What does Ramadan mean to you?
Ramadan to me means a lot of different things, Ramadan isn’t just about fasting from sunrise till sunset with no water or food as many believe but rather is a big umbrella covering all sorts of aspects Muslims should be fasting from during and after the month of Ramadan including bad habits such as smoking, drinking, gossiping and other poor habits that do more harms than good. 

Ramadan to me is very important is like a recharge month where I reflect both spiritually and mentally, where I seek knowledge from the Quran, and I try my best to develop as a person by quitting my poor habits and instead creating and maintaining good and healthy habits going forward, and not just for the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is an important month where I mostly reflect and meditate a lot about all things I should be grateful for in my life, from the smaller things to the big things, and how things I usually take for granted in life might not be something so given to someone else, hence why I should always be thankful for anything in this life, no matter how small or big these things are!

I have always found it commendable when people from different backgrounds and cultures take approaches to educate themselves about important events of different cultures and religions in order to be informed. Ramadan is the 4th out of the 5 Pillars of Islam and the 9th month of the Islamic Lunar calendar and also the best month of the year for many Muslims worldwide! Is the month where the Quran was revealed and also the month where you count your blessings, reflect a lot and most importantly ask Allah (our God) for forgiveness. Muslims are expected to fast during the month of Ramadan to better understand what poor people are going through daily and how we should always be thankful for anything we have in our lives, family, shelter, food, health and all those things sometimes we usually take for granted when in fact we shouldn’t.

Ramadan is the month when any good deeds are multiplied and the door of hells are closed. There is also a special night called Laylatul Qadr that is better than 1000 months and happens to be during the last ten days of Ramadan which mark the anniversary of when the Quran was first revealed. During this precious month, Muslims worldwide are expected to fast from water and food from sunrise till sunset, make a lot of Dua’as (prayers), help the poor, give charity and help out others (although this is also expected for us to do regardless of what month of the year is it!). Most importantly Ramadan is when most Muslims ask Allah for forgiveness and improve their character by letting go of any bad habits and switching them with good habits going forward.

How can allies be supportive to those who celebrate this cultural event?

There are many ways allies can be supportive of those who perform Ramadan, for instance:

- Ask questions! We love people being interested in what we are doing, in fact, we prefer and love people asking questions because they would like to know rather than making their assumptions, which usually happens to be far from reality!

- Understand that we absolutely do NOT mind people eating and drinking in front of us while we fast. It is our choice to fast therefore you shouldn’t be feeling uncomfortable drinking/eating in front of us, but please do avoid saying things like “I should fast too, I need to lose this weight, etc.” as losing weight is definitely NOT the purpose of why Muslims fast

- Understand that at times, especially during the late afternoon or just before sunset our energy won’t be 100%, and at times we prefer to remain quiet and preserve our energy not because we want to be disrespectful but maybe because we are not as 100% energised as during the day but rather we might feel slightly exhausted later in the day, although we still enjoy chatting and talking to you.

- If you know a person who is Muslim but does not fast during the month of Ramadan, understand that there are various reasons why a person might not be fasting. For example, women are not expected to fast during their period, if pregnant, breastfeeding, experiencing health-related issues or taking medications. The same applies to men if they are taking medications or unable to fast due to other personal reasons then it is not expected of them to fast, and this is also okay. However, what is expected of these individuals who do not fast during this month, is to provide food for the poor instead and make up for it another time when/if they can.

- If you know someone who has been smoking, not wearing the hijab, not praying regularly or committing other poor habits, however during the month of Ramadan they decided to start praying, wearing the hijab and performing other good habits it is okay to ask why they are doing so, but please don’t judge or make comments to why they only decided to perform these good habits only during the month of Ramadan. This is because you never know why they start doing so and this might be the start of their new journey where they cut out bad habits, so making comments or remarks regarding their performance, will probably make more harm than good.

- If you are an organisation or a person in charge of an organisation, allowing flexibility in working patterns as well as allowing your Muslim colleague to perform their daily prayers would be a great initiative to show your allyship. Perhaps offer your Muslim colleagues the chance of flexibility within their working hours, as many will not be eating/drinking some might prefer not to take their break and carry on working, therefore, having the chance of logging off early would be a huge help, and the same applies for starting a later shift and staying behind. If the work duties can be performed from home then allowing your Muslim colleagues to occasionally WFH would be again a huge help! 

Furthermore, understand that the Eid (end of Ramadan)

is unknown to us, Muslims cannot determine when the start/end of Ramadan is, and this is because the Islamic calendar is lunar and fluctuates. When it begins is determined by the appearance of the new moon and that is also the reason why the exact dates vary from year to year, so the organisation can understand and accommodate this, if possible, would help.

What does a typical Eid look like for you?

A typical Eid celebration consists of waking up, taking a shower, and performing “Ghusl” which is a form of purification and wearing your best outfit! In the morning the whole family gathers, great each other and sends blessings to each other by saying ‘Eid Mubarak’. We then go to the mosque, give our Sadaqa (which is the charity given at the end of Ramadan) and pray the traditional end-of-Ramadan prayer. 

Once home from the mosque, family and friends usually come over to celebrate together and we usually have a big breakfast together. There is a lot of talk, blessings and reflection on how the month of Ramadan has been for everyone, as a well as lot of gratitude for being able to celebrate another year of Ramadan. During the day the boys are usually outside playing, the men are also outside making sure the BBQ isn’t burning while the girls are either changing their outfits, or catching up with relatives and the women are usually in the kitchen cooking.

The celebration continues until evening time and after dinner, everyone exchanges gifts with each other, usually the young ones receive gifts while the older ones usually receive money, but hey who’s complaining about that! Depending on what day Eid happened to be, if it’s on the weekend the family and friends usually sleep over and head home the next day however if Eid happens to be on weekdays then the guests usually head home late in the night. Eid is always been such a great day, because seeing some of your family members and friends around, all healthy, cheerful, thankful and celebrating put so much joy in your heart and you just wish moments like this would last forever!

Yes, it does! I’d say it differs for some reasons, for example most of my family members including both my grandmothers and some aunties are in Senegal. I recall going on holiday to visit my Nans a couple of years back when it also happened to be Eid, although fasting under 35 – 45 degrees with no water was definitely not the preferred experience, I recall my nans keep telling us not to fast as we weren’t used to fasting in such heat weather but we did so anyway. It was probably one of the best experiences and also very rewarding. 

The celebration of Eid in Senegal is different, and I guess because most of my family members, especially from dad’s side are there also in Senegal and also Eid is classed as a bank holiday, so everyone can get together with their family and friends and enjoy their time with the traditional dishes and clothes. The Eid of 2015 in Senegal is missed, seeing all my loved ones in one place was definitely such an experience!