The Dollar a Day Fast

Eating dollar a day meals this Ramadan By Abdul Malik Mujahid Over one billion people worldwide live on $1 a day. And that includes everything not just food. To put it in practical Ramadan terms, there are Muslims around the world who survive on an Iftar and Suhoor meals that are simple, inexpensive, and limited. Those of us blessed to enjoy a table full of a variety of foods when we break our fasts perhaps don’t consider this. Maybe we feel entitled to eat our fill. But for many, this is clearly not an option. A good number of them are probably Muslim Americans. I heard Dr. Mehmood Khan, PepsiCo's Chief Scientific Officer, say that while there is so much hunger in the world, 20 percent of the world population I obese. In the United States, the statistics say that we have 40,000,000 obese people. (I intentionally spelled out the 40 million so it does look as big as it is.) ;This Ramadan I invite you to take the dollar a day Ramadan challenge. I have done it for the last couple of years and count it as a true blessing of Ramadan. The idea is simple. You reduce the food and drink consumption at Suhoor and Iftar times to one dollar. Trust me, it’s not a big deal. If you can do it as a family whatever you can save can go to fight hunger in your neighborhood and across the world. If you cannot commit to a month try it for a week or at least a weekend during this blessed month. Remember that this is a time in which we are expected to experience hunger, give charity so that we are grateful to God, and have better character, key goals of Ramadan. I found it was not hard at all. It is not a starvation diet. There is a plenty you can eat within a dollar a day fast. I did not lose more than ten pounds during the month. Ramadan, in which we are supposed to experience hunger to achieve a better connection with God’s Creation and with the Creator Himself, somehow has become a marathon feast. It is self-defeating. Those who cook are overburdened and do not have enough energy left for extra worship recommended for Ramadan. There is no Hadith about feasting at Iftar. There is no Sunnah of food celebrations and special cooking at Iftar throughout the life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions. May Allah be pleased with all of them. The feast actually is supposed to be Eid at the end of Ramadan not at the end of each day of fasting. The Prophet, who encouraged us to fill only one-third of our stomachs even on normal days, ate far less in Ramadan. Do a family Shura (consultation) before Ramadan and develop a menu of simplicity. Reduce the burden of cooking and divide it up across all family members. Suhoor Options I have eaten quarter to half a flat bread… with a couple of dates and water and felt it was good enough or dipped the bread in leftover curry from the night before once in a while I have take half a bread with a fried egg I have eaten half a cup of oatmeal… prepared with a little milk or prepared it with water on which I poured some left over curry or some fruit like an orange or an apple I have eaten a small portion of anything left over from the previous night At times I have just taken one banana just taken one banana All of the above, if done at home, is around half a dollar. If I was invited to an Iftar party, I would reduce my Suhoor to just one date and water so my Iftar could be little more. Please don’t skip Suhoor. The Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, asked us not to skip it. Eat just a little as he did and as simply as he did. Allahumma Salle Ala Muhammad. Iftar Eating Iftar is not supposed to be a feast. Don’t divide up Iftar into snack followed by an evening meal. Just stick to one eating session. If you prefer to pray as soon as the time comes, break your fast with one date or water only, and after prayer sit down for the rest. It is important to achieve a variety while maintaining simplicity at the Iftar table. Try to limit it to just one main dish per evening. Or maybe just have a various snacks instead of a main dish once a week. I have done the following for Iftar Just taking a tablespoon or two of whatever is being served The more variety the less portion you take If I have not taken a date in the morning, I will take one in the evening I will take half to one piece of whole wheat flat bread or a couple of scoops of rice with two tablespoons of any vegetable or curry on the table. if there are more than two types of dishes on the table, I would just take one spoon each For drinks, avoid those bottles. They break your dollar a day budget just by themselves. Maybe a small glass of milk, homemade lemonade or for Pakistanis who want to ardently maintain their Ramadan tradition, Rooh Afza Iftar party eating Iftar parties have become an important part of Muslim culture, which unfortunately encourages the following Too much food Too much preparation time Insisting that guests eat more by almost harassing them Overeating Wastage of food since no food rescue programs are organized The Prophet encouraged us to invite each other for Iftar and he was a generous man. He was not always poor. Initially he was married to the richest lady of Makkah and in the later part of his life, he had enough wealth