I’m a Christian, and I fast during Ramadan!
If some of you were wondering whether I’d walked off into the sunset, then this is the time to put those speculations to rest.
I’ve been very much in Doha and have been watching movies to my heart’s content.
But I didn’t want to write about them out of respect for the holy month of Ramadan. My movie write-ups will continue once the fasting month is over.
Oh, by the way, I do fast too. I’ve been doing so for the past few years. I’m not a Muslim. So why do I do it?
Broadly speaking, it’s to show solidarity to my Muslim brothers. A way of saying ‘I respect your traditions’ to a people who’ve hosted me for the better part of a decade.
But looking back, there’s a single incident that helped strengthen my wavering mind about the need to fast. And it happened in a place far, far away from Doha.
That land was Croatia, and a group from my office was visiting the country as part of an official tour. The time was during Ramadan.
Ever adventurous, I decided to hire a single-plane engine and fly over the city we were staying in. The problem? It was way too expensive for one man to afford. I didn’t want to ask my colleagues as they were fasting and wouldn’t have liked to engage in physically strenuous activcities.
But a Sudanese colleague, by far the most religious person I’ve ever seen, jumped at the opportunity. That And the trip was firmly on.
We arrived at the private airport, got onto the red single-engine plane, and started our hour-long journey through the clear blue skies.
The plane was a rickety old piece of junk (although in the excitement, it didn’t feel that way then) and the air conditioning was non-existent.
Soaring through the air, the plane quickly got stuffy. When I mentioned it to the pilot, he coolly opened a side window. Wrong move. Hot wind blew in our faces and that quickly got us dehydrated as well.
We’d forgotten to carry water with us and soon, the interior of the plane resembled that of a furnace. We stumbled back onto the ground an hour later, dehydrated and weak of knee.
Like a zombie, I walked to a cafeteria and ordered two bottles of the most chilled water available. I gulped both of it down and only then could I see the people around me.
I bought another bottle and offered it to my Sudanese friend, but he politely declined. I was wonderstruck. He was as dehydrated as me, but said his faith would help him pull through.
I felt guilty for dragging him along, but insisted he had enjoyed the ride. He talked to me and tried to make me feel better.
It was then and there I felt I too should be fasting during the holy month. No one compelled me to do it, but my friend led by example. Four years later, I’m still going strong.
So, to my non-Muslim friends, do you fast? If so, was there a single incident that convinced you to try it out?
Why don’t you share your experiences in the comments section?
hmmm, really
Yes, nobody have right to criticize another thinking regarding religion.
God is one if we are respecting our religion and we have to respect another religion.
Greed can be controlled by being happy with what you have but double your efforts to achieve your target simultaneously ........ Tue, 30.06.2015, 08.45 hrs
Fully agree with QL ........ Only a wise person can ............... Mon, 29.06.2015, 11.45 hrs
Hello Moti, I am sincere with my input , I speak from my heart ......... not just for gossip like a few around here ............. Mon, 29.06.2015, 11.44 hrs
MM you dont' even spare religion to earn your QL points..how greedy can you get??
Only a wise person can appreciate, learn & bring a change in himself from an incident. Hats off to your PoA :)
Cheers ......... Pirate .......... Sun, 28.06.2015, 09.33 hrs ............
OMG, just wondering why we often get so sentimental when religious issues crop up anywhere in the media - I have noticed that some have decided to embrace victim hood - may the supreme Being for whom we all strife so hard and devotedly to serve and respect save us all, even those whom other ideologies have declared damned for eternity through no fault of theirs.
Dear, advise & request to read Al-Quran in English or in your mother tongue language to understand the Islam. I am sure you will regret, why you didn't read it long before. You should read it in full, take your own time and try to understand what exactly it says.. and just reading 1 or 2 phrase from middle will mislead you. Brother do it as soon as possible or atleast before you die for not to regret afterwards.
@Moltenmetal : I wasn't boasting but just sharing my experience. But if you felt so then so be it. Every person is different. I accept your point of view. Ramadan kareem.
@Arvind Iyer: Very true. I'm too a firm believer in religious ecumenism. More love people.
I have been reading the comments on this post and felt compelled to share my opinion. I believe all religions, like the human kind, have a common beginning. We are all, but branches of the same tree. I am not sure how many have noticed or would agree, that there are common traces in all religions. There are common rites, rituals practices in all the religions as well. This only reinstates my belief that someone at some point of time did come up with these rules/laws/commandments to guide one to lead a life of kindness, brotherhood, equality and peace. Somewhere on our historical timeline, there may have been disagreements on this leading to a forked road and people have chosen different paths, forming different religions, calling it different names, conveniently keeping part of the original manuscript, adding what suited them and preaching it. Obviously, the human nature is to try a persuade one another of who's better than who and that seems to be building a constant rift. All we need to know is that we were born as human and will die human. The color of our skin, the language we speak may be different, but we are the same inside. There is only one religion we need to follow - humanity, or none.
