Ramadan is the holy month in which Muslims around the world fast from dawn to dusk. I have personally started partaking in Ramadan since I was 11; for the majority of the years that I fasted, they either occurred during the summer, or at the very end of the school year, in which I would be in an environment where most of the people around me would also fast. Nevertheless, this is the first Ramadan that I have spent in an environment, where people don’t know much about fasting that occurs during Ramadan. It is very common for me to be asked by bewildered non-Muslims: you can`t eat/drink anything? Not even water? For the whole day?! What is the point of Ramadan anyway? Ramadan has two points: firstly, it is a test of faith for all Muslims, how far would some of us go in order to believe the word of God, and to what extent would we obey what He tells us to do?

Secondly, it is to make us realise what we have and to cherish it. Although I may jokingly complain about my hunger with my friends, I would feel ashamed to genuinely complain about fasting. Here I am, blessed with so much, how could I have the nerve to complain, when boys my age are struggling to survive in other parts of the world? Ramadan also makes a crucial point, to empathise with those who would give anything to have what I have. This is why I fast, and this is why Ramadan is a very important event to me and my religion.

Ramadan Moubarak!

by Adam Kallali