Community participants share their Ramadan stories | OneFootball

To mark Ramadan, the Club’s charity, City in the Community (CITC), is sharing stories from staff and participants observing the religious month.

The second story comes from one of the charity’s BTEC participants, Zaki.

Zaki sat down with us to share his experiences during a special question and answer session.

What is the purpose of Ramadan?

The purpose of Ramadan is to take the month to become closer to Allah. It helps to teach self-discipline and self-control with no eating or drinking and helps us to understand our faith once again.

Why do you observe Ramadan?

I partake in Ramadan to become closer to Allah and to help me understand my religion further. It helps me make myself stronger and to learn to become more a patient individual.  How does your life/daily routine change during Ramadan?

My daily routine stays mostly the same, however we wake up at around 4am each day to eat food and drink water before our fast begins. We usually decrease the amount of physical activity in order to let our bodies rest, but the rest of our daily routine stays the same.

What is your Iftar routine?

To break my fast, I will eat a few dates along with some fruit salad. As a family we will then pray, and then we will eat some more food. This will usually be traditional food such as samosas and chickpeas.

What is the most meaningful part of Ramadan for you?

One of the most meaningful parts of Ramadan for me is when I break fast with my family all together.

This Ramadan what are your key takeaways and what will you implement in your life after Eid?

This Ramadan I hope to learn to be more patient and to have more self-control over our actions we take in life.

During Eid how do you celebrate the end of Ramadan?

During Eid we will eat a lot of food and visit a lot of our family. In the morning, we will go to Eid prayer and then come home for breakfast.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. It is celebrated as the month that the Qur’an (Holy book) was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in 610 AD. This is known in Arabic as “Laylat Al Qadar” (Night of power).

During this time, Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to sunset for 29/30 days.

In the UK, people will fast from sunrise to sunset (approximately 15 hours) with no food or water. Muslims fast to strengthen their faith, gain closeness to Allah (God), appreciation, and build self-discipline.

Following Ramadan, there is an Eid celebration to mark the end of period of reflection, refocus and mindfulness – both of self and of others.

City in the Community empowers healthier lives with city youth through football.

To find out more, visit www.mancity.com/CITC or follow the charity on social media @CITCmancity.