The Month of Forgiveness

Muhammad, peace be upon him, states that “Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking, well be rewarded for all his past sins by God”. Refraining from food and drinks is not the only part of the fast during Ramadan. Muslims fast to sanitize the soul, pray more, help homeless people, and to get closer to God. I have fasted since I was almost eight years old, so I don’t usually get tired or weak from it. Even though I started about eleven years ago, now I am in the U.S., and I am having a hard time practicing it the way my family does in Saudi Arabia. Now that I am here in Chicago, I have had to give up most of my Saudi Arabian lifestyle, and I have nostalgia for my Ramadan culture of Saudi Arabia.

When I used to practice Ramadan in Saudi Arabia, it was easy because everybody there was fasting and experiencing it as a holy month. In Saudi Arabia, everyone is Muslim. In the U.S., most are not, so of course everyone eats and drinks water and ice drinks in front of me during the hot summer months. Therefore, I often feel thirsty and hungry, but I can’t eat because I am fasting. Also, when I was in Saudi, I used to practice my prayers on time, but here in Chicago I usually attend summer school, and the long hours do not let me pray on time.

Undoubtedly, Ramadan has two main meals, the first one is breakfast, Iftar, and it has to be eaten at the time of sunset. It cannot be perfect without the special food, drinks, and sweets that mothers make especially for this holiday. For example, Samposa is a special kind of dough, and inside of it there is ground beef with a special seasoning, tomato, and onion. All this special food makes the breakfast unique and delicious. The best thing about Iftar time is that the whole family is connected and sits to eat together. While here in the U.S.  I live with my brother. Since it is just the two of us, we cannot eat these things because we don’t know how cook or to make anything good like this. Consequently, I miss all that delicious food and drinks, and I miss the atmosphere during meal time with the whole family.

More importantly is the second meal, which is dinner, sahur, and it has to be before dawn. They have to eat and drink a meal with a lot of protein and healthy ingredients to make up for the food that we cannot eat during the next day. When I was in Saudi, my parents woke me up, so I could have sahur before the prayer. However, in Chicago I cannot wake myself up because I have summer school. The time will be late for me to wake up and have sahur. Also, when I was in Saudi, sahur was already made by my mom, but in Chicago I will have to cook by myself and I tend to be lazy. Thus, I don’t wake up so I’m usually starving the next day.

  Ramadan is a spiritual month where forgiveness opportunities increase and people become more connected to their family and especially to God. What is lost in translation for me is that I miss having Iftar and sahur with my family. I miss all kinds of the delicious food and drinks that my mom makes. I also miss giving food and drinks to homeless people before Iftar, so by doing that I might get more forgiveness and virtue from God. Since moving to the U.S., I have been trying to balance between my new Chicago life and fasting, and I have been somewhat successful due to my faith.