It was time for vacation – the second such in my professional career, whew! This was special as it was the first time it fell in Ramadan.
I was due back in Accra to complete Ramadan and spend my first Eid at home after two straight years (a total of four Eids) in Congo.
My return in 2017 was an ordinary one so to say, but this one (the 2018 edition) was special because it was planned to start during Ramadan, but there was an issue.
Of those exempted from fasting is the traveller – with the condition that they will pay back the number of days they missed after Ramadan.
Other exempted parties include children, the aged, persons declared medically unfit, pregnant and suckling mothers etc. Some categories are to repay missed days whiles others are given alternatives to reap the benefits of Ramadan without necessarily fasting.
To fast or not to, simple as it may seem got me racking my brains on what position to pick whiles travelling.
As a sign of lenience and reprieve, Islam gives the traveller the option of shelving the fast and repaying later, but again, it is an option that he can take or waive. In my case, I knew I was to be on a two-way flight and I’d planned to fast on the first leg.
Seeing that my flight from base (Pointe Noire) to Addis Ababa (transit) will start in the afternoon, I opted to fast on the particular day (June 2), in my mind, I expected to break my fast in Addis Ababa – most likely hours after the time (there and even in Congo) had elapsed.
When the flight finally took off, it did not take long before the air hostesses began serving food. It turned out that most Muslims on board like myself had fasted.
For any one of us that turned down the food, I realised that the air hostess took note of our seat numbers.
In my head, till I arrive at Addis Ababa, I don’t care about eating or drinking anything – my mind was made up. But before long, the air hostess was back sharing food to the Muslims.
Then the petit controversy broke out. The question seem to be on what basis was she sharing food to Muslims – by extension how did she know that the time for iftaar was due – the pilot at the time had told us that we were about 41,000 feet cruising.
Breaking the fast in mid-air gained currency in my head as I tried to figure out how I could convince myself that eating was a right decision. Two things, my Azaan (call to prayer) software (Al Moazin) and the flight information screen; came in handy.
I was certain that as we flew back to Addis, our fasting time will reduce because Ethiopia for example is three hours ahead of Congo Republic. According to the flight info, we were out of Congo’s airspace and were cruising around South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi thereabout.
If we were in Congo, we’d have had an hour more to break the fast but travelling in the reverse direction meant that we had gained that hour. The Moazin software confirmed that position when I turned my location to Juba, capital of South Sudan.
The Air hostess, from wherever she got her information turned out to have been spot on but of course we as Muslims were also well within our rights to convince ourselves same that we were doing the right thing.
In the long run, the Muslims on board went ahead to break our fasts knowing very well that we had satisfied ourselves with the fact that the time to break our fasts was indeed due despite being several thousand feets about the ground.
We arrived in Addis Ababa and like they say, the rest is history. And how could I have forgotten to stress that part of the Muslim meal having nicely packaged dates seated somewhere on the tray.
I was due back in Accra to complete Ramadan and spend my first Eid at home after two straight years (a total of four Eids) in Congo.
My return in 2017 was an ordinary one so to say, but this one (the 2018 edition) was special because it was planned to start during Ramadan, but there was an issue.
Of those exempted from fasting is the traveller – with the condition that they will pay back the number of days they missed after Ramadan.
Other exempted parties include children, the aged, persons declared medically unfit, pregnant and suckling mothers etc. Some categories are to repay missed days whiles others are given alternatives to reap the benefits of Ramadan without necessarily fasting.
To fast or not to, simple as it may seem got me racking my brains on what position to pick whiles travelling.
As a sign of lenience and reprieve, Islam gives the traveller the option of shelving the fast and repaying later, but again, it is an option that he can take or waive. In my case, I knew I was to be on a two-way flight and I’d planned to fast on the first leg.
Seeing that my flight from base (Pointe Noire) to Addis Ababa (transit) will start in the afternoon, I opted to fast on the particular day (June 2), in my mind, I expected to break my fast in Addis Ababa – most likely hours after the time (there and even in Congo) had elapsed.
When the flight finally took off, it did not take long before the air hostesses began serving food. It turned out that most Muslims on board like myself had fasted.
For any one of us that turned down the food, I realised that the air hostess took note of our seat numbers.
In my head, till I arrive at Addis Ababa, I don’t care about eating or drinking anything – my mind was made up. But before long, the air hostess was back sharing food to the Muslims.
Then the petit controversy broke out. The question seem to be on what basis was she sharing food to Muslims – by extension how did she know that the time for iftaar was due – the pilot at the time had told us that we were about 41,000 feet cruising.
Breaking the fast in mid-air gained currency in my head as I tried to figure out how I could convince myself that eating was a right decision. Two things, my Azaan (call to prayer) software (Al Moazin) and the flight information screen; came in handy.
I was certain that as we flew back to Addis, our fasting time will reduce because Ethiopia for example is three hours ahead of Congo Republic. According to the flight info, we were out of Congo’s airspace and were cruising around South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi thereabout.
If we were in Congo, we’d have had an hour more to break the fast but travelling in the reverse direction meant that we had gained that hour. The Moazin software confirmed that position when I turned my location to Juba, capital of South Sudan.
The Air hostess, from wherever she got her information turned out to have been spot on but of course we as Muslims were also well within our rights to convince ourselves same that we were doing the right thing.
In the long run, the Muslims on board went ahead to break our fasts knowing very well that we had satisfied ourselves with the fact that the time to break our fasts was indeed due despite being several thousand feets about the ground.
We arrived in Addis Ababa and like they say, the rest is history. And how could I have forgotten to stress that part of the Muslim meal having nicely packaged dates seated somewhere on the tray.
