Ramadan Traditions - Ramadan Mubarak

@soulsings

Thanks so much for creating this thread! I meant to make one like it, just couldn't get around to it.

Yes, Ramadan does start quite soon (9-11th March depending on where you live). And I'm really excited about it.

Ramadan brings a time when I can sit down, relax, unplug from all the daily routines and pressures, and just focus on my faith. It fosters so much goodness in me and my environment because everyone is focused on praying and doing good so it's kind of like peer pressure but in a good way. It's just a really good time for me spiritually, and for a lot of people, I would assume.

It's not a holiday per se, more like an entire month devoted to worship and prayer and improving our faith.

The most commonly known thing about Ramadan is that we fast in the month of Ramadan. These fasts last from dawn to dusk. So we wake up before dawn, eat some high-calorie food and drink something hydrating. This meal is know as suhoor or sehri. 

Here's what a usual Pakistani sehri menu looks like: 

Paratha is a must

Followed by some kind of curry (most of the time just what's left over from last night)

chicken 

or lentils

or some kind of grains (chickpeas in this case)

And to top it all off, one nice beverage:

Either lassi (my personal favorite)

or tea (aka chai)

After finishing our sehri we make dua (prayer) and dhikr (remembrance of God) until dawn when the call to prayer is sounded indicating that the fast has begun. The men go to the mosque to offer fajr  (morning prayer) while women pray it at home. 

Then we go through the day, balancing life and worship. Those of us lucky enough to be living in Muslim countries often get shortened school and work days to give us more time for prayer. So that is the focus during the day. Prayer and worship as much as we can and abstain from any and all bad deeds. 

As the sky starts to darken, the preparations for iftaar (breaking the fast) start. Juice(s) get prepared, food gets made, tables get set and everyone is gathered at the table usually 5-10 minutes before iftaar. Again we sit and pray and remember Allah and all His blessings until the call to prayer is sounded indicating that it is now time to break the fast. 

We break the fast with dates as it's a sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet PBUH. Then we dig into the delicious food and refreshing drinks to fill our empty stomachs.

Here's what iftaar tables look like:

Dates are mandatory on every iftaar table and so are fruits in some form. 

At most iftaars in Pakistan, you'll also find some fried food items, whether that be samosas or pakoras or rolls or all of the above.

A very popular refreshing beverage for iftaars in Pakistan is Rooh-Afza

And to top it all off, in most iftaars you'll find some light meal item (sandwiches, wraps, etc.) to quench the immediate hunger until the main dinner. 

After iftaar, everyone offers maghrib (dusk prayer) and have a little family time too in most homes. 

Then we have dinner just in time to then go pray ish'a (night prayer) and tarawih (additional prayer during Ramadan only).

Generally, women don't go to the mosque but for tarawih, lots of mosques make special arrangements to accommodate females. Tarawih is longer than most other prayers and can take anywhere from 1 to 4 hours. 

Tarawih concludes the day for us. After tarawih we come home, get some sleep and repeat it all the next day.

Wow I didn't even realize I wrote so much.

Let me know if I missed anything! Also feel free to poke me if you wanna ask about anything else!