Ramadan Kareem!

[DubaiSis]

Allionna, being a bit closer to the equater, sunrise and sunset at this time of year are both about 7, and doesn't change too much through the year. My understanding is the "rules" say you should follow the hours the the University of Cairo follows if you are far off of similar to Mecca. It is really quite unrealist for a Muslim in Norway, for instance, to follow actual sunrise and sunset where they are. But apparently they still do sometimes!

I went to Iftar tonight with my husband and some of his work buddies. Countries represented at our table, US, England, Australia, India, Pakistan, Italy, Sudan, and Iraq. Usually there's a Lybian and an Iranian there as well, but I guess they were at another party. There were a couple dishes I'm going to have to go in search of recipes for. They were awesome! One guy's wife, who doesn't speak English, was trying to help me with what the dishes were, while her husband translated. I told her about one of my favorite dishes, madrouba, which is a quintessentially Emirati dish. They'd never heard of it and assumed I was pronouncing it wrong because what I was saying was "beaten" in Arabic. And that's what it's called. I won't go into the recipe here, but let me tell you it is the ugliest food that is just a little bite of heaven. Or more likely lots and lots of bites.

[preciousjeni]

Regarding fasting and abstaining, I'm honestly surprised that so many people get cranky. I fast (no food/beverage) on Wednesdays until sunset and I follow Orthodox Christian abstinence guidelines on Fridays. There are other holy days and weeks throughout the year when I fast or abstain, and I try to water fast at least once a year for about a week for health reasons.

I really enjoy it and I can't be the only one! Fasting (meaning no food and no beverage) refreshes me and I guess I do it often enough that hunger doesn't bother me too much anymore.

My max thus far has been 8-9 days without food, because I do get to a point where I start feeling very nauseated. Days 1-2, I feel hungry. Days 3-9, I'm no longer hungry at all. One of these days, I'll do a 30 day water fast.

BTW, it's Wednesday today, so I haven't eaten or drunk anything yet and I feel totally normal. I still follow Orthodox abstinence guidelines on Wednesdays, which also means that my Wednesday night meal is meager.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

I really enjoy it and I can't be the only one! Fasting (meaning no food and no beverage) refreshes me and I guess I do it often enough that hunger doesn't bother me too much anymore.

Key word

I'm sure when you first started doing this you were a bit of a cranky banker on fasting days.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Key word

I'm sure when you first started doing this you were a bit of a cranky banker on fasting days.

Certainly! But, it seems that the Ramadan fasting would become less of a strain after a few days, even a week. My point is that it's surprising to me that the crabbiness and "un-Islamic behaviors" (as mentioned above) are that big of an issue.

[allionna]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Allionna, being a bit closer to the equater, sunrise and sunset at this time of year are both about 7, and doesn't change too much through the year. My understanding is the "rules" say you should follow the hours the the University of Cairo follows if you are far off of similar to Mecca. It is really quite unrealist for a Muslim in Norway, for instance, to follow actual sunrise and sunset where they are. But apparently they still do sometimes!

The rule you mentioned may be used in some places where, at times, there may not be a sunrise or sunset, but otherwise it does not really seem to be taken into consideration. In general, Muslims fast based on the timings of Fajr and Maghrib prayers. Fajr is the first prayer of the day, which is about an hour before sunrise. Maghrib is the 4th prayer of the day, which takes place around sunset. Muslims in the New England area are fasting around 16 hours, from ca. 4 am until a little after 8pm. I have friends and relatives in Europe that are fasting up to approx. 17 hours depending on where they live. Also, depending on where you live, the start of Ramadan and the prayer times are based on different societies / councils. Ramadan is marked by the sighting of the new moon. In otherwords, when you can just see a slight sliver of the moon. In the US, generally the rules of the Islamic Society of North America are followed. Many times they choose to follow calculations of when the new moon will be seen, rather than waiting to see if someone physically sees the moon in North America.

As for the crankiness mentioned in other posts, the first few days are the hardest, but it gets better. In my case, the limited sleep affects me more than the not eating or drinking anything. The last prayer of the day is around 9:45pm these days, so I don't get to bed until 10-10:30 and I have to be up and finished eating around 4am. I have a hard time falling asleep after eating in morning and have to get up around 7am to get ready for work. As a result of getting up to eat, I miss out on sleep. I am not always the nicest person when I am tired, but I adjust to the change in my sleeping pattern by taking naps at lunch and taking my lunch later in the day when I know I am more likely to be irritable.