Ramadhan 1432/2011!!! All welcome

[littleducks]

Asalamalaykum!

I thought I would start a shiny, new, fresh thread for the month of Ramandhan.

In the past we have had some nice threads on here, so please use this thread to share recipes, ideas of activities for the children (or adults!), links to any websites with cool craft ideas, tales of family traditions for fasting days/Eid or anything else that you think is relevant.

And any lurkers are welcome to read and please feel welcome to ask any questions about Islam/Muslims/The Month of Ramadhan or Eid and we will try to answer as best we can.

Well this thread has certainly slowed down!

Is everyone feeling tired? I have not felt hungry or thirsty much (yet) but am definatley fatigued, and my grand plan has not yet worked......my kids are staying up with us for iftar at the mosque so are sleeping at 11.30 ish but are still waking at 7.30/8 am and am having to force naps in between 5 and 6.30 which has had mixed results.

DD is definately improving at reading Qu'ran and ds has just started learning th eletters (up to jeem so far) so inshAllah it will all pay off in the end.

I could be tempted to a MN iftar if we manage to get one off the ground. Though my dh will probably lecture me on 'taking on too much' as I do seem to have adopted a crazy routine for the month!

wow littleducks that sounds like its tough going! mashaAllah well done on your kids progress.

eandz i remember beef bacon on hajj it was yummy?

what's a mn iftar potluck?

ws xx

sorry should be yummy! not yummy? there's definitely not a question mark on that subject lol :)

I think the 'potluck' stems from everyone bringing a dish and then all share so it's kinda potluck what you end up eating.......eandz probably explains a million times better though as she is American

So basically a MN meet-up for iftar where everyone brings a dish, rather than burdening one person and less ££££ than a restaurant (and possibly more child friendly?)

Violent migraines darnit. Im prone to them anyway.

sorry to that riven. la ba's tahurun inshaAllah.

mn iftar sounds good, but i'm not doing any collective iftars this year as iftar is so late...maybe after ramadan a nice afternoon eid meet up would be nice :)

I am not muslim, but my husband is and I am pregnant with our first child, due next month. All is family is in Pakistan so if any of you have some advice on how I can support my husband during the month of Ramadan.

So far I have cooked pakoras, spinach and paneer curry, daal...

What do you think I should cook for him in the morning?

Thanks for the advice, I really want him to have a nice and peaceful ramadan.

hi there babloogirl, congrats on the pregnancy!

i think everyone's different in terms of what they like to eat in the morning- some people like a full on meal, others like just cereal. perhaps you can ask him what he prefers? and if he does like a full on meal, then you can make it easier on yourself and cook extra the night before, then he can have it for sehri (meal before fasting). but if he likes cereal then he can do that himself :)

the other thing that might help, but i don't know if this applies to you, is make sure i get the kitchen all clean before dh comes home. usually dh kindly clears up after ive cooked (during which time i'm putting ds to sleep). but i'm trying to be more organised and get everything cleared before he comes home because after a long day's work its the last thing he'll want to do. so you could think about anything you could do that might make his day/evening easier.

oh one more thing, is i'm trying to make sure when i do the weekly shop that i have things in that he particularly likes to eat (his favourite cereals, and posh crisps to snack on that he likes).

but most of all i think given you're carrying his child and are heavily pregnant i'm sure that alone will be making him hhave a nice and peaceful ramadan as he looks forward to the new baba you will be having. :)

littleducks has the right idea as far as the potluck is concerned.

i would Love it if we could do one. i wouldn't mind organizing it if people would actually come.

Right now I dont think I can commit to that, due to the trouble in London, dh has been evacuated out of work twice (hackney) now.....if it all calms down and I dont feel like I am living in a war zone next week I will reconsider

Im too far from London :(. Bristol sisters have organised an iftar. In an inaccessible venue. Honestly, the Ummah are still back in medieval times regarding disability. Not one mosque in the city is accessible. Not one.
Not fasting today as started a hideous cold yesterday and feel like death warmed up :(

Managed 12 hours monday but the ranitidine i take for haitus hernia only holds the acid at bay for 12 hours max despite it being the highest dose. Then i have to take a rennie.

It isnt a mosque just an islamic centre but where we go is reasonably(?) (you are probably a better judge) adapted for access, as a lot of elderly people come and a couple of people in wheelchairs. There is a lift, only a small one, so only available for people who need it, if you wanted to go upstairs for a class and the main areas downstairs have no steps, the odd bump but there are slight ramps. I am not sure if there is a proper disabled toilet tbh, will have to check today, there are definately some extra large cubicles on ground floor but I always use the upstairs toilets as babychange etc. is up there.

They also translate some lectures to BSL and we are currently working on being more inclusive for children with SEN into the madressa programmes that are run.

So some people are thinking of it Riven and inshAllah it will catch on as more people become aware. I dont think it is deliberate exclusion, just complete ignorance means it is overlooked.

