April 2022
What Nourishment Does The Body Need In Ramadan?
Make your Ramadan this year special, fruitful, and life-changing… It is a time to eat less, not more food, help the needy, organize a food or gift drive for poor families, and strengthen family ties.
Fasting promotes healing and rejuvenation of the body, mind, and spirit. In fact, it frees up energy that your body normally spends on digesting food. The liver can break down toxic chemicals circulating in the bloodstream now with a lighter workload.
As long as you do not end your fast with a large feast, you can gain many health benefits: clearer skin, overcoming addictions, improved immunity, mental creativity, better attitude and motivation, weight loss, and lower blood pressure. Follow these steps to get through Ramadan with better health, some weight loss, and an elevated spirit:
Breaking the fast
At the call for maghrib prayer, start with a glass of water to replenish fluids, several dates, and a short prayer. A glass of water before mealtime diminishes your appetite. The sugar in dates will give you a quick boost of energy, which is much needed after a long fast. Dates are easy to digest and rich in B vitamins, fiber, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron.
Beverages
It is difficult to get enough vitamins, anti-oxidants, and fluids during Ramadan. Drink one cup of freshly squeezed orange or grape juice to stimulate digestion. Try a glass of water with the fresh juice of half a lemon and a teaspoon of honey to cleanse the liver and help break down fat. Pineapple juice can promote weight loss and improve digestion. An excellent refreshing cold beverage common in Ramadan is a licorice drink. Licorice is a mild laxative, a remedy for fever, coughs, lung problems, and ulcers, and is low in sugar. Use caution if you have hypertension.
Salads
Almost unheard of during Ramadan, they are low in fat and calories and give your fasting body much-needed vitamins, fluids, and fiber. Try tabouleh, a Greek green salad with feta cheese, or a salad of fresh watercress and spinach leaves, olive oil, lemon juice, and crushed garlic, or a garbanzo bean salad.
Soup
It is a comforting and healthy mainstay of Ramadan. The famous lentil soup is rich in protein and free of fat and cholesterol. Make this soup that is loaded with anti-cancer and anti-aging beta carotenes with sauteed chopped onions, shredded carrots, or chopped orange pumpkin cubes. Puree in a blender and season as you wish.
Main course
After all those starters, your main course should be very light. Avoid highly spiced foods with a rich sauce and fried foods because they will cause indigestion. A big meal places a heavy load on the stomach and digestive system after a long fast. Steamed rice and sautéed vegetables is ideal. Or you can have baked fish or baked chicken breast with steamed vegetables.
Suhoor should be light
Quick healthy suhoor ideas include grilled cheese and tomato sandwich, yogurt with whole wheat crackers, a glass of milk and a slice of toast with jam or honey, a small vegetarian pizza, hummus with whole wheat bread, and cucumbers, or tuna with lemon juice. I find a boiled egg with toast to be filling without making you feel bloated. Finally, eat your favorite fruit. Avoid salty foods so you will not be thirsty the next day. Try not to get to bed for about two hours after eating suhoor.
Qayamat Aaney Ka Haal Aur Iss Ki Nishanian
10 Ideas For Ramadan At Your Workplace
If work is simply the place you earn your bread and punch in your hours, why not redefine it this Ramadan? Make your workplace the scenario for Dawa, especially in the current tension-filled atmosphere of misunderstandings about Islam and Muslims.
Here are some ideas that can help you share Ramadan with your boss and coworkers this year.
1. Begin informing people about it as soon as possible
Start telling bosses, supervisors, and coworkers about Ramadan now. Bring it up in the course of conversation casually.
In terms of when Ramadan starts and ends, just give the projected date. Don’t get non-Muslims involved in the technicalities of finding out the correct date. Do the same for Eid. You can decide for yourself which date to start and stop fasting on.
2. Post it up
On your office or department bulletin board, put up a factsheet on Ramadan, with a short introduction of yourself and which department you are from. Don’t just give the facts, but also include a few sentences about what this blessed month means to you (i.e. spiritual growth, closeness to God, being more generous, etc.).