to sacrifice as much as 70-plus camels during his last Hajj. But he chose to live simply and eat less. An Iftar party must not defy the Prophet and the spirit of Ramadan. Here is what I have done in Iftar parties to stick to my dollar a day diet: Be the last in the line to take food. It will allow more time to socialize without food. It would bring time for Isha closer so there will be no time left for the host to insist on seconds. Take half of what you plan to eat. So when hosts insist on you taking more, you have room left for it. Make Ramadan and fasting a topic of the table instead of the usual useless discussions. There is nothing wrong in discussing the Prophet’s lifestyle and simple eating habits. There is nothing wrong with talking about hunger and how 15 million Muslim refugees live. Eating less while traveling Initially I found I had most difficulty eating under a dollar while traveling. You cannot demand at the Secretary of State’s Iftar dinner or some other important official evening to be served such a small amount of food. Nor can you easily find very low cost restaurants. So initially, I accepted eating as little as possible in these types of situations which resulted in me probably violating my dollar a day meal plans for about seven eight times a Ramadan. However, I eventually found a very delicious solution. I started visiting local grocery stores while traveling to a city and buying a few items: Some bread A small amount of grapes or 50 cents worth of peanuts or other fresh produce which would last me for a couple of days during the trip I was surprised to see how much variety I was able to find to stick to my dollar a day Ramadan. Now when it is not Ramadan, I enjoy doing this. On a recent trip to Switzerland, that is all I did for three days and enjoyed every bit of it, or shall I say every bite of it. Some More Tips 1. Skip the meat Meat, in most cases, is more expensive than other foods. Cutting it out of a meal is a surefire way of cutting costs. Limiting meat consumption is also considered healthier. If you cannot completely eliminate it due to what is available on the dining table, just take a small piece or limit yourself to the gravy around the meat. 2. Skip eating out or ready to eat meals Hardly anything comes cheap in this category. So avoid it completely. It is not very healthy anyway. 3. Eat more fruits and vegetables These are not only necessary to maintain optimum health, they are also less expensive than meat and other processed or packaged foods. Although I rarely eat canned food, don’t shun frozen fruits and vegetables. These are often cheaper while retaining health and flavor. Look up this dollar a day healthy food guide by WebMD. 4. Eat beans and lentils And here, you’ve got a great amount of variety. From the garbanzos familiar to lovers of Hummus to black eyed beans, you can experiment and find your favorite for a tasty, protein-rich, low-cost meal. 5. Yummy yogurt Yogurt is inexpensive but offers you great taste and calcium either by itself, as a spread or added to some fruit to make a smoothie. But buying ready-made yogurt could be costly. Try making your own. 6. Water, water, water The Prophet’s drink of choice when breaking his fast was water. Not even milk, which he loved. This is not only free, but it’s an alternative that replenishes what your body needs most to survive after a long day of fasting. 7. Skip the Shawarma …and opt for nuts of all kinds for your protein intake, as well as eggs every other Iftar. 8. Add inexpensive pasta, rice, and/or noodles This helps round out a meal and gives you some carbohydrates. 9. Make food from scratch Processed foods, frozen dinners, and other convenience foods are costly and very often not healthy. Cooking from scratch does not have to be difficult or intimidating. It’s one of the best ways to save money and maintain your health. Do it for the right reason I was fasting with a dollar a day food very silently. But those close to me who knew about it encouraged me to share this with others. Our intentions should be two-fold with the dollar a day Ramadan: Pleasing our Lord by following His Prophet’s path of sharing more and consuming less through simple living Developing a higher level of connectedness with those more than a billion human beings who go to sleep hungry most nights. A conservative South Asian scholar, Ashraf Ali Thanvi, once said you must become a good human being before you can ever become a good Muslim. Ramadan can help us become better Muslims to fulfill the twin tests of faith given by God in the Quran. These require a better connection to service to God’s Creation and a better connection with the Creator through worship: Have you ever seen a human being who contradicts the essence of faith? That is the person who pushes the orphan aside and does not promote feeding the needy. Woe, then, unto those who pray, but their hearts and minds are remote from the essence of their prayers, those who want but to be seen and praised, whereas they refuse to help others who need help. (Meaning of the Quran 107:1-7) May Allah give us life to see Ramadan and use it as a month-long exercise in simple living, consuming less and sharing more as the Prophet did. Ameen.

