Holding workshop during Ramadan - what can help Muslim colleagues?

[Curbingmyenthusiasm]

I'm organizing a residential workshop which is going to be held on a Mon to Thurs during Ramadan. Out of about 50 people, I expect there to be 10-12 Muslims but not sure how observant they are. How can I best support them to participate in a workshop during Ramadan?

I thought I would ask the hotel to make available a prayer room/quiet room for them to use (although their rooms will be in the same hotel as the workshop so easy to access to rest during the day if needed). I will also ask the hotel if they can provide them with a breakfast box or allow them access to breakfast before dawn.

Anything else I can do? Dinner is independently organized and we are in a city with lots of halal options close by and we will end before sundown.

Ramandan is for a month, surely Muslims cope in their respective countries where it is prevalent? It's not like things grind to a halt?

In a Muslim county it's probably much easier. Things don't grind to a halt but there is a slower pace and working hours can be shortened. And if you're at home, you can arrange things how you want regarding mealtimes but it's harder when you're away at a workshop and staying in a hotel.
We're not changing the agenda, which is very full, and the participants have seen it and still agreed to come so they're aware what they've signed up for but we can try to make some arrangements which will make it easier for them and as a sign of our appreciation of the extra effort this is on their part.

They are travelling
Dont put them in an awkward position by assuming fasting when they may not be

I think a room for prayer, or quiet contemplation could have different times for men only, women only, both sexes.

No one will be obliged to take up the offer. But I want to have an offer people can take up if they wish. My Muslim friend said that (at least in her tradition) you have to travel fro 10 days not to fast. So many of them may still be choosing to fast.

This person keeps irritating people

Well, actually, yes.

In a lot of places, things do grind to a halt.

Shops and offices work on a different timetable. Schools may close. Term times are altered to take account of Ramadan and Eid. People sleep during the day and stay up at night. In that sense, it is not a time of deprivation that you would typically associate with fasting. In fact, food sales massively increase during Ramadan. People entertain and eat more as hospitality is an important part of both Islamic and Arabian culture. People normally put on weight.

Another difficulty is that Eid can only commence when the new moon is sighted by the naked eye so, in the past, clouds have extended Ramadan and delayed Eid. The longest I remember was by 3 days and I think there was a bit of a fudge to confirm the moon sighting in the end. And not knowing when a holiday will start also creates issues.

We used to say a month of Ramadan, a week of Eid and another month to recover.

(Eid is not usually a full week but people will book leave to make the most of 3 days of public holidays - 2 days of annual leave can give you 9 days of holiday).

Interesting, I see. I've been in Turkey and didn't notice any difference (and obviously know some Muslim people and haven't noticed anything except yummy food during Eid)

water water water in the hotel rooms. Lots of water bottles

Hi OP, practising muslim here. I think it's lovely that you are being thoughtful. tbh I don't think you need a prayer room as they will be able to go back to their rooms. you could however, create a little info guide for all attendees with a list of restaurants close by etc and include places of worship such as mosques there (there are special congregational prayers in the evening during ramadan they might wish to attend).

break times at appropriate that coincide with prayer times would be great. if you have lunch around 1ish, attendees could pray their midday prayer then and maybe another one slightly later on say 430pm would allow for the afternoon prayer.

the most important accommodation is the pre dawn breakfast pack and ensuring they have water in their rooms.

not all will be practising and even among practising Muslim attendees, not all will be fasting. but your consideration will be greatly appreciated!

When I lived in a Muslim country, eating and drinking in public in daylight hours was not done, even by non-Muslims. (You would hear people eating inside public toilet cubicles in the malls.) Many restaurants closed, hotels would serve guests food behind a cloth screen, businesses opened for truncated hours, often opening later to accommodate staff who had broken their fast before dawn and gone back to bed, and closing earlier. Big communal iftars. The traffic was often crazy just before sunset as people rushed home to pray and break their fast, and low blood sugar and hurry tended to cause more accidents.

