Ramadan roundup

The first few days of Ramadan are notable for their tell-tale signature of activity: a huge spike leading up to and including the first fast, followed by a immediate downturn that lasts a few days as everyone adjusts to the physical demands of the fast. It's only the 3rd or 4th day (depending on how you count) and we are firmly in the initial doldrums.

That said, there's a lot of Ramadan blogging going on. Ali Eteraz bemoans the abuse of language that attends any and all discourse of Islam and muslims in the post-9-11 world; it's notable that he's been guest blogging at Jewcy.com, one of the largest Jewish blogs. Ali also quotes an essay at the MidEast Monitor that tries to rebut the notion that Iran poses a threat beyond its regional ambitions; however at 'Aqoul there's yet more evidence that the drumbeat for war is building.

Focusing inwards, Shahed talks about the initial fast doldrums at Beliefnet, while sepoy reminisces about childhood Ramadan in Pakistan:

In Ramadan, Lahore lit up like one of those trick candles. Bright and shimmery. The usual rhythms of the city reversed themselves. Streets became navigable. Cranky butchers threw in an extra chop. Aunties bargained but with lips muttering silent prayers. There was less noise. More genialness. The blast of the anti-aircraft guns to signal the breaking of the fast. The mounds and mounds of dates. The fried foods and fresh fruits piled on the same table. The 7Up in Milk cold drink. The pakoras. The uncle sneaking a cigarette smoke behind the tree. The unexplained weight gain on certain people. The never-ending taraveeh. Qur’an on a loop on the telly. The fetishization of color. And an ever-growing sense of invincibility in my 14 year old self.

I don’t know about spiritual blessings but Ramadan was solely a time for me to flex my muscles. I could fast - exalted in the complete mastery over my own flesh - all day, and still play a game of cricket or squash, run countless errands, and bike to school and back. All this in the oppressive heat and humidity of July and August. Tough, doesn’t even begin to describe me.

Look Ma, no food.

Finally, it's worth noting some advice to journalists about how not to cover Ramadan, by Andrea Useem:

The point is that journalists who call up a mosque asking for sources on Ramadan are likely to interviewing the top one-percent most religious Muslims. This gives people the false impression that Muslims are extremely religious. And it’s a short jump, of course, from "extremely religious" to "fanatical."

The Washington Post manages to take Andrea's advice in a well-written story about the way in which the muslim community has been spurred to do more acts of charity towards non-muslims - fulfilling both a spiritual mandate to do good works during Ramadan, as well as serving the need to demonstrate integration into mainstream American life:

Key edicts of Ramadan, which began yesterday at sunset, are to fast and promote good conduct. The devil is said to be shackled, making it easier than during the rest of the year to perform good deeds and give charity.

Although some Muslims have always had a broad interpretation of these tenets, there has been a shift in recent years to look beyond the Muslim community for where one gives. This is the result both of a more mature Muslim American social service infrastructure and of a drive to counter anti-Muslim rhetoric since 2001, experts say.

"For decades, Muslims were internally focused, and I think September 11th accelerated the natural process of becoming more externally focused," said Ihsan Bagby, author of several studies of Muslim worship trends in the United States. "It's not like the impulse to do good is some new idea in Islam; concern for the poor, the weak is throughout the Koran. It's just that Muslims in this country hadn't implemented it very well. Now a wave is starting to form."

As another muslim quoted in the article puts it, "It seems like Muslims are coming out into the open more now, seeing ourselves as a force -- like we can make things happen if we get behind a cause." And in a very real sense, this is what Ramadan is about; an impetus to improvement, spiritual and physical, self and community. The reality of human nature is that such intensity is difficult to maintain 12 months out of the year, but at least during this one month we can strive to attain the ideal, a striving made all the more intense and sincere in the knowledge that the time is limited to do so.

Ramadan to all

Today is generally considered the first of Ramadan by most muslims, based on either moonsighting from the Middle East. I've been fasting since yesterday, however, because my community adheres to the Fatimid lunar calendar. There are actually ten different methods that muslims use to calculate the start of Ramadan - via moonsighting.com, they are:

1. Actual Sighting judged by Qadi, or Review Panel. (e.g., Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Oman, Morocco, Trinidad)


2. Moon born & moonset after sunset in Makkah. (e.g., S. Arabia, sometimes deviates for Ramadan, Shawwal, and Dhul-Hijjah)


3. Follow Saudi Arabia. (e.g., Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Yemen, Turkey)


4. Moon Born & moon sets at least 5 minutes after sunset. (e.g., Egypt)


5. News from neighbor countries. (e.g., New Zealand gets from Australia, and Suriname gets from Guyana)


6. Follow first Muslim country that announces it. (e.g., Some Caribbean Islands)


7. Criteria of age, or altitude, or sunset-moonset lag. (e.g., Algeria, and Tunisia)


8. Age > 8 hours, altitude > 2°, elongation > 3°. (e.g., Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia)


9. Pre-calculated calendar. (Bohra, Ismaiili, and Ahmadiyyah [Qadiani] community in the world)


10. No specific criterion! Decision varies year by year. (e.g., Nigeria)

This complexity in method worldwide carries over to the Western muslim community, of course, as muslim immigrants initially tend to adheres to the tradition of their homelands. But there is intense cross-fertilization between muslims in the West - something that occurs nowhere else. Ultimately it boils down to a personal judgement as to which method to use - who said the gates of ijtihad were closed?

