I love my husband. We’ve been married for 12 years.   He is a wonderful, awesome, amazing man (cute butt too)- BUT – since he is a Muslim and it is Ramadan he is not a happy camper.  During Ramadan Muslims fast from sunup to sundown- no food, no drinks (coffee), no smokes, no sex.  HELP!!!  I know I need to be a supportive wife and help him through this, but, OMG this man is really trying my patience.  He’s lucky he’s so damn cute.  It’s also a  good thing my Irish Catholic family is just down the road so I can run over for some “support” whenever I need it.  Only a few more weeks to go . . . .

I think next year I’ll plan to visit my sis in Scotland for a month.

What is Ramadan and why do Muslims fast?

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1919257,00.html

“One of the five pillars of faith for Muslims, Ramadan is the the ninth month of the lunar calendar and the holiest period of the Islamic year. It’s thought to be the month that the Koran was first revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad in the year A.D. 610.

The rules of Ramadan are fairly straightforward: for one month, all practicing, able-bodied Muslims over the age of 12 are forbidden to eat or drink from sunup to sundown. Muslims believe that during this month the gates of hell close — meaning the devil is unable to tempt them during a month of discipline, charity and self-control. The objective of the fast, which also prohibits participating in “sensual pleasures” such as smoking, sex and even listening to music during daylight hours, is to diminish believers’ dependence on material goods, purify their hearts and establish solidarity with the poor to encourage charitable works during the year. It’s as much a period of self-growth as of self-denial: Muhammad reportedly said, “He who does not abandon falsehood in word and action in accordance with fasting, God has no need that he should abandon his food and drink.”

The first Ramadan is thought to have occurred during the middle of summer, explaining why the root of its name translates into Arabic as “the scorcher.” A typical day starts as early as 3 a.m. with the predawn meal called the sahur, usually rich in protein and carbohydrates to get the faster through the long, foodless day. The rest of the day is spent reciting prayers, abstaining from bad deeds and reading the Koran. Fasters are expected to read the entire holy book within the month, and many mosques have taken to splitting it into 30 even portions recited in daily sermons. The fast lasts until sundown — or until it’s too dark to “distinguish a white thread from a black thread,” according to the Koran — and is broken with a small meal called an iftar which is followed by the Magrib prayer before the fasters join their families and invite the poor for a larger celebratory meal.

The breaking of the fast is often a decadent affair in wealthier Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates, where well-to-do Muslims gather in air-conditioned tents, cruise ships or five-star hotels to feast on meals with multiple courses. In some countries, the fast carries the force of law: in Algeria, six people were jailed last year for failing to observe the fast, while in Iran authorities have shut down restaurants for not closing during the day. Other places have their own unique requirements: when Ramadan falls during the summer months, as it does this year, Muslims living in northern countries face fasting through as many as 19 hours of daylight; Muslim scholars have suggested that worshippers in these climes follow the daylight hours of the nearest Muslim-majority nation.

The end of Ramadan is signaled by the sighting of the new moon that signals the start of the next lunar month; it’s celebrated by a huge festival called ‘Id al-Fitr (the Feast of Fast-Breaking) where entire villages celebrate together. While Muslim leaders in Italy who criticized Mourinho’s decision to pull his player argued that the “mental and psychological stability” achieved through the discipline of Ramadan outweighs the physical strain of the fast”

Read More at Time.com

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1919257,00.html