🌙🤲🏽RAMADAN FOR DUMMIES🌙🤲🏽
Ramadan is super close!!! - and I’m so excited. Every year I get tonnes of questions from my non-muslim friends and even muslim friends who want to know better. So I’m compiling it all here in this post.
~ I’ve been fasting each year for more than ten years and I’ve been a student of Islamic studies more than 13 years. So yeah I know what I’m talking about.~
It’s the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and a pillar of Islam. It has extreme significant importance to Muslims as it is the month in which the Quran was first revealed. A very holy month in which Shaytan ( the devil) is said to be locked in chains and each good deed and prayer blesses a Muslim 70 times more than any normal month of the year.
Muslims all around the world spend each day fasting from dawn till dusk. We celebrate the end of this blessed month - the first three day of the next month, Shawal - in a celebration known as Eid-ul-Fitr. It’s a really big deal for us.
How do you know when Ramadan is? Does it have a fixed date? When is Ramadan this year?
Ramadan does not have a fixed date! It depends on physical sighting of the moon or the Saudi Arabian declaration of Ramadan ( which is then again, by sighting of the moon but some countries avoid the hassle and follow that. Or if it’s a non-Muslim majority.)
The moon cycle is different for many parts of the world, hence the beginning and end of Ramadan is different - usually no more than one day - for each country.
Ramadan 2k18 is estimated to begin on 15th May! -confetti burst-
So all you do is just abstain from food and drink from dawn till dusk in Ramadan?
No! We also abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn till dusk. After breaking fast most Sunni Muslims also attend series of special prayers in congregations called ‘Tarawih’ which are specific to Ramadan only. Some Muslims segregated themselves for a few days in mosques of their homes - not engaging in talking or listening to music etc - and spend the time secluded in prayer. This is not specific to Ramadan but most Muslims prefer it during this Ramadan. This practice is called ‘I’ttekaaf’.
In Ramadan the Muslim community gets together, we break the fast together as family and friends. Some hold feasts at the end of Ramadan. Nearing the end of Ramadan and throughout Ramadan able affording Muslims give money to the poor and destitute from their property, money, jewellery. This practice is called Zakat. It is not an option, every able Muslim must give Zakat in Ramadan.
Yes, not even water. Nothing can go into your stomach or out of it during fast. Yes, you read that right. Voluntarily vomiting breaks the fast! ( I take ten minutes brushing my teeth during the fast…careful to not let water into my throat.)
If you’re sick, do you still have to fast?
It depends on the sickness itself. You may not fast if your sickness becomes worse with fasting - however if you are a well-off Muslim - you are to feed a poor person three meals for one day for each fast you miss for your sickness/any other reason from which you recover.
If it’s a mild sickness, take a break from fasting until you get better but you are required to complete your fasting after Ramadan.
Children smaller than ages 13-15 are not allowed to fast. If you are travelling a hard and long journey, you are not required to fast. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding - you are not required to fast but you are to make up the days you missed after Ramadan is over. And you can’t fast at all when you’re menstruating. Menstruating breaks your fast.
Do medical injections, drips, eye drops, nose drops break a fast?
It’s important not to swallow any of the nose drops etc. Otherwise it’s a-okay to use. Injections and drips as long as they aren’t of glucose/nourishing stuff are permitted during fasting.
Fasting is such a good way of losing weight lol. You all must get real skinny after Ramadan!
HAH. Listen, Muslims gain more weight during Ramadan than any other month. That’s because we party after dusk and we eat a lot of fatty stuff to keep us going throughout the day. And a lot of Muslim countries have special non-alcoholic sugary drinks that we drink so. Much. After breaking the fast.
Also that’s really fucking disrespectful, we don’t fast to diet, we fast as a religious duty and to practice patience and steadfastness. The whole Muslim community comes together during this month.
How can I be behave as a Non-Muslim during Ramadan?
Don’t make a big deal out of eating infront of us - most of us have been fasting for ages.
Tag tumblr content like food, porn etc as #nsfr ( not safe for Ramadan)
Don’t call Eid, ‘The Muslim Christmas’ just…don’t.
Remember that Ramadan is for all Muslims. That includes minority Muslim sects ( wahabis don’t interact ), LGBT Muslims, Muslims suffering in war zones, disabled Muslims, new converts. Ramadan is for all of us.
Please, consider donating to the people of Syria, Palestine and the Rohingya Muslims this Ramadan. They are as much as part of this Ummah as we.
Ramadan Mubarak everyone. 🌙
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