Teens look forward to first fast this Ramadan

As Ramadan begins, teenagers in the UAE are looking forward to their first 30-day fast. During the holy month, Muslims fasts from sunrise until sunset, when they break their fasts with dates and water.

Emirates 24|7 spoke to a few teenage Muslim girls who are fasting for the first time this year.

“It is obligatory for me to start fasting as I have turned 15,” says Ruqaiya Maskti, a student of Delhi Public School Sharjah. “But I do not think it will be difficult as I will be sleeping until noon. My mother has also explained the reason behind doing the fasts, so I will wake in the morning do my prayers and go back to sleep.”

As Ramadan falls during the summer, schools are re-opening late this year, in mid-September after the celebrations of Eid-ul- Fitr at the end of the holy month. Both parents and children think it’s easier to start fasting when schools are shut.

“Luckily Ruqaiya has holidays this time so it will be easier for her to fast. Previously she wanted to fast but I did not allow her to fast all 30 days, as it would affect her studies so she did 15 days like every alternate days and Saturday. I am making up her mind as this is the first time she will be fasting for all 30 days,” says Ruqaiya’s mother Tasneem.

Jumana Kasubhai, a 15-year-old from Westminster school, will also attempt to keep the fast all month long this year. “I am excited to do my 30 days of fasting, this year. From quite a number of years I have been fasting for 10- 15 days but it will be easier this year since I will be home most of the time,” she says.

She’s sure that iftar, the meal with which the faithful breaks the fast each day, will be a particular highlight. “I am also looking forward to iftar, because my mother will be preparing tasty dishes for us to eat,” she adds.

Ramadan is a time for renewing bonds with family and friends, especially those who one has not been in touch with for a long time. People often gather together at iftar, to break their fast together. Fourteen-year-old Maria Khabra, a student at Dubai Scholars School, looks forward to her iftar, where she can meet her friends and share a meal with them.

“This time my mother told me to fast, since I am 14 it is obligatory for me to fast for all 30 days. I have been fasting previously only on weekends. I don’t know how difficult it will be as it is my first time but I am excited about it as my friends and I will go the mosque and do iftar together. I am really looking forward to it,” she said with a lot of enthusiasm.

People make it a point to do good deeds during this month and pray more than usual to ask for forgiveness of previous sins. “Since this is my first time, my mother has asked me to perform prayers well and regularly, as the prayers wash away the sins,” says Maria.

None of the girls we spoke to was aware just how hard their first Ramadan might be. But Zainab Das, 19, says it gets easier over the years. The Manipal University student says she was only tempted when she saw school friends eating.

“I began fasting from the age of 13. Since, it was my first time I would get tempted easily. The fast was not very difficult, except I used to feel very thirty.  Over the years, we have been so well trained that I don’t feel tempted to eat or drink any longer.”

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