What Ramadan means to me

Children playing all day in the street, heading to the shops with pocket money just before sunset. The streets filled with neighbours dropping off savoury and sweet nibbles to share at each other's houses. Heading indoors to help mum set the iftar (meal at the end of the fasting day) ready for sunset, freshly cut fruit, rose milkshake, dates and more would be ready for the family to break their fast. My eyes were bigger than my stomach could cope with after a day of fasting and I could only eat a small amount of food come sunset.

As a young girl these are some of my earliest memories of Ramadan and practising to fast at a young age helped me to learn restraint, resilience and compassion for others who had much less than I did.  

Ramadan facts:

• Over 1.6 billion muslims across the world will be observing Ramadan (23% of the world's population)
• It is the 9 month of the Islamic calendar, which follows the lunar cycle (so dates of Ramadan move approx 10 days each year)
• Fasting in this month is one of the 5 pillars of Islam (along with belief, prayer, giving charity, going to hajj)
• It is a month of prayer, humility, family, community, giving, coming together and improved spiritual connection

When people think of Ramadan they usually imagine a month where Muslims don’t eat/drink between certain periods of the day. This would be correct but there is so much more to this month as well. I would probably describe it as a spiritual bootcamp to train mentally and physically whilst building positive habits to maintain year round.  

I often break it down into the 4Rs below:

Restraint - In addition to restraint with food as Muslims we demonstrate restraint in other ways through consciously striving to be the best versions of ourselves, so the restraint may be to hold our tongue and not speak ill of others or restraint from material distractions to fill our cups instead with renewed spiritual energy. My personal challenge most years is restraint from social media and tv throughout this month. Not eating or drinking anything between sunrise and sunset (3.30am to 8.30pm this year) is an exercise in restraint which I must admit I still find challenging. See here for some great pics of Ramadan around the world

Responsibility - Ramadan is the month of giving and is the month Muslims focus on another pillar of Islam too - Zakat (giving mandatory and voluntary charity). Charity can be financial, sharing of food or even a smile, basically any good deed. Last year Gov.uk announced that Muslims in the UK alone donated 130 million pounds to charity in Ramadan 2019!    Responsibility is also about driving local change - am I doing all I can for my loved ones, caring for my dad, caring for in-laws, friends and supporting my local community and mosque? Am I engaging in any clean the local park campaign or feeding the homeless or supporting my local Salvation Army programmes?

Reflection - Ramadan is a period of ‘renewal’ where I always start the month with a Performance management analysis to assess how I am doing in terms of my own personal values and personal faith objectives. Am I still on track, am I exceeding expectations or do I need improvement to focus on self and achieve the long term goals based on faith goals. I use the month as a ‘recharge’ for my faith practice to lay the foundations of continuous reflection and set out goals to achieve a long term approach to learning and growth from an islamic perspective. E.g. Learn more about the Great Women in Islamic History who were trailblazers in their time and fighting for rights that we have only gained in the last 100 years or so in other places, like Khadija. 

Remembrance - This is the month of the Quran (holy book) and we believe this was the month the Quran was first revealed. As such in this month we strive to remember God through additional recitation of the Quran and additional prayers through the evening and night. Practising gratitude as a muslim is a daily activity which is amplified in this month with most of my prayers starting with my gratitude list and moving into a seeking forgiveness list for where I know I could do better and repent. It is also the month we believe when God is paying closer attention to our prayers/wishes and I always start the month aiming for the moon (imagine the most audacious Christmas wish list).  

End of Ramadan - Eid al Fitr - Muslims celebrate the end of the month with the festival of Eid. On Eid we go to the mosque in the morning to give thanks and perform the Eid prayer, we see family/friends and feast. I do presents for all the kids in my family and as a grown up still receive gifts/Eiddi (eid money) from my dad and in-laws. I have over the years added Eid decorations, pass the parcels, eid scavenger hunts, games, pinatas, fireworks and goody bags to the Eid traditions. (basically all fun elements of other celebrations)

 Thank you for reading and if you are observing the month wishing you a blessed and prosperous time ahead!