Growing up fasting in the month of Ramadan

For years in my household, I witnessed my family walking half asleep towards the kitchen before sunrise to eat for Suhoor, the meal before you begin fasting.

My mom would beat us to the kitchen and rapidly cook a meal for us four children and my father who always found delirious children and 4 a.m the perfect time and opportunity to tell dad jokes.

One of us would always be appointed to call the exact time of sunrise.

It would be something like “EVERYONE YOU HAVE 3 MORE MINUTES TO EAT!”

And when I say call the time, I don't mean the approximate time, I mean the exact time. Like, say, 4:31 a.m. And this time changes every day by a minute or so.

The Qur’an says to stop eating when a black thread and white thread can be distinguished from one another because you should be able to look outside and identify sunrise when there’s enough light to tell them apart.

But now, we just have printed schedules and apps to tell us exactly when sunrise is. How unromantic.

After Suhoor, we would pray together as a family. You know the drill. The family that prays, together, stays together.

Okay, STOP! Now suhoor time is officially up. You forgot to eat the decadent cupcake you saved? Too bad. You didn’t wake up to eat? Tragic. You’re in this now.

Let the hunger games begin.

So really, what is Ramadan?

As a Muslim, allow me to sum it up for anyone who isn't familiar with it.

First, the new moon has to be spotted to declare that the month of Ramadan has officially begun because the Islamic calendar is a lunar one.

The new moon was sighted yesterday evening, hence fasting begins today.

Because in Islam, night precedes the morning, once the moon is sighted, the night prayers called Taraweeh ensue to allow the recitation of the entire Qur’an in bits every day throughout the month. Because the Qur’an was revealed in the month of Ramadan, this is important. It is a celebration of the Qur’an.

This is also why you see late night traffic of people flocking to the mosques at night at 10 p.m.

Ramadan completely switches your schedule.

Ramadan is the name of one of 12 months in the Islamic calendar. Muslims are required to fast every day from sunrise to sunset. Ramadan is also the third of the five pillars of Islam, meaning the five acts of obedience prescribed in Islam.

1. Tawhid (believing that there is only one God)

2. Praying five times a day

3. Fasting in the month of Ramadan

4. Zakat (charity)

5. Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca only if you are able to)

But what does my spirituality have to do anything with eating or drinking?

Fasting is mandatory in Islam. The Quranic verse states: Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may attain taqwaa.

Taqwa as mentioned in the verse, means to be conscious, cautious and aware of reality, of yourself, of the world around you and of your actions.

Fasting trains your body and your mind.

Can you eat? No.

Can you drink? No.

Can I cuss out the guy who cut me off on the road? No.

Can I be intimate? No.

What about water? No.

Just one sip? No.

What about smoking? No.

It’s just smoke though. Absolutely not.

What’s the point of this?

Fasting is all about cleansing. Not just your body but also your heart. It trains your body and mind.  

When you’re fasting from dusk till dawn every day for a whole month, you are essentially making a conscious effort to resist food and water, to not lose your temper, to not wrong anyone and to ultimately strive to be on your best behaviour.

It is a state of alertness where you are forced to evaluate each of your actions and at the same time, allow your body to cleanse itself.

If you have a medical condition, if you're travelling or if you're on your period, you shouldn't fast. Either make up for it later or give some charity so it can bring some goodness to someone else.

Everyone experiences fasting differently depending on their daily schedules.

I would always crave all the things I want to eat during Iftaar (sunset time) I would think to myself “I’m going to eat this and this that” and then as soon as I drank the first sip of water, I would lose all my cravings.

Water and a meal, whatever it was were sufficient. And it truly made me grateful to feel what hunger felt like on a daily basis so I can appreciate bread on my table.

After breaking bread with the family, we would sit around for a little while and then go for Taraweeh prayers where somehow people regain the energy they lost in the past 14 hours or so of fasting. With kids jumping off walls in the mosques to people standing in hours of prayer, this is what I mean when I say Ramadan switches your schedules. You become a night owl.

At the end of the month, you get so accustomed to the schedule, it becomes heartbreaking to see Ramadan go. I've seen people cry including myself at the end of the month. You reminisce about the late night sessions in the mosques where the community congregates, where people sell things, where people pray together and eat together, where people open up their hearts generously to give endless amounts of charity.

In the end, you lose old bad habits in the way and create new good ones. You think different and you feel different.

But for now, it just started, so Ramadan Mubarak, I wish you a happy, healthy merciful month that brings the best version of you the world has ever seen.