Ramadan diaries

Every week Al-Ahram Weekly interviews people on a different Ramadan-related subject. This issue we ask: "Why are you fasting?"

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"There is a general feeling that people fast to understand what it means to starve -- how it feels to be poor and go hungry. That is, more or less, the standard explanation most children get from their parents -- yet as we grow older, we tend to think outside this box. I am not entirely convinced that this is a good reason to be fasting, because it reduces it to a ritual performed out of sympathy. Fasting is more of the relationship between the body and one's willpower, where one stops focusing on worldly matters, removes oneself from a world of desires and needs, and thinks about more abstract dimensions instead."

Elham, 27-year-old university professor

"I am encouraging my young son to fast as a means of enhancing his willpower in exerting self-restraint. I also want to introduce the concept of mercy and responsibility. Stressing the importance of fasting to children from a younger age is like planting the seeds of faith in them; when they go through later phases of life, where they might swing between doubt and faith, in the end deep inside their hearts those seeds will remain."

Farah, 33-years-old

"I wish Ramadan was not just one month, but rather a year-round condition. This is a month of mercy and forgiveness, a month where the entire society feels as one. We all feel equal, rich and poor, and it does not really matter whether you break your fast on a date and a glass of water, or a five-star banquet; at the end of the day, we all fast in obedience to our Creator, break our fast at the same time all around the country, and kneel before the Almighty seeking his mercy and forgiveness. On my part, each Ramadan I fast in obedience to God's orders, and in a bid to modify my behaviour. In Ramadan, while fasting, I am obliged to lower my gaze, watch my language and commit to my prayers. Each year I feel that my willpower to resist certain temptations increases, but still I feel I have a long way to go in strengthening my faith in order to become a better person capable of restraining myself even when it's not Ramadan."

Mahmoud, a 37-year-old mechanic

" When it's not Ramadan, my lifestyle leans more towards Western style partying and clubbing. At the same time, Ramadan for me is a break from the material world; a chance to delve into spirituality. I used to be confused about the two lives I was leading; I would ask myself, 'Why do I fast in the first place, since it does not change my style of life in general?' Then I realised that the problem is in my confusion about life in general, and not the practice of fasting itself. There are lots of questions that I still have no answers for. However, I feel like something in my heart gets cleansed this month, something like the breath of fresh air that follows the rain. In Ramadan, I feel physically and psychologically better, yet the question remains: why can't I continue to feel that way throughout the year?"

Sara, 25-years-old

Interviews by Jailan Halawi