Hi OP, I'm Arab and though my family are (nominally) Catholic, most of my parents friends are Muslim. As someone said, the fact you're thinking of it will go a long way, but don't worry too much about it. Ramadan isn't supposed to be made easier in an earthly sense, its a time for people to connect with and depend on their faith, if you see what I mean - I think there's a similar passage in the Bible that when you fast, don't make a big exhibition of your deprivation, but be cheerful and act as normal, because fasting is between you and God. People won't be expecting lots of accommodation but a quiet space for prayer will definitely be appreciated.

Ask the hotel. Events managers have a wealth of experience in making sure guests and delegates are catered for comfortably, and will have some good ideas to make sure your Muslim colleagues are well supported.

Something that a couple of my Muslim colleagues pointed out to me when I was organising a conference last year - albeit not in Ramadan - could they have Halal meat please, they're fed up of always having tuna sandwhiches!! Also, would it be possible to serve food not in a bar area? I guess this is generally only done at conference lunchtimes, so shouldn't be a problem in Ramadan.

They may not all be observing Muslims so no need to go overboard. Not all Muslims fast so you could make food available to those who want it ie anyone and allow a short break for anyone who wants it at the time to end their fast.

To be honest, my first thought when I read your opening post was ‘why don’t you just ask them’. If I were setting up this type of event, my initial plan wouldn't include ‘I’ll ask Mumsnet users what they think in the middle of the night’. In fact, if such a high % of possible attendees were Muslim, I wouldn't plan the event during Ramadan in the first place.

What a lot of fuss! You could have people of all sorts of religions at a conference- surely they will all have their own desires around things and sort out themselves accordingly.

Having a breakfast box available for anyone who wants it before dawn is a good idea and depending on when sessions end, if inthe evening having dates available at sundown for all is an inclusive experience, no need to exclude non Muslims

First, I can se that you are very UK centric since you assume it is middle of the night for everyone. it's not.
Second, we have no choice but to hold the event now due to funding.
Third, I explained already that I will like to approach the hotel and set some things up before I go back to the participants and ask if they would like avail themselves of these services and if there is anything else.
And, finally, I got some useful feedback which will allow me to engage with the hotel and better meet the needs of any fasting participants so I'm quite happy. Thankfully most comments were most useful and helpful than yours.

I'm grateful to these people for making the effort to travel and come to this workshop during Ramadan.

I would be happy to make similar reasonable accommodations for any other participant. Since I'm aware of Ramadan I want to prepare.

It's not a lot of fuss to ask the hotel to provide them with a breakfast box and pack up snacks we've paid for but they can't eat.

Whilst it may be great that you’re trying to preempt the needs of a particular demographic, your first port of call should always be to ask the demographic about their needs.
You chose to post this in Chat, so that’s what I’m doing. Chat isn’t an echo chamber!

It is so nice and considerate of you to think about the fasters. I’m sure they will appreciate any accommodations that you make. Wherever we are when we are fasting and especially when we are working, we usually get on with it without trying to make too much fuss.

If I was coming to your conference, I would have some food stashed away for the pre- Dawn meal so a fridge in the room and access to water would be nice. I would also be very conscious of the time to break my fast so don’t plan anything around this time. I would want to bring a Tupperware to pack sandwiches/breaky things available at the venue to eat later, but might be a bit self conscious about doing this on day 1. I’m sure by day 4 I would think fuck it and just pack the whole buffet though!

We also become a bit nocturnal during Ramadhan (maybe just me!) so just be aware of that.

Thanks for being such a considerate person.

Not sure you know what an echo chamber is.

I have already explained that I will be contacting participants once confirmed to ask what they need. But FIRST I want to confirm with the hotel what they can offer. Some people are shy to make demands especially from different cultures (again not everyone is from the UK).

I've had some nice ideas here which I hadn't considered which is why i posted

@Mombie
We'll ask the hotel to pack up snacks for fasting participants. We'll have paid for them so don't want them to go to waste!

OP that's so thoughtful

Def talk to your event manager at the hotel about some decent breakfast packs, that's already a lovely touch :)