Ramadan

I’ve known that Ramadan is a time of fasting for Muslims. I’ve had many Muslim patients. I have seen and heard various things about what they are allowed and not allowed, such as they cannot have their blood drawn during the fasting time. I have heard that if you cannot fast you can “pay” the poor to fast for you – which I think the better interpretation of that is that you can give money to the poor in place of fasting. But living in a Muslim country and experiencing Ramadan from a much closer view is very interesting.

What is Ramadan? Well, it’s the time when the Prophet Muhammad met with the angel Gabriel and they went into the desert and started writing the Qur’an. Why it’s a month long, I don’t know because it took the Prophet Muhammad 23 years to write the Qur’an – it was finished writing when he died.

Ramadan is a time of reflection, doing nice things for people, understanding the poor and those that have no food, a time of charity and kindness. Ramadan is a time of controlling oneself. Fasting includes no eating, drinking, smoking, or sexual activity during the daylight hours. So the Muslims get up prior to the sun, pray, eat then fast until dusk. The breaking of the fast is called the “Iftar”. I think the fasting helps you appreciate that which you do have and what others don’t.

People decorate their houses with flashing lights around trees and of moon and stars – it’s really quite lovely and reminds me of Christmas.

Ramadan changes from year to year. It is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. It starts on the day of the new moon. Sometimes the Imams (religious leaders) don’t always agree as to the exact day of the new moon as they have to rely on their own eyes which can be a problem in a cloudy situation. It is also different from country to country. The first day of Ramadan here in Jordan was August 10th and it was either the 11th or 12th in the USA. As you can imagine, fasting in August is different than fasting in December when the days are shorter. In Jordan, the people get up about 4am to pray and eat and Iftar is about 7:35pm. We are currently experiencing a heat wave where the temperatures have gotten up to 107+ degrees.
During this time, gov’t closes at about 2pm as do banks and some businesses. Many restaurants are closed during the day. If they are open, they must pay a fee to the government to have the right to stay open. NO alcohol is sold during the month of Ramadan. The liquor stores are all closed off. I had to stock up on beer and wine before Ramadan started. Next year I will get more wine! At the time of Iftar (the breaking of the fast) many businesses close and then will reopen later in the night and stay open until 11pm or so. You are not allowed to eat or drink in public. You could be arrested for this action. Even if you are not a Muslim. I think it is to make a point.

So, as you can imagine, life changes for non Muslims also.
It is said that you should stay off the roads if possible in the late afternoon/early evening as people are tired, thirsty, hungry and haven’t had a cigarette all day and they are behind the wheel of a car. People are trying to get home or wherever they are suppose to be for Iftar. I have heard that people in the government offices start getting bleary-eyed as the day progresses. I have heard of shorter tempers and more irritability. The newspapers have articles about the heat and Ramadan and that there were over 3500 ER visits for dehydration and fasting problems in the first week of Ramadan.

When I had asked some of the locals how they felt about fasting during the month of August, some said they were used to it and since they have done it before it shouldn’t be a problem. Others say that they feel great and spiritually more alive. One lady we met in the mall admitted she was having a difficult time; her lips were all dry and cracked.

It’s been 12 days so far. We have not even reached the halfway point of Ramadan. The temperature seems to be dropping a bit. We should be going into the low 90’s this week.

Today is morning coffee with the ladies. Our usual venue is closed for Ramadan. We have found another place where we can gather for chatting. But I think everyone prefers the other place. Anyway, it’s almost 10 and I need to meet with the ladies.