Ramadan 2009

[amysaid 9]

I got really overheated yesterday, dehydrated, and sooo sick from it. I'm really afraid of fasting here during Ramadan. I don't know if I can handle it. Not sure how to tell Ahmed this, because I think he will be disappointed in me.

i don't get it. what's ahmed got to do with it?

he feels like he is responsible for my actions islamically, since he's my husband. he says he will be partially accountable for my actions on judgment day, that he will be asked about what i have/haven't done, etc.

[Melly 2 0]

From what I understand, he is responsible for your actions but only to a degree.

As your husband he should help to teach you things you don't know, and should help you follow through with things if you need help, but he is not responsible and there is no sin on him if you are not fasting. That will solely be your responsibility. No one can make anyone do something they don't want to (or are unable to do), they just need to teach and show the way. It is up to each individual to perform their necessary duties.

I hope that made sense, I've only been up for a short time. lol

Like last year, I couldn't fast due to health reasons. My husband was unhappy about it, but only because it is such a HUGE deal to fast and to miss fasting.

But he knows it's not his fault, or his responsibility. I knew about fasting and what is required, I just couldn't do it last year. That is all on me, not him.

Now if you didn't know about fasting and he wasn't teaching you or trying to help you with it in some way then he would perhaps be responsible for those actions. But you already know about fasting. Unless he is preventing you from fasting in some way, I don't see how he can be held responsible for your not fasting.

[Speeditup 0]

This may sound like a silly question but something i worry about!! Im live in UK where there are loooaddds of Halal meat stores and restaurants and i have no idea what its like in America!! I mean i know there are many muslims there so there must be (I AM GOING TO LIVE IN OHIO) but i worry that people dont take it so seriously there, i dont think my family in the US do, they just eat anywhere. But it is very important to me to only eat HALAL meat. (meaning that when the animal has been killed, it is done in a halal way, slitting the throat to ensure the least suffering, and saying BISMILLAH when killing) This is the only meat we are allowed to eat, not just meat from any where.

Are there many halal butchers and restaurants over there?

Anyone from OHIO?

Thanks guys

[Kenza 1]

This may sound like a silly question but something i worry about!! Im live in UK where there are loooaddds of Halal meat stores and restaurants and i have no idea what its like in America!! I mean i know there are many muslims there so there must be (I AM GOING TO LIVE IN OHIO) but i worry that people dont take it so seriously there, i dont think my family in the US do, they just eat anywhere. But it is very important to me to only eat HALAL meat. (meaning that when the animal has been killed, it is done in a halal way, slitting the throat to ensure the least suffering, and saying BISMILLAH when killing) This is the only meat we are allowed to eat, not just meat from any where.

Are there many halal butchers and restaurants over there?

Anyone from OHIO?

Thanks guys

I'm not from or have ever been to Ohio but where I live in Cali, there are barely any halal restaurants and I have to drive at least 30 min to get there. They aren't that great either. I'd rather go to a regular restaurant and order vegetarian or fish. I've been spoiled here on my 2 month vacation in Paris as there is halal EVERYWHERE!!

[Aymsgirl 0]

Hello, I live in good old O H I O! What part of Ohio will you be coming to and maybe I can try and help you?

[Amoon 0]

Hi Ladies....just joining this thread & needing some advice. My husband is Muslim and I am Christian. I've never been through Ramadan before and I am seriously worried about what I should do for my hubby! I don't know the exact "procedures" if you will and when and where and how. I feel like I should fast with him, but I don't know how I should even begin. Is it correct that you can even drink water during the fast? Need some help ladies. This will be his first Ramadan away from home and I want to make it the best I can.

Amanda

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Hi Ladies....just joining this thread & needing some advice. My husband is Muslim and I am Christian. I've never been through Ramadan before and I am seriously worried about what I should do for my hubby! I don't know the exact "procedures" if you will and when and where and how. I feel like I should fast with him, but I don't know how I should even begin. Is it correct that you can even drink water during the fast? Need some help ladies. This will be his first Ramadan away from home and I want to make it the best I can.

