Ramadan

Thursday marked the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. Ramadan is a month of fasting and prayer. Since I live in a predominantly Muslim village (at least 80% of the population practices Islam), Ramadan was widely observed.

Muslims fast during Ramadan from sunrise to sunset, which is defined in my village as being from 5:30 am to 7:20 pm. No food or liquid (not even water) can be consumed during those hours, but you can gorge yourself to your heart's delight during the night. Muslims in Sonsoro wake up early to eat before the sun rises. Some wake up as early as 2 am to start cooking, and they eat at 4 am in order to be sure to finish before sunrise.

This year, I fasted for Ramadan in perfect accordance with the rules. I woke up at 4 or 4:30 to eat and drink before the sun rose, and I did not eat or drink again until the sun set at 7:20 pm - even on days when I spent up to 10 hours doing manual labor under the hot sun. I did, however, take advantage of one of the exceptions allowed by Islam: you are not required to fast when traveling.

Islam actually allows many exceptions to fasting. The very young (under 7), the elderly, and the sick do not fast, nor do pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers. A woman also cannot fast when she is menstruating because she is considered unclean. Another exception, as I mentioned, is that you are not required to fast when traveling. However, anyone who misses days of fasting (except children and the elderly) is expected to make up the days at a later time, even if they just make up one day at a time. Another accepted alternative to making up the days is to feed the hungry.

Ramadan is also a month of devotion through prayer. Not unlike Christians who go to church only on Christmas and Easter, Muslims who rarely bother to pray most of the year will make sure to pray the required five times per day during Ramadan. In addition to those five times per day, the faithful do extra praying during the last ten days of Ramadan. This praying, locally called "veillee", starts at midnight each night and continues until 2 or 3 am or even later.

Even though fasting and losing sleep may sound arduous, my Muslim friends are happy to observe Ramadan. They consider the sacrifice worthwhile because they believe that they can expect divine reward in return for their devotion. One friend told me that during Ramadan, God will grant you anything that you desire.

While this year's Ramadan fell from mid-July to mid-August, the same will not be true next year. The dates are based on the lunar calendar, so they advance by roughly ten days every year. Local imams determine the precise dates based on the moon cycle, so the dates may vary across the globe by a day or so based on the local imam's interpretation of the moon cycle. Even within my village, there was disagreement about which day Ramadan should officially start, so some Muslims started fasting a day sooner than others.

Now that Ramadan is over, many local Muslims will go back to skipping their daily prayers and drinking alcohol, despite Islamic teachings to the contrary. As is true for all religions, Islam has a wide spectrum of religious practices and devotion, ranging from ultraconservative to ultraliberal. Here in northern Benin, the practice of Islam tends to be quite relaxed.