ABSTRACT
Fasting (sawm) is one of the five central pillars of the Islamic faith, along with accepting the oneness of Allah (shahada), performing the five required daily prayers (salat), making a pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj), and alms and charity (zakat). Ramadan is the month of fasting and the holiest month of the Islamic lunar calendar when Muslims fulfil one of the obligations of their faith. Ramadan is a sacred and joyful period, bringing quiet days of fasting from sun-up to sun-down when one tries to remain ‘clean’ in one’s thoughts, speech, and action. Fasting is seen largely as a purification process, and one that restores human beings to a closer state of sinlessness. To not fast during Ramadan is amongst one of the major sins in Islam; and to curse, gossip, or treat another person badly while fasting may void one’s fast. Fasting during Ramadan is to take part in solidarity across the Muslim world, when wealthier Muslims remember the poor and what it would feel like to walk in the shoes of a hungry and desperate person. Acts of charity (sadaqa) in the month of Ramadan are informal with people trying to share and invite guests with more frequency. Charity in the formal sense, zakat, is observed during Ramadan when individuals decide how much they can give in alms. Ramadan nights bring families and friends together around elaborate meals and special television programmes that provide entertainment. Ramadan is also an important time to consider broader cultural conceptualizations of gender within the context of family in Morocco.
