Others observing Ramadan, how are your fasts going?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's fine for me. I just stuff my face all day and lie about it. C'mon you know most of the rest of you do too. I know where you hide your stash of kit kats.

Ha-ha. Set in the movie theatre few days ago right next to the Muslim woman chewing popcorn at 6 pm. I said to her Ramadan Karim.

Uh. Maybe she was legitimately not fasting? Maybe she didn't want to fast? Why do you assume she was lying about it?

[Anonymous]

Just a random Catholic here who saw this topic and wanted to say how much I admire you guys. I'm so lame and lack any sort of self control that I can't even stick to no meat on Fridays during Lent!

[Anonymous]

Genuinely curious non- Muslim here. I am not trying to be snarky or xenophobic, but I have a couple of questions I don't feel comfortable asking the Muslims I know IRL.

First, I can see not eating anything during daylight hours (I grew up Catholic and did a more limited fast). But i do not understand the logistics of no water. I drink several quarts a day, because if I get at all dehydrated, it triggers debilitating migraines. So going 12-14 hours without water seems impossible. I would also worry about kids doing PE and not drinking in hot weather. How does that work? No water period? Are there exceptions?

Also, we have late elementary and middle school aged kids in our neighborhood and in my kids school who fast. Their parents also say that they enjoy it and want to. When I was that age and older and fasted as part of being Catholic, I absolutely did not enjoy it-- I did it because my parents made me. Do kids really "enjoy" fasting and want to do it? If so why? Or is that just something parents say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's fine for me. I just stuff my face all day and lie about it. C'mon you know most of the rest of you do too. I know where you hide your stash of kit kats.

Ha-ha. Set in the movie theatre few days ago right next to the Muslim woman chewing popcorn at 6 pm. I said to her Ramadan Karim.

Uh. Maybe she was legitimately not fasting? Maybe she didn't want to fast? Why do you assume she was lying about it?

Where did I say that she was lying about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's fine for me. I just stuff my face all day and lie about it. C'mon you know most of the rest of you do too. I know where you hide your stash of kit kats.

Ha-ha. Set in the movie theatre few days ago right next to the Muslim woman chewing popcorn at 6 pm. I said to her Ramadan Karim.

That was nice of you, unless you were being sarcastic. She may have her period. She may be traveling. She may have diabetes or some other illness that precludes fasting. She may be pregnant or nursing. There are a lot of reasons why she's not fasting. Including choosing not to. Still, Ramadan is a happy time for most Muslims. The good wishes, even if not sincere, were appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Genuinely curious non- Muslim here. I am not trying to be snarky or xenophobic, but I have a couple of questions I don't feel comfortable asking the Muslims I know IRL.

First, I can see not eating anything during daylight hours (I grew up Catholic and did a more limited fast). But i do not understand the logistics of no water. I drink several quarts a day, because if I get at all dehydrated, it triggers debilitating migraines. So going 12-14 hours without water seems impossible. I would also worry about kids doing PE and not drinking in hot weather. How does that work? No water period? Are there exceptions?

Also, we have late elementary and middle school aged kids in our neighborhood and in my kids school who fast. Their parents also say that they enjoy it and want to. When I was that age and older and fasted as part of being Catholic, I absolutely did not enjoy it-- I did it because my parents made me. Do kids really "enjoy" fasting and want to do it? If so why? Or is that just something parents say?

A lot of kids do enjoy it. Younger kids often do it just half a day. They start fasting full days in puberty. Some kids don't enjoy it. Some parents make them fast regardless. Perhaps some parents don't force a fast, I don't know.

There are exceptions for fasting, which I listed in the previous post.

[Anonymous]

I'm breastfeeding so I'm not fasting. I go to Iftar every night with dh and my 4 month old. My son loves it! The Iftar volunteers at my neighborhood mosque have been really grouchy. It seems a bit strange to be volunteering if you're going to be rude to people . (especially new Muslims ).This Ramadan I'm trying to find more positive friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's fine for me. I just stuff my face all day and lie about it. C'mon you know most of the rest of you do too. I know where you hide your stash of kit kats.

Ha-ha. Set in the movie theatre few days ago right next to the Muslim woman chewing popcorn at 6 pm. I said to her Ramadan Karim.

Uh. Maybe she was legitimately not fasting? Maybe she didn't want to fast? Why do you assume she was lying about it?

Where did I say that she was lying about it?

Oh, I thought it was implied from the post you were responding too. I misread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a random Catholic here who saw this topic and wanted to say how much I admire you guys. I'm so lame and lack any sort of self control that I can't even stick to no meat on Fridays during Lent!

Thanks for the kind words. I was really scared about these long summer fasts, and I'm surprised by how quickly my body has adjusted. It's not too bad, thankfully!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Genuinely curious non- Muslim here. I am not trying to be snarky or xenophobic, but I have a couple of questions I don't feel comfortable asking the Muslims I know IRL.

First, I can see not eating anything during daylight hours (I grew up Catholic and did a more limited fast). But i do not understand the logistics of no water. I drink several quarts a day, because if I get at all dehydrated, it triggers debilitating migraines. So going 12-14 hours without water seems impossible. I would also worry about kids doing PE and not drinking in hot weather. How does that work? No water period? Are there exceptions?

Also, we have late elementary and middle school aged kids in our neighborhood and in my kids school who fast. Their parents also say that they enjoy it and want to. When I was that age and older and fasted as part of being Catholic, I absolutely did not enjoy it-- I did it because my parents made me. Do kids really "enjoy" fasting and want to do it? If so why? Or is that just something parents say?

I was worried about the water thing too. Technically, no water. People who take medications usually don't fast, but some will just drink water with their meds and still fast (depends on the issue). People who get migraines or other issues when fasting are not required to fast. Illness is an excuse from fasting. There are other ways to observe Ramadan, do good, give to the less fortunate, etc.

I definitely enjoyed it as a child. My parents didn't let me do full day fasts until I was 11 or 12 and even then I wasn't allowed to do it everyday because they thought it would be too much. A lot of kids do "half day" fasts, fasting after lunch or something like that, so they can participate. The month is so much about sharing your experiences that you feel left out when you're not fasting, so I can understand the enthusiasm children feel. I remember having a hard time getting into the spirit of the month when I wasn't fasting due to pregnancy/nursing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm breastfeeding so I'm not fasting. I go to Iftar every night with dh and my 4 month old. My son loves it! The Iftar volunteers at my neighborhood mosque have been really grouchy. It seems a bit strange to be volunteering if you're going to be rude to people . (especially new Muslims ).This Ramadan I'm trying to find more positive friends.

Maybe they're hungry and cranky as a result. Maybe they feel overly burdened because they don't feel others are equally sharing the load. Maybe they're the martyr types. In all likelihood, it's all three.