You don hear am? Na so e be, Ramadan dey come again o! But this time, e get wahala wey dey show face like bad belle. Muslim pipo wey dey live for U.S. go experience one kind time shift wen Daylight Saving Time land just as Ramadan dey start. E no go sweet at all!
See ehn, everybody wey dey observe dis Ramadan, e go need to re-jig their routine well well. Lubna Turaani, one 26-year-old nurse and student from Virginia, don plan out everything from food wey she go chop to gym membership wey she don cancel. She don map out wetin go happen once time change reach.
Ramadan go begin around February 17 and go run till mid-March this year. So, when clock dey strike 8 March, na im dem go spring forward, abeg! That day, Muslims for New York City go dey chop their iftar around 5:45 p.m. But once the time change enter, na im dem go dey fit break their fast around 6:55 p.m. Omo, das be like adding extra hour for waiting dem no even plan for!
Abstinence from food and water no go change, but how dem dey manage all dem time dey go change the way dem dey take enjoy their meal. Imam Farhan Siddiqi talk am well well: “Lunar calendar dey deal with moon, and e mean say Ramadan dey waka through all season. So, this year, e get level wey go dey add wahala.”
Some states, like Arizona and Hawaii, no dey observe Daylight Saving Time, so dem go dey enjoy Ramadan without wahala. But for pipo wey dey face this time change, like Aseel Hasan wey dey pregnant, she don ready with her mantra. “I no fit feel spiritually connected if I no dey fast,” she talk. Na serious matter sha!
A lot of pipo dey plan how dey go cope with dis time change after dem don collect their iftar for work or school. Turaani dey juggle her part-time job and full-time school, so she don ready for everything wey go land after her shifts. She talk say she go pack date and soup carry go work so say she no go dey hard pressed.
Merchant wey be program director for Hearts Together talk am well, “The time change na like marathon training, e go test your stamina.” I swear, dem sabi compare matters! E mean say dis Ramadan no go be walk in the park o, but e go still be opportunity to renew faith.
When non-Muslim pipo dey work with Muslims during dis time, e go make sense na for dem to understand say things go change. Your colleague wey dey chill early March fit dey look like say e dey drag after time change. So, friends wey dey plan dinner or outing, better adjust am to later time.
For all the Muslims wey dey navigate dis unique Ramadan, dem sabi say na the journey be the real deal. As Imam Siddiqi talk, “Ramadan na springboard wey go give us spiritual energy wey go carry us through the year.” E go be time wey dem go renew relationship with God, despite say dem dey face wahala with time.
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