In case you aren’t familiar: Ramadan is a month of fasting practiced by the majority religion here. People will not eat or drink anything (including water) from sunrise to sunset, and in my country, it’s illegal to eat or drink in public during this time. Many businesses, my Arabic school included, will modify their hours or be closed during the day to accommodate the fasting. After the call to prayer at sunset, most people break the fast with a large, celebratory meal, usually with family. If you’d like to know more about Ramadan, this 4 minute Youtube video might be helpful!
Most of March was slow as Ramadan began and many people spent a lot of time with their families. People fasted from sunrise to sunset, which means businesses often change their hours and many people to sleep more during the day and stay up much later (when you can eat). I got to go to an iftar at a friends house and went out with girls a couple nights. At the beginning of April, Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the holiday to mark the end of Ramadan.
After this month, I have a renewed sense of the freedom we have in Christ. We don’t earn anything because Jesus already paid the price. It was both fascinating and sad to learn the rules for fasting, the difference in rewards for certain deeds/times, and the emphasis on outward acts. Some examples are that good deeds done during Ramadan and specific times of Ramadan have a greater “weight” to them, and a fast can be “cancelled out” by accidents or even starting your period that day. Although Jordan will celebrated Easter on May 5th with the Orthodox calendar, the Easter pictures all over my social media mid-Ramadan were a clear reminder of the significance of Jesus. No amount of good deeds can make God love me more and no slip up can separate me from him.