‘You should not let your neighbor go hungry’
Ramadan, the annual month of daytime fasting and reflection for healthy Muslims, begins at sundown Wednesday, March 22.
The purpose of Ramadan is threefold: to commemorate the beginning of the Quran’s revelation, to provide self-discipline and to make people experience how it feels to be hungry and thirsty in order to understand the needs of the poor.
“O Believers, the Fast has been made obligatory on you just as it was prescribed for the followers of the Prophets before you. It is expected that this will produce piety in you.” (Quran chapter 2, verse 183).
The fast begins at dawn, after an early breakfast called suhoor, followed by prayers. It is a complete fast; those fasting may not have even a sip of water. The fast ends at sunset, traditionally broken with sweet dates and water, followed by prayers and the evening meal, called iftar. The elderly, children, pregnant women, the sick and travelers are not obligated to fast.
“God, in His infinite mercy, has chosen certain times and locations for our spiritual needs,” said Abdul-rahman Yaki, imam at the Islamic Center of the Capital District in Schenectady. “The major one is Ramadan. The month was legislated in the second year of hijrah (migration of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622) and it is meant to serve not only our spiritual life but also our material life.
“Spiritual life because our Lord has said, ‘Fasting is for me and I will reward you for it.’ This statement is from a compilation of hadith (collection of sayings of the prophet) by Bukhari and Muslim, both Islamic scholars.
“As the month approaches, Muslims are required to ask forgiveness and to work toward helping humanity at large. That is the essence of fasting in Ramadan,” Yaki said. “Because as we fast, we learn to understand what the needy go through. Therefore, you should not let your neighbor go hungry.”
This will be the first Ramadan in the Capital Region for Hana Emso Canbaz, who moved to Clifton Park in August.
Originally from Bosnia, she moved to America nine years ago with her husband, initially to Indiana, then to Nevada where he worked on his PH.D. He is now a professor at the University at Albany.
“My family and I look forward to Ramadan every year,” she said. “My husband and I try to make a nice environment for our daughters, ages 7 and 4. We decorate the house, pray together, visit Muslim families for iftar and make eid cards.”
It is a time for reflection and self-improvement and charity. “Those who have it, share with those who have not. It doesn’t matter whether the other person is Muslim or not,” Yaki said.
Canbaz said, “I instill in my children it is important to give charity. I take them to the grocery store, where we buy items, then take those to the food pantry. Also, they choose clothes and toys for donation.”
“We will frequently recite the Quran because Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was revealed,” the imam said. Believers see the Quran as the word of God revealed by means of the Archangel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad, which began during Ramadan in 609 A.D. when Muhammad was 40 and continued for 23 years.
“Ramadan is the perfect time to push limits and try to be the best version of yourself,” Canbaz said. “I try to read more Quran and improve my connection with God.
“I will pray for all people affected everywhere. I have sent donations of clothing and money for victims of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria through the Bosnian center.”
She recalled Ramadan in Bosnia, where, “There was the aroma of special bread and treats the neighbors were baking. Our non-muslim friends, they didn’t eat in front of us during Ramadan. We had grown up together and they knew we were fasting.”
“Here, it is a challenge to raise children as Muslims. We don’t have family around so it is all up to us,” said the stay-at-home mom.
It is also a time for gathering and celebrating. Families often invite each other to their homes for evening meals and most Islamic centers hold community iftars and congregational night prayers called taravih, held during Ramadan.
For her first Ramadan here, Canbaz is planning to attend the Ramadan activities at the Bosnian community center in Watervliet.
“We will break fast as a community and pray together,” said Canbaz, adding the children will have story time and Ramadan crafts in weekend school. “At the center, the focus is on the kids and we make it special. We are already helping decorate the center with lights and lanterns.”
Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. The others are faith in one god, daily prayer, charity and pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime for the physically and financially able.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which is a lunar calendar, and it begins 10 or 11 days earlier than it did in the previous year.
Canbaz said, “I hope all local Muslims and those around the world enjoy Ramadan. I would like to wish them ‘Ramadan Mubarak.’”