It is another year, with another set of questions that Muslims get asked during Ramadan! Other than the humorous questions Muslims get asked during the month, Ramadan is a time full of blessings and good deeds for the Muslim community. Ramadan is not just about fasting, it is about one trying their best not to lie, to gossip, to have bad intentions, and to generally not to do any harm to the people they interact with. They fast from sunrise to sunset, and they eventually break their fast with an amazing variety of foods. In Iran, for example, people break their fast with hot water, sugar, and saffron along with dates, and they eat traditional Persian food afterwards (usually). People that are really cracked at Islam wait an extra few minutes after the night prayer goes off to pray, and then open their fast. Throughout the day, other than looking at pictures of water and food (jokes), Muslims try to better connect with God through consistent prayers and salah (the Islamic way of praying). We don’t talk about how everyone becomes unspiritual after the month, but for the most part, people try to keep their spirituality and positive behaviour after Ramadan. Now, enough of the inspirational part of Ramadan. Let’s get to the juice: a little sarcasm, and possibly educational content (to an extent).
Questions not to ask a Muslim during Ramadan:
This section may or may not contain lighthearted sarcasm, but that isn’t to say that if you ask us these questions, we wouldn’t want to put it in our WhatsApp group chat with our friends to have a good laugh.
1. Not even water?
This question is gold. At this point, it’s a Ramadan classic. I am debating on whether or not I should buy a t-shirt with the response to this question and wear it during the entire month of Ramadan. For the people wondering: no, not even water. The entire point of fasting is to not consume anything from sunrise to sunset, and water is of course included. Please only ask this question as a joke unless you are willing to put up with an entire month of your friends making fun of you!
2. What if a McDonald’s happy meal accidentally falls into your mouth?
Yes, people ask this (or at least similar things)! Weirdly enough––if in some mutated metaverse this actually happens––you can continue fasting if it was an accident and not a set-up. Otherwise, go do those 60 fasts, feed 60 poor individuals, or free 60 slaves. Jokes aside, if you purposefully do not fast, for each day that you missed, you would have to do either one of the things above.
3. But isn’t it bad for your body?
Hopefully, all of the 1.9 billion of us don’t have some sort of incurable disease since we fast every year, but no, it is not. In fact, it has many benefits for your body as it allows your body to settle for a month after having eaten three meals a day and many other things during the remaining 11 months of the year
4. What if you are dying, do you still have to fast?
This is slightly exaggerated for the lols, but if you are sick, pregnant, on vacation, or unable to fast because of a medical condition, fasting is either prohibited for you or highly discouraged. In Islam, such things are called makruh, meaning you probably should not consider doing them at all––it is a step away from haram which many of you are familiar with. However, the same thing can not be said about praying five times a day, called salah (Arabic) or namaz (in Farsi or certain Desi dialects). Even if someone is drowning, they still have to pray even if it is with the motion of their eyes only.
5. What if you hide somewhere and eat? Can you do that?
If you can find a spot that God would not be able to see, go ahead.
6. Do you go to hell if you don’t fast?
The best metaphor for this would be homework checks. Unless you are in grade 2 (no shade to second graders), your teacher would not be checking to see if you did your homework or not. They expect you to have a good understanding of the purpose of doing extra work outside of school in order for you to better understand the content. For us, the goal is not to avoid going to hell because God does not threaten us. We are aware of our duties as Muslims, and therefore do what is needed for our own sake.
A little side note: please don’t show your friends pictures of water or food if they are fasting; they already see enough of those on a daily basis before they break their fast.
This next one deserves to be its own separate section and does not apply to just Ramadan:
Questions not to ask a hijabi period:
As a hijabi myself, these questions drive me towards wanting to pull out my hair. And spoiler alert: we are not bald unless, of course, you think the thing at the back of our head is a donut. From experience, I can confirm some people have a harder time believing that we have hair than the whole donut thing!
1. Don’t you get hot in that?
We aren’t trying to doubt the laws of science and common sense, gaslighting ourselves and you into thinking that we magically don't get hot on a hot day. However, we are more likely to have a much higher tolerance for it than anyone else because we are used to it! On that note, if you do ask this question, it is a bit strange and ignorant. Personally, I do not even feel like I am wearing the hijab, and I feel incomplete without it.
2. Do you shower in that too?
Of course not, we take it off as soon as we get home! We only wear the hijab in front of the opposite gender under the age of 15-ish, including people that are considered non-mahram such as male cousins. This excludes our dad, uncles, mom/dad’s uncles, grandparents, spouse, and females.
3. What happens if I shake your hand?
This one is a real crisis. I have been thinking about graduation day since grade 8, and have been rehearsing how I should tell Mr. Finch I can’t shake his hand––it’s a struggle. But nothing happens. Just don’t do it if you are of the opposite gender and save the person from going through the awkwardness of telling you that they can’t have physical contact with you.
4. Do you ever want to take it off? What happens if you take it off?
I was told by an individual something very laughable, but I am afraid they might read this article, so just pretend I wrote it here and laugh. Trust.
In the end, this is all for the lols, please don’t get offended. Please check on your friend if they’re fasting during the month, and try to learn more about it! Personally, this is my favourite month of the year because other than the fact that my mom stops telling me to eat fruit, I can truly feel a difference in the way I behave. I also tend to carry the calming, positive energy of the month as well for a good 2-3 months at least, which always makes me feel safe. It is definitely a beauty to appreciate (not biased at all).
Comentários