Ramadan starts in August this year. We can expect long, hot days of fasting. Some of us have never fasted in the summer, some of us are thirty years older than the last time we had to fast during the summer. Young and new Muslims may be wondering how to fast in summer. Older Muslims who fasted during summer Ramadans of the 1970’s may be wondering how their aging bodies are going to hold up (Muslims living in the southern hemisphere are undoubtedly having the same concerns about fasting during the harsh winter seasons they are now facing).
One thing many of us can do to make it easier on ourselves is to schedule some vacation time during Ramadan. You can take a week or two off at the end, when you can expect to be getting tired. You may prefer taking time off in the middle of Ramadan in order to break the month up. You may even want to take the time off in the beginning so you can more easily get adjusted to fasting during the summer.
If you can’t take a lot of time off, how about just one day mid-week, so you don’t have to work more than 2 or 3 days at a time without getting a break? It makes it a lot easier mentally to get through Monday and Tuesday for example, if you know that you will be off on Wednesday. And it’s easier to get through Thursday and Friday knowing you will have the weekend free. Or you may want to take Friday off each week and go to Friday prayer while enjoying the benefit of a whole month of 3-day weekends.
If you are looking for more information on fasting, you can find tips on how to fast year round. You can also read an excellent article on the physiology of fasting by Dr. Suriya Osman.
One final note: you may also find that if you try fasting before Ramadan begins, you will be able to figure out what works best for you when fasting during this time of year. Not having to go through a prolonged trial-and-error period at the beginning of Ramadan will make that fast that much easier.
