TUESDAY 12th MARCH 2024
The 4am alarm was an unwelcome start to the first day of Ramadan but I’m sure it’ll soon just become a habit throughout the month, and by April I’ll be jumping out of bed to chug the biggest glass of water and eagerly eat the fruit salads I’ve been meal prepping for suhoor. Today was not that day. Is a prayer complete if you get to the part on the floor and you might have micro dozed for a few seconds? I don’t know.
I’m about to admit something that might cause a little bit of judgement; I struggle with prayer. I wasn’t brought up in a religious household, so prayer was a completely new concept to me. Other than the odd ducking of my head during assembly in Primary School and the few Church weddings I’ve been too, it’s just not been a part of my life. When I met my husband and began the journey of conversion, prayer was something I had to learn, and it’s not easy. Salat (prayer) is one of the five pillars of Islam and a huge part of the faith. A lot of Muslims pray five times a day and complete extra prayers during Ramadan. I’m lucky to have lovely in-laws who are always available for advice and are happy to slow things down when I fall behind. This Ramadan I’m trying to improve my knowledge and practice. I’ll be honest when I say I’m not feeling brave enough to bring my janamaz (prayer mat) to work, but hopefully I’ll get there this month.
We made the early start a little more bearable by opening the Ramadan calendar we’d hung on the wall and filled with sweets.
Heading into work I was feeling pretty good about fasting and I refused the offer of a cup of coffee with only a slight look of longing. We had a classic conversation of, “no, not even water” and went about the day with only the odd pang of hunger. It’s much easier fasting at work when you’re busy than at the weekend, it really makes you realise how food-oriented weekends are. My husband has a horrible habit of declaring things like “just 7 hours, 58 minutes and 19 seconds to go” which only leads to hangry glares from the entire family.
I was dreading standing on the bus at the end of a long day of fasting, but one of my colleagues offered me a lift home and soon I was napping on the couch to make up for the lost sleep from suhoor and Fajar this morning. I awoke to a key in the lock and a panicked voice shouting “it’s in 10 minutes!” meaning it was time to get up, perform wudu and get ready to complete Maghrib (what should be the 4th prayer - I’m getting there). Prayers are made up of rakats (units of prayers) and Maghrib has 3 rakat Fard, 2 rakat Sunnah and 2 rakat Nafl- so it can take a while.
It's traditional to break the fast with a date and a glass of water. We also made rose sharbat using concentrated rose syrup and milk (you can also use water). This is a drink that Muslims who fast in hotter countries often use to cool down and hydrate. This obviously isn’t an issue in Manchester, but it tastes like Turkish delight and is delicious (squeeze of lemon is optional - but recommended)
After a day of fasting you assume you’ll eat a huge dinner and snack all evening, but you find when it comes to iftar (evening meal used to break your fast) you’re not that hungry and I can often only manage a small plate. As the month continues, a loss in appetite is quite common as our eating patterns and habits shift. Ketosis might seem like a modern health and weight loss tactic, but we’ve been doing it for ages through Ramadan!
