In this desert town, no traveler goes hungry, even in Ramadan

When Amman resident Walid Abdullah spotted a group of young hitchhikers trying to flag him down on the main highway to the port of Aqaba, he drove past without giving much notice.

When a second group of young men 100 yards later waved their arms wildly in the air, he began to wonder if he had a flat tire. Then a man stepped out in front of his car, forcing him to stop.

“They told me I had to come with them,” Mr. Abdullah said. “I was their guest, and a meal was waiting for me.”

It was no kidnapping; it was Ramadan in Maan.

Known as the gateway to the

The Ramadan seasonRoadside assistanceOne night’s gathering