Is everybody’s meal prepping done? Have we all marinated chicken, prepared kababs, cutlets, samosas, spring rolls with all the sauces, and frozen them all?
Women are often tied to household chores and cooking, but during Ramadan this workload doubles, with most of our time spent in the kitchen preparing everybody’s favourite meals. These expectations are rooted in family and society, making them seem like a daily and effortless prerequisite during Ramadan. Perhaps women are left bound, many of whom do not even understand the cost of it and assume it as normal.
We wake up early before everyone else not to perform extra nawāfil, but to provide everyone with their favourite food. We manage household chores, children, and cook a full-course meal for iftar with a variety of fancy food items, and unfortunately our ibadah often takes a backseat. Ramadan comes once a year to purify our souls as well as our gut. Instead of making the best use of it, we tend to fill ourselves with unhealthy food, overburdening our digestive system, which was supposed to rest.
In the past few years, there has been a trend of innovating new Ramadan recipes. Social media has played a great role in encouraging women to try new cuisines and decorate their dining tables with a variety of fancy food items and drinks, as if there is a cooking contest going on in every kitchen. This has significantly impacted our lifestyles. We have started focusing on the menu, and our ibadah has been put on hold.
Before, the essence of Ramadan was in ibadah,
Now it seems the focus is on lasagna!
Ramadan in Its True Sense
يٰٓـاَيُّهَاالَّذِيۡنَاٰمَنُوۡاكُتِبَعَلَيۡكُمُالصِّيَامُكَمَاكُتِبَعَلَىالَّذِينَمِنۡقَبۡلِكُمۡلَعَلَّكُمۡتَتَّقُونَۙ
“O believers! Fasting is prescribed to you, as it was for those before you, so perhaps you will become mindful of Allah.” (2:183)
It is evident that Ramadan teaches us to be mindful of everything, instils righteousness, increases us in taqwa, makes us spiritually stronger, brings us closer to Allah, and purifies our souls.
Fasting in Ramadan expiates sins and opens the doors to Jannah.
Fasting: Health and Moderation
Fasting is linked to numerous health benefits such as metabolic regulation and cellular renewal. While fasting offers benefits, overeating can counteract them and harm both physical and spiritual well-being. It leads to sluggishness, digestive distress, and sleep disruption, making worship a physical struggle and defeating the purpose of fasting. The Qur’anic principle of wasatiyyah (moderation) extends to various aspects of life, from belief and worship to the kitchen, especially during Ramadan.
وَّكُلُواوَاشْرَبُواوَلَاتُسْرِفُوا ۚ إِنَّهُلَايُحِبُّالْمُسْرِفِينَ
“Eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He does not like the extravagant.” (7:31)
One of the main purposes of fasting is to feel the hunger and deprivation of the poor, an essence that is lost through overeating.
How Has a Woman’s Ramadan Changed?
During Ramadan, the Sahabiyat strove to excel in all acts of worship, such as prayer, dhikr and adhkar, memorisation of parts of the Qur’an, charity, qiyam al-layl, duʿaa, and seeking Islamic knowledge.
Ramadan was a time of deepened learning for them.
Aisha رضیاللہعنہا held circles of knowledge in her home, teaching both men and women the hadith, fiqh (jurisprudence), and the Seerah of the Prophet ﷺ. Her house was a centre of Islamic learning throughout the year, especially in Ramadan.
Whereas women in today’s world are more focused on decorating dining tables with fancy food items and drinks.
While we put extra effort into unnecessary kitchen tasks, we miss the most blessed moments of dawn and dusk, the most important times to make duʿaa and engage in dhikr.Why prepare so much when you will be full in two sips of water and a khajoor?Tiring ourselves out in the kitchen makes us lethargic and impacts our ibadah as well.
This Ramadan: Simplify, Remember, Elevate
Let this Ramadan be different. Let us prioritise the soul over the table. Simplify meals and maximise worship.
Most importantly, fill your kitchen time itself with remembrance. While your hands are busy, let your heart and tongue be busy with dhikr and adhkar. This transforms cooking from a chore into worship and ensures you remain in a state of spiritual connection, even as you prepare for the blessed moments of sehri and iftar.
Remember, Ramadan is a spiritual sprint, not a cooking contest.
[SyedaAtika Tasneem Razvi,MSc Zoology, is Media Secretary of GIO Raichur District]