First of all I would like to wish all readers a very blissful Ramadan and may Allah accept our deeds. Last week, due to some reasons I could not write my column. Well, actually I was planning to write about the long fasting hours in the UK and the difficulties one usually face due to unsettled weather. Truth be told, I am really surprised as against all my expectations the weather remained calm with temperature not exceeding 20 degrees Centigrade. It’s really amazing here this year around. I remember last year’s Ramadan coincided with an exceptionally hot summer. The temperature used to soar to around 30 degrees Centigrade. Don’t be surprised; this temperature is too much in the UK with no air conditioners and the sun appear to be so close that one feels that it might fell on his/her head.
Last year, I had no car so I had to walk up a hill to reach my house; it surely was a Herculean task. I hope the weather continues to be pleasant the entire month.
Frankly speaking, pleasant or to some extent cool weather helps observing fast and makes fasting easier but still 19 hours of fasting remains a challenge, sometimes it can get unbearable.
You wake up in the early morning to start your day and you feel happy that it’s Ramadan but then as the day passes you experience different feelings. In the middle of the day I start seeing all people as walking cups of coffees and needless to say people here are living their lives normally unlike Saudi Arabia where even the streets appear to be fasting. So, in the UK it’s very normal that the person sitting next to you is happily sipping his cup of coffee and eating his muffin in a slow motion that you feel he is just teasing you, but never mind, I am a sophisticated fasting Ph.D. student who is not annoyed by the sight and smell of a cup of coffee. I am stronger than that, but God no, please help me. And then as the day passes, you start seeing people as walking roasted chicken, walking samboosa and walking cups of chilled water, and no matter what efforts are you putting to avoid feeling hungry, but no way, the day is really long. The only way is to stay focused in what you do either work or worship in form of reading Qur’an, which is really a very good chance to renew our relationship with the Qur’an or any other form of worship, or sleep, yes sleep whenever you can because no matter how much you sleep still the day is going on. Another factor that may ease the long fasting day is not to wait for sunset, just go on your day and do all chores or sleep like there is no tomorrow and then suddenly you will realize that sunset is very soon. What is really funny is that when you are fasting and imagining people as walking food but when you break your fast you wish you can really indulge but most likely you won’t be able to, and there is officially no time for suhoor, we finish iftar at about 10:15 p.m. and then the Fajr is at about 2:30 a.m., you tend to try and make yourself hungry to have a good suhoor but for me no way, which to be honest is a very good way to lose weight without much effort. Well, that’s encouraging really!
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@HatoonKadi