Brit, How do you say ... it's good for him ? ........... It's like he hasn't opened his account in the bank but telling us that he is depositing his earnings there .............. ! Bank manager will tell you that he doesn't have any record of Pirate of the Arbian ........... ....... This excercise will get him nowhere ............. above that ... posting it / boasting it ....... on a public forum .............. .................... Sat, 27.06.2015, 07.23 hrs ...
Mast , .......... '' He is going strong for the last 4 years .......... '' .......... but the point to ponder is at which path is he going strong in which direction is he going strong ............ !!! ................ .................................. Lets not be taken in ............ by the self praise ....... Sat, 27.06.2015, 07.18 hrs ...
Solid input by Accha .............. .......... Sat, 27.06.2015, 07.13 hrs ...
There are people who live without air / breathing ............... Would you try to copy them as well for the experience ? ............... Sat, 27.06.2015, 07.11 hrs ...
Pirate, It's good oppotunity for you to get easy praise , what will be your actual gain if you are proved clever enough at the end ? ............ Sat, 27.06.2015, 07.10 hrs ...
@techn: u should have taken a decision before coming here. If u were better off in your home country wouldn't have come ere!!!...
What do you mean by "blind belief", is it you belive in a religion blidly or follow the rituals blindly? It if very impractical for us to learn all religion and select the best, since our life is short. So what we can do is to follow our religion judiciously. Keep the eternal principles, such as truth, love for others, humanity , humility etc.. etc.. all blind beliefs are dangerous, for example from Marxism, came Naxals, a terrorist outfit. We can't say marxism is worser than democracy.
Sigh, I think I spoke too soon.
Please guys, show restraint. let's not degenerate this thread into a virtual shout fest and destroy the mood for everyone? Thank you.
@aliskadi
What if your mother told you to go and jump from top of mount everest , Will you go and jump or not ? And if you dont, than you are disobeying your mother bro. And believe me even if you decide to jump and i happen to be there on top of mount Everest, i won't be standing there watching you and letting you kill yourself bro. If You are sensible you would shut the crap and move on to the right way". !!
@perdian
Ch..109: THE DISBELIEVERS
Say, "O disbelievers,
I do not worship what you worship.
Nor are you worshippers of what I worship.
Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship.
Nor will you be worshippers of what I worship.
For you is your religion, and for me is my religion."
Bro There's absolutely no contradiction to what i said but there seems to be lots of contradictions and misconceptions in your mind and I'm not here to teach you your way of life. You are most welcome to have a live healthy debate anywhere and anytime in qatar about any major 'religions' or i must say "ways of life". If you're religious or godly person.
Allah says in the Quran' surah 3. V
Say:56 'People of the Book! Come to a word common between us and you:57 that we shall serve none but Allah and shall associate none with Him in His divinity and that some of us will not take others as lords beside Allah.' And if they turn their backs (from accepting this call), tell them: 'Bear witness that we are the ones who have submitted ourselves exclusively to Allah.'
Hello everyone,
I'm so happy to see that my post has started off a mature discussion on the topic. In the past, I've heard there used to be people who used to fan flames of discord. So nice to see things are more level headed this time around.
Every religion is to be respected. I'm glad there's so much positivity in this thread. And woah, six likes and 21 comments. Not bad. Thanks all for writing your feelings. Stay blessed, everyone!
Good on you Pirate.
Tech, surprising you were not able to get food at Safari Mall, on Wed, at 11am (1100 hours) I purchased food from Safari Mall and an hour later from Lulu Barwa, both have special offers.
I did the Ramadan fast a couple of times as a challenge with colleagues, I am a christian and thought what the heck, if we can fast during lent (40 days), this is easy. From childhood, we have been fasting during lent when we do not use swear words, etc, maybe have a fruit juice but on the whole have a meal in the evening and a snack during the day. Of course as we grew up, we challenged our self to do more. There is no such thing as buffet at sunset or feast after the day is over rather the feast is on Sunday after Good Friday. The pocket money that is saved is put in the church. Also, we work normal hours during lent, during Ramadan, we work reduced hours.
Now as an adult, I do not drink spirits, pork during Lent.
This is not to say, any religion is better than the other. I respect all religions and people that follow their customs. Being here in Qatar, is an opportunity for us to widen our experience. In India, every religion is celebrated and every day is the same. Peace to all.
