Ramadan Challenges Islamic Faithful to Discipline that Can Last All Year
EsinIslam
Ramadan
Ramadan Explorer
Postandcourier
Dr. Reshma Khan admits that Ramadan's daily fasting, especially going without
her beloved caffeinated tea, has its challenges. But that is precisely the
point.
Islam's holiest month of the year, which lasts through Aug. 7, celebrates the
Koran's revelation to Mohammed. It challenges the faithful to resist
temptations, including food and water, but also immoral behaviors, and to
immerse themselves in prayer and religious study.
The idea: If one can sustain such spiritual and physical discipline for a
month, one can maintain it throughout the year.
''It's like an intensive crash course,'' says Khan, an OB-GYN and Mount
Pleasant mother of three. She compares it to a doctor taking an educational
course and applying the content long after the class is over.
Besides, fasting from roughly 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Charleston is far easier
than in, say, Britain where daylight lasts for several hours longer each day.
And after the first few days of fasting, you get used to it, Khan says.
More importantly, Ramadan's emphasis on prayer and Koran study opens a deeper
spiritual connection to God that overrides hunger and thirst, she adds.
Ramadan also calls for self-reflection and added discipline over acts such as
holding one's tongue and thinking more deeply about how to treat others, in
keeping with Islam's emphasis on charity, notes Khan, who recently opened a
nonprofit gynecology clinic for women in Mount Pleasant called the Shifa Free
Clinic.
''You are doing this for God,'' Khan says. ''It's all about how much better
your faith is at that point. It is God consciousness. Because God told me to
do this, it is good for me.''
Considered one of the Five Pillars of Islam, Ramadan's month of fasting from
dawn to sunset is observed by Muslims worldwide.
Khan and her family typically partake in a post-sunset meal, prayer and Koran
study each night of Ramadan. Then, all but her younger two children rise a few
hours earlier than normal and follow a similar tradition before sunrise when a
new day's fasting begins.
Her oldest child, 11-year-old Ameen, is in the middle of his second year of
full fasting. Generally, children are encouraged to fast after puberty. But
the sixth-grader chose on his own to participate with Khan and her husband,
Dr. Ahsan Khan, a nuclear medicine specialist.
Their younger children, ages 9 and 6, fast for shorter periods as they choose
and are able.
''We try to keep it very simple and focus on prayers and our understanding of
the Koran,'' Khan says. ''I am thankful God has given me the strength to do
it.''
Ramadan, which this year runs from July 8 to Aug. 7, is familiar and welcome
territory for Khan, who grew up Muslim. But it can present challenges for new
converts.
Brian Buzby of South Boston, Mass., had a splitting headache the first day of
Ramadan from caffeine withdrawal and mild dehydration. Yet, he loved the late
night prayers at a mosque, when a portion of the Koran is recited each night,
and stayed long afterward talking with friends. Then he returned home to his
apartment and opened the refrigerator again.
''I don't even go to sleep before suhoor,'' the 30-year-old student told a
small group of fellow converts gathered at the Islamic Society of Boston
Cultural Center last week, referring to the 3 a.m. predawn meal. ''I go home
and I keep eating.''
A burst of laughter; their teacher, Hossam Al-Jabri, smiled.
''We're still in the beginning,'' he said. ''But Ramadan will just keep
throwing beautiful things at you.''
Fasting is a physical challenge. And non-Muslim family, friends and colleagues
are not always quick to see its purpose or benefits.
Boston's largest mosque, the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, has
been working to help converts enjoy Ramadan and navigate its tougher terrain.
The imam, William Suhaib Webb, is particularly attuned to issues facing
converts: He is one.
''Twenty-nine or 30 days, you think about it, man, it's intense,'' Webb said.
''And you feel so much better spiritually, you are really more sensitive to
people around you.''
Getting the hang of fasting, a gesture of solidarity with the poor and a way
of focusing on the nonmaterial world, was a challenge for some at first.
Leanne Scorzoni, who was raised Catholic and recently converted, fainted at
work the second day of Ramadan, despite her carefully planned suhoor of a bowl
of oatmeal, water, Gatorade, Pedialyte, a hard-boiled egg, a banana, and a
Flintstone vitamin.
Yet, after two days of fasting, many converts reported feeling exhilarated.
''I feel like I had a lot of energy from the excitement,'' said Jenna Laib, a
math teacher from Somerville, Mass. ''I felt really uplifted.''
Al-Jabri advises his students to be patient.
''The most memorable part of Ramadan is not a challenge but rather the
spiritual journey,'' he said. ''The feeling for many of them at the end of the
month is, ‘I wish there were two months of Ramadan.' ''
EsinIslam
Ramadan
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