So it just didn't really work. I fake fasted for a total of about five days, when I knew I would be home for iftar. The days I had capoiera or some other meeting, I didn't bother. And it actually was fun to "fast" those days, anticipating coming home for dinner to eat with the family. But my early excitement and expectation wore off after a couple weeks.
Some of those hard-core committed people I know also started to take days off from fasting. Apparently, Sheikh Fadlalah said that if you are able to fast and don't, you should pay L.L. 1500 ($1) per day to the local Muslim orphanages, which would be $30 for the month if you don't even bother trying.
Some of those hard-core committed people I know also started to take days off from fasting. Apparently, Sheikh Fadlalah said that if you are able to fast and don't, you should pay L.L. 1500 ($1) per day to the local Muslim orphanages, which would be $30 for the month if you don't even bother trying.
Being able to fast means that you are not excused from fasting. Those who are excused are people who travel (I think it's 22 km from your house), pregnant women, women on their period, or someone who's sick (but I don't know how that's determined). Those days, however, are supposed to be made up. That's why Ramadan starts early for some people, because they procrastinate in making up their days from the year before.
The other day, I thought I was going to get killed in the taxi (of course, that isn't soooo rare.) I usually like that hour before iftar, when the sun is going down, that feeling of expectation. But God forbid if you have to be on the road at that time. Traffic is crazy, and those people who have been fasting all day can be cranky (to put it mildly.) Besides not having drunk or eaten anything, people's sleep schedules get majorly thrown off--from waking up early for sohur and staying up late. My taxi driver was losing his mind. Every time, a car would sort of block his way, he was shouting, "Move it! I want to get home! We want to eat!"
The other day, I thought I was going to get killed in the taxi (of course, that isn't soooo rare.) I usually like that hour before iftar, when the sun is going down, that feeling of expectation. But God forbid if you have to be on the road at that time. Traffic is crazy, and those people who have been fasting all day can be cranky (to put it mildly.) Besides not having drunk or eaten anything, people's sleep schedules get majorly thrown off--from waking up early for sohur and staying up late. My taxi driver was losing his mind. Every time, a car would sort of block his way, he was shouting, "Move it! I want to get home! We want to eat!"
It's now Eid. It came the day after university started, so it doesn't really feel like a holiday. But that's of course, because I didn't fast. And no great spiritual breakthroughs. A let-down?
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