Ramadan and non-Muslim families

[glo]

For those of you who are reverts and/or have non-Muslim families, I would be interested to hear to what extend you can share Ramadan with your family members?

[AvarAllahNoor]

Yes, that would be an interesting read. :D

[glo]

Let's sit back and wait for replies then, brother :)

[glo]

:bump:

(I'll bump this up again, when Ramadan is over - because it may be more meaningful for people to reply after the event. I am really interested to read your replies.)

Salaam

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[north_malaysian]

i'm interested to hear experiences from reverts too in celebrating ramadan with their non muslim families...

[glo]

:bump:
I am bumping up this thread now we are nearing the end of Ramadan ...

Have you shared Ramadan (and Eid) with your non-Muslim friends and families? If so, how?

[Umu 'Isa]

My family does not seem very interested in being involved in my religious activities.. Although my dad took me out for iftar during the second week of Ramadan, which was a huge thing for me subhan Allaah. He has always hated the fact that I am muslim. Alhamdulillah he is slowlyyy softening up to the idea, it has been over 3 yrs now subhan Allaah.

It probably would of been a good idea to invite them over for iftar, but that didn't even cross my mind :embarrass and Ramadan is almost over! Insha Allah next year!

[julie sarri]

My family are really good my mum always asking me what time do you eat today and when i stay over she always asks me if i want her to get me up for suhoor {to eat in the morning before fajr. and my sister always gets me a eid card and present and my mum is always first to tell other family members who come and visit that i am fasting so if you want to eat don't eat in front of Julie not that it bothers me that people are eating so i find my family to be really understanding.

[Re.TiReD]

^^ masha'Allah at replies :)

[glo]

:bump:

Are there any more stories any of you want to share?

[Mawaddah]

:sl:

Whilst staying in the Bahamas my non-muslim family were always extremely intrigued by the fact that we fasted "for a whole month? Oh dear me.." (In their words). Every Ramadhaan would bring up the same questions and the same wide-eyed fascination from them. And they would mention over and over again about how "I dont think I could do that! Gee whiz you muslims are disciplined"

They never really 'celebrated' it with us though, except for a few times that my Grandmother and Grandfather came over for the Iftaar. They would enjoy eating it with us on the floor (something very different for them) and they considered it as something 'exotic' lol...

But they never showed any negative reaction or anything like that, and would only inquire anxiously once in a while whether we can start eating normally any time soon :D

[north_malaysian]

and would only inquire anxiously once in a while whether we can start eating normally any time soon :D

it shows that the Bahamians are nice people...:D

[Mawaddah]

^ to be honest, they are some of the nicest people I've ever met..........when they feel like it ;D

[kwolney01]

My family is supportive. My mom always says that she respects me a lot for being able to fast. This was my first official Ramadan as a Muslim, I've fasted for about 3 years now and just recently converted this summer. Alhamdulillah. I think Ramadan is a great opportunity for converts to show their non-Muslim families what Islam is all about. Ramadan is also a great time to talk to them about Islam. I know that I have talked to my family more about Islam since Ramadan. It’s so easy to start a conversation with someone about Islam when they know your fasting. So far my family has supported me, but it’s still hard when they eat and do whatever throughout the day and I’m fasting.

[Bub]

mashaAllah!!

[heno9]

my driver is not muslim and he in Ramadan work with me but dont drink dont eat in front on me

[Somaiyah]

Salam,
Well this would have been my first Ramadan inshallah but I am not allowed to fast so I don't know how my family will be. Inshallah next year I will know, that will be interesting to see...

[Proud of Islam]

My family is Muslim alhamdollellah, but I’ll talk about something else if you don’t mind, sis :sunny:

It’s natural that the stories here show positive attitudes because they are “families”, but with other people, unfortunately the case might be more negative..
I am a university student, and we have some foreign professors and some of them are not Muslims..
It’s sometimes really annoying when they try indirectly to offend this holy worship, or maybe some of them speaks with no purpose to offend us, but we feel it since we see that Ramadan is a very special month..
As a university in a Muslim country, my university doesn’t allow the non-Muslim doctors to eat or drink in the lecture halls or the labs; however, they are allowed to do whatever they want in their offices, so they can eat there.. It’s just kind of respecting us, you know.. But it seems that they don’t like this..
Just I’ll tell you some examples:

- In a break, a male professor said: I am going to have ice-cream in this hot weather.. but the rest are not allowed, right?

- A male professor said while chewing gum (although it’s not allowed in Ramadan in the classes as I said): I know that you are not able to concentrate since you didn’t have coffee before the lecture! (knowing that the level of the class was about the same as in the other months, I usually work very well in Ramadan since fasting is beneficial and also when fasting we feel that we have more time, we feel that Allah is rewarding us for our worship..)

- A female professor said: Oh I surprised that you even don’t drink water while fasting! I thought that just foods are not allowed; I thought you can have at least water!

You know sister, when reading these sentences is not like when hearing them; sometimes we can hear the offending voice, and see the derisive way!
I feel angry when hearing that, but at the same time I feel sorry for them & pray for Allah to guide them soon to the straight path & right religion.. When they say such things, they don’t know that we are really enjoying our fasting :sunny: We are not thirsty for this normal water, we wish to drink from Al Kawthar of the prophet Mohammad peace be upon him in the paradise insha Allah.. While fasting, we fast even from any bad speech or deed, so after Ramadan we become familiar with not doing any bad action & our souls become more virtuous.. We become better humans after practicing in Ramadan..
We went through some religious discussions with some doctors, but sometimes it appears superficially as he or she is the winner since we are not English native speakers (if the professor is), and since the professor is the one who can stop the discussion at any point and return back to the lesson..
They don’t have to discuss with us if they don’t want, I wonder why they don’t respect the religion of the country where they work.. But by the way, for bigger offendings, the administration takes hard actions..

But let me sister here talk about the other nice side, really there are MANY very respectful non-Muslim doctors who really appreciate our values very much, or others respect us regardless of what they think about Islam.. But I talked about the other few, because your thread reminded me about them! :statisfie


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Longing for the Paradise (Al-Jannah) where the endless happiness…

[glo]

Proud of Islam, I wonder if people make those comments because they cannot comprehend how people can fast with such commitment and consistency.

If I was you, I would be quietly pleased - because by their comments people show that they don't think they could do what fasting Muslims do ...
And since you enjoy the fasting and do it out of love and obedience to God, please don't feel angry with those who speak out of ignorance.

Last Ramadan I fasted too, and I found it incredibly difficult! Especially not drinking (so I can understand the processor's comment - from a health perspective not drinking really flies in the face of all health advice), and especially the first few days. After that things got a little easier, but it was still a tough thing to do.

So, enjoy your Ramadan fast. Don't expect everybody around you to be sympathetic and to understand. Many non-Muslims simply don't understand. How can they??

Salaam