In this conversational interview, Speaker B, a Muslim participant, shares personal experiences and religious practices surrounding Ramadan. He recounts childhood fasting attempts, emphasizing personal accountability to God. He explains the distinction between obligatory (Fardah) and recommended (Sunnah) acts during Ramadan, describing the daily routine of waking at 4 AM for suhoor, performing ablution (wudu), and observing the five daily prayers, with particular focus on Fajr and the breaking of the fast at sunset. The discussion covers the significance of cleanliness, including avoidance of dogs after ablution, and details gender-specific dress codes for prayer—men’s modest attire and women’s requirement to cover the body with hijab or jilbab. Speaker B describes mosque arrangements, noting separate spaces for men and women and the necessity of facing the qibla (east) on a clean prayer mat. He highlights charitable customs during Ramadan, such as feeding the needy and community food distribution. The interview concludes with Speaker A’s personal anecdote of visiting a mosque, being greeted by the imam, and experiencing a welcoming yet questioning response about his faith. Throughout, the tone remains informal and reflective, with a generally positive sentiment toward Ramadan observances.
Chapters
Yes, Ramadan. Yes, because you just said something like you guys, it's so hard to— in order to do Ramadan, you need to start from your childhood. So I mean, for you, yeah, yeah, you have to like it.
But, uh, when I was so young, my grandma used to force me to do fasting. But like sometime, someday, I go around the kitchen, steal some food, and I told her like I'm fasting or something like that, and she believed me. But like Now I'm grow up, I'm a man, I know like what to do. If I'm fasting, I'm fasting between me and God. Even I cheat to eat, God will know. Oh yeah, yeah, like I'm not fasting for you, I fasting for me, and God will know everything. So I have to. All right, yeah.
So you have no challenge? You don't have challenge?
Challenge like is so easy, doing your best. Fasting, no gym, 30 days is so easy. Yeah, like people like really want to do like more, more than 30 days. It's so easy, like people do basically, some people do like they start fasting before the Ramadan and after the Ramadan.
This is interesting, it's very interesting.
Yes, it's something we say in Fatah, we have to do, it's mandatory. What's Fardah? Fardah, and it's a word in Arabic. It is something you have to.
You have to.
Yeah, Fardah. Like a prayer, it's a Fardah. Ramadan is Fardah, as you have to. It's between like Sunnah and Fardah. Like Sunnah, I can say Sunnah, it's not mandatory, but it's more, more addition. Like, if you do it, it's a good thing. So like, you can add some good blessing. If you're not, you, you're fine. But Fardah, it's something you have to, like, pray 5 times a day. Uh, that's Fardah. That's something you have to. Yeah, you have to.
So now, can you give me a a basic daily life of someone who's doing Ramadan. So what is your daily life? Morning routine? Yeah, so let's start with the morning routine.
My morning routine, so basically me, I wake up at 4 AM, uh, go take a shower, uh, take a Ablution. Yeah, ablution is something like before you pray, wash your hands, your mouth, your face, your head.
Actually, why you guys always— so it's just easy?
No, like it is something like I say, it is something you do before you pray.
Okay.
And you have to.
Okay.
So like when I do my ablution, uh, go pray to Raka and go eat something and then wait until the time of prayer. When the time of prayer comes, I go pray my Fajr prayer, and then yeah, I can still do my prayer, still continue to pray, or I can go to bed again. And the next prayer, I wake up again, take a shower, do my ablution, and go pray. So if I have to go to school, I'm going to school. If I'm not, I'm just chilling, doing some game play, talk with my family. And you know, the next prayer, the third prayer, like I said, the same thing. Do your ablution, go pray, pray of God. Like, yeah. And the third, the fourth prayer, that's the time you, you cut your Ramadan, you cut your fasting.
The third prayer?
Yeah, the fourth prayer. Yeah. And the fourth prayer, you go be ready. That's a good time. Like, before prayer, you will feel like, oh, I feel good, it's almost time, I'm gonna eat finally. Yeah, you go eat. If you have a date, you know, date the fruits. Yeah, yeah, you could eat with that. It's just some healthy food. Yeah, and say, alhamdulillah, like, thanks God. Like, it is something we're so excited, so happy to do. Yeah, yeah, okay.
