It was announced Friday in the mosque that the next day was the first day of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting by the Muslim faithful. Ordinarily, the preceding night back home was a moment of great excitement. But the excitement was very little in America. Life goes on as usual, no bustling and excited commotion typical of the first day of Ramadan.
My friend and I left the mosque and boarded the bus for home, doubtful about when exactly to start the fasting. Ramadan started April 2, yes, does this mean we’re to start fasting tonight and wake up with it Saturday or we should start Saturday and wake up with it Sunday? I sent a request to the imam. It was established that we should start fasting on the dawn of Saturday, that is, do our sahoor Friday.
The marked difference between fasting in America, especially in Wisconsin state, and the experience back home could be into two ways; weather and community. Both has its own advantages and lack thereof.
Back home, the blazing sunlight makes fasting hard, but you are sure of community during sahoor and iftar. The suffering fades in the face of this and the anticipated festivities for the Sallah ahead.
The Madison weather is convenient for fasting. You won’t even notice you’re doing fasting, but you’ll crave community and excitement for sahoor and iftar obtainable back home. A friend of mine, brooding and disappointed, complained that this was not the case in Pakistan. In Pakistan, everywhere is bustling. In Madison, you either visit the mosque for iftar or you do things alone in your den, except the occasional iftar that people organize and invite their friends or the community iftar at the mosque. Going to the mosque for iftar isn’t viable option for many on account of distance and transportation. I went only once and didn’t go back. Which affected the observance of my taraweeh prayer.
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| Iftar with friends |
One of the advantages of fasting in this weather is you don’t have to worry about eating heavily or being worried about thirst even if you miss sahoor. You can miss sahoor all you want and be fine. As for me, I don’t even make attempt to wake up for that. I loaded everything I want at iftar and put a bottle of water under my pillow when going to bed, which I would be drinking from throughout the night to sahoor time. A white lady friend of mine wondered aloud how I managed to pull through while others are eating. I told her “optional” hunger isn’t a problem for me and people eating in my presence won’t tempt me or make my hunger painfully acute.
I have been on food rationing and frequent fasting for almost 10 years now (for that, I am very healthy and fit). There is also no sun or physical exertion to deepen my hunger and thirst. It rains here almost every other day. If it doesn’t rain, it is mostly cold outside. On some days when I am out for work, - being only a brief contact and exposure with the element before getting to the bus or my house - I would have to soak myself in a hot Jacuzzi bath for an average of 20 minutes even if I miss drinking water for sahoor that night.
The only problem is the lonely sahoor and iftar. Oftentimes I wonder and agonize about the bountiful edibles with nobody to share with. People back home are plenty with few resources. Here, I take meat and yogurt to the trash.
The overarching challenge about having the full experience of Ramadan is your time and work schedule. For taraweeh, for instance, one needs to strike a balance and select the days that work for him. If you have less busy day on Tuesday, you can attend the prayer on Monday night. You can’t enjoy the full Ramadan experience however you wish because of what I can call the affordance factor inherent in the American-Christian-Western society.
A friend asked me about itikaf. I’m not sure anyone does that here. But you can hazard a guess yourself. You live in a society running on a calculated mechanical rhythm, with bills to pay and no room for spontaneity and whims. For you to perform and experience Ramadan the way you know it back home you may need to fix your annual leave to coincide with Ramadan period. So that you’re free from work.
Think of a bus driver or a doctor or a shop attendant or the guy at heating control center deciding to opt for itikaf. His singular act would have a far-reaching damaging consequence. Now I know community, flexibility and spontaneity are the luxury people back home enjoy that they do not even realize.
Madison, WI
