A non-Muslim’s Ramadan fast …

Some of you may know that I set myself the challenge to fast during this Ramadan. Here is my account of it.

I am sure that some of you will not consider my attempt to fast to be in any way, shape or form Islamic. You are probably right, and I want to make that clear from the outset.

My fasting entailed the following:
I had breakfast and prayed (not Islamically) before sunrise, and I broke the fast with our family meal in the evening (around 6 PM, so an hour or two before the actual sunset)
During that time I fasted pretty much the same way Muslims do – no food or drink consumed.

The first three days were terrible!
On the first day my mind became so occupied with FOOD that even sweets wrappers or discarded food in the bin started to look tempting!
By the third day my concentration and energy was so low, that I did not think I would be able to continue …

… but luckily by day four my body had adjusted, and it became much more manageable.

I continued for twenty days, but which time I suddenly felt that I was not fasting for the right reasons any longer, so I stopped fasting then – I felt that if I was fasting to impress my Muslim friends rather than to please God, then my intentions were wrong anyway, and there was no point continuing …

I must say that fasting has be a very profound and spiritual experience for me.
Although I fast pretty regularly as part of my Christian faith, I have never done it for such a length of time.
The two main things which I noticed the most were that

1. I had an increased awareness of how many of God’s blessings we take for granted in life, without even thinking to thank him for. Going hungry for so long every day was a great reminder of that!

2. I really felt very much in touch with God. He certainly pricked my conscience with regards to several issues in my own life – which I am trying very hard to address as we speak.

So overall it was a great thing to do.
Although I may not have fasted Islamically in the true sense of the word, I would certainly consider fasting again.

Thanks for reading.

Peace