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Ramadan and the Simple Entertainment of Life
By Dilshad D. Ali 30/11/2001
What is it about Ramadan? Why do Muslims look forward to - and thoroughly enjoy - this special month so much? Yes, the religious and historical significance of this holy month are well known to Muslims the world over. We pray with greater faith, with a singularity of mind and body in submission to the will of Allah (SWT).
We fast, not only withholding food and drink, but also cleansing our spirit by avoiding those things that are otherwise entwined in our daily lives - television, movies, popular music, advertisements, novels, and other forms of frivolous entertainment.
But it's more than that and much more than I can express with simple vocabulary. There is this oneness, this beautiful connection we feel with our fellow Muslims. We celebrate Ramadan by spending time in prayer and bettering our spiritual self. And though we often shun familiar (and often quite unacceptable) forms of entertainment, other traditions come to center stage, creating a different and often more rewarding form of enjoyment.
When you think about it, where does real enjoyment lie? It is the time we spend with our family and friends engaging in good conversations and interesting activities. Ramadan provides the perfect opportunity for such enjoyment with the early morning
suhoor, or pre-fast meal and the evening fast-breaking meal known as iftar. For me, these two meals are more than a ritualistic part of fasting; they are a pleasure.
Many Muslim families lead busy lives these days, often with both parents working and kids occupied with school. Growing up in my family, it seemed that as we got older, we grew more self-involved and spent less time together. It wasn't selfishness, just a by-product of the times in which we live.
We woke up at different times, grabbed a cup of tea or a cereal bar and rushed off to school or work. We returned home at staggered times, and though we tried to eat dinner together every evening, sometimes it wasn't possible. Even spending quality time with friends was often difficult, with all the responsibilities of school, work and those everyday chores that had to be done.
But come Ramadan, everything always fell into place. And the busier we all were, the more we looked forward to having
suhoor and iftar together.
At my house, the suhoor meal became my father's responsibility. He would rouse the entire family and while my mother prepared herself for work (she always went very early), he would warm the food she had set out the night before. I would then stagger downstairs and we all would have a meal together in the semi-darkness.
It was a time to catch up on each other's lives, to find out what we had planned for the week, to make plans for the weekend. And it was a time for my father to teach us different things about Ramadan - the benefits of reciting certain Qur'anic verses, doing extra prayers and the like. It was a kind of family entertainment unique to Ramadan.
Iftar also became more singular as we grew older. Because my family rarely broke the fast together on the weekdays, our weekend
iftars took on special meaning. My mother would cook tasty treats - especially for the Friday
iftar - and after the maghrib (evening) prayer, we would sit down to a relaxed family meal.
During my college years at the University of Maryland, even the weekday iftars were fun. Muslim students would gather together to break fast, pray, and eat dinner provided by the Muslim Student Association (or someone's generous mother). Free food is always a draw for students, and those meals were a time for friends to catch up and have good conversation.
As I've progressed through the stages of life, these Ramadan rituals have continued to provide enjoyment. Last year, while my mother-in-law visited, she would wake early to cook fresh food for
suhoor. And she and I would make the iftar meal together, all the while enjoying each other's company. This year my husband and I break our fasts together with our son, who eats his own snacks in his high chair. It's a time for us to talk and just enjoy sitting together. We reminisce about our respective families' Ramadan traditions while creating new ones together.
It's a kind of enjoyment that gets better every year. And when Ramadan is over, and we're back to our secular forms of entertainment, I often wonder why the fun of Ramadan can't last the whole year.
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