As one final addition to our Ramadan 2013 posts, we wanted to share a series of reflections on how Eid was spent among some of our writers. Writing, respectively, from South Africa, Pakistan, Canada, and Kuwait, MMW bloggers Safiyyah, Merium, Shireen, and wood turtle bring us their experiences of food, gender issues, politics, and celebration. […]

Eid Mubarak!  I hope that all of our readers celebrating had a wonderful holiday. MMW’s Ramadan series this year featured 23 posts, written by MMW writers and guest contributors writing from 12 different countries, on issues of food, community, family, solitude, epiphanies, and struggles.  Click here to go back through any of the posts you […]

Writing this as Eid approaches, I’m reminded of all the different ways people might experience this occasion.  This post is my way of showcasing such varying experiences.  Each short story below is told from the point of view of a member of a household.  I hope you enjoy them. Eid Mubarak! Heels.  For Tanzi, Eid […]

This post was written by guest contributor @leftyspeaks. Many of us wish for a new beginning, a clean slate, an opportunity to leave everything behind and start afresh.  A few short weeks ago, I left my home on the southern tip of Africa, to spread my wings across the Atlantic, in search of knowledge.  I […]

Help I’m alive… We’re late. My favourite popular imam has already begun leading the second rakat for Qiyam ul-layl, the night prayers. We dash from the car and run across the street, our feet soon gliding upon smooth marble floors at the largest mosque in Kuwait. My sister-in-law leads the way. One hand holds a chair for our pregnant cousin […]

Ramadan is one month long, but one month is not long enough for me to convince myself that I am not responsible for my mother’s illness. On the second fast I keep, she goes to the hospital. My hands tremble during Isha that night. I remind myself that Ramadan is also about recovery. But we […]

Since my conversion to Islam, I have spent every Ramadan in Canada. My Ramadans are often filled with the fasting experience and sumptuous iftars in my local mosque, as well as visiting fellow converts, for whom Ramadan can be a very lonely experience. This year was different. My life is currently in flux, first because […]

I started fasting when I was 13 years old. My first Ramadan I was so excited and so proud of myself for being able to do so. I would go to school (where I may have been the only Muslim), even go to gym class, all while fasting. Year after year, I fasted religiously (pun […]

Having spent two Ramadans in the Netherlands now, I still can’t get used to the lonely and isolating experience of fasting without an extended network of family and friends. But I must count my blessings. I have a wonderful husband who doesn’t think twice about helping to cook sahur and iftar, and I have amazing […]

This year marks the second or third time I’ve observed Ramadan as an adult in Nigeria. I have always been aware of how ethnic and religious lines are drawn in Nigeria but each time I am in the country, it always strikes me again like a slap in the face. In a context where hyper-religiosity […]