Amina and Hafsa Rahman are learning how to be community journalists for NPR Illinios. The team discusses the start of Ramadan and how people outside the community react.
Hafsa Rahman: Hi, this is Hafsa and Amina Rahman, citizen journalists with our audio journal this week. The month of Ramadan has just begun for Muslims. It's a holy month in Islam, where we fast from sunrise to sunset every day for 30 days. We do a lot of worshiping and community get togethers and it's a special month for Muslims, not just here, but across the world.
Amina Rahman: Hafsa, I feel like we have an opportunity to get to see a lot of the Christmas spirit, or the Hanukkah spirit, or maybe even the Diwali spirit. So I wanted to share The Ramadan spirit for those who don't know about it. One big theme of Ramadan is the sacrifice part. We go without food or water from sunrise to sunset, but it's also a time of self reflection. I like to describe it as a bit of a personal bootcamp where you put yourself in a more challenging situation and you try to really work on.
The things you need to work on as a person. Maybe you need to be more patient. Maybe you need to listen better. All these things that are tough all through the year. We try to push ourselves with an even bigger challenge. Some of the things that are happening in the community are we're having gatherings where we share food together and we meet together to pray and spend some time together as a community. So we see a lot of people that we don't always get to see.
One person that I've been interviewing is somebody who came to America and was alone here as a student. He found a lot of community during Ramadan and he was able to connect with people more. Now he's paying it forward. The last few years he and his wife have been hosting gatherings at the mosque to feed other students and other people who may not have families around. It's that thing of giving back that's happening in Ramadan.
Hafsa Rahman: People tend to assume that us fasting and not eating or drinking is really hard and we don't enjoy it. But, when I think about Ramadan, when it's coming up, I get very excited because it's a lot of time for personal reflection, working on my faith, and I'm really focused because I have certain goals, like not eating or drinking the whole day.
it's actually a really happy time for our Muslim community. We feel very connected to God and to each other. It's a really important time and I always get the question when I'm fasting, not even water ? Yeah, not even water, but we're able to get through it and it's a really happy time for us. People often don't understand that.
Amina Rahman: Whether it's the kids getting the extra treats in Ramadan for doing good deeds because the little kids don't fast, or the adults getting to work on that and feel the achievement of becoming better. Ramadan has a lot of different facets and I'm glad we get to share that with everybody.
Hafsa Rahman: Being in high school during Ramadan, I get a lot of questions because there's a lot of kids that haven't ever heard anything about Islam itself, but specifically Ramadan.
They're always very confused on how I just don't eat for the whole day, but after explaining, they understand. They understand why it's important to me. Maybe they think my parents make me do it. For me, it's more about this is my obligation to God, and it's important to me. I love it.
Sometimes it can be an issue with getting tired during the day because I'm fasting with tests and a lot of schoolwork. As long as I talk to my teachers, usually they understand that I'm going through something that's important and might give me a little bit of a harder time. They're very understanding and respectful. Gym class, of course, usually I'm able to get excused because they understand that It's a lot to be exercising and not eating or drinking. Overall, it's nice to be able to talk to people about something that's so special in my life, and they get to understand something completely new to them. I think a lot of teachers generally do know that students are observing Ramadan, but they don't really talk about it.
Around the holiday season, you'll hear teachers and other students say things like, "Happy Holidays," "Merry Christmas," whatever. You don't really hear that as much about Ramadan, or Eid, or any Islamic important events. They definitely know and they're aware and they want to help us feel comfortable because this is something so important to us.
Amina Rahman: Today I went to a local high school to give a presentation on Islam. This teacher has asked me to come back every year. I've also done presentations in elementary schools for my kids. It's a great way to share. The teacher told me today she wanted me to talk about the concept of sacrifice. She said she's Christian, so she observes Lent. A lot of people don't understand because maybe they don't practice as much nowadays, or the people who don't practice it may not understand it. So she wanted me to emphasize the aspect of sacrifice and what it means to me. I sacrifice food and water and maybe other things that I may be giving up during Ramadan or during the daytime. , it's nice to share that because it's actually is a joyful thing for us.
Today my little son came with me for the presentation. He's seven. He doesn't have to fast because he's too young for that, but he wants to, because he sees his older siblings doing it. A couple of days ago he didn't wake up in time to eat the morning meal before sunrise, but he was really insistent, "No, I really want to fast." I had to explain to him, "Your body's still growing. Your brain needs those calories." So finally he has accepted that, okay, I'm not going to fast today, but he insisted, "I'm going to make it up another day." That's how enthusiastic he was about it. It's interesting to share that value about sacrifice. It applies to a lot of religions. It's not just in Islam. It's something in Lent. Jewish people fast too and a lot of other religions have that concept of sacrifice.
In Ramadan, as Hafsa mentioned, it can be challenging for people who are not getting the same usual caloric intake. They might be a little sleepy or a little tired or, unable to do physical activity as much, but it's important for Muslims. We try to do our best to keep up with it, but sometimes there's going to be things where we need accommodation . People are pretty good about that. Also people will tend to stay up late at night to pray. That can make them a little more tired too. A lot of Muslims tend to try to do things before Ramadan. So, their workload is a little lighter or they plan afternoon naps so they can keep up with the demands of their regular schedule.
Hafsa Rahman: It's always a nice thing to hear from people that aren't Muslim when they say, "Oh, I heard it's Ramadan. I hope it goes well for you." We personally say to each other, usually, "Ramadan Mubarak," which means it's a blessed Ramadan. A lot of people say, "Ramadan Kareem" too, which is a similar thing. If you say, "I heard about this I hope it goes well for you. Happy Ramadan," it's nice to hear people talk about it because it doesn't get talked about as much as Christmas or other holidays.
Press Forward Springfield is awarding its first project grants. NPR Illinois along with the Illinois Times and Capitol News Illinois are each receiving funding to report on different untold stories in our community. The three reporting projects will be posted in May.
Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln in collaboration with the Field Foundation and the Illinois Department of Human Services are leading this project as part of their Healing Illinois program.
NPR Illinois is using the grant to test its vision for community reporting and journalism training — the Journalism Corps or "J-Corps."
