How are Muslim Mumsnetters finding Ramadan?

[Wintersun]

I can't wait to eat! Just killing a few moments here....

Can anyone help me, I want to invite dd's friend round after school - do I need to wait until the end of Ramadan - if so when is this?!

This friend is not allowed to go to birthday parties in ramadan - she is 7 years old if that helps.

Different families have different degrees of 'strictness' regarding observing Ramadan.
I wouldn't have thought that a 7 yr old wouldn't be able to visit a friend but I think its best to ask the mum.
Ramadan ends 22/23 Oct.
Nice of you to be so thoughtful.

Thanks fuzzywuzzy and wintersun for your advice. I'm actually finding it a lot easier now and am looking forward to my week off work. For sehri I eat a bowl of rice krispies!

Question: How many rakats of taraweeh should we be doing? My in-laws say 20, so I do 20, but I've read that you can actually do minimum of 8. A sister I was talking to today said she does 11 and the local mosque does 23!

23???

I thought the maximum was 20 ie ten times two rakats??? I'd go with however many I can handle, dunno if there is a conventional number, usually it's an odd number.
Try to eat something that slowly releases energy for sehri, like a banana (obviously not only a banana), weatabix, and ermm can't tihnk of anything else. But Rice Krispies kind of leave you feeling empty pretty quickly don't they??

WS I thought it sounded rather extreme the second I pressed post, yeah a couple of hours is rather much.
What I do is get all the cooking done in the morning, then after Zuhr I pray the quran and take a nap till Asr. It helps.

Babadoo, I took the last two weeks off ramadan work I couldn't handle the commute on top of fasting.....

Salaams all

on Taraweeh I also understand max to be 20. I do know some people who pray 8 & this is based on our prophet ( pbuh) having prayed both 8 or 20. I think it depends on what school of thought u follow

On a positive note, i spoke to DS's nursery last week if I could take stuff in to display for Ramadan & eid. He is the only muslim child in the nursery & they do tons for xmas. I was really surprised when iwent to drop him of this morning that they have put up a whole display with images of mendhi & mosques. I have took in some prints today of the arabic alphabet & a huge poster of the 5 pillars of Islam & for eid we are going to take in food for the staff ( tons of it!!!). Its fuuny they are all so looking forward to it. I dont know why I have never does this before

Ramadan is going so quickly.....capture the moment!!

At ds's school some of the mums bring in food and party backs at Eid - it threw me totally last year as I didn't realise that there were 2 Eids.

Can anyone remind me of what you're meant to say at Eid - I'm not even sure I'd want to write down what I vaguely remember from last year!

Sorry - party bags!

LadyMuck, You can say Eid Mubarak, but happy eid is fine too. I always find it really sweet when people go out of their way to wish us a happy eid
The Eid marking the end of Ramadan I find is much like Christmas, a pretty jolly affair, with kids getting the most attention (and presents). The second Eid which also marks the end of the Hajj (pilgrimage), is more somber and religious much like I suppose Easter (have a vague idea that Easter involves going to church with more religious activity than Christmas, not terribly sure though so apologies if I am wrong).

SANA that's really encouraging, I'm thinking of dropping off sweets on Thursday (dd only does three days a week), along with explaining that this is our eid much like your christmas etc...

I think that I got into trouble on here last year when I was trying to find out about the 2nd Eid, as ds (then age 4) had been told is was "Amar's version of Easter"! But in the sense that it is the less more contemplative festival, then yes, it seems the best comparison.

That's a brilliant idea to take stuff on Eid and Ramadan into the nursery, I wish I had thought of that a few weeks back (DS only goes once a week). When you said you took sweets, did you mean mishti fuzzywuzzy? That's a nice idea.

babadoo, no I didn't mean mishti (my god that stuff is delicious though no??), I'm taking regular sweets, the nursery is full of english children and I think indian sweets (apart from being extremely sweet), are an acquired taste and all the children may not enjoy them... otoh dd doesn't eat regular sweets she'll happily eat chocolate but not sweets strangely no idea why.

