Etiquette of Fasting : Tips for Healthy Eating in Ramadan

Allah asked you to abstain from food morning to evening. And trust me when you break your fast in the evening, that’s not a sign of doing Qadha (make up) for the launch that you missed.

No! You have a simple meal. Those who succeed to fast in the most correct way in Ramadan are those who cut down their food in the month of Ramadan.

Cut down your food. Eat less for Suhoor. You will be able to have a beautiful day without feeling much… that you are fasting.

But if right in the morning before you start the fast, you have had a heavy meal. What happens? The enzymes are digesting, the energy is required to digest, and everything is happening and acidity is building.

By 10 o’clock in the morning, your belly is rumbling and it’s calling for more food. Because you had a very heavy meal.

[wpsm_quote author=”” float=”none” width=”50″]The Sunnah is to have a light meal early morning. Suhoor food is only for purpose of Barakah.[/wpsm_quote]

So you have something that takes long to digest, perhaps grains, perhaps a bit of porridge or cereal, a little bit of milk maybe, some water and some dates. Dates are high in iron, fiber and so on.

Then you see how your day goes because your stomach will not rumble at 10 o’clock. Your energies are used to digest food. So when you have little of it, less energy is used.

A Secret of Fasting

We make a mistake. It’s like we think okay, I need to hold my breath, so let me take a deep breath. We take a deep breath. Food is not the same. It doesn’t mean I’m not going to be eating up to 7 o’clock in the evening, so let me have as much as I can early morning.

No! That’s not how it works with food. It actually works the other way. When you eat less, you are less prone to becoming hungry quick.

Remember this. It’s one of the secrets of fasting. When we say secrets, we don’t mean hidden in the closet, but what we mean is something that you need to know and that a lot of people are unaware of.

Your Taraweeh Depends on Your Iftar

In the evening, if you want to perform Salat al-Taraweeh correctly, make sure your Iftar is light. If you are going to eat a whole load of biryani, beautiful rice and everything else that comes with, and everything else your friends mentioned and you have a whole pile of it in the evening and your belly is popping out. Are you thinking you’re going to perform Salat al-Taraweeh?

You will start with Allahu Akbar and firstly your hands are tied like one meter in front of you because of your overloaded belly… Allah forgives us. And a little while later, all that gas is building up in the belly, and then this man is disturbing us with his burping and we are disturbing him, like a competition. And the Masjid smells of food lover… Astagfirullah.

Be a respectable person. That’s not how you should treat Ramadan. That is not the case. Have a light meal. Have something healthy.

The Most Healthy and Unhealthy Foods in Ramadan

Some of us have fried food as soon as we open the fast. You know we have savories or fries and so on. Do you know that that is probably the most unhealthy thing you could ever have on an empty stomach?! 

The healthiest things are water, dates, a bit of yogurt or perhaps a bit of bread. Subhan Allah, that is extremely healthy. In fact, it’s part of the sunnah of Muhammad SAWS. Always go for the water, the dates, a little bit of bread and some yogurt. That would be an amazing Iftar!

But with us, no, we must have all these fries. They call them pies and samosas and whatever else I’m not too sure.. in your part of the world what exactly you have. They look nice. But they are the most unhealthy thing ever ever ever… that you could have had on an empty stomach. Allah forgives us.

Appeal to Common Sense

Ramadan is not a month when we should compete with foods and miss the ultimate chance of getting closer to Allah. Ramadan is all about discipline. Discipline is the precondition of self-purification. We need to learn some discipline. Remember this Ramadan might be the last Ramadan of your life. If you miss this ultimate opportunity, you may not even get a second chance.

So brothers and sisters, take preparation for Ramadan, and in this Ramadan, only focus on how you can make Allah pleased upon you. May Allah grant us the ability and make everything easy for us.