Haramadan

Haramadan 3: Fasting & Other Health Hazards

Eli Heina3 Comments

If you’re in Southern California and free tomorrow afternoon, I urge you to attend the Free Raif rally, presented by CFI-L.A. in conjunction with Amnesty International, Muslims for Progressive Values, PEN Center USA, and the Los Angeles Press Club. More information can be found on the CFI website and on Facebook.

One of the health hazards associated with living under Saudi Wahhabi-style Islam is a significant risk to expressing any views that might be interpreted to be offensive or irreverent. Another health hazard, one that can be found in nearly every flavor of Islam, is the fasting observed by many during this time of the lunar year. Continue reading “Haramadan 3: Fasting & Other Health Hazards” →

Haramadan 3: Fasting & Other Health Hazards
{advertisement}

Haramadan 2: A Wedding Reception

Eli Heina, 5 Comments
Heina & Danny decked out at their reception
Photographers are good and all, but friends sometimes capture the best moments with their phones.

A question I am asked rather often as an ex-Muslim is whether or not I continue to participate in Islamic rituals, holidays, and celebrations as a cultural sort of thing, just as many former and never-Christians celebrate holidays like Easter and Christmas. The one “holiday” of which never-Muslims tend to be aware is Ramadan, which isn’t actually a holiday at all and has no appeal to me as a non-believer. Dehydration is bad, period, but especially in these long, dry, Southern Californian summer days.

There are other aspects of my cultural and religious background that I continue to honor or at least acknowledge for a variety of reasons: Filial duty, unchecked expectations, checked associations, the die-hard nature of old habits, and even, when it comes to a few specific things, a tinge of fond nostalgia.

All those play a role in how I feel about my two recent birthdays, just two months apart from each other, as well as my family wedding reception. Continue reading “Haramadan 2: A Wedding Reception” →

Haramadan 2: A Wedding Reception

Haramadan Day 1: Religion & Tragedy

Eli Heina, , Leave a comment

Ten years ago, I would have spent my early afternoon reciting al-Fatihah at least four times, chanting Allah hu akbar seemingly endless times to mark my transition from motion to motion. Today, instead, I say the names of people I don’t know, people whose lives were cut short: Sharonda Coleman-Singleton. Clementa Pinckney. Cynthia Hurd. Tywanza Sanders. Myra Thompson. Ethel Lee Lance. Daniel L. Simmons. Depayne Middleton. Susie Jackson.

It isn’t that I think religious believers are apathetic when it comes to justice (quite the contrary), or even that I didn’t care about tragedy when I was a believer. It’s more that, without feeling like I know that justice will eventually be served and that the victims are in a better place, my immediate reaction involves a lot more anger. There is no way to immediately soothe myself, just a rawness and a sense of loss and of being lost. Continue reading “Haramadan Day 1: Religion & Tragedy” →

Haramadan Day 1: Religion & Tragedy

#Haramadan Begins Tonight

Eli Heina, , 3 Comments

I’ve not been as active as I had in a while, so to get myself back on track, I’m going to start the Haramadan Chronicles in this Year of Migration 1436*. I’m going to be reflecting and writing, facetiously and seriously, here and on other outlets, on my history with the Islamic month of fasting and its accompanying traditions, rituals, and routines. Dedicated self-reflection and ritual are the only aspects of Ramadan I have truly missed; now that I’m fairly comfortable with my apostasy, there is no reason for me not to give that part of it a whirl again.

Making this especially fun is the fact that my Hijri birthday is the 5th of Ramadan, my partner Danny‘s is the first of Shawwal (aka the day of Eid ul-Fitr), and he is going to be experiencing Ramadan and Eid firsthand for the first time this year.

Some reading to get you started:

* That is the year right now according to the Hijra calendar, which is a lunar calendar based on the year Muhammad reportedly migrated from Makkah to Madinah.

#Haramadan Begins Tonight