4:30: ow. It’s early.
The deal is this: No eating, drinking, or sex between the start of Fajr and Maghrib. Fajr starts when it starts getting light, so today that means eating etc. stops a little after 5 am and resumes a bit before 8 pm. It’s a long day. Fortunately the days are getting shorter– each day is a few minutes shorter than the last, which sounds trivial but in practice it’s pretty noticeable, if only because leaving the alarm clock where it is results in more and more leisurely breakfasts, or suhoor.
My incredible powers of foresight have suggested that I’ll be a bit groggy, and I’ll have only about half an hour or so to fill up, so I did some prep last night. Boiled eggs are ready to go, and there’s a bowl of oatmeal waiting in the fridge. (Quaker 5-minute oats are a favorite because it keeps me full for a long time, but cooking time is a drag and it’s too hot to eat right away. These minutes are precious! So I made some last night.) Problem: cold oatmeal is really nasty. I mix it with some whole milk and force it down. Also on the menu: some nuts, for even more fat and protein, some fresh fruit, a bowl of cereal, and as much water as I can hold. I have a bit of indecision on the espresso. Bad: it doesn’t help with hydration, and it rules out going back to bed for a while. Good: the thought of a day without a shot makes me sad. I opt in.
5:10: eating is done. Time for wudu and Fajr.
Fajr is always a special experience– the day is peaceful and quiet, it’s a good time for reflection– but during Ramadan even more so. It’s still dark and most people are sleeping, but I know across town and across the world brothers and sisters are making salaat and starting their fasts. A-salaam-alaikum wa rahmatullah.
5:50: say stupid stuff online.
6:10: a fit of guilt prompts me to add that this is just a collection of thoughts compiled with the hope of amusing people who don’t observe Ramadan. It’s not an apologia.
Anyway. Usually my strategy is to use the early part of the day for intellectual labor, as my head is working pretty well and I’m able to get some alone time in the office. Then as it gets later I shift to easier, more routine tasks. (Many people assume hunger is the hard part. It’s usually not, at least for me. I’ll probably be hungry for a bit around lunchtime, but after that hunger is replaced by a kind of tired-and-slow feeling and anything requiring mental exertion takes a very long time.) This can be really productive because knowing that time is short makes me focus. No stupid distractions like blogging! Today isn’t an office day, though, so I’m going to do some house repair and errands before I slow down.
8:00: comfortably full, wanting a glass of ice water. Only 12 hours away! This is where one of the lessons of Ramadan manifest itself: part of the goal of fasting is to exercise control over desire and to gain some distance from bodily urges. It’s also a vivid reminder that some people have to live this way out of necessity. While this is a banal observation, prolonged hunger and thirst make it a bit more vivid.
9:30: I just woke up from a nap. I’m not yet into the fasting groove, i.e., it takes me a second to realize that food and drink are not on the agenda. Not really hungry yet, but getting there.
12:30: woohoo, hunger. The good news is I’m close (I think) to passing through the hungry phase and moving on to the spacier let’s-just-be-mellow part of the day. It’s pleasant. Unfortunately I still have a lot of paint to put on various parts of my kitchen, and I’m interested to see how the fine motor skills hold up.
Vance asks if I’m fasting where a lot of other people are fasting. Not really. It’s definitely a minority thing, so the daily routines around me are just as they were yesterday. For me this adds a note of conspiratorial enjoyment, since most people aren’t on on this. On the other hand, there’s a decent-sized Muslim community here, which is a help. Ramadan is, of course, a Big Deal, and the masjid was packed yesterday for Friday prayer, sort of like church on Easter. The thing outsiders sometimes find surprising is that people are excited for Ramadan, rather than feeling burdened. It’s an important religious duty, a time for renewal and reassessment, but it’s also a big social thing. Every night there are tarawih prayers at the masjid, and on weekends there are communal iftars. Lots of partying, such as it is. (This is less of a thing in the summer, since the fasts go on later and start earlier.) So there’s excitement in the air. (Running joke in my household: any sort of crowd or traffic is attributed to Ramadan, e.g., if I’m caught in rush hour it’s because people are all going to the masjid; if the stores are crowded it’s because everyone is out shopping for Eid presents, and so on.)
