Solidarity with my Muslim Friends

I was a stranger 10 days earlier. During the festivities marking the end of Ramadan, however, I was treated as a dear family member. This occasion happened 50 years and its memory is extraordinary for me. To celebrate, I am observing the holy month of Ramadan in a personal way.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and is a time of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community for Muslims worldwide. I am not a Muslim but have known many Muslims through personal and professional connections over the years.

I first learned of Ramadan (called Ramazan in Türkiye) when I spent six months on an international exchange program in Türkiye. I participated in the experience with two host families. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn until sunset and abstain from food, drink, smoking, and marital relations during the daylight hours. At sunset, a large meal shared with family and friends breaks the daily fast.

In addition to fasting, Muslims increase their prayers and engage in acts of charity and kindness throughout the month. In some ways the traditions are like what Christians, especially Catholics, might experience during Lent. Ramadan concludes with the festive day of Eid al-Fitr marked by prayers, feasting, and the giving of gifts. It is a time of joy and gratitude.

During the latter days of the month of Ramazan in Türkiye, I was staying with an extremely poor farm family in Samsun, close to the Black Sea. I was supposed to move to another family right before the end of Ramazan and my host family asked if I could stay for the Eid al-Fitr. I loved the joy of that celebration and the variety of food that came in endless amounts.

I am not fasting from sunrise to sunset, but I am keeping Ramadan by not eating sugar or drinking alcohol or sweet drinks during the daytime. I decided to undertake this gesture to remind myself of the specialness of my Muslim friends.

Ramadan will end this year on April 8. I will celebrate it quietly as I remember my time in Türkiye and the Muslim friends that I have known. I will also remember how the tenets of Islam and my Christianity are similar in the focus on gratitude, generosity, love, and kindness.