I often receive inquiries about Ramadan and fasting, and recently a white Maine student asked me about my favorite part of Ramadan. Surprisingly, many of my favorite experiences are not directly related to the religious significance of the month for Muslims.
I began observing the Ramadan fast at the age of 8, even though fasting isn’t required until age 15. All of my friends at the time also fasted for nearly 12 hours a day, or at least fasted in public and drank water in private. I did it many times. For us, fasting was a fun activity, and I remember at age 14 feeling like I had fallen behind my friends because I got sick and couldn’t fast for a few days. Those days still haunt me.
Abdi Nor Iftin is a Somali-American writer, radio journalist and public speaker. He lives in Yarmouth. He can be contacted at noriftin@gmail.com.
For children growing up in Somalia, Ramadan was a time when we were expected to be more mindful of our behavior. We were supposed to avoid arguments, fights with friends, going out with girls and even swimming, as swallowing ocean water could break the fast. It was my experience, however, that despite these rules, many children of the Islamic faith did everything they could to have fun during the 30 days of Ramadan. My friends and I did, enjoying ourselves until sunset signaled the end of each day’s fast.
I played more soccer during Ramadan than any other time of year. Islam doesn’t specifically mention soccer, and Islamic scholars have different opinions about what games people can play during Ramadan, but my friends and I never missed the chance to divide into two teams and play on the runway of the nonfunctioning Mogadishu International Airport until it was time to break the fast. We also played card games and mancala.
At night, we prayed whenever we felt like it. Ramadan prayers are special, and those with the best recitation of the Qur’an would lead the many hours of prayer. There were mosques on every corner in Mogadishu, and when all the prayers began, it felt like the entire city was listening to the angels. The sounds of prayer in Mogadishu are what I miss the most; I haven’t heard them since I left 13 years ago. During Ramadan, my friends and I would quit prayers and go outside to have fun when the full moon coincided with the month. Despite the civil war, we played games like hide and seek and sang songs.
Even though as children, we didn’t fast to please God or our parents but to be cool and resilient with our friends, we did do two things consistently. We were extremely kind – to our family members, neighbors and even strangers – and we volunteered to help mosques set up mats for prayers.
While Ramadan is one of the most important pillars of Islam, and fasting is mandatory for every healthy adult, I like to explain Ramadan through my personal experiences of fun activities, spending time with friends and playing under the moonlight. It’s important to share our own experiences of Ramadan, even if they don’t directly relate to religious teachings. This is my ninth Ramadan in Maine, and things are different here – the fasting hours are long, and there are no minarets in the mosques.
But I still cherish the happy memories of my past Ramadans, when breaking the fast at sunset was a moment of joy and victory for us.
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