Ramadan Rules

Well, I made it down to Portsmouth safely, and am now settled back enough that I can embark on a little experiment; I’m going to ‘do Ramadan’ for a week.

The reason I’m doing this is mostly a sort of journalist’s curiosity – one of my best friends is a Muslim and through talking with him about the experience I was intrigued. I am a devout atheist myself, as most people will know, so I’m not doing it for the religious experience so much as just to see if I can muster up the discipline. According to Wikipedia, Ramadan is supposed to be a time of “purification of body, thoughts and actions through self restraint and good deeds”, where one should “refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, or indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured”. Sounds like a noble cause to me!

So, from tomorrow morning until midnight on the 8th, I will be participating in the ritual fast, which dictates that I cannot eat or drink anything between sunrise and sunset. The sun begins to rise, according to my Muslim friend, at 4:40 am in Portsmouth, so my alarm will go off at about 4ish to allow me to get up and have some breakfast in the dark (I think this is the part of the whole thing I will least enjoy!). I can’t have anything else to eat then until 7:50 pm, which is when my friend tells me it will be dark. That’s almost 16 hours without food – which I have done before, I think, but not usually on purpose.

I’ll admit, I’m planning on ‘cheating’ ever so slightly. My bank balance and freezer already full of dinners means I’m not going whole hog and only sticking to Halal meat like I originally intended, though I will try to follow a vegetarian diet as much as I possibly can. I will however cut pork out of my life for a week. I’m also making a slight amendment given my history of fainting – I’m allowed to drink as much water as I like during the day (which my Muslim friend does not), and will still be taking my daily vitamin tablet, with my breakfast in the dark...sob.

The other thing my Muslim friend told me is that the enitre thing is more about self control and disipline than the actual act of abstaining, and he has specifically asked me to be on my "best behaviour" this week. I'm supposed to be "courteous and try my best not to swear". I've promised him to try my best to uphold those values.

I plan on keeping a diary of my experiences, and will try to devote the time to pure and generous thoughts rather than cravings of bacon, though I can’t make any promises! I shall keep you updated dear friends – wish me luck!