What New Muslims can do when Not Fasting

What New Muslims can do in Ramadan when Not fasting

Fasting and Ramadan are synonymous, aren’t they?  Those who are not fasting during Ramadan don’t exactly broadcast the fact.  Sometimes it can seem like if you can’t fast, there’s no point to celebrating Ramadan. It can either be due to illness, or the monthly break Muslim ladies will have from the prescribed ritual devotion due to the menstrual cycle.

Good news!  There is much more to Ramadan than just fasting!  Don’t think about all that you can’t do, and take a look at the list of the things that you can do this Ramadan:

1. Realize that this condition is something that God decreed.  His plan is perfect and His timing is perfect.  Don’t feel sad, but try to be content that God has allowed you this time for you to explore other areas where you can draw near to Him.  Here’s an amazing thought: you are worshiping God by NOT offering the prescribed ritual.  You are obeying God’s command to refrain from offering the prescribed ritual devotion and fasting while on your menstrual period.

2. Pray anyway.  No I don’t mean offer the prescribed ritual devotion, I just mean pray to God. Prayer has no prerequisites or conditions of ritual purity. You simply talk to God when you feel like it.

3. Keep your connection with the Quran.  Continue to listen and read the translation of the Quran during your period while you refrain from the ritual devotion and the fast. If you set aside the time of each prescribed ritual for Quran, you might even read more than usual!

4. Learn and say the daily supplications for different occasions: going to sleep, waking up, eating, leaving the house etc.

5. Prepare some food to share with others.  Perhaps your family or neighbors would appreciate something you’ve made for yourself. Ramadan is a month of charity!

6. The self-control and patience that fasting helps develop should be kept up during the time when you refrain from fasting.  Continue to guard your tongue from saying bad things, and protect your ears from hearing bad things or being silent when someone is saying something evil.

7. Donate clothes, food, toys, money etc

God decreed this time as a mercy for Muslim women.  You are relieved of the burden of offering the prescribed ritual devotion and fasting, so that you can concentrate on other ways to worship God.  May God help you be consistent in your worship through the whole month.