In Muslim-majority countries, it’s a different scene, since everyone is fasting. For example, I have some friends doing Umrah during Ramadan, and the hotels they’re staying in will have big buffets set up for suhoor and iftar. Cool in a different way.
1:00: almost zuhr time. Whoa-whoa, halfway there, etc.
2:30: safe to say my most productive hours are behind me. I’m not uncomfortable, I’m just a little foggy and listless. (It took me about two minutes to think of “listless,” for example. Had this been a work day, the writing and article-reading would be done, but I’d be ok to teach– I hope!– or talk to students. I’m sure this says something about the woeful state of higher ed, but there it is.) Today is harder than most because it’s a new routine and I haven’t adjusted to the sleep schedule yet, but I’m feeling good. (Predicted arc of the month: harder at first while getting adjusted, then easier as I get used to the schedule and the days get shorter, then getting harder again as it all catches up to me.)
I should add that there are all sorts of regulations on the fasting requirement. Pregnant or nursing women, people who are ill, and I think people who are traveling are prohibited from fasting (though fasting during travel might be optional, I’m not sure), and it’s fine to skip fasting if it interferes with your job or some important duty. For example, I’m going to a conference in a few weeks, and I’ll eat normally during those days and then make them up after Ramadan. In general the rules are really sensible, and it’s considered sort of poor form to fail to take advantage of them. (It’s also poor form to bug people about fasting, to criticize them if they eat or drink something in front of you, or to generally be a pain about it, since it’s not your business and you don’t know if they have a good reason not to fast.)
3:00: I am so getting in the zone. Doing relatively mindless stuff also passes the time, and there’s a lot of it, since I’m not fixing any food. But I can’t bring myself to paint more right now. I’m doing white trim next to light walls, and distinguishing the wall color from white primer and white paint is messing with my eyes. Alhumdulillah, blogs!
Did you know that Jasmine Fiore’s body was identified by her breast implants? I did not. Who knew those things had serial numbers?
Wow, I’m glad I spent time on the internet. But I hadn’t seen this yet. Great, our black Kenyan Muslim president explains it better than I can. (“Black Muslim” is sort of a tricky term, by the way, since it might mean someone into the so-not-Orthodox Nation of Islam or a regular muslim who “just happens to be black.”)
5-ish: asr time! Or if you want a video of some dude making salaat, here.
The asr prayer is four rakah, four cycles of more or less the same thing. (Fajr is two rakah, zuhr and asr are four, maghrib is three, and isha, the night prayer, is four.) Each rakah starts with a recitation of al Fatihah, the first surah of the Qur’an, and then a surah of your choice. In this video, he recites surah al-Asr in the first rakah, then, in the second, he does surah al-Iklas, which the Prophet Muhammed [saws] said is equal to one-third of the Qur’an. It’s sort of like doctrinal primer: “Say: God is one/the uncaused cause of all that exists*/He begets not nor is he begotten/and nothing can be compared to Him.” al-Ikhlas is one of the “four Quls,” four short surahs that begin with the word “qul,” or “say.” Because they’re short, important, and have a common visual element, they’re often reproduced in calligraphy, e.g. like this.
Not sure why I waited until now to link a salaat video, but better late than never.
*this is Asad’s translation of “al-Samad,” I think; other translations vary a lot because it’s sort of a sui generis term. Is this the only occurrence of it in the Qur’an? I should know, but don’t.
5:30-ish: DXM asks about the two calendars issue. The “hijra” calendar of which Ramadan is a month is about 9-10 days shorter than the Western calendar, so Ramadan starts earlier on the Western calendar every year. Last year, e.g., Ramadan started on Sept 1. Is this a pain in the ass in the summer, because the days are so long? Yes. What about the far, far north? Not sure.
7-ish: home stretch. Since this is a time of spiritual renewal and purification, I’ll make fun of B in the comments, not in the main post. Anyway. I feel surprisingly good. Food will taste great, but I’m not suffering. (The only time fasting really hurt is when I decided to sit in the hot sun all afternoon in order to see Obama. Not smart.)
8-ish: woohoo, food and drink! It works like this: at the start of the time for maghrib, you eat a little something (traditionally a date or two and some water, but there’s no requirement), then the prayer, then dinner.
