Eid Mubarak!!!

I remember waking to the bang of drums resonating the walls and windowpanes of my bedroom. It was still the middle of the night, but the excitement on the small ally outside of the apartment and the waft of spices drifting from the downstairs apartment indicated the contrary. It was the first night of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.

As an American Christian living in Turkey last summer, this was my first night to hear the drums on the street waking me to indicate the beginnings of Ramadan. I was excited to partake in the suhur, the meal before dawn, before the beginning of the daily fast. Together, my host brother and sister and I wearily got up and sleepily stumbled down the stairs to break bread together with my host brother’s parents. The night before I had shared with my host family my intent to also fast for the few days of Ramadan I was still in Turkey. The expressions and comments of disbelief, awe and respect with which they had responded would become common to me during the three days I spent in Turkey during Ramadan.

Teachers and staff at our language institute and vendors on the street were shocked and confused when my friends would share with them that I, an American Christian, would be tolerant and open to fasting in solidarity with my Muslim host family and my Muslim brothers and sisters around the world.

Applying my own Christian tradition of fasting to also fast during the Muslim holy month required me to learn more about my own Christian traditions, my Muslim brothers and sisters’ traditions, and how all of these traditions, beliefs, and practices interweave and diverge from one another.

During Ramadan this year, I was not in Turkey, but was in the United States. During a month marked with Young Adult Missionary Training, Commissioning as a Mission Intern of the United Methodist Church, vacation with my family in New York City, reunions with friends in Washington, DC, and the celebration of Singing a New Song at a United Methodist gathering in Huron, Ohio (see photos in the previous post), the craziness of the month made it difficult to hold a constant fast in solidarity with my Muslim friends. As a result I instead only fasted on Fridays, the Muslim holy day, when I was not traveling. Although this resulted in only fasting three days during the month of Ramadan, the dialogue into which I delved with others as a result of my fasting made the effort nonetheless worthwhile.

Now that the month of fasting has concluded, today marks the third and final day of celebrations, or of the Ramadan holiday (Şeker Bayramı in Turkish and Eid al-Fitr in Arabic), for Muslims across the world. As they conclude their celebrations and as I begin a new journey with my departure to Berlin tomorrow, I celebrate the time I have had the past few months with my family and friends in Germany, Turkey and the U.S., the opportunity to spend time with my loved ones, and the adventure that this new stage of my voyage will bring!

Ramazan bayramınız kutlu olsun!!! Eid Mubarak!!! Happy Ramadan!!!