Amanda

not, even the water from brushing your teeth there are instructions within the computer somewhere ihave read and your husband should help here to tell you. I wont be doing but will help Ahmed as needed for him. The way i understand nothing until the sun goes down

Edited August 4, 2009 by brnidokiegurl

[Melly 2 0]

Hi Ladies....just joining this thread & needing some advice. My husband is Muslim and I am Christian. I've never been through Ramadan before and I am seriously worried about what I should do for my hubby! I don't know the exact "procedures" if you will and when and where and how. I feel like I should fast with him, but I don't know how I should even begin. Is it correct that you can even drink water during the fast? Need some help ladies. This will be his first Ramadan away from home and I want to make it the best I can.

Amanda

It's really sweet and admirable that you want to do this with your husband, but honestly if I wasn't Muslim there's no way I would fast. It is a trying task to be sure, and it is 30 days! No water or food or smoking or coffee or anything from before the sun is up until the sun sets below the horizon.

I think that helping to make his fasting easier is a great gesture instead.

You might want to ask him what he prefers to eat for suhoor (the food eaten before fasting starts) and then you can get it ready for him in the morning, and ask him what he likes to break his fast with. It is customary to break you fast with dates and water or milk, but this varies from country to country.

Make sure he is drinking lots and lots of water during the night after he breaks his fast, and try to find dinner foods that are filling and healthy. Sugary and fried foods are not going to help anyone fast.

[Kenza 1]

Hey Amanda! In Ramadan, one is to fast from sunrise to sunset and that includes a drop of water, french kissing, and sex. I suggest trying to fast with him a couple days or a couple hours a day if it's too hard. Don't eat in front of him if you can and make great breakfasts and dinners. It is also sunnah to break your fast with dates and milk. if there is a mosque near by, he might want to go for taraweeh-its a long prayer. Then when Ramadan is over (30 days) there is Eid!!! Eid is a holiday ending Ramadan and its festivities are somewhat like Christmas I guess- go to the mosque in the morning for prayer and then gather with friends and family and the kids usually get gifts.

[~Jackie~ 30]

Amanda have bread~fruit~ ful~ all his favorites for the 4am feast.

Encourage him in the day and know he will be tired and might even be a little grumpy around 7pm. He might even stay up VERY late..like 4am..then go to sleep.

I agree with Melly about not fasting for the month. It takes years to build up to that. You can help him in other ways, helping him prepare to eat and being patient with him in the first days.

Jackie

[anxious 0]

Amanda have bread~fruit~ ful~ all his favorites for the 4am feast.

Encourage him in the day and know he will be tired and might even be a little grumpy around 7pm. He might even stay up VERY late..like 4am..then go to sleep.

I agree with Melly about not fasting for the month. It takes years to build up to that. You can help him in other ways, helping him prepare to eat and being patient with him in the first days.

Jackie

Years indeed!!

And I still have to get my self in the mode mentally each year.

I remember fasting as a child/teen in those HOT long summer Ramadans.... U get

to a point where you just have to sleep the rest of the hours away and now they have

come back again....

I'm so glad to be a female and get my days off.

Daylight savings time and Ramadan are not a good mix for me.

[~Jackie~ 30]

The 'stopping and starting' for that week off, is challenging.

[UmmSqueakster 54]

I fasted the year before I converted and it was an amazing experience. But then, Allah (swt) has always made fasting easy for me alhamdulilah, so it wasn't a struggle. And, at that time, iftar came around 4:30, so it was much easier.

Have a hearty and healthy meal ready when the time to break the fast comes. AbuS arrived at the beginning of Ramadan 2005 and claimed that whatever I would make would be fine with him. When I presented him with my normal iftar meal - soup and a tuna melt - he looked at me with these big sad puppy dog eyes and was like, what is this? So, while the origin of food doesn't really matter to him (he doesn't really care if he eats MENA food or not), the type does matter. I always make sure I have a meat dish, a big salad, fruit, soup and carbs (bread and rice usually, sometimes noodles). I also do all my cooking on the weekends, so all I have to do is heat things up come maghrib time. While it sucks to slave over a hot stove for hours on Saturday, it's better then slaving over that same hot stove every day during the week.

If you're a non muslim and you want to fast, great! Give it a try. But if you can't, then no harm, no foul

[Kenza 1]

Yes, our table is usually spread with food. We usually have soup, salad, a main dish, and side dish, some type of fruit, and dessert later if our tummys can hold it. then we go to taraweeh and then go home to sleep. The hard thing for me is in the mornings because im not a breakfast fan and its always hard for me to eat good before the fast

[UmmSqueakster 54]

American Ramadan

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6