(These prayer times are printed up in handy little charts– enter your zip code at Islamic Finder and you can get one for your area– so it’s easy to see what the timeline looks like.)
It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife, but it’s pretty hard to eat a lot after fasting. All day you think, yum, I’m going to eat a ton of food, and then not so much, you’re full after a little bit. I usually have more food before bed, but these days there’s not much time between when you start to eat and when you should be getting to bed if you want to get enough sleep before doing this all again tomorrow.
Time for dinner. Back in a bit.
10:30: so full. So tired. Up in six hours. I should have more of a closing, but you know how it is.
28 comments
August 22, 2009 at 7:58 am
Vance
No stupid distractions like blogging!
Will you be liveblogging this part too?
Slightly less trivially, are you in a place where most other people are also doing the same fast?
August 22, 2009 at 9:39 am
ben
I don’t think I ever knew that drinking was also prohibited. Cut out that coffee, man!
August 22, 2009 at 10:29 am
JPool
At least you’re in reasonably temperate North America (unless … you don’t teach in Arizona, do you?). I was always amazed at my Muslim friends in Ghana who would go through the entire sweat-drenched tropical day without water. The eating I could understand, but not drinking really blew my mind. Of course, it’s even more poignant when you head north (and then east) and enter the original desert context.
August 22, 2009 at 10:33 am
JPool
By the way, this is really interesting. I’ve heard interviews with people about fasting and evening meals and such before, but never this kind of narrative of the day as it progresses. Thanks.
August 22, 2009 at 10:47 am
Ahistoricality
I don’t think I ever knew that drinking was also prohibited.
Jewish and Muslim fasting includes abstention from fluids as well as solids. Christian fasting tends not to.
I’ve learned to ask when the doctor says they need to do a fasting test: I’d been assuming for years that it meant abstaining from drinking as well as eating, but most of the time it’s not true.
And yeah, it makes Yom Kippur a long day.
August 22, 2009 at 10:58 am
ben
I’m a terrible Jew.
August 22, 2009 at 11:33 am
dana
Whoa-whoa, halfway there, etc.
Waiting for a pray-er!
August 22, 2009 at 11:44 am
Neddy Merrill
Wait til you read about Standpipe’s fast.
August 22, 2009 at 12:10 pm
dilbert dogbert
“This is where one of the lessons of Ramadan manifest itself: part of the goal of fasting is to exercise control over desire and to gain some distance from bodily urges.”
If one wanted to really get down on controlling bodily urges one should try to get some distance from peeing or taking a dump. If one where to get a handle on those urges then, wowzzz! that is control. For me fasting (eating and and drinking) and no sex is lowering the bar quite a ways.
I think it was the use of “bodily urges” that brought on the above rant. No harm intended.
August 22, 2009 at 12:37 pm
dana
Who knew those things had serial numbers?
I did because I watch bad serial crime dramas now and then. Hardly ever! But, they are a medical implant, and you’d want a serial number on something like that.
August 22, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Vance
So d{il,og}bert, you’ve mastered all the minor bodily urges? Me, I would wilt if forced to refrain all day from biting my nails.
August 22, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Uncle Billy the Un-Cunctator
One of the great things about Ramadan is that you don’t have to eat Aunty Haddasah’s Hawaiian chicken.
Interesting:
“the word itself derived from an Arabic root rmḍ, as in words like “ramiḍa” or “ar-ramaḍ” denoting intense heat[2], scorched ground and shortness of rations.” (wikipedia, and proud of it)
August 22, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Davis X. Machina
Does Ramadan precess through the year? (I was under the impression that the Islamic calendar doesn’t intercalate) If so, what’s it like when Ramadan falls in the summer, and you live in a fairly northern latitude? (I’m thinking of the cities in Yorkshire with substantial Muslim communities…)
August 22, 2009 at 3:01 pm
dana
I’ve heard from Muslim acquaintances that in some very Northern latitudes with very little summer night, they’ll follow a saner schedule based on Mecca’s sunrise and sunset.
August 22, 2009 at 3:31 pm
bitchphd
Quaker 5-minute oats are a favorite because it keeps me full for a long time, but cooking time is a drag and it’s too hot to eat right away.
