Curious about Ramadan? Here are things to know...

Clarence Ford speaks to Mickaeel Collier, CEO of Awqaf South Africa, about the significance of this month for Muslims participating in Ramadan.

What is Ramadan?

Ramadan follows the lunar calendar and began on Monday (11 March 2024).

Muslims participating in Ramadan fast for 30 days from sunrise to sunset.

If you'd like to wish Muslim friends, family and/or colleagues well during this time, 'Ramadan Kareem' or 'Ramadan Mubarak' is what to say.

Fasting is a reminder to connect to humanity, spirituality and society...

Fasting is a deeply personal spiritual and emotional experience and encourages connection with society through our common humanity. The world can only improve when we are not centred around the self but focused on "knowing each other" and adding value to society and everyone living in it - irrespective of colour, creed and politics that often divide us.

"It's good for us to know one another and for us to know our communities. It's a sacred time for Muslims around the world. It offers us a unique period of deep spiritual reflection and growth and it's a time where individuals are encouraged to connect more deeply with their faith, spiritual development and reflect on their lives and actions with each other. It's a physical, emotional and spiritual training that allows us to ponder on our personal life and how we impact society and how we transform the society around us positively."

- Mickaeel Collier, CEO - Awqaf South Africa

Fasting reinstates compassion, self and collective awareness and emotional growth: 

• What does humanity mean to you?
• What role do you play in society?
• Are you self-centred in your actions or focused on adding value? 
• Do you act with good intentions?
• Do you live at the expense of others? 

These are all questions of introspection one might ask and answer for yourself during this time. 

"Fasting also helps us to identify with those less fortunate in our communities, those who have no access to food, those who are in war-torn countries like Gaza where children have no food - and what that means to you as a human seeing this helps develop compassion because you know what a stomach that has nothing is feeling. It's about learning to control your own self-importance and not living like you want at the expense of others." 

- Mickaeel Collier, CEO - Awqaf South Africa

Fasting gives you time to question and reconnect with your spirituality...

But what is spiritual growth? What does it look like?

"It's a difficult question - that's why we fast every year... so, we can ask these questions and find answers for them. But spirituality should be divorced from the physical body and ritual actions of prayer, etc. It's beyond the physical body and circumstances - when you ask why you fast or practice... and understand the reason behind why you do what you do for yourself, then spiritual growth can begin."

- Mickaeel Collier, CEO - Awqaf South Africa

"If you do not have an attachment to spirituality, there's an issue of accountability which will pour into our relationships to others. If we live devoid of this accountability then we experience what we see unfolding in societies now where there's a disregard for human life or for someone else who is in a more precarious situation than you."

- Mickaeel Collier, CEO - Awqaf South Africa

Fasting reinforces that we are all connected through our common humanity

"At the same time you are training yourself not to eat while you are fasting, the same training applies when a bribe or an act of corruption or someone else's possession comes before you - what will you do? Are you able to control yourself not to steal, hurt, belittle or degrade people in society, or see them as beneath you?"

- Mickaeel Collier, CEO - Awqaf South Africa

Fasting is about personal growth without living in silos

"We are individuals but we also exist in a greater context and we have a responsibility to those around us in society. That's why giving to anyone from neighbours to family members and strangers on the street during this month and the rest of the year is important so we can know one another and not live in a silo without knowing the conditions of everyone."

- Mickaeel Collier, CEO - Awqaf South Africa

Fasting is about sharing and giving without the expectation of receiving

"It's about sharing what we have so everyone can enjoy it instead of keeping everything for yourself without knowing if someone else is struggling."

- Mickaeel Collier, CEO - Awqaf South Africa

"We are not sleeping for most of the day. It's a busy month for most people as we share with communities and have many food drives to feed the needy in our communities which takes place everyday, countrywide and worldwide. It's a spiritually rewarding time and emotionally rewarding too."

- Mickaeel Collier, CEO - Awqaf South Africa

Ramadan Kareem to those fasting.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.