Growing up in South Florida, we had very little connection to Islam outside of our home. Ramadan was the exception. It was the one month during the entire year when we as kids felt excited and happy to be muslims. Being in a non-muslim majority community, fasting during school hours was an added burden, but the excitement that filled the air, it made it an easy task to accomplish.
I remember my non-muslim friends would try to convince me to eat lunch secretly because no one would ever know. Haha. I was strong and would turn down the offer explaining to them that I am not fasting for my parents to see, but rather for Allah, the creator, and he can see it all. That strength came from the bond I felt with my fellow muslim community that came together to celebrate this month, and from an understanding of the true essence of community. I’ve fasted in a time when there were no other fasting muslims in my school. But, the easiest fasts were those spent with several friends fasting together. A couple of us friends would find different things to do during the lunch hour to make the time pass, to be productive or just to entertain ourselves.
Now as adults, Ramadan still happens to be my favorite month of the year. While I’d like to say it is because of its countless blessings and the huge significance it plays in our religion. The reality is, it’s those nostalgic memories from childhood that has left a lasting impression on me.
As a child, I remember the days of Ramadan being full of life, the evenings would be busy but fun with lavish iftars and long nights of ibadah. My father would come home from work, while my brother and I would be finishing our Quran lessons, Hammu was exempt from having to finish the Quran lessons, but Talha and I had to finish 30 siparahs in 30 days. Talha’s always been a reader, and so reading the Quran was much easier and faster for him. I, on the hand, struggled. What took him an hour, would take me hours to complete. After Quran, we all helped my mother prepare the iftars that we waited the entire year to enjoy. I would help my mom in the kitchen cooking and frying while Talha set the table, often getting distracted the way boys usually do. It was the one month when we would actually eat pakoras (indian/pakistan fritters) and samosa (beef or potato patties). It was the only time we got to enjoy Rooafza (a pakistan rose flavored simple syrup, heavily sugared drink). In fact, for the longest time I thought it was illegal to have these foods outside of Ramadan. Even now, it’s such a treat to enjoy samosas and pakoras in a month other than Ramadan.
On the weekends, there would be iftar parties among my parents friends. All these friends, my aunties, are nothing short of being my relatives which is why they hold the title of “aunty”. Every aunty had her own style. One aunty had chicken pakoras that to this day are my favorite and I have yet to find a recipe that compares or even comes close to hers. Another aunty would serve idli and chaat for iftar. Yet another aunty would have mini samosas that my cousin and I would have eating competitions over. No two iftars were the same. Often times these iftar party invitations were sent out weeks in advance, sometimes even months. My mom and my choti phupi competed every year to be the first to host. Every year they raced to give our their invitations first so that they could get the first saturday of Ramadan. My chachi, on the hand, was an always will be laid back. She had no desires to compete with these ladies and would take whatever date was available.
So, when I became a mother, I wanted to make sure that my children also had amazing memories of their childhood Ramadans. I took all my fond memories, added in the essence of the holy month & sprinkled in some fun. I shook it all up and created a Ramadan routine that we could call our own. In the next weeks, as we prepare for the holy month of Ramadan, I will be sharing with you my preparations for making this month extra special for my family.
These preparations will be separated in several categories: Ibadah, Home, Food, Decorations & Activities for kids, and Dawah.
Please stay tuned for those posts and I will link them here as well once I have posted.
hi there, thank you for sharing such a nice post. really appreciate it. hope to see more posts like these from you soon. thanks.
thank you.