When I was in Egypt, the month of Ramadan (the month when Muslims fast every year) was one of the most beautiful months of the year for me. Our day used to start at eleven in the morning. I know it seems late to get up then, but you’ll find out why later. 

After we woke up, we used to pray the Al-Zohr (the midday prayer) and all of us, as a family, had to clean the place where we all slept. Then, a few hours later, we prayed the Al-Asr prayer and started to prepare our food to break the fast. 

At the first call to prayer for the Maghrib (the prayer time when we could eat again), we all used to drink milk with dates in it. This drink was always what we drank during Ramadan. After that, we used to pray the Maghrib and then we all sat at the table for Iftar. This was the meal that broke the fast, and it was always full of food. In this month, my uncles and aunts used to come to break the fast with us, and the family gathered together. There was always a spirit of fun and joy. 

After that, it was time for the last call to prayer: Isha. Everyone used to leave their homes and go to the mosque. Everyone would pray in mosques, and we always listened to the Qur’an from the Imam. This month was one of the months in which strong spirituality ignited faith in our hearts. After this prayer, we would go home at ten or eleven o’clock in the evening, and we usually would read the Qur’an or sit and listen to a religious lesson until about two o’clock in the morning.

Finally, we would begin to prepare the Suhoor (the second time we eat, before sunrise) in order to prepare for fasting again. We would eat on the rooftops of the house. We always used to eat Suhoor with the dim light that came from the mosque in front of us. After we ate, we would wait for the dawn prayer, Al-Fajr, then pray and go to sleep. And for this reason, we used to wake up late.