to pet colors/design that resemble the culture? perhaps every other year, at first, and then from there more can be discussed?

full quotes


Thank you staff for considering cultural appropriation before agreeing to the idea. One, Quran as item. NO. You could put it on a dragon, zebra, horse not that controversial but if you put it on a pig, dog, rat lots of controversy. Headscarf not good idea, personally I would not be offended but I know maybe other people will. What's a good idea? Middle Eastern styled lanterns great idea. Different phases of the moon great idea. Stamps great idea. What we call Sofre , doesn't have eng translation good idea.





another thing that partially concerns me would be how diverse islam is and how certain branches of them will have different interpretations. some believe that using arabic scripture on trivial things is disrespectful to the language while others do not. some believe that dogs are, for lack of a better word, "unholy" animals while others coexist perfectly fine with them. this isn't me trying to diss the religion, this is merely my experience with it. as much as i'd love to see some pet designs tied to islam, i feel like this would be a potential issue as well.





honestly, that's why i'm pretty against the idea of having "sensitivity readers" as Soft Sand suggested. while a good idea in principle, muslims are a vast people, and it is impossible to whittle down all those differing opinions into the responsibility of a small team of muslims. i feel like it would simply be better to play it safe and take inspiration from subtler sources such as geometry or other islamic art forms that are less explicit in their faith, in the same way that christmas pets borrow from the christmas "aesthetic" (snow, warm fireplaces, winter clothing, red and green, christmas trees) rather than aspects of christianity itself (the cross, the bible, etc).





maybe instead of having items like headscarves, the Qu’ran and Arabic scriptures as items, maybe there could be some pets (like maybe cats?) with just colours which are associated with Ramadan and they could have a pattern on them with the Islamic symbol. some people might just be offended and feel disrespected with having sacred items in a game ^^





Maybe instead of celebrating Ramazan, CS could celebrate Eid Fetr, which marks the last day of Ramazan and fasting. Items could be foods from different Muslim dominant countries? Also signs or speech bubbles saying stuff like "Fasted all the way this year" .



Actually, this is a much better idea, and I think that could be really neat. That way, in my opinion (as someone who has muslim family members and practices Ramadan) it would make it less like something that is commercialized and more of a way to just celebrate such an achievement. That way it’s not taking sensitive items like the Quran into question. Because of what Ramadan is about too, maybe it could just be a really simple, low-key event. (like the occasional one day events with a few animals and items).


Now about the headscarf discussion, I actually very much support it, and would love to see headscarves in game. I veil, and I know one of my muslim friends who veils would think it’s a really cute, great idea. Wearing a headscarf isn’t limited to islam, it’s practiced by a wide range of people from so many different cultures. I feel like that is something that would be difficult to appropriate as long as some thought was put into it (like someone here said, if they made the hijab, make it only fit halaal animals).





I think that this would be a great idea!
I'm muslim myself, and I think that foods that are eaten during iftar (breaking fast at sundown) should be shown on the pets, for example, samosa patterned animals would be cute. I have a list of cultural foods that the people around me and myself consume when we break our fast, if you'd like that. I would say to focus on middle eastern, asian, and African cuisines.

some people may be offended about the hijab thing but I wouldn't mind it. maybe you should make hijabs fit for only certain animals, like horses and cats, versus unlawful animals like dogs and pigs. it would be so nice to have a matching abaya (a long black religious dress) to go with the hijab.

oh! and background items like mosques would be so pretty! and the symbol of islam (the star and moon) on flags and clothing, modest clothing like flowy long sleeved dresses would be good too


I have a lot more ideas that I can't think of on the top of my head, but I'll edit this post to let you know





Support! (as a Muslim)

Outside that, Except some other Muslim countries like Turkey, I don't see any stamps for Arabic countries like Morocco, Middle east countries and even Iran, same applies for flags in store. First time i came to CS one thing were in my mind 'Does that site go with famous stuff?' because of that suggestion and things i mentioned above.

But i don't think that Ramadan would have a theme for items and pets, I like to see events like Fetr holiday and pets and items themed like this. Like Hijab scarfs, special foods and etc
Well, CS has some Muslim players that they also like to play CS, Target of this site is to make everyone happy.

[Lacuna]

As a born and raised atheist who grew up in America (not as a CS staff member) I really have no idea how I would make pets or items to celebrate a religious holiday I don't celebrate that doesn't have a huge commercial focus like Christmas or Easter (and, to a lesser extent, Hanukkah). For example, I see menorahs sold in secular stores and posted at various public locations, so I gather that it is okay for people who aren't part of that faith to interact with them. In a way, these holidays are divorced in a way from their religion and are accessible to everyone such as the way Halloween is.

I wouldn't want to look up traditions associated with Muslim holidays, make a pet based off of them, and end up offending people who I was trying to celebrate with. It would be easier to incorporate, I think, if suggestions to incorporate these holidays into the CS calendar came with ideas on how we could celebrate them while being respectful of people's cultures. Even better if this information could come directly from members who are of those faiths and celebrate those traditions, rather than an internet source that may not answer our questions about what parts of the holidays are okay for others to interact with.

The above is all just my personal opinion, rather than an official site answer, but I can say that I love learning about other people's traditions and have found the staff team to be an amazing, accepting group of people from many walks of life so I wouldn't worry about the absence of these celebrations being a religious bias in the way you've suggested.

