through my channel I've been able to
travel all around the world and make
tons of new friends and as it turns out
a lot of those friends are Muslim and I
have always been fascinated by their
religion and their customs one in
particular though really stands out and
that's their month of fasting or Ramadan
obviously there's a lot more to Ramadan
than fasting it's a month of prayer of
reflection of coming together with
coming together together with your
community and it seems really beautiful
I have enlisted the help of my friend to
try and get a bit of background and
maybe some last-minute tips before I
dive straight into this thing because
I'm a bit nervous month of Ramadan is
the 9th month in the Arabic calendar and
it's the month of fasts basically you're
abstaining from food water any negative
behavior sexual relations backbiting all
like then not I mean food is great food
drink and the negative stuff but food
and drink very much positive but
obviously Ramadan isn't just about the
fast right it's also about increasing
your God consciousness or taqwa fancy
Arabic word that I've learned it's like
it says for your patience mainly and it
gives you an understanding of the poor
as a human you don't understand
another human experience unless you try
it yourself and as you mentioned it's
about connecting with God so the month
of Ramadan is very spiritual it
basically God has given us this
opportunity to fix our own behaviors and
to build habits that are positive do you
have any tips for me or anyone who wants
to try this whether they're food related
or spiritual if you are a person that
drinks your morning tea or morning
coffee like religiously every day at a
certain set it delayed an hour every day
otherwise the first two days of Ramadan
are gonna be super tough on your brain
with headaches and things okay that was
good a lot of information but I'm
feeling confident nervous but very
excited
good morning et quiet because my
flatmate a sleeping mix dark but hi I'm
about to have my last meal my first meal
which everywhere you look at it it's 5
a.m. and the Sun is coming up it's
beautiful I don't think I've ever really
seen the Sun rise from my window so
enjoying that but I'm struggling to cram
in as much food as possible I've had to
bail vetoes and now I'm gonna have some
bread and be in cash a cheese that's it
I'm gonna eat okay it's quarter to six
now which means I bet I have about one
hour and thirty minutes remaining of my
fast that I have to come clean about
something
this is day number two and I totally
forgot to record yesterday well I didn't
forget as much as I was just really
tired and I kept thinking oh I'm gonna
record in a sec and I didn't end up
doing it and truth be told I spent my
first day of fasting just playing The
Sims that's pretty much Polly did which
is bad and I know there are so many
people out there doing their jobs just
getting on with life as usual so that
felt pretty silly to be honest but um
yeah I'm just gonna be honest throughout
the entire process and that's just how I
felt I felt really tired and I didn't
want to get out of bed and that's okay
today I am doing so much better I have
been working on my laptop i sat outside
with my friends who are not fasting so
let me just show you what I was dealing
with lovely squash
oh so near yet so far one thing that I
think I need to work on is my morning
meal the support because what I've been
eating probably has too much sugar and
has made me thirsty err than I need to
be
[Applause]
hah made it all day for this good luck
no does this time you may remember him
as the man who had shot at me I had Jojo
I've got dates here I'm gonna subpoena
some mages day 3 I have managed to get
through today successfully I had a great
day I was very active I hung out with my
friends while they were like getting on
with their lives and eating and drinking
and I didn't even feel that bad I have
to say this is an amazing way to
practice your willpower it's it's been
brilliant on that account I definitely
am learning to be more patient to not be
angry at all and I'm having a great time
my flatmates bless them even though they
did throw things at me yesterday which
was very naughty um today they pulled
out the back and they surprised made me
dinner I mean they were making dinner
for themselves anyway but they save time
for me and it looks incredible it's
Japanese ramen and we're about to go
assemble it what was up
[Music]
today I wanted to emphasize one thing
and that's that Ramadan is about so much
more than just the physical fast I know
I already talked about this in my
interview with Ezra at the beginning of
the video but there is a really deep
spiritual and emotional element to it
the Islamic month of Ramadan is actually
the month during which Prophet Muhammad
received revelation from God for the
first time so Ramadan is also done in
his honor and to kind of commemorate
that occasion and I thought it would be
a great time to learn a bit more about
him and in order to do that I got this
book it's called Muhammad it's written
by Karen Armstrong she is a religious
scholar from the ek and she's written
quite a few books on comparative
religion if you're interested in other
female scholars who are Muslims I would
highly recommend a lady called Leila
Ahmed she's an Egyptian American and she
teaches religion and women's studies at
the Harvard Divinity School for anyone
wanting to learn more about Ramadan do
you have any recommended reads or stuff
to watch on YouTube like I know Mufti
monks really popular or there's a guy in
the u.s. called Abdul Rahman Murphy who
I really love he runs a community called
Brutes which i think is so interesting
and also the Salam Girl podcast I think
is great though I do this and I'm girl
podcast it's so good there is a book
that I'm intending through this month
it's called the study of the Quran and
it's a new translation and it has a
commentary so it's kind of like an
in-depth look at the Quran today I've
decided I'm finally gonna try cooking
something properly June daylight hours
while I'm not fasting because I think
it'll be fun challenge I want to see if
I can get it to taste nice without
tasting it so today I'm gonna be making
some kind of a pilau rice
we're caramelizing some onions I've
added some zest from the lemon and now
I'm gonna whack in mince garlic and
olives I've got it a bit more oil all of
the rice after in Singh it and we're
also going to add in some
Patito I think I'm pronouncing that
right it's a spice that taste of onions
and garlic and it's used in Indian and
Pakistani cooking quite a lot now I've
just added one tablespoon of tomato
paste some stock and boiling water we're
gonna cover it and wait about 10 minutes
I've decided to bring in taste testers
because I have no idea what's going on
and they have already tasted it
how are we doing already taste don't
come to pretend it's the first time
they're tasting it yeah let's do that
for the first time ever Tom and
Charlotte are tasting this dish I made
yeah my adult but dull Oh check it I'm
not sure okay yeah anything metal Sally
you know that feeling when you're trying
to enjoy the sunset but you're just
counting down minutes so you can eat
pizza have you done
[Music]
I have thought some things that I think
I'll really enjoy doing if Doug
watermelon which I think will be amazing
for iftar it's you know a combination of
food and hydration these are called
mammals and they're a very traditional
Ramadan suite for snack and this is just
costing the club today might be my best
iftar yet because I attended a cooking
class by my grateful which is a company
that employs refugees and migrants and
helps them integrate into local society
they're currently operating here in
London but they are running online
classes at the moment which means he can
attend from literally anywhere in the
world I just wanted to take a brief
moment before I dig in a brief one
because they do look good to let you
know how Ramadan has been for me so far
initially I thought I might just do a
few days but now I think I'm probably
gonna do the entire month I have found
it to be such a beautiful positive
experience try it for yourself even if
it's just for 24 hours and you will be
surprised how much you learn not just
about Islam and their religion itself
but about yourself I have to say I'm
going to carry away so many lessons
about overcoming your ego and I am so
excited to do the rest of the month now
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