Thousands celebrate Ramadan in Hamilton
For the past month, thousands of Hamiltonians have been working, studying, writing exams, parenting and going about their lives — all while abstaining from food and drink for 17 hours every day.
Muslims around the world are celebrating Ramadan, the most sacred month of the Islamic calendar. During Ramadan, all adult Muslims — except those who are ill, travelling, elderly, pregnant or breastfeeding — are required to fast from sunrise, around 4 a.m., until sundown, roughly 9 p.m.
Eid al-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan, will begin Sunday evening and end Monday night.
In Hamilton, where the days are long and temperatures can be sweltering, it’s difficult to imagine how members of the Muslim community have gone for weeks without having any food or water during the day. However, for those celebrating Ramadan, the month is a joyful, spiritual experience.
“Ramadan is really a time when Muslims seek to grow spiritually. That comes through the self-discipline of not eating and drinking for the sake of God,” said Fatimah Abdel-Razik, a Hamiltonian and stay-at-home parent to five daughters.
“It’s really a time to get your soul back into shape. It’s a discipline camp, sort of, for your soul.”
Azzah Abdulsamad, 53, is an early childhood educator at Today’s Family Early Learning and Childcare Centre. She spends her days caring for 12- to 18month-olds at daycare or working with children at an Ontario Early Years Centre.
It’s physical work — Abdulsamad spends much of her day lifting babies or crouching on the floor with her young charges — but that doesn’t affect her fasting. Even when she takes the children for a walk around the neighbourhood on a hot day, she will rinse out her mouth with water and spit it out instead of swallowing.
“I get hungry, but I don’t think about it,” she said. “At the end of the day, I have a blessing with a big table of food. But there are people that don’t have anything. It’s just disciplining yourself — to have more time between you and God.”
Abdulsamad, who worked as a psychologist in Syria before immigrating to Canada, says celebrating Ramadan in Canada is much different than in a country with a predominantly Muslim population. In Syria, there’s much more of a community feel.
Traditionally, a man would walk or drive around a neighbourhood beating a small drum to wake people up before morning prayers. Neighbours would give each other treats or small gifts, and the city would be decorated with lanterns. Because most people are observing Ramadan, there’s little food on display — unlike in Canada, where food is present and available at every turn.
“When you walk around, there are no restaurants open during the day. People don’t eat — and you even feel shy if you do want to eat.”
Today, Abdulsamad uses an iPhone app called Muslim Pro to tell her the exact time to begin her fast — called fajr — as well as the timing of the other four prayers throughout the day.
At the end of each day, the fast is traditionally broken with dates and a cup of water. After a period of prayer, people will eat a larger meal — perhaps chicken, rice, soup and cheese. If you can’t fast, you pay a small offering to the mosque — called a zakat — intended to cover meals for the poor.
Mosques will offer a nightly meal — Abdulsamad’s mosque hosts 200 people every night — though families can also choose to break their fast at home.
For Abdel-Razik, Ramadan is a time to focus on personal development — reading the Qur’an, reflecting on specific verses and trying to apply them to her life.
“It is the month that the Qur’an was revealed. The month is honouring the Qur’an, giving it that time and attention,” she said.
Her five daughters range in age from four to 15. The eldest two, ages 15 and 11, are the only ones who participate in the fast. Her youngest children, who are 9, 6, and 4, don’t officially participate — though they are keen to do so.
“It’s a strange phenomenon, actually, that kids really want to fast — you’re telling your kids ‘No, you can’t not eat all day.’ They just really want to be part of the struggle that everyone is going through,” she said. “It’s a really special time for us. They really want to be part of that.”
For Westdale Secondary School student Batool Dahab, 17, Ramadan coincides with one of the busiest times of the academic year. Studying for exams and working on end-of-year projects can be difficult while fasting, says Dahab.
“You don’t have energy to get though the day. You just want to take naps and sleep. I feel like that’s the main struggle with it. It’s a testament to my strength, and it’s a testament to a lot of other people’s strength as well.”
Dahab says that most of her teachers and friends have been supportive of her fast. She has the option to reschedule her exams that fall during Eid al-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan, and her non-fasting friends have been sensitive about eating around her.
“A lot of my closer friends who are non-Muslim are very polite. They won’t eat in front of me or have their lunch while we’re hanging out — it’s not something I ask them to do, they just do it because of their own kindness,” she said.