[hypnowave]

hello there! i grew up as a muslim but no longer identify as one due to personal reasons, but i still live in a heavily muslim-influenced culture and it affects me on a daily basis. there are many aspects and traditions of islam that i adore (islamic architecture especially!), and i do honestly think it would be an educational and interesting experience to see a few pets based around ramadan!

with that being said, i'm going to have to offer a few counterpoints. for one, i feel like Lacuna has a point in saying that cs has christmas events because of the heavy commercialization of the holiday. the same goes for hanukkah and easter. aside from that, there are also chinese new year pets, whose designs borrow heavily from chinese cultural aspects rather than the holiday itself. ramadan, on the other hand, is more of a religious holiday over anything else. fasting for 30 days and praying every night is directly tied to islamic principles and cannot be separated from those principles. considering that there aren't any muslim cs artists (to my knowledge), i think it would be difficult for cs to design a batch of pets for the occasion, let alone prepare an event for the 30 days of ramadan.

another thing that partially concerns me would be how diverse islam is and how certain branches of them will have different interpretations. some believe that using arabic scripture on trivial things is disrespectful to the language while others do not. some believe that dogs are, for lack of a better word, "unholy" animals while others coexist perfectly fine with them. this isn't me trying to diss the religion, this is merely my experience with it. as much as i'd love to see some pet designs tied to islam, i feel like this would be a potential issue as well.

my suggestion would be for cs artists to draw inspiration from something that doesn't tie too directly into the religion, for example islamic architecture! i found this video to be an excellent explanation of the geometric nature of aforementioned architecture, and i think it would be a much safer route for a cs artist to go with, while still being educational! it could shed light on some of islam's greatest monuments. tapestries and paintings as well as headscarf items could be a good start, too. i hope you can find some form of value from my two cents :"0c

[Paul.]

I feel that this would be a great part of the game! Players would get to learn about different cultures and religions! I am Christian, but I definitely think this would be something absolutely amazing!

[nyabeille]

As a born and raised atheist who grew up in America (not as a CS staff member) I really have no idea how I would make pets or items to celebrate a religious holiday I don't celebrate that doesn't have a huge commercial focus like Christmas or Easter (and, to a lesser extent, Hanukkah). For example, I see menorahs sold in secular stores and posted at various public locations, so I gather that it is okay for people who aren't part of that faith to interact with them. In a way, these holidays are divorced in a way from their religion and are accessible to everyone such as the way Halloween is.

I wouldn't want to look up traditions associated with Muslim holidays, make a pet based off of them, and end up offending people who I was trying to celebrate with. It would be easier to incorporate, I think, if suggestions to incorporate these holidays into the CS calendar came with ideas on how we could celebrate them while being respectful of people's cultures. Even better if this information could come directly from members who are of those faiths and celebrate those traditions, rather than an internet source that may not answer our questions about what parts of the holidays are okay for others to interact with.

The above is all just my personal opinion, rather than an official site answer, but I can say that I love learning about other people's traditions and have found the staff team to be an amazing, accepting group of people from many walks of life so I wouldn't worry about the absence of these celebrations being a religious bias in the way you've suggested.

thank you so much for your response lacuna !! everything you said makes perfect sense, so i understand why its maybe never been brought up sooner. i really like reyligion's idea with architecture, as not to step on any feet with those who might be offended by someone's design or interpretation.


while still being educational! it could shed light on some of islam's greatest monuments. tapestries and paintings as well as headscarf items could be a good start, too.


agree wholeheartedly. i suppose an entire event based around ramadan might me overwhelming, and too much to ask for. but i think at least a few days of acknowledgement with some items designed after the culture would be beautiful to see. i'd love to hear from muslim members of chickensmoothie about their input on a ramadan event/a special day to celebrate ramadan!!

im also sorry for implying the team is islamophobic ^^ i was just worried, im relieved to hear that its not the case <3

[~Phantom]

We do not particularly celebrate specific holidays regularly other than New Year, CS Birthday, Easter, Halloween and Christmas/Hannukah. Anything else is not mandatory and may or may not be left out. Because CS is so universal it would be impossible to do everything but also unfair to do some things repeatedly for fear of making others feel left out.
- Vampiric, 2011, on the topic of a Thanksgiving Event

Just quoting from a Thanksgiving thread as it applies here.

[nyabeille]

i mean that response makes sense to a certain extent, but that was in 2011, and we are a few days away from 2020.

Because CS is so universal it would be impossible to do everything but also unfair to do some things repeatedly for fear of making others feel left out.

this i dont understand because that's essentially what is happening. ramadan in no means needs to be a mandatory event, especially being a month long holiday. i just feel that the best intentions here are to avoid cultural appropriation or disrespecting the religion, which is 100% understandable. the rest kind of strikes me as excuses. i feel that there are ways to (respectfully) incorporate the holiday into chicken smoothie's calender, especially when this is mentioned:

Anything else is not mandatory and may or may not be left out.

[Burrito Bunny]

Small clarification:

Thanksgiving is not a comparable holiday to Ramadan, and our policy regarding thanksgiving suggestions does not apply here.

That quote is in context to nation-specific holidays, like thanksgiving, any variation of an "independence/freedom" day, and other unique traditions. These holidays only apply to a very limited set of people in one geographic area, and would end up leaving users out due to the universal nature of CS, as stated. We can't cover every single country's own unique holidays. This is why holidays that only apply to one country are not regularly celebrated on CS (though the occasional release may still appear as a surprise).

Ramadan is not that kind of holiday; it is globally celebrated, more comparable to the scale of Christmas or Hanukkah.

[Sashtato]

I haven't read the comments yet, but I just wanted to make a quick comment - I was seriously thinking about this the other day, and how disappointed I was that there was none. I think that would be great! I have been thinking about how there should be more culturally diverse things incorporated, and this would be a great way for things to continue moving in that direction!

[lil rascal]

Having lived with a practicing Muslim I can not support this idea. I think rather than being inclusive it would actually insult many Muslims to have their beliefs trivialised like this. Especially creating items such as the Quran and headscarves.