Are we losing the True Spirit of Ramadhan?

Are we losing the True Spirit of Ramadhan?
By Shelina Zahra Janmohamed

Condensed version

Abstaining from physical intake during daylight hours – which means food, drink, and sex – with the intention of getting closer to the Divine, has a myriad of philosophies and meanings.
It allows appreciation of the suffering of the poor and hungry, a chance to devote less time to the physical and more time to the spiritual, a recognition that we can live happily and successfully with less than we have.
The philosophy of restraint and frugality adhered to during the day has its mirror image in the excessive culinary indulgence after dark.

Instead of cutting back on the desire to consume, we end up with heightened consumption in these 30 days, whether that be in restaurants or in retail.

Countries where Muslims are minorities.

In these countries, if you are fasting you have to make an active choice to go against the grain of mainstream society. You still have to go to work where you can stare longingly at your colleagues drinking coffee, or attend meetings, which run across the iftar time. You have to really know and understand why you are fasting, rather than just being swept up in the maelstrom. There is a sense of community purpose in these countries and an overwhelming push towards spiritual success.

You do not have to be religious to appreciate that the social and ethical meanings of festivals such as Christmas, Ramadhan and Eid have a great deal to contribute to the morality of human society.

But Ramadan should be about more than gluttony, shopping and vacuous entertainment.

We do in fact need to recognize and acknowledge the place of Ramadhan’s material pleasures. By being honest about the importance of the physical, we can de-prioritize it in favor of the spiritual and moral at least for the 30 days of Ramadhan.

This DE-prioritization is what makes Ramadhan special in the first place. By withholding the importance of the physical self, Ramadhan is about recognizing the importance of our individual spirit, and about finding our place as souls, not bodies, in the society in which we live.

Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is a British commentator on Islam and author of Love in a Headscarf, a new memoir of growing up as a Muslim woman

Ramadhan: lost in consumerism?

This article was published last weekend in ‘The National (UAE), compiled by the famous ‘Shalina Zahra JanMohammed.
It can also be viewed at her blog: www.spirit21.co.uk

This weekend, like many millions of Muslims around the world, I will be making my preparations for the Islamic month of Ramadan. The month’s ethos is one
of spirituality, centring around 30 days of fasting from dawn to dusk, during which time eating and drinking is prohibited.

Food does, however, remain important throughout the month, and iftar, the meal that breaks the fast at the end of the day, is a time for thankfulness, togetherness
and sharing.

The natural result is that preparations include shopping for food to stock up cupboards in anticipation of delicious meals shared with friends and family.

And so it is evident that even while trying to navigate the frugality of Ramadan, that Muslims, too, are consumers – people who hand over money in exchange
for goods that meet their needs.

I’m an advocate of the needs of Muslim shoppers being given as much attention and care as any other consumer. After all, Muslims need to buy products –
including food. And their specific needs and aspirations are just as important as those of any other consumer. And the money of Muslim shoppers is just
as good as any other money.

When it comes specifically to Ramadan, the commercial world has been quick to make money out of a seemingly untapped commercial opportunity. Already, TV
soaps, produced to last the exact 30 days of Ramadan, are extremely popular and lucrative. And Eid has become an increasingly commercialised celebration,
starting to head towards the same kind of gift-oriented festival that Christmas has become.

Even in Britain, one of the demographic segments that Tesco’s “World Foods” product line specifically targets is Muslims. In catchment areas with a sizeable
Muslim population their stores carry well-laden “Ramadan” aisles. Is this is a helpful service by Tesco, being sensitive to the needs of its Muslim consumers
and finally recognising their commercial worth, or is Tesco, like many companies and traders round the world, guilty of the commercial exploitation of
the month of spirituality?

Has Ramadan become the ultimate brand to be exploited? And will companies do anything to get a share of this lucrative market?