I didn't manage to wake up in time for suhoor today......have obviously been staying up too late worrying about riots. So I feel a bit thirsty and think today will be a tougher fast

i wasnt fasting yesterday as had to take ds to the dr and i can only manage the fast if i can stay at home and take it easy. i'm breastfeeding so have an exemption but trying not to miss any unless i have to.

riven you've made me think, one of my local mosques near my mum has a lift but then there are stairs to the main sisters entrance, there is another entrance you could use but it would be a longer route around. and i don't know about a disabled toilet, i think there might be one on the ground floor but not 100% sure.

aren't mosques subject to the DDA??

east london mosque translates some things into BSL.

have you come across al isharah i met the people behind this group a couple of years ago as i used to work in fundraising and they wanted my advice for a project to take a group of young deaf muslims on umra :)

while doing a google search for that group i also found this which looks great: muslim deaf uk inshaAllah i'm going to make a donation as their work looks great mashaAllah!

sorry ive just realised ive picked up on the BSL comment above and not really on accessibility. i think muslims are behind on this i agree. there are so many mosque development projects nowadays and it makes me wonder now how many of these projects have included accessibility as a criteria.

also wondering sis if you've tried manuka honey for your tummy. about 4/5 years ago i was prescribed ranitidine and i found manuka honey was very effective w/o the side effects. i don't know if it will help you alongside the medication but just thought id mention it as inshaAllah there is shifa in honey. also there is a strong evvidence base for the use of manuka honey for stomach ulcers.

sorry for the ramble.

East london mosque is fab for accessibilty, its what we would like here.
Thanks forbthe manuka honey tip, i dont have an ulcer, just a useless vlave so acid goes up my throat. Fasting makes it worse. The ranitidine kills all acid but only for 12 hours max, usually less.

I have wondered about the drinking lots at suhoor. Not only do i slosh but i spend until 7 am not sleeping but pee-ing it all back out again

Salams how is everyone's Ramadan going? I've had a few days off due to you know what and it feels weird like I'm doing something wrong! Try explaining to a 6 yo boy why you're not fasting today, that's quite funny!

A good website I just found

www.kalamullah.com

Personally I don't like the website.
I had hope that this thread can continue to run for the full month, open to everyone from all sects/groups/schools of thought.

I expect that Sweets posted it with good intentions though!

Why? What's wrong with it? It has a whole section on ramadan!

this page

What are everyones plans for the last ten nights btw?

Do you get 'dressed up' for Laytul Qadr? I know some cultures do but not all

Oh. I didn't see that. Just so everyone knows, I only looked at the section on Ramadan. And for anyone that cares, I was Jewish before I converted and I wouldn't want my great uncle Hymie turning in his grave, so my apologies for not reading the website properly.

Bengalis (my husbands culture of which I am honoury of course) try to spend last 10 days of Ramadan in increased prayers and worship, I hadn't heard of people getting dressed up before!

(Didnt doubt your intentions, am also a convert btw, nice to 'meet')

We tend to 'dress up' for Laytul Qadr, not the whole last ten days, sorry for any confusion! I have been attending a series of lectures and am going to try and set some targets/resolutions for things I want to put into place over the next year.

DD (5) has nearly finished memorising Ayatul Kursi this month so I am really that I dont actually know it off by heart, so thats on my list. I also need to loose weight, I have really seen how much we over eat and waste food.....not sure when we fell into these habits but I am going to try and change that.

I used to dress up for laylatul qadr as a kid, mum used to let us wear our eid clothes early :)

I think that website is very good it has lots of books on it for free such as the madinah Arabic books and fortress of a muslim and the yasir qadhi dua bok nd the sealed nectar seerah book and so many more. It would be a shame to reject the whole site because of one controversial section on it.

Imissed six days for the same reason then fasted yesterday alh again. It does feel weird not fasting. Then I wanted to make a really nice Iftar for my first fast again so I tried a new fish pie recipe...and it was one of the most horrible things I've ever cooked :( I can make a mean fish pie so I know what a good fish pie is meant to taste like!!!

Well done little ducks DD!

Little ducks, and anyone else who converted, how did you learn Quranic Arabic? Did you have lessons or self taught? I really want to learn and there are some online tutors but I'm not sure which is best.

I've learnt so much this Ramadan, about my diet, about my weaknesses, about the direction in life I should follow, I feel really peaceful this month...except when DD and DD are naughty of course!

I had lessons and was taught to read 'phonetically' which is the way my children are taught too.....exactly the same as English is now taught in schools you learn the sound the letters make the not the names (like alif/jeem/saad) then learn to add vowels (fatha/kasra/dhamma) and how the letters change shape to join. Then 'grammar' type rules about elongation/stopping etc.

It is a great way to learn, my dh learnt a more 'traditional' way and thought it was crazy at first but it gets you reading quickly and is really broken down and step by step....which I found neccessary as it is so different from English (he can read and write urdu as well as english so it comes more naturally to him). That said my makhraj (pronounciation) is still not great on a few letters, but I aim to improve, I still find heavy letters like 'KH' 'GHain' hard.