I shouldn’t be talking as I have it much, much easier than the people who have terrible work hours that make 9-5 look like a walk in the park. But I wonder if these people are making more of fasting than it really is.
I just keep hearing a lot–and I mean a lot–of talk about the days being so long here. Hesham A. Hassaballa’s New York Times article “The Joys and Sorrows of Ramadan” is an article that to me is little more than a lament over the difficulty of fasting in the summer. I do love the honesty of the article, but does it capture the essence of Ramadan, the part that resonates no matter what time of the year it falls in? Hardly so.
I’ve always been a little uncomfortable at extensive discussion on the length of the days in Ramadan, and hearing of Muslims who are not fasting makes me realize why. It’s like that discourse has been stretched to the point where people are so daunted by the prospect of fasting in the summer they disavow it altogether. I am all for open conversation and for people being honest about the difficulties they face in fulfilling our obligations, but I think this is an example of how looking at a manner in only one light can be detrimental.
So are those who are not fasting not doing so because they actually are physically unable to complete it, or are they being influenced by all this discussion of the days being so long? I think it’s the latter. Things are always made into a bigger deal when they are put in words, and even more when they form the meat of a conversation.
Non-muslim friends are amazed at “how we do it,” and I have some friends repeatedly commenting on how difficult it is, how they are counting down the hours until iftar, how they almost passed out while walking to work. I get weary of such talk, and the patience I’m supposed to have in this month sometimes runs dangerously thin. Yes, the days are long. Yes, dehydration is an issue. I’m not above all these things. But do I want to talk about them? No. Does it feel natural to dwell on physical discomforts? No. There’s nothing that can be done about the length of summer days, so why labor the point? Those discomforts will always be there on some level. But because nothing can be done about them, they need to be played down.
Here’s a crazy idea: if the subject of the length of the day does come up, let’s not whine about it. Let’s instead say “Gonna be a bit of a rough one, huh? Oh well, I’m confident we’ll do well. Allah will help us maintain our sabr.” And then go on to talk about what we’re doing for Eid, or how things are at work, or the great film we’ve seen recently.
Duly seconded/ “Ameen”. I’m not sure how southern England compares with Canada day-length-wise but Allah is with the patient wherever they may be. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala accept our efforts and forgive us our shortcomings, and make the apparently difficult easy for us all. (And Ramadan Kareem to you, sister)
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Ameen. Ramadan Kareem to you too!
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Really wonderful article! I totally agree that many people are falling prey to the negative ideas floating around about summer fasts. To everyone who is afraid of fasting in the summer despite being healthy and able bodied i would strongly urge you to sincerely ask Allah SWT to make it easy for you, because my friends, easy and difficult is not inside a fast, but inside our heads. So ask Allah SWT to make it easy for you which means that He makes you perceive it as easy because everything is perception. Reality becomes reality because we give it meaning through our thoughts. I applaud you WriterlyMuslimah for being brave and bringing up this topic! May Allah SWT reward you for the work you are doing. 🙂
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I know one guy who didn’t want to fast on one day because his office was giving free lunch that day!
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Oh dear 😐
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North America? Ha, I’m glad I’m back in the US for fasting. Try UK, you start at 230am and go till 930pm.
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