Originally published in Duluth News Tribune I was starving. I hadn’t eaten for almost 17 hours. And finally, when I got to eat, it felt so good. That’s how I completed my fast last Friday. More than 1 billion Muslims are fasting these days because it is the holy month of Ramadan. Fasting is obligatory for all healthy adult Muslims from sunrise to sunset for the whole month. Though I am not an...
Originally published in Loudoun Times Mirror Muslims across the world will be celebrating Eid-ul-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice). This occasion requires Muslims to sacrifice an animal in which one-third of the meat is given to the poor, one-third is given to the neighbors and one-third is kept for the household. As an American Muslim, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all...
Originally published in Indiana Gazette It is July, and, as most of the nation enjoys summer, the Muslim world is enthralled in the spirit of sacrifice and humility as it passes through the holy month of Ramadhan. In Ramadhan Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. The spiritual and mental benefits of fasting are evident, but many are misled to believe that fasting deprives the body of health...
Originally published in Akron Beacon Journal As an American living in America, I take many things for granted, such as the basic needs of food and water. During Ramadan, the holy month of Islam, Muslims take a spiritual journey while fasting from sunrise to sunset. This allows Muslims to get a much better understanding of what the poor around the world experience. Not only does it create...
Originally published in Minnesota Daily “Wait, so why do you have to starve yourself?” is the question I would always get during Ramadan at my school. I would have to explain that keeping away from food is only a part of the fast. During Ramadan, which began July 8 this year, Muslims turn away from food as a means to detach themselves from the physical world. Doing so allows us to focus on...
Originally published in The Oshkosh Northwestern The Islamic month of Ramadan started last week. Ramadan is the month of fasting. Fasting is when you don’t eat or drink from dawn to sunset. Sick people, traveling people, and kids are allowed to skip fasting to a time when they are able to. If one cannot fast at all, then at least one should arrange food for a poor and needy person...
Originally published in Santa Barbara Independent The atmosphere feels a bit different at 3:50 a.m. Hot summer days are suddenly cooled by the solitude this time of the night creates. Not only are many people at this hour awakening from a drunken stupor, but during the month of Ramadan, 1.3 billion Muslims in the world are awakening to pray and eat before their fast. Muslims throughout the...
Originally published in The Oshkosh Northwestern Starting July 10, as the Islamic month of Ramadan rolls around, I know I will get questions like “So how long do you have to go without food?” or “Do you have to fast if you are sick or young?” but it is the “I can’t eat or drink anything, not even water” comment that usually gets the most...
Originally Posted on The Huffington Post If you know a Muslim, you are sure to have heard about Ramadan and the tradition of fasting in Islam. Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic calendar. Millions of Muslims across the country and many more across the world will spend the month fasting. Even though it is singular in its details, the practice of fasting as a form of spiritual...
IF YOU know a Muslim, you are sure to have heard about Ramadan and the tradition of fasting in Islam. Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic calendar, and it began Aug. 1 in the United States. Millions of Muslims across the country and many more across the world will spend the month fasting. Even though it is singular in its details, the practice of fasting as a form of spiritual...