Dude. Two minutes in the microwave. One part oats to about two parts water. Throw in nuts and fruit and you’ve got yourself a good meal.
August 22, 2009 at 3:33 pm
ari
That’s sensitive, b. Maybe you could share a few more recipes during his fast.
August 22, 2009 at 3:34 pm
bitchphd
I also have to say, heathen that I am, that I think the “no water” fasting thing is just freaking stupid. Presumably back in the Jewish/Muslim day (and still in ye Middle East), it worked because everyone basically slowed the hell down and doesn’t go outside in the afternoon, kind of like how in Spain everyone takes siesta and the streets are deserted in the afternoons. But in places where one is a minority and presumably not a lazy-ass professor and therefore has a day job? Nuts.
August 22, 2009 at 3:35 pm
bitchphd
Ari, see comment I was typing while you were taking me to task.
I’m determined to really make this hard on Neddy. Because I’m racist like that.
August 22, 2009 at 4:05 pm
ben
At first I thought the title of this post reported a score: liveblogging got in a good early hit, but then Ramadan completely dominated.
August 22, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Neddy Merrill
And yet, B, many, many people make it work.
August 22, 2009 at 5:02 pm
dana
presumably not a lazy-ass professor
Of course, the man just did get tenure…
August 22, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Standpipe Bridgeplate
*this is Asad’s translation of “al-Samad,” I think
Only tangentially related, but why oh why, when producing a six-pound, glossy-paper, full-color, English/Arabic/Transliterated 2.5-lingual Qur’anic extravaganza, such as Asad’s, would you skimp out on the typesetting? Preparing your camera-ready copy in Microsoft Word tempers the effect somewhat.
Oh well, this is a minor criticism, and I mostly ordered it to get on the watch list, anyway.
August 22, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Neddy Merrill
Yeah, it’s the special charm that says “muslims– not quite having their shit together.”
August 22, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Ahistoricality
I also have to say, heathen that I am, that I think the “no water” fasting thing is just freaking stupid.
I’ve never done a Ramadan-style fast — though I do the “Fast of the First Born” before Passover — so I can’t speak to the effect, but the Yom Kippur fast is a really interesting experience. Dry throat aside, the cumulative effect of no food or water for 24 hours and the concentrated prayer, repetition and introspection of the Day of Atonement service really is quite extraordinary: after the mid-afternoon grousing (traditional, at least in my family), the concluding services are a process of intense thought and, conversely, relaxation. It takes a long time to get the mundane out of your head; it takes real effort to get past “what needs to be done now.”
As an aside, the rabbinic tradition is very clear on this point: at no time should the requirements of the fast be followed if doing so would endanger your health. Illness and infirmity exempt one from the fast (there are heartbreaking stories about the debates held in the Holocaust concentration camps over this question).
We’re not freakin’ stupid, after all.
August 23, 2009 at 2:47 am
N. ibn Merrill
There are all these funny rules against going to extremes because the early Companions had a natural tendency to get a little carried away. E.g., no you cannot stay up all night praying, or no don’t spend all day every day reciting the Qur’an, or don’t fast when it interferes with your responsibilities or health. It’s a good way of countering the temptation to think that if it’s more difficult it must be better.
We’re not freakin’ Catholics, after all.
Heart you, B!
August 23, 2009 at 6:58 am
chris y
If so, what’s it like when Ramadan falls in the summer, and you live in a fairly northern latitude?
In fairly northern England, our Muslim neighbours are getting up to eat at about. 3:00 a.m. this year. Which they are the first to admit is a bitch if you’ve got to go to work later. It will be worse next year and the year after that.
August 23, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Kaimun
Ramadhan kareem, happy ramadhan for all.
August 24, 2009 at 11:19 am
chingona
And yet, B, many, many people make it work.
Caught something on the BBC the other day about public health officials urging Muslims to be very careful with their fasting because summer, hot, blah blah blah … and I thought it kind of strange, like people haven’t been doing this for about 14 centuries without, for the most part, killing themselves.
I’ll probably be hungry for a bit around lunchtime, but after that hunger is replaced by a kind of tired-and-slow feeling
This is generally my experience with Yom Kippur, and I’ve always felt grateful that I wasn’t expected to go about my daily business while fasting. But like you said, many, many people make it work.