Ramadan Approaches

Ramadan is about a week away so it's time to start getting ready. Like previous years I too will be fasting (for previous years see the Ramadan category on the right-hand side for more information, or click on “Ramadan” at the bottom of this post). So that means a few preparations.

1) Get off the caffeine

During the fast you are not allowed to eat or drink anything during the day, even water. For someone who likes coffee that's a surefire way to have a splitting headache if you don't wean yourself off the caffeine in advance. At work I used to drink 4 cups a day (cups, not mugs, not grande lattes from a coffee shop, cups), now I'm down to two and on Sunday the plan is to move to one coffee in the morning and a decaf in the afternoon.

Caffeine withdrawal can be nasty if you go cold turkey but thankfully you can get off caffeine without headaches or illness by slowly reducing your intake over a couple of weeks. I've done this the last couple of years without any problems.

2) Get some Islamic reading material

It is customary for a Muslim to read the entire Qur’an during Ramadan, which can be done at any time though some do it as part of Tarawih prayers.

Now I have read the Qur'an a couple of times, and have occasionally referred to it over the years but I also like reading hadiths. I own a copy of the Bukhari Hadiths that I purchased a few years ago.

I found many of the hadiths in the book really interesting. You see, many of the traditions we associate with Muslims (such as men can't wear gold) aren't actually mentioned in the Qur’an -- they come from the hadiths. I was surprised when I first read the Qur’an at how few rules there were actually in it.

So this Ramadan I decided to expand my reading and picked up:

A summary of the Al-Muslim Hadiths (2 volumes), another significant Islamic work. Like the Bukhari Hadiths the Al-Muslim Hadiths are generally accepted by all Sunni Muslims so I’m hoping to find yet more interesting rules and etiquettes. I'll post some of the more interesting findings as I read through them.

3) Get a paper that outlines the prayer times.

I'm not Muslim (nor do I play one on TV :p ) so I'm not praying five times a day, but you need to have an idea of when the fasting starts and when you can break the fast. Cards outlining the prayer times are handy for that. It is likely I'll be waking up around 3am to have my final meal then fasting until about 6:20pm but because the timings are based around sunrise and sunset the exact timing slowly changes over the course of the month.

4) Stock up on essential food

There are a number of items that I need for the Ramadan meals. Dates are important, traditionally you break your fast with three dates, and my 3am meal always consists of cereal, nuts, dates, cheese, and laban.

Thankfully the Government subsidizes the pricing on a number of key items during Ramadan and mandates the prices that they can be sold in the stores, to prevent price gouging.

Not sure yet what I'm going to be doing for Iftar meals but I will plan something small. If I can do this Ramadan thing properly it should also be a good way to lose weight.



So I have about a week ago, like previous year is almost frequently about how it's going.