Ramadan 2014

June 17th Kealy and I attended an informative session at the Fanar about Ramadan.  Most Westerners take off for the summer, especially during Ramadan, however, since we will be here for the majority of it I really wanted to learn what all the fuss is about!

Ever since we've moved here I've heard many positives and negatives regarding Ramadan.  "There's nothing to do.  The traffic is bad.  The traffic is much improved!  You'll hate it.  You'll love it.  And on and on...."

I will say that I learned a lot from the session at the Fanar and I hope to share some of what I learned, and our experience of our first Ramadan, with you over the next few weeks.

Here's some info for starters!

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, lasting approximately 29-30 days based on the sighting of the crescent moon.  Calendars estimate the date and then the actual date is publicly announced once the moon has been sighted.  If you look at a calendar it probably states that Ramadan started at sundown on Friday, June 27th, however, they did not see the moon that evening, so it was moved back a day!

I find Ramadan to be similar to the Lenten season for Catholics.  It is a period of fasting, and drawing nearer to God.  Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Qur'an during this time.  Fasting is mandatory unless you are sick, traveling, very young, very old, pregnant or breastfeeding.  However, if you are able to make up the fasting days at another time during the year you are asked to do so.  Fasting begins at dawn (fajr) and the fast is broken at sunset (maghrib).  

During Ramadan it is illegal to consume food, drink water, or even chew gum in public!  The majority of restaurants and shops are closed from around 12-7:30PM.  Lucky for our Burns & Mac workers we've organized a lunch rotation where each person will host a lunch at their apt or villa for all of the Burns & Mac employees (roughly about a dozen).  They aren't even allowed to have any drinks at their desk, and they have to sneak into an office to have a drink or a snack.

This should be an interesting few weeks, but to be honest, I plan on using this time to do some fun activities with the kids (at home of course) and to enrich my own faith and perhaps a little fasting wouldn't hurt either!!