3. Get an article printed in your local newspaper and circulate copies
This will not only be good for Dawa – it may even promote department/company pride (i.e. one of our employees is a writer too!). Post it up with the masthead of the newspaper on top.
4. Negotiate your lunch hour with the boss
This is another task that needs to be done as soon as possible. Explain that you will need a short break for prayer and then you will take a lunch break at Iftar time.
5. Talk to the office cafeteria people about your Iftar needs
If you normally buy lunch at the cafeteria, explain to the cafeteria staff that you would like to arrange to have your lunch saved for Iftar time. Ask them to keep one serving of lunch in the fridge so you can pick it up at Iftar time.
6. Create a “Ramadan corner” at your desk
If you have your own desk at work, dedicate a corner of it that is accessible to passersby the “Ramadan corner”. Put a basket of dates, sweets, written information on Ramadan, and maybe a small frame of eye-catching Islamic calligraphy on it. Post a note inviting coworkers to the free sweets and information.
7. Have a small Iftar gathering at your desk
Invite coworkers to a snack of dates and fresh fruits during Iftar time. At least once, have a more formal meal ready for everyone (check with your boss before you do this).
8. Distribute written material on Ramadan
If you’ve got a central location in your workplace where people can pick up free newspapers, get permission to stack a factsheet and pamphlets on Ramadan. You can also leave the sheets on the Ramadan corner of your desk.
9. Get a Ramadan greeting from your boss
Have your boss, commanding officer, or head of the department issue a public notification that Ramadan is coming up or is here and they and the company congratulate all Muslim employees on this occasion.
10. Put an article about Ramadan in the office newsletter
If you have a company or department newsletter, write up a personal article about why you are looking forward to Ramadan and what Ramadan is. Then arrange for them to publish it.
Surah Al-Lahab
Benifits Of Fasting
Ramadan is derived from ramdaa which means ” sun-baked,” perhaps a reference to the pangs of fasting. Almighty Allah says in the Quran “O believers! fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for the people before you so that you may become pious.” {Qur’an chapter 2: verse 183}
Fasting is one of the pillars of Islam. It has been an integral part of all major religions. Its mentioned in (Matthew 4:2) that the prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) fasted for forty days before he was called to prophethood and its mentioned in (exodus 24:18) that prophet Moses (peace be upon him) fasted for forty days and nights before he was given the law.
Fasting in Ramadan is a part of the broader program that Islam prescribes for man to fulfill his moral and spiritual destiny in this world and in the hereafter.
It is the special worship designed to develop in man the ability to exercise self-restraint and patience for the pleasure of Allah, man’s creator, lord, and nourisher.
Its objective is to give man the power to keep in check his unruly desires and tendencies that make him prone to greed, revenge, anger, provocation, and fear; that makes him commit various sins, acts of aggression, cruelty, and oppression.
It seeks to free the human soul and lends it the moral and spiritual strength to promote beauty, harmony, kindness, peace, compassion, and justice. the Quran says: ” we sent our messengers with clear signs and sent down with them the Book and the balance (of right and wrong ), that men may stand forth in justice.” (chapter 57:verse 25)
Jannat Kaisi Hai
Fasting For Taqwa
Prescribing fasting the Quran says: “O you who believe, fasting is prescribed to you as it was to those before you, that you may (learn) self-restraint.” (2:183)
The original Arabic word translated here as self-restraint is taqwa, which has a much broader significance. It symbolizes that basic mortal quality that demarcates the line between morality and amorality and distinguishes humans from animals as moral beings.
It represents the love of good with an eagerness to respond to it, and a strong desire to keep away from what is evil and harmful.
Those who are neutral or immune to questions of good and bad, justice and injustice, compassion and cruelty, loyalty and treachery are in the words of the Quran like the blind, deaf, and dumb cattle, whose only concern in life is to fill their stomachs.
