As the Eid festivities come to a close, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on my experience during the month of Ramadan. I feel so blessed to have been able to experience Ramadan with my host family and friends in this Majority-Muslim country. Here are some observations and lessons that I learned. (Disclaimer: these are my observations from my area. Practices may be different in other countries or even regions of this country.)
1. People have various reasons for fasting.
I asked people the reason for fasting, and I got various answers:
- It’s healthy. Like a machine that needs to be shut down and cleaned out every once and a while to function optimally, we need to cleanse our bodies to be healthy.
- It allows us to experience hunger and thirst, like the poor do every day. It grows our empathy and compassion.
- It’s just what we do. Unless you have an excuse (usually health or travel related), you must participate.
- If we don’t, it is sin. If we do, it erases our sins. It is a form of worship that is one of the five pillars of Islam.
2. Hydration during the evenings is SO important.
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims are required to fast from eating, drinking, and smoking during the daylight hours (actually, the fast starts with the morning prayer, which is about an hour before sunrise.) This means that unless you are intentional about hydrating in the evenings, you can easily get dehydrated during the day. During the first few days of fasting, I got pretty irritable in the afternoons because of dehydration. Then I started drinking water throughout the night, and that helped significantly.
3. People are really surprised when they hear you (a non-Muslim) are fasting.
People don’t expect non-Muslims to voluntarily fast. For me, this opened up several conversations about prayer and fasting. I got to tell them that fasting is an opportunity for me to worship too, not out of obligation but by my own choice. I was part of more spiritual conversations this month than ever before. I also gained respect from friends who saw my fasting as a form of respecting them. A couple people even said that they wanted to give me a gift for doing it! There were also those who thought I was crazy – why would anyone voluntarily do this? But I think even those people gained respect for me.
4. People seem to be more devoted to prayer this month.
My host family went to the mosque more frequently than usual to pray. There was even an optional extra prayer time each day at the mosque in the evenings, so some prayed six times per day instead of five for the month.
5. Everything slows down during the day but livens up at night.
During the first week or so, everyone who wasn’t working would lay around the house and rest throughout the day so that they could conserve energy until they break the fast. At night, on the other hand, lots of guests would come to my house to visit and eat together.
6. People like to eat the meals together.
There are two main meals per day during Ramadan: sahur (eaten early in the morning before the fast begins) and iftar (eaten at night once the fast has been broken). Each of these meals is usually eaten together – this creates a special sense of community and solidarity.
7. People like to buy sweet drinks and snacks to break the fast. Then they pray before eating a full meal.
Vendors line the streets as people prepare to break their fasts. Savory snacks and sweet drinks are popular choices. After breaking the fast, more religious people pray. After prayer, they eat a big meal (iftar) with friends and family.
8. Ramadan is expensive.
Prices for everything increase. Many who work in the food industry lose business or face sudden drops in demand, impacting their income. Everyone is expected to buy gifts for their children and give cash to all the children in their families. On the last day before fasting began, a woman approached me and asked me to buy some little cakes from her. When I told her that I wasn’t interested, she begged me, “Tomorrow I won’t be able to sell these anymore. Please.” She looked desperate. I later realized that the month can be extra challenging financially, especially for lower income individuals.
9. Eid is both a huge celebration and also a time to be solemn and repentant.
People go home to spend the holiday with their families. At night there are fireworks, loud music, and parades. Kids play on the streets. There are special snacks that every household makes for guests. Kids receive small envelopes with money from all the adults at the houses. It’s like Christmas.
Conversely, it is a time for solemn repentance and reconciliation. On the first day of Eid, I walked out of my bedroom to see my host brother kneeling at my host dad’s lap, asking for forgiveness for any ways he had wronged him. They were both crying. It was a powerful moment, and while I felt bad for interrupting it, I am thankful that I got to witness it. People go from house to house to ask for forgiveness for any way that they have wronged their neighbors, friends, and families. While in many cases it is just words (I definitely asked for forgiveness from people I hadn’t met before!) it can also be a powerful time for reconciliation. There are also special prayer services for Eid.
These are just some of my observations from my first Ramadan. I am so thankful that God has placed me here. So few Westerners get an immersive experience like this – to live and just exist in this kind of place with these kind of people – these compassionate, kind, warm, loving people. I am learning more than I know. And this is just the beginning!