The Islamic holiday of Ramadan is the “longest” it has been in 33 years, leaving Muslims in the northern parts of the world with just two hours to eat and drink each day.
Ramadan started June 5 and runs through July 5. Muslims fast when the sun is out to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad, according to Muslim belief.
The holiday rotates and starts about 11 days earlier than the year prior. For people who live in the northern hemisphere, this year’s fast coincides with the longest, and often hottest, days of the year.
Akil Zahiri is the spokesperson for Imam Ali Islamic Center, a Mosque outside the Swedish capital of Stockholm. The sun is up for about 22 hours per day during June, which leaves Zahiri with two hours to eat and drink.
“I have to admit, it’s very difficult sometimes at work or for those in school who study, but we’ve learned that the body adjusts after a couple of days,” Zahiri told The Daily Caller News Foundation on the third day of Ramadan. “Your body realizes that it won’t get food or water for 22 hours. After day five or six it gets a lot easier to cope.”
Zahiri said the spiritual part of Ramadan gives him strength to have patience and fight the thirst and hunger. If health complications occur because of the fast, Muslims are supposed to break it and resume it during a different time of the year. The same goes for people who live in the northernmost parts of civilization, where the sun never sets during Ramadan.
“It has no meaning [if the sun never sets],” Zahiri told TheDCNF. “They should fast at a different time, when the days are shorter.”
A dangerous mistake many Muslims make is to stuff themselves with food as soon as the sun sets. The key to make Ramadan as easy on the body as possible, according to Zahiri, is to gradually build up the blood sugar level, drink a lot of water, save some food until right before the fast resumes and give the body time to digest it all before going to bed.
“You have to drink a lot of water to not get dehydrated, and eat a lot fruit,” Zahiri told TheDCNF. “You have a little food in the beginning, not too much. Then you take a break and have more food just before you start fasting again. Just make sure you drink as much water as you can.”
Ramadan will be a much easier task for Muslim northerners in 2032, when the fast takes place during Christmas.
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