So Fajr, you do the Fajr, and there's— I used to have a friend, I have a friend who's Muslim too, and he, he doesn't like— I used to be living with him, so I usually see him doing those ablutions we're talking of. But there's something I've noticed every time, whenever we're out and after he do his ablutions, Let's say he step out and there's like an animal or a dog beside him, so he always run away from it. And I always ask myself that, why is he always scared of the dog?
What's the problem? Basically, like, us dog or something like that, they not like clean. That's why we go doing fasting. Even if you go to the restroom, you doing your pee, you have to wash your hand and wash your things. Yeah, even like whatever you do, you have to like something coming out. Yeah, something dirty coming out your body and you have to wash it after and take ablution. So that ablution make your body clean and you clean and you good to go to pray.
Okay.
Yeah, so like before you pray, you have to be clean and that ablution make you clean.
Okay, ablution is It's the beginning of prayer.
Yes, first thing. Yeah, it's first thing to do. Okay, before you go pray.
Okay, good to know. One more thing we're knowing. Okay, my next question is addressing prayer. So we're going to be taking, talking about addressing prayer. Is there a particular addressing prayer? Like, I see yourself in this dress.
So basically, about men, it's not mandatory. It's not like I have to Yeah, as I have a pants who go be after my knee, I'm good to pray. Yeah, like it's men, it's so easy to have a good short. Yeah, and clean, smell good, and good pants go until your ankle. Okay, so like, yeah, it's men good to pray like every time and everywhere. And woman, yes, she have to. Woman, it's mandatory you pray. Like when you pray, you have to cover your body. Oh yeah, only your face and your wrist, between your wrist and your hand have to show up. But everything you have to cover, everything. Like I said, they wear hijab. Yeah, hijab and/or jalabi.
Yeah, and I equally notice that I heard people saying that, so When you go to the mosque, there is like different, different places for men and women.
Yeah, so women are usually at the back, always, and men go, go, okay, or in front.
Okay, so when praying, yes, you're gonna go to pray, when praying, uh, So does it have to be in any directions?
Yes, it has to be. So like when we pray, we face to the east, when the marker at the marker, uh, yes, we saw it, uh, during when the at east. Yeah, so in that east we have a clean mat to pray, like not Everywhere you can pray. Like you say, here it's— I can say it's clean, but you have to like basically something like for you to pray on it.
Okay, yeah, that's nice. It's nice to know. Okay, I'm gonna ask you another one question, one more question, the last one. It is, uh, I'm actually thinking of it.
It's not a question of prepare, but it's something that I will tell you about Ramadan or something like that. It has to be charity or kindness. During Ramadan, you have to like be kindness, be charity, giving. If you have or you don't, like, not everyone have some kind of money or something to give up to the community, but like you have to feed someone. Like, if you have to Like, let's say you have 2 bread and you go out, you see your friend of Muslim, he doesn't have nothing to eat, you have to give him like something to eat, like charity, and be kindness, love everyone, you know, like give it, give it something to the community. Yeah, when I was in my country, we used to do that every month of Ramadan. We take one day, we make a lot of foods a lot of drinks, everything, a lot, and go outside to the street and give people, like everyone, to eat.
I'm going to tell you a secret. Yes, I already went to the mosque to pray one time.
Oh, really?
I went to a mosque with some of my friends. They were like, let's go. So I went to the mosque and I prayed, same thing like Muslim. Arriving there, there was a guy who said, you, you are not a Muslim. I'm not sure you are a Muslim. You are not, you say, but it's kind of you, it's kind of you to come and encourage, encourage your friends. So yeah, and there's this guy there, this is your priest, I mean, just called the majid or imam. Yeah, imam. So the imam came and saw me and he greeted me.
Yeah, that's like it. When we see like that, we can't force you to be a Muslim. You can't, nobody can force you to be Muslim, but like it is, it's so good or so
