Summary

The article describes a Muslim family's daily routine during Ramadan in the United Kingdom, emphasizing the spiritual and charitable aspects of fasting amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

The family's day begins with a predawn meal (Suhur) at 2:30 am, followed by morning prayers and a brief rest before starting their online work and school activities due to the coronavirus restrictions. They perform noon prayers together and assist their children with online tasks, all while abstaining from food and drink and maintaining positive thoughts and actions. The afternoon brings a heightened sense of empathy for the less fortunate and a period of charity and reflection. The family prepares for the evening meal (Iftar) with anticipation, offering prayers for the world's well-being, particularly concerning COVID-19. They break their fast at sunset with dates and water, followed by the evening prayer and a favorite meal. The night concludes with additional prayers, including Taraveeh, and the cycle repeats for the month of Ramadan, culminating in the celebration of Eid.

Opinions

Fasting in Ramadan is a time of enthusiasm and spiritual reflection, reminding Muslims of their dependence on God and their duty towards the poor and needy.
The month of Ramadan is seen as an opportunity to reduce attraction to worldly life and strengthen the relationship with God.
Fasting is viewed as a shared practice across various religions and philosophies, promoting self-restraint and empathy for those without regular access to food and water.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered the communal aspects of Ramadan, with the absence of congregational prayers in mosques and communal iftar gatherings being particularly heartfelt.
Despite the challenges, the family finds joy and blessings in the Ramadan rituals, particularly in the act of sharing iftar with loved ones and engaging in charitable acts.

Our Typical Day While Fasting in Ramadan

Living in the United Kingdom we Muslims come across a lot of questions when fasting in Ramadan. Non-Muslim colleagues and friends are always curious about how we spend our day while fasting. Questions range from how is it possible to fast for over 17 hours to you are not allowed to have even a sip of water?

Today I aim to walk you through my typical day while fasting in Ramadan.

We as a family look forward to the month of Ramadan all year. This year Ramadan started on 24th April 2020. We enter it with tremendous enthusiasm. For us, fasting is a reminder of human frailty and our dependence on God for nourishment. By fasting, we intend to feel what poor and needy go through in absence of food and clean water. It reminds us of our duty towards them. The month of Ramadan reduces our attraction towards worldly life, and we are more focused on our relationship with God.

Predawn meal (Suhur)

we wake up at 2.30 am before dawn to prepare our meals. My husband and I get everything ready then we wake up our daughter and son. Our son is only 7 so he doesn’t fast but he enjoys the pre-dawn meal with us and insists on waking up. We all have a good healthy meal and drink lots of water, all the while keeping an eye on the time. We have a set time for dawn which we follow every day. Today it was 3:46 am.

We make an intention for keeping fast and get ready for the morning prayer. After prayer, our kids go to sleep while we spend some more time reading and understanding the Quran.

Morning routine

At about 5:30 am to 6 am we also sleep for a little while. Then the morning starts with a daily routine when adults must go to work and kids off to school. As a result of coronavirus, everything has become online so things are a bit easier in this regard, we quickly get ready and switch on our laptops, it saves the travel time.

Noon prayer

Everyone is busy with their tasks until we take a prayer break for noon prayer. We all perform our prayer together and get back to work. All this while we are also helping our kids with their online tasks and daily routines like playing in the garden and helping my daughter with her GCSE course work.

The whole day we abstain from any food or drink and restrain from any negative thoughts or actions. We go about our day as normal doing all our daily chores preparing and serving food to young kids and older parents.

Only healthy adults are required to fast.

Fasting is a form of worship that is common to many religions.

O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you. so that you may learn self-restraint. Quran 2:183”

“Religions and philosophies that practice fasting include: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, Jainism, and Hinduism. Fasting can last for just a few hours or even a few weeks, usually with practitioners eating at night.” https://culturalawareness.com/fasting-around-the-world/.

Afternoon effort

As it gets to the afternoon, we start feeling the effects of fasting. It is at this time when we can really feel the poor and needy, what it is like to have an empty stomach, even the brain seems to be fogged without nutrition. We get ready for our afternoon prayer. We thank Allah for the food and drink we take for granted the whole year. Feel for the poor who are not even sure if they will get their next meal or not. During the month of Ramadan, we try to make as much charity as possible.

It is obligatory for Muslims to give 2.5% of their total savings in the whole year, as a charity.

As the day progresses, we try to squeeze in a nap and/or an outside walk or exercise session.

Preparing for opening the fast

Finally, the Iftar time comes closer and we start preparing for opening our fast, by this time our throats are dry, and the stomach is empty. We try to prepare everyone’s favorites and feel how blessed we are for being able to do so.

Before opening our fast we sit at the table and raise our hands in prayer. We pray for ourselves and the whole world. These days we make a special prayer to save this world from the effects of COVID-19. Iftar is the best part of the day and is eagerly anticipated, this joy is elevated when shared with others.

Iftar (breaking fast)

Generally, we would have lavish iftar parties with friends and family and people would get together in mosques to provide meals for everyone but due to COVID-19, this is a simple family affair.

Sitting down for iftar encompasses satisfaction, gratitude, and relief. The feeling of quenching our thirst and taking that first bite is delightful beyond explanation.

As soon as it is time for Sunset (today it was 8:40), we open our fast with dates and water and perform our evening prayer. After the prayer, we get back to the table and have our favorite meal of the day.

After sunset, we are free to enjoy food and drink up till dawn.

In Islam prayer in congregation is considered to have more social and spiritual benefits than praying by oneself and it is a norm to perform most of the prayers in the mosque with everyone especially in Ramadan but this year due to covid19 things are very different and for us, it is heart-breaking not to perform a single congregational prayer in Ramadan.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (before Covid 19)

Night prayers

After Sunset the next prayer is the night prayer Isha. After Isha even taraveeh our late-night special congregational prayers which involve reading long portions of the Qur’an, as well as performing many rakahs is completed at home. Thus, making it a very different Ramadan for us all.

Our day ends at about 12 midnight after which we try to get some sleep before waking up for dawn again.

This goes on for 29 to 30 days and Eid is celebrated at the end of Ramadan.

I hope you enjoyed our typical day while fasting in Ramadan and captured the blessings associated with it.