Incidentally, it is also Rosh Hashana, so L'Shana Tovah! Another example of an Abrahamic convergence.

first sehri

I've been awake since 3:45am. I intended to wake at 4:15 but the baby decided otherwise. The proscribed time for sehri (the pre-dawn meal) ends at 5:20 am, so I had plenty of time to start establishing my new morning routine. (more on timings in a later post).

The first sehri is always a bit random for me, as I find it very difficult to plan it out in advance. It's the mild state of emergency that comes with waking up super early and knowing that this is your only chance to eat for the next 12+ hours that inspires me :)

Over the years though, I've developed a few rules for sehri:

• Protein. Eating at least one item rich in protein will help keep your energy level from sagging too much as the day progresses. I usually go for eggs, or leftovers from dinner the night before. The ideal dish in this regard is nihari; I'm going to snag a few weeks' supply this weekend while visiting my parents in Chicago.


• Cereal. I always eat a bowl of cereal. This is my default breakfast anyway and if you choose the right one can provide a decent nutritional foundation for the day.


• Juice or fruit. Some kind of citrus supplement is critical to round out the carbs from cereal. A single glass of juice or a piece of fruit will suffice.


• Vitamins. A standard multi-vitamin is all you need; in honesty I should probably take one year-round but I make the extra effort in Ramadan as the immune system does get a bit suppressed.


• Medications. Remember that this is your only chance to take anything you need until sunset. If you've got a medical condition that requires more often dose then you probably shouldn't be fasting anyway. I also include things like Advil or Aleve in this; I tend to have headaches the first few days from caffeine withdrawal and lack of sleep, so a pre-emptive Aleve really can help. I also have been using Claritin and Sudafed since Ramadan has been in wintertime and I get quite stuffed up from allergies.


• A big glass of water. You're going to get dehydrated, so this is just common sense.

For the record, for my first sehri I had some homemade tacos using some leftover taco beef, tortillas, and a can of enchilada sauce. I then went for a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, a glass of orange juice, my vitamins and allergy stuff, and a glass of water. I would have added a nectarine but the ones I bought haven't ripened yet.

I suppose this post was more about the practice of Ramadan and mechanics of fasting than it was about any spiritual significance. My first week will probably be like this, where I am very focused on method; after a while I will settle into my new orutine and then my mind will be freer to reflect on the meaning of what Ramadan is about. This entire month is a journey, and it starts with tying your shoes. Or in the case of sehri, setting your alarm.

Ramadan 1428H

Mubarak to all on the holy month of Shehrullah il Moazzam. Please remember me and my family in your precious dua during Ramadan.

Shi'a Pundit returns

Shi'a Pundit blog has emerged from hiatus to respond in defense of Shi'a belief against a lengthy polemic by Iraqi Konfused Kid.

Reflecting Ramadan

It is like a pool of water ahead on the path; it shimmers with anticipation. It is Ramadan, which begins at sunset tonight according to the Hijri calendar.

My intention is to blog daily during Ramadan, in the quiet space after the morning pre-dawn meal (sihori) and the sunrise prayer (fajr). I also note that my friend Shahed Amanullah will also be blogging during Ramadan over at Beliefnet. His first post, about the intersection of 9-11 and Ramadan this year, is an excellent start:

But this Ramadan has been heralded by images of Osama bin Laden taunting us from his cave and exhorting non-Muslims to accept Islam, obviously unaware that the actions of him and his kind have done more to bring curses down upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad and turn people away from Islam more than anything in Islam's history. It's imagery and words like this, and the strong feelings they evoke in me, that I have to push aside in order to focus on starting this month right.

The terrorism that I read about in the news represents the polar opposite of what Ramadan stands for. Ramadan is about opening yourself up to God's mercy, enduring patience in the face of discomfort and adversity, and providing assistance to those less fortunate. Extremism and terrorism is just the opposite--the ultimate exercise of self-indulgence and inflicting merciless hardship on the innocent.

Indeed. In fact, for the next two years, 9-11 will fall within Ramadan again. It is important for muslims to move beyond 9-11 as a context in which we defend our faith and simply embrace our faith on our own terms. The time for attempting to assuage other Americans' fears about Islam is over; it is time to simply be muslims, and Americans, again. Ramadan this year represents an opportunity for a renewal of our identity as a community like any other in this great nation.

muslims are cockroaches

This cartoon by Michael Ramirez ran in the Columbus, Ohio Dispatch on Tuesday, September 4th 2007. The Dispatch printed an outraged letter to the editor about the cartoon today. The artist won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for editorial cartoons. However, his cartoons have a history of being offensive without the requisite editorial clarity; a previous cartoon he drew of a jew and muslim praying to the word Hate would have been a good one, but came across as being anti-Semitic the way it was drawn. If the artists's message is obscured by his own art, then the fault lies with the artist, not the audience. If there's a rational editorial comment to be made about his latest cartoon, it's not readily apparent to me.

via C&L