Every year, millions of Muslims celebrate Ramadan all over the world. But this past month, they spent the religious holiday at home in quarantine.
A big part of Ramadan is fasting from sunrise to sunset each day. For junior Yasmin Mohran, being stuck in quarantine made this experience a lot easier to handle.
“I don’t have to be at school all day working, talking and being around food,” Mohran said. “It’s easy to stay at home, do my own thing and nap when I need to. The time to break [my] fast comes quickly.”
Junior Aamir Qureshi said fasting at home is easier for him too, especially without the burden of attending extracurricular activities after school. Additionally, being at home for Ramadan gives him the chance to spend more of the holiday with his family.
“The whole family was home and we had more time to focus on stuff like reading the Quran and practicing patience by getting along,” Qureshi said.
Though junior Amna Imran said fasting has become easier, she has a harder time distracting herself from the temptation of breaking her fast.
“Meeting with friends at school and engaging in work and activities […] would allow distraction, which doesn’t happen when you have free time at home all day,” Imran said. “So while I don’t feel as hungry for as long being at home, there isn’t the distraction element that comes with school.”
Because fasting requires these juniors to wake up and eat before sunrise and wait till after sunset to break their fast, adjusting to this schedule has made a significant change in their sleep patterns.
“[My sleep schedule is] awful,” Quershi said. “It’s still terrible, especially because I would stay up to make breakfast at 4 a.m. […] It was [also] super hard to stay awake during school because I couldn’t drink coffee either.”
Similarly, Imran had to find a way to work around her online classes with her 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. sleep schedule.
“I’d be on 1 hour of sleep and have to take naps during the 30-minute breaks [between classes] and lunch,” Imran said. “After school was done I’d be out until much later. My work ethic was definitely affected too because I’d be more lethargic during the night.”
Along with fasting, praying is another important aspect of Ramadan. But, the coronavirus has forced the closure of many places of worship, including mosques.
Mohran said not being able to go to the mosque to pray is slightly bothersome since she does not get the chance to be with other friends and family.
“It’s a holiday to celebrate together and we couldn’t have that this year,” Mohran said.