What is Ramadan?
It’s that time of year again. And no, I’m not referring to Halloween, Easter, or Christmas, as much as I love those holidays. It’s Ramadan — the one month a year where Muslims across the world refrain from eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset for the entire month. As the month has progressed, I’ve been getting a lot of questions, so I figured I’d try to answer them all.
When is Ramadan?
Ramadan lasts for 30 days, but it isn’t confined to a specific “month” each year. Islamic holidays use the lunar calendar, so Ramadan gets pushed back by 10 days every year. In 2016, it was from June 5th to July 5th.
What do you do during Ramadan?
We participate in a “fast,” requiring us to refrain from eating or drinking (including water) from sunrise to sunset every day for 30 days. During this month, we focus on charity, prayer, and showing care and empathy to everyone around us. It’s a time for reflection, good deeds, and coming together as a community, and one of the few times a year the mosque if full.
“Bro, why are you, like, starving yourself?”
Well, there’s the simple answer and the complicated answer to that question. Why does anyone do anything for any religion? Why do Christians go to church? Why do Jews fast for Yom Kippur? And why do Muslims, more religious ones than me, pray five times a day? Simply put, because God told us to.
But more specifically, why?
Fasting is a practice in empathy. When we don’t eat or drink for the entire day, it forces us to relate to the struggles of the poor on a day-to-day basis. We’ll never truly understand those struggles, but it gives us a sample and makes us thankful for what we do have.
Is it hard?
Yes, and no. My first full month of fasting was definitely difficult. It was in middle school, and during lunch everyone would constantly feel sorry for me and try to get me to eat. “Just eat something — can’t you at least drink a little water? I know you want some.” I’d hear that nonstop throughout our 45-minute lunch break. But as you get older, you get used to it, and functioning gets easier.
Favorite part of Ramadan?
The sense of community as friends and family come together to all break our fast is surreal. Everyone puts aside differences and petty disagreements to enjoy each other’s company and to be thankful for all their blessings, including each other. To me, that’s a beautiful thing.
Conclusion
As much as we like to pretend we can now understand the struggles of the poor, at the end of the day fasting is easy. We know our next meal is coming the minute the sun comes down. Poverty is the true struggle — people are poor, starving, and unsure of when their next meal is going to be. Ramadan allows us to strive to be more charitable in our own lives after getting merely a taste of the struggles with poverty. While we can only hope to better empathize with these people, empathy is the first step toward action.