Ladymuck, why on earth would anyone get upset with a comparison of Eid to Easter, they're two different religions, so the festivals aren't going to be exactly the same are they??? We don't get chocolate eggs on either eid

Just seen this thread, so a belated Ramadan Mubarak to everyone. I find all the fasts difficult, even the ones in the middle of winter which end at 4pm. Find Iftar time difficult on weekdays as I am usually alone with dss and either one or both of them always need the toilet. Once that is dealt with I have to insist that they both sit quietly while I eat and then do Salat (or do my "Allah things" as ds1 calls it). Despite how difficult it is, it's very sad when Ramadan ends.

It was amusing though when I went to a birthday party for one of ds's friends and out of politeness the hosts kept asking if I wanted tea/coffee/water - I explained that it's nil by mouth from dawn to dusk but they couldn't help constantly asking, "really you can't have anything, not even water, what about a piece of fruit" - started to get quite frustrating.

I am a Christian, but ai have such fond memories of Eid, as a few years ago we had muslim neighbours for 9 months and we shared our festivals. They came to us on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday to share in our celebrations, and we spent the Eids with them. Their food was undoubtledly superior to ours!! - though we were very careful to produce a 'muslim' turkey with no pork of any kind - bacon or sausage stuffing!!!!
Sharing these festivals seems very important. Though I am sure in my faith, I also respect yours, and feel we have more in common than secular british people.
Mubarak ramadan to you all!

that's a lovely message harrisey and it would be good if more people everywhere shared the sentiments of you and your neighbours.

Harrisey, thats lovely. I tend to give food/cards to all my lovely neighbours during Eid as i give them nothing during christmas when they r celebrating. Promoting tolerance & understanding is really important.

Saadia your message made me laugh, because i remember saying to someone I worked with that I couldnt drink water & then later she asked me how I managed without water for a whole month!!

lol SANA at the idea of a month without water

So, only a few more to go.
How's everyone feeling?
I have found it difficult recently and am looking forward to getting back to normality.
But then, that is the point of Ramadan, isn't it? We're supposed experience hardship, practice self-control and strengthen our spirituality.

Life's not the same without lunch, though!

How is everyone celebrating Eid this year?

Can I ask what would be an appropriate present to give our Muslim neighbours at Eid? They have always given us a Christmas card and biscuits/sweets at Christmas (which we have reciprocated) but I would like to give them something approriate at Eid (if you lot don't think they mind me doing this...)

Would sweets be ok for their children? And are there any ones I should avoid? If I can't get an Eid card I would get a blank one and put a messgae inside - what sort of picture should I go for?

Sorry for my ignorance btw, grew up in a country where there were probably virtually no Muslims and didn't learn anything about it at school...

Hi KTeepee.
You can give them whatever you like as I'm sure they would love and appreciate a thoughtful gesture and gift just like anyone would!

I have just this morning bought tins of biscuits and sweets from Sainsburys to give to family and friends.

The only thing I would suggest is that you buy something that is suitable for vegetarians. I think most biscuits are but some jelly type sweets have gelatine in them which Muslims avoid.

Kteepee, how sweet of you. I second wintersun, and also avoid anything contianing alcohol too.

I should think a blank card with a message from you should be fine, you can get Eid cards in Clintons nowadays too though...but ermmm tbh save your money lol.

WS, I'm finding it a bit sad that Ramadan is ending, there is this something in the air during Ramadan, it so much more peaceful don't you think?? I always end up waking a suhoor times after Ramadan, and forgetting that I can eat during the day.... lol

Given the practicalites of half-term is it OK to give a card tomorrow, or is that weird since you are still fasting?

LM we usually send out Eid cards a week before Eid anyway, and we recieve cards for weeks following Eid, people usually greet eachother with Eid Mubarak for about a week following eid anyway.
It's lovely that you feel able to join in with the celebration, I can't wait till my girls are old enough to throw eid parties for them and their friends both Muslim and non-muslim (my mum used to do this for us it was always great fun).

fuzzywuzzy I know what you mean, I always feel a sense of security during Ramadan and as you say, there is "something in the air".

I am going to be logging out of MN for a week, as going home to celebrate Eid with my family & my inlaws. really looking forward to having a week of work & cing all the family

Eid Mubabrak to u all & wishing u & your families all the best

Sana

Eid Mubarak to you to SANA and everyoe else too, my eldest is already pestering me for the henna, lol