Roy Michel Haddad is the chairman and chief executive of the Middle East and North Africa region for JWT, a global advertising agency. He is clear in his
mind that Muslim consumers are just as varied in their needs and aspirations as any other consumer. They just happen to be Muslim. In fact, in his opinion,
“There is no Muslim consumer, just a consumer who we have to respond to his wants, needs and desires.” He adds that anyone who looks at Muslims as a commercial
opportunity must be wary of assumptions that Muslims can be blanket grouped together.

In Haddad’s mind, however, there is one clear exception where all the vast diversity of Muslim consumers becomes unified – Ramadan. In fact, he asks provocatively,
“Does the Muslim consumer exist beyond Ramadan?” And it’s true that Ramadan is exceptionally unifying throughout a diverse Muslim world. There is a cohesiveness
of purpose, timing, and behaviour, which rarely exists at any other time.

You might be cynical and argue that using Tesco as an example of a company that sees Ramadan as a commercial opportunity is not relevant because it is a
brand that is not Muslim, and therefore doesn’t understand the communal and devotional spirit of Ramadan. Your cynicism might lead you to state that while
such big brands as Tesco couch their products in the cuddly marketing language of “meeting customer needs” and “being sensitive to cultures and aspirations”,
at the end of the day they are just interested in growing their bottom line.

But what about those companies around the Muslim world that appear to be acting in far more exploitative ways?
Holy Ramadan, Batman! It's the deal of a lifetime!

Holy Ramadan, Batman! It's the deal of a lifetime!

Earlier in July, Al-Riyadh, the Arabic newspaper,
Reported
that two trading companies in Saudi Arabia had amassed stockpiles of key food stuffs. According to Khaled Al-Homaidan, an economic consultant, the aim was
to “hoard essential commodities [and, thus] create an artificial price rise in the Saudi market in the coming weeks prior to Ramadan.”

In
Karachi,
the prices of sugar, pulses, red chilli, and ghee have climbed ahead of a meeting between the government and wholesalers to fix rates for the month of Ramadan.

Despite the fact that Qatar has ordered fixed prices for the second year running during Ramadan across
156 food and non-food items,
the Peninsula newspaper reports that people fear that retailers may increase the rates of other commodities to make profits. In addition, they are concerned
that prices will rise gradually before Ramadan to ensure that the frozen price is already high.

In
Bangladesh,
the commerce minister has asked MPs to keep a watchful eye on profiteering during Ramadan by monitoring how goods are distributed from the Trading Corporation
of Bangladesh to local dealers. But the risk is that this simply gives politicians the power to decide which dealers gain access to stocks, which, of course,
is not without its dangers of corruption.

In the
UAE,
the Ministry of Economy is warning that it is consumers themselves who must be vigilant against price manipulation and hoarding. This is despite the fact
that it has warned suppliers they will face legal action if the price of basic food items is raised.

Burger King Celebrates Ramadan
That shoppers need to exert their commercial power is a constant theme across countries where companies and brands seem to be taking a profit-oriented approach
to Ramadan.

According to Al-Homaidan, the customer can play a decisive role in combating greedy traders. “Consumers should be more selective and should boycott products
whose prices have increased exorbitantly,” he said, adding that they must increase their vigilance in order to protect their rights and be careful not
to become victims of such exploitation.

And people power is important in upholding the spirit of Ramadan. When the Malaysian tourism minister announced “the first ever Ramadan Summer Festival
featuring food, shopping and other fun-filled activities” to attract Middle Eastern tourists, the
Consumers’ Association of Penang
was “outraged”, adding that Ramadan “is not a tourist product but a sacred month of spiritual enrichment”. They called on the tourism ministry “not to worship
tourist dollars”.

There is certainly a line to be drawn between companies and brands truly serving the needs of Muslim consumers, and those that are out to exploit them.
And this is a line that Muslim consumers themselves must patrol.

Defeating commercial exploitation is about using the weapons that hurt commercial entities the most – by hitting their bottom line, by holding them to public
account and by threatening the reputations on which their brands are built.

Only if Muslim consumers truly believe in the spiritual values of Ramadan and work hard to uphold them for at least this one month of the year, will such
abuse come to an end. Otherwise Ramadan will become victim to the very exploitation and material obsession that it sets out to eradicate.