Casually sleeping through the hunger...

So as many of my fellow Muslims know, Ramadan is sneaking up on us rather quickly. This year [2019] the first day of Ramadan is anticipated to be on the 6th of May.  Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, so it’s very important for every able Muslim to participate.  During this holy period, one is to fast from sunrise to sunset everyday of this month. That’s right, no food, no water, nothing. 

So basically, the point of Ramadan, other than representing the first revelation of the Quran, is to remember how fortunate one is and to remember not to take what we have for granted. It’s a way to humble people and remind us that when it all comes down to the basics, we are all the same. During this month, Muslims are also supposed to be charitable.  This could be done by donating clothes, supplies, or preparing and giving food to those who are less fortunate. 

Every year, most of my family members (younger brothers can’t handle it quite yet) fast and when it comes time to break our fast, we eat together as a family. Under normal circumstances, we don’t usually eat together, it's more like every man for himself. 

The food is at its best during Ramadan. My mom likes to prepare traditional meals and because we’ve all been fasting all day, everything tastes that much better. Generally, once it’s time to break one’s fast, we do so by first eating a date, drinking some water, and finally reciting a prayer to thank Allah for his blessings and our meal then proceed to eat. 

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Normally, I skip breakfast, eat lunch around 5pm and dinner around 10pm or so. I'm a huge night owl so I snack A LOT in the very late hours of the night/early morning. So, I don’t generally have a problem with not eating for a while...UNTIL I know that I can’t eat. Once I’m not supposed to do something, it makes me want to do it that much more. That being said, during Ramadan, ALL I can think about is food. Counting down the hours. And before I knew it, I found myself staying up ‘till 11am and sleeping ‘till 8pm waking up just in time to break my fast. Basically, I became a vampire. And I realize that sounds like cheating, but hey, I stop eating around 5am and for me, that's still way too early considering I’m not ready for bed yet.

Please enjoy this actual footage of me sleeping my hunger away...