My First Ramadan in
Hi. My name is Ihsan, and I’m 11years old. I’m going to tell you my story about my first Ramadan in
Since we go to the masjid every night I always see my Muslim friends there. They are coming from different countries like
During the day even though I feel hungry and thirsty I still feel blessed since I know I will have food to eat at night. Compare to our brothers and sisters in
In
No: T.2
12 Years Old.
Telp (234) 567-9685
I Proved That Guy Wrong!
Every year, during Ramadan, Muslims all over the world fast. When I fasted for the first time, I had no idea why anyone would call it easy. Now that I’ve been fasting for several years, I guess I could call it easy.
When I started fasting, I had mixed emotions. I felt proud, nervous, relieved, frustrated, and most of all, very hungry. If you asked people what’s it’s like to fast, you would get different answers.
You might get, “Fasting? Piece of cake!” to “Are you kidding me? I broke fast after just a few hours! Have anything to eat?” to “Wait, what are we talking about again?” If you want my answer, just go ahead and read the rest of this paper. I’ve pieced together my own elaborate, personal, half true, and half made –up account of what it’s like to fast for the first time. Well, here it is; my first fasting experience.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BE- click! I smacked the ‘snooze’ button on my alarm clock and sat up on my bed groggily. “Be quiet already.” I muttered, trying to remember why in the world I had set my alarm to wake me up so early. I staggered over to my calendar and instantly brightened up. I smacked my forehead.
“The first day of Ramadan! My first day of fasting!” I grinned, trying to imagine what it would be like based on what the older kids at the mosque had told me. I paused and recalled what one of them said: “Fasting is gonna be so hard and tiring! I bet that you little kiddos will give up after just a few hours! I can hear you already! “I’m sooo hungry! Can we eat yet?”
He quickly stopped teasing the younger children when one of his friends came, smacked his head, and told him that he used to act like that.
“Don’t you remember? You should’ve heard yourself! ‘I want to eat noow!” his friend snickered.
I shook my head and glanced back at my calendar, promising myself that I would prove that guy wrong. Still, I felt a little nervous. What if I couldn’t prove him wrong? I went to the dining room where my family was already seated, having sahur. (Except for my younger brother, who was still quietly slumbering on the couch! I concluded that he had woken up, moved to the couch, and gone back to sleep.)
My mom had already prepared some cereal, bread, fruit, and water. Be sure to eat enough, my parents reminded me several times and I nodded. I’m not the kind of person who eats a lot at one time, but I ate more. According to my brother, if I ate as much as I usually do for breakfast (which isn’t much), I wouldn’t last for half the day. I gulped down as much water as I could and watched the clock. Soon, it was time for Fajr prayer. After prayer, I read a bit of my library book and went back to bed. I woke up again at around nine (It was a weekend) and stretched.
Whenever I wake up, I usually drink some water. So, I staggered, half asleep, into the kitchen and reached for the refrigerator door. Just as I touched the handle, my eyes snapped open and I stepped away from the fridge and blinked. I went to the sink and splashed some water in my face, making sure not to get any in my mouth. I felt angry at myself for forgetting that I was fasting. I sat down and tried to focus on my book. I even played a few games on the computer, but I still couldn’t ignore the scratching thirst in my throat. I probably didn’t drink enough water!
I fumed silently. The thirst seemed to go away after I read some Quran and listened to a little classical music. I prayed Dzuhur. It was all going fine until my brother decided that he wanted to watch Kung Fu Panda on the computer while eating lunch and having some very strong smelling buttery popcorn. (He wasn’t fasting) Just great! I wanted to watch the movie, too, but how am I supposed to watch Po battle Tai Lung if there’s a whole bag of steaming popcorn in front of me? What’s more, my oh-so-kind brother noticed the way I was looking at the popcorn.
Every few minutes he would say, “I surely (chew) can’t finish this (smack) whole bag of (swallow) delicious and crunchy (chew) popcorn!” while waving it in front of my face.
Of course you can, I thought, my eyes flicking back and forth between the computer screen and the popcorn. This went on for two hours. When I was being tempted by my brother, I didn’t feel really hungry; the hunger only playfully bounced around inside of me. By around 5:00, the hunger grew from a cub to caged tiger. And my stomach was the cage. I felt like my insides were being tossed around. I starting to view that piece of broccoli that my brother was munching on differently. Our neighbors were having a barbecue. It was too much!
I went to my room, closed the window, took my book out, and started listening to some classical music. I prayed Asr. The hunger began to slowly ebb away, and before I knew it, I finished quite a few books. I put the last book down and glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes until Magrib prayer. Fifteen minutes until Iftar. I heard (and smelled) my mom cooking and clanging pots. I put my books back and went to help my mom cooked. After the food was ready, I sat down and watched the clock. To ease the suspense, my brother tried (and failed) to come up with jokes.
“Hey, do ya know what makes kids tremble and squeal?” he asked.
“A big bowl of BROCCOLI!” he would shriek.
I sighed. Tick, tick, tick. Time felt like it was slowing down. I was on the edge of my seat, ready to reach for the dates. “Allahu Akbar…” The Adzan sounded from the computer, and we began to pass the food around. I chewed on a date, savoring the sweet taste. I made it! I fasted for the entire day. I proved that guy wrong!
