Fasting as a non muslim 1998 till present
Reader comment on item: Non-Muslims Who Fast During Ramadan

Submitted by mariam kim (Oman), Jul 30, 2008 at 22:52

Greetings to all who may be reading this.

I came across daniel's blog as i was searching for info related to ramadhan. I started fasting as a non muslim back in 1998, i was a senior in high school in arabia & surrounded by many devoted muslims from various countries. My willingnes to try and understand muslims and this holy month is what made me start fasting in the first place. i fasted weekends with muslim friends and their families. ramadhan of 1999 i dnt recall too well. ramadhan of 2000 was a beautiful month, i had grown so much in both personnal areas and also in understanding who God is. 2001, i was repeating a year of senior high school, by this time i was observing also some islamic dress rules, like being covered from wrist to ankle in loose garments which wasnt hard at all because i had been doing just that as a westener every time i left my housing complex since a couple of yrs. i had the oppertunity in 2001 to sit with an arab one on one and understand the beauty of ramadhan,watching my freind fast and brake fast with family then come and visit me in evenings, to share with me recitatons of quran and poems.. i felt such inner peace in my heart and soul that i had been searching for since the death of my grandmother when i was jst 12 yrs old ( in 2001 i was jst 18.)

October 20th 2002, i became muslim, by myself after reading english books about the pillars of faith and having asked a billion questions to each and every muslim i met with since the prior ramadhan. Jump forward to present day July 31st 2008.... we are roughly 1 month and 2 days away from this yrs ramadhan, i cant believe its been 10 yrs ive been fasting ^ nearly 6 years as a muslim.. my experiances prior to being muslim really shaped and helped me become who i am today. Now newly married & awaiting the up coming ramadhan. i look back and refelct on my years being young and single, fasting and braking fast with freinds from various countries, all united at one table. I have much excitment that this year fasting with my hubby and my in laws will be quite an experiance in itself. ..

Thank you Daniel for your blog & sharing stories of people in USA who have fasted with us muslims.. i respect every person who attempts one day.

Ramadhan Kareem in advance inshAllah (Allah be willing.)

peace and greetings to all.

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