0:01

What up, tenors? Um, I could be honest.

0:03

Okay, there's a lot of things I don't

0:05

know everything about, so when I don't, I

0:07

like to go to someone who might know

0:09

more than I do. And today, I'm curious

0:11

about Ramadan. Well then, you're in

0:14

luck, because for today's minisode, we asked

0:16

10 News Correspondent Jamie Guerra to tell

0:18

us all about this special time of

0:20

year. Let's get into

0:23

it. 10, 9, 8, 7,

0:25

6, 5, 4, 3, 4,

0:27

1. It's

0:38

March 22nd, 2024. And

0:41

that means we are 12 days into the holiest month

0:43

of the year for 1.8 billion

0:45

people across the world. Not

0:48

million, billion. I'm

0:51

talking about Ramadan, the most important

0:53

Muslim holiday. A holiday that

0:56

is so important that Muslims literally celebrate

0:58

it for an entire month. But

1:00

what exactly is Ramadan and why do we

1:03

observe it? Ramadan

1:05

is a month dedicated to fasting, reflection, and

1:07

prayer. Every year, during the

1:09

9th month of the Muslim calendar, we celebrate

1:11

the time the first verses of the Quran,

1:13

the holy book of Islam, were

1:15

revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. This

1:18

happened over 1400 years ago, and

1:21

every single year since then, Muslims

1:23

have commemorated this event through fasting.

1:26

And what is fasting for those who may not know? Well,

1:28

it doesn't mean you have to move at super speed for the

1:30

entire month. It actually means that

1:33

you can't eat or drink. Not

1:35

eating for an entire month sounds

1:37

hard, right? But don't

1:40

worry, because that would actually be probably

1:42

impossible and super unhealthy. Instead,

1:46

from sunrise to sunset, each day

1:49

Muslims fast. And at night, you're

1:51

free to eat whatever you want. They

1:53

eat a special meal after sunset called

1:55

iftar, usually eating traditional foods

1:57

like dates. And then they wake

1:59

up super- before sunrise to eat again and

2:01

prepare for the day. This

2:03

is called Sahar and sometimes you need to wake

2:06

up as early as 5am. But

2:09

don't worry if you're still a kid. The good news

2:11

is it's only the grown-ups who have to fast. Ramadan

2:15

is about so much more than just

2:17

fasting anyway. It's a time

2:19

to connect with family, spend time with friends, and

2:21

reflect on how you can become a better, kinder

2:23

person to everyone around you. Many

2:26

Muslims use the month as an opportunity to

2:28

give to charity, do good deeds within their

2:30

community, and use prayer as a way to

2:32

become closer with God and themselves. And

2:35

because so many people around the world observe this holiday,

2:39

everyone does it just a little bit differently.

2:42

Muslims in Turkey wake up every morning

2:44

during Sahar, the time you eat before sunrise,

2:46

to the sound of drums. Drummers

2:48

march down the street in traditional Turkish clothing

2:50

and greet everyone with music. In

2:53

Egypt, the streets are decorated with

2:55

colorful lanterns called Sanus, a

2:58

tradition that dates back almost a thousand years.

3:01

In Bosnia, they light fireworks on the first

3:03

night of Ramadan. But after

3:06

the last day of Ramadan, Muslims all

3:08

around the world come together for perhaps the

3:10

most special tradition of all, Eid

3:12

al-Futr, or just Eid. Eid

3:15

al-Futr means festival of fast-breaking, and

3:18

this is the time for feasting fun friends

3:20

and family. Everyone dresses

3:22

up in their best clothes and gathers

3:24

for a well-deserved giant meal, and

3:27

many even go to the mosque for a special prayer. It's

3:30

so fun, and it also doesn't hurt that all the

3:32

kids receive little gifts too. At

3:36

its heart though, Ramadan is about learning to become

3:38

the best and most kind version of yourself that

3:40

you can be, and learning

3:42

to appreciate everything that you have in life.

3:45

That's part of why we fast, to show us

3:47

how lucky we are to have so much food

3:49

in the first place. So

3:52

happy Ramadan to Muslims all around the world,

3:55

and to all our Muslim listeners. And

3:57

if you have a Muslim friend that seems a little tired

3:59

or cranky, this month, remember they might

4:01

be fasting. You would be too. And

4:05

make sure you tell them Ramadan

4:07

Mubarak, which literally means

4:09

a blessed Ramadan. It might

4:11

just mean a whole