The Holy Month Of Ramadan

First of all, thank you for all comments about the basement.This is what it looks like now.

It's a work in progress but atleast progress is being made.

On Sunday we celebrated the first day of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar. Islam follows a lunar calendar meaning it changes every year. It is the month of fasting, prayer and charity. 

We start the roza (fasting) just before dawn, there is an actual time when the roza starts so all eating must be done before then. We wake up and have sehri (breakfast) which can be as simple as a bowl of cereal to an elaborate multi dished meal. M and I try to open our eyes as little as possible so we stick with simple. We mix it up a bit with eggs and toast, cereal with fruit. In my opinion this is the hardest part of the fast. Forcing yourself to eat a meal in the middle of the night.

Once the roza starts there is no intake of any food or fluids. No sips of water, no medication, no lip balm, toothpaste (we still brush our teeth twice a day just not during the fast) , ointments, make up etc. I miss moisturizing the most. 

We focus more on praying and reading the Quran. While you can still read and watch tv you just want to preferably keep it PG.

At dusk you break your roza with a date. Afterwards we have iftar (eat) Once again it may be as simple or elaborate as you like. Currently, with dusk being so late around 7pm we usually break our fast with some tea and cookies and then have dinner. Many of our friends have elaborate nosh sessions all the way up till bedtime. These are the people that end up gaining weight while fasting.. lol.

We sometimes gather at a friends house for iftar - I am hosting on Saturday. Back when we were young we used to stay up all night with friends and have sehri together. Many restaurants will stay open into the wee hours of the morning and offer sehri specials even here in New Jersey. This is when you really miss living in an Islamic country.. the whole atmosphere changes. It's such a fun vibe.

Fasting becomes mandatory upon puberty. But the old and the ill are exempt. As are women when they are pregnant, nursing as well as menstruating.

The boys do fast occasionally during Ramadan. They do it quite enthusiastically, trying to beat last year's number. D wants to try to do the whole month this year. We let them do as many as they feel comfortable with.

I hope I explained this well. Hit me with any questions you may have.

       

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