That's why Brit didn't answer 888's comment ............. but Perdian did ........... ......... Fri, 26.06.2015, 11.22 hrs
A religious person never debates with anyone at QL because he knows nobody is perfect at QL .......... ......... Fri, 26.06.2015, 11.16 hrs
@888mjk
are you not contradicting yourself? :D
"Who else can choose the best way of living our life other than our Creator 'Allah. Islam is a way of living our life by submitting our will to THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR ALLAH."
then you commented - again ,
All religions and their beliefs should be respected but shouldn't be followed blindly.
what do you think your doing?
One must always question his beliefs. - have you done this already? :D
just a minor adjustment, as previously said - nobody is perfect only God or Allah is.
Nice Article! In my opinion, religion is personal and no one has the right to spitefully criticize another man's choices, even in a joking manner. Respect another man's choices in life [it's his life, not yours], and if you don't, then do as what your mother should have told you; "If you don't have anything nice to say, then shut your trap." move on....next
@britexpat
All religions and their beliefs should be respected but shouldn't be followed blindly. One must always question his beliefs. There is no compulsion in religion because the "Right Way" and "Wrong Way" have been set apart by our Creator. You can choose which ever Way you like to live your life. I agree religion is personal and no man is better than another except the one who has got piety/ taqwa and righteousness.
nice
888mjk: All religions and their beliefs should be respected.
Religion is personal and no man is better than another
@pirate
No religion is perfect except islam. Allah says in the Quran'....Surah Maida ch5 v3
"This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion."
Who else can choose the best way of living our life other than our Creator 'Allah. Islam is a way of living our life by submitting our will to THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR ALLAH.
Great
nice deed!
قانون العقوبات (رقم: 11 / 2004) >> الكتاب الثانى >> الباب السابع >> الفصل الأول >> المادة 267
يعاقب بالحبس مدة لا تجاوز ثلاثة أشهر، و بالغرامة التي لا تزيد على ثلاثة آلاف ريال، أو بإحدى هاتين العقوبتين، كل من جاهر في مكان عام بتناول الأطعمة أو المشروبات أو غير ذلك من المواد المفطرة في نهار رمضان.
Article No 267(Qatar punishment law):
Up to 3 months in prison and/or up to 3000QR fine for any one drink,eat or smoke during the fasting hours of Ramadan
@pirate thank you for your understanding. I truely repsect my Muslim friends for their dedication. I will never do something to hurt their sentiments. In the office I do not even drink water in front of my friends during Ramzan months, though he once told me that he has no objection even if I take water infront of him. We respect our beliefs each other.
that was such a nice story ... gives a good vibe to all human beings, whatever religion they are in; regardless of race or social standings. good share!
as for myself, I have Muslim colleagues and our timings are 8 am to 2pm so as respect to my fellow Muslim mates in the office, I too fast (in the office i mean :D) Ramadan Mubarak to all!
@Techn: I'm sorry mate, if that sounded a bit harsh. I was not trying to be patronising. I was just saying it's been the norm for a long time and not something that was enforced this year.
I am not blaming anybody, but just stated my plain experince. Frakly, I knew that I should not eat in public, but I did not know that I cant purcahse from hotels.
If you all belive that enforcing is good, let it be....no more commens
@Britexpat: Thanks mate. It's certainly been a good ride.
@Acchabaccha: No religion is perfect. It's how you interpret it and give it the perfect meaning that matters. I am not for maligning any faith. Give respect and receive respect.
@Mdanyalrao : Thanks mate.
@Techn: Well, didn't you know beforehand you wouldn't get food at public places during Ramadan? That decision wasn't taken yesterday. I'm sure it'e been around since Qatar's emergence as a country. When in a Muslim nation, I believe you need to respect the culture. Better planning from your side could've easily resolved the issue. So don't blame the restaurant that was closed, blame your own unpreparedness for facing a situation that you very well knew was happening here.
@MastKalandar: Thanks, mate. I can say that it's been good for my health too. I am hoping to do this for as many years as I can. Even after eventually leaving Qatar one day.
Thanks for sharing brother good to see people like you respecting Islam and importance of fasting in it may Allah subhanavatalah guide you and us towards the straight path
today I felt very tired and hungry and went to safary mall thinking that I can purchase some cooked food, which I can take home. But all the resturants were closed. Why to force fasting on others?
Nice
It is absolutely evident from your post that you are a person who has a broad mind and outlook towards life and the people around. Your one single incident has allowed you to look at the beauty of Islam and speak out about its qualities. You have got to see this religion only from the sidelines as of now. The act also reflects your bold nature and courage by expressing your views openly especially in a world of today that looks for each and every opportunity, in each and every way, to jump on and malign Islam and its followers in the best way they can. Thank you for your thoughts.
Wild Turkey are you listening?
Good for you