This week, Talking Faith will feature four unique perspectives on Ramadan from students here in the U.S. Use the comment section below to tell us what Ramadan means to you.
Every year Ramadan seems to arrive faster and faster. It brings with it a mixture of emotions: hope for the feelings of renewed faith, nervousness for the long fasts, and excitement for the month of my mom’s delicious iftar food.
As I get ready to head into another month of fasting I think back to the first fast I ever kept (or roza, as we call it in Urdu). I was 8, and my family was visiting my relatives in Pakistan over winter break. We were in Islamabad at the time, and we would come together every night, about 20 of us in all, to have iftar. My family told me we would have a party in the evening, a roza kushai, in celebration of my first fast. The most difficult part of that day for me was preparing the food. There I was, only a few hours away from the end of the fast, willingly torturing myself with the aromas of the meal that seemed eternally far.
Somehow, I got through. Opening my first official roza with my family watching is a moment I will always remember. Everyone was so proud of me and delighted to share in my milestone. We all performed Maghrib prayers together, then my aunts and uncles gave me little presents, and finally everyone partook of the special iftar.
During this occasion, we ate the same foods we eat every Ramadan:
• A date, the universal fast opener among Muslims.
• Samosas filled with ground beef, a family favorite.
• Pakoras, vegetables dipped in flour made from ground lentils.
• Fruit chat, a Pakistani twist on fruit salad.
• Chickpeas with tomatoes, potatoes and tamarind sauce.
• Gulgula, a dessert from my grandmother’s childhood in northern India.
These Pakistani foods have inherently become associated with Ramadan. My brother always wonders why we never eat these foods at other times. I respond that we could but they wouldn’t be as satisfying.
For the last three years, all or most of Ramadan has occurred while I was at school. I would just grab dinner in the dining hall at iftar time, eating whatever was on the menu. To me it isn’t Ramadan without home, and this year I will spend it there. I’m looking forward to the daily sehris with my family, the prayers together, and the iftar parties with friends. I can hardly wait for the Chaand Raat, or the night of the moon, the last night of Ramadan and the eve of the Eid-ul Fitr holiday when friends and family gather to spot the moon, apply mehndi, and finish all the last-minute preparations for the next day’s festivities. Let the anticipation begin!
Alexandra Abboud has five years experience reporting on the legal and cultural dynamics that shape American society. At America.gov, she manages coverage of cultural diversity, the arts, education and sports. Abboud has also served as a managing editor of the State Department's eJournal USA series, producing internationally circulated publications on innovation and fighting corruption.
Comments (1)
michael william lockhart (Australia)
Location: Australia
20 October 2009 at 00:28 EDT
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The “kindest” thing I can say is that the stories on this site confirm what I have always thought, religion and “belief systems” are practiced by people who have never reached maturity and can not let go of these childish fairy stories, people are entitled to “believe” what ever they want, but! that “belief system” MUST NOT INTERFERE with other peoples lives. To often religious organizations claim the “moral high ground” (while ignoring the rape of children)and impose their will on those of us that are not interested. One other example is the practice of some women who believe that it is their rite to wander in public waring a disguise, this habit MUST be outlawed.