“They have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not. “
Kifayat Shayari
Ramadan For All Ages
The buzzing energy of Ramadan is everywhere and is catching on like wildfire. Supermarkets are displaying delicious dates, dried apricots, and figs. There are special prices on popular Ramadan foods like sambusa dough, beverages, oats, and lentils for soup. Advertisements on television show images of warm Ramadan gatherings, keeping the spirit of Ramadan alive and mosques have started charity meal coupons that you can buy to provide those in need with filling food to break their fast.
How can we make sure the lively Ramadan bee stings the little ones in our family so that they are just as excited as we are? If young children insist on fasting like the adults in their family, let them fast for half the day, with lots of encouragement and praise. Or they can fast the whole day but only on the weekends, or a couple of days out of the month. Print out an attractively decorated calendar for the days of Ramadan and hang it on the wall or fridge.
Put a sticker on each day that the child fasted. Children under the age of nine can earn a precious gift for fasting 10 days by the end of the month. The older the child, the more days he/she will have to fast to receive a prize.
Even children who are too young to fast can be involved in the unique daily Ramadan routine. Give your four-year-old the job of announcing to the family when it is time to eat. He/she can watch the TV channel or open a window and listen to the call of the Maghreb prayer from the neighborhood mosque. Buy or borrow colorful books for children that talk about Ramadan and Eid.
Children of all ages can also make a variety of sweet date treats for the whole family to enjoy. Open large dates, remove the pits, and fill with cornflakes, almonds, or pistachios.
Arrange in a serving dish and drizzle either honey or tahini over the dates. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, black seeds, or chocolate sprinkles. For extra fun and ease, stick a toothpick in each garnished date. Another tasty idea is to shape date paste into round balls. Kids will love getting their hands gooey and sticky with the date paste. Then roll these date balls around in coconut or chocolate sprinkles or finely chopped almonds.
Start a Qur’an reading contest in your house during this holy month. The child who reads the most pages of the Holy Qur’an during Ramadan will get (for example) Rs100, and the child who comes in second place will get Rs50, and so on.
To motivate their children to fast, mothers can invite their children’s best friends for the Iftar meal. All the guests are children only and they should be fasting as well. They gather before the call of the Maghreb and each child mentions one benefit of fasting, and then they read a story or some sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The sunnah of breaking the fast on dates and water or dates and milk can be emphasized. For the Iftar meal, mothers can prepare the child’s favorite foods with plenty of desserts too. After breaking the fast, the children should pray Maghreb together, and then be allowed to play freely until the night prayer. You can also prepare some Islamic knowledge questions and split the group into teams and offer rewards for the winning team. The kids can then pray the night prayer at home or if possible, they can all go to the mosque to pray and listen to the supplication after Taraweeh prayers, with adult supervision of course.
In fact, parents should encourage kids to go to Taraweeh prayers, to ask Allah for whatever they want in supplication, to donate money to the poor people around the mosque, and to find serenity and peace in the mosque. Children should aim to fast and go to the mosque to please Allah alone, and not to seek any material gain. But at least in the beginning, there is no harm in giving them a simple token of appreciation. Once in a while, when my children go to Taraweeh prayers with me I take them out afterward for ice cream or we stop at a stationary shop and I let them buy one or two items.
Getting your children involved in Suhoor, the pre-dawn meal may be a little more challenging, but you should try. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, “Have suhoor because truly there is blessing in suhoor.” Eating before dawn gives the body energy and the needed nutrition to fast for a whole day. If your children are sleepy, the Suhoor doesn’t have to be a long and complicated meal. They can eat a quick healthy snack like a bowl of whole-grain cereal, granola bars and milk, fruit, toast with butter and jam, or any sandwich that they prefer. The summer days are long and hot so you can help your fasting kids by allowing them to sleep in and not wake up too early. They could also take a late afternoon nap if they feel tired. Make sure they drink lots of fluids after sunset until the fasting day starts again.
Young children should not be forced to fast at all, because fasting is only obligatory after puberty. Moreover, when a person is occupied with something interesting, time seems to fly. So older kids can read a good book or work on a 500-or-more-piece puzzle or watch something on TV, but not more than one or two hours per day. We wish all our readers, young and old, a happy, fruitful, and healthy month of Ramadan.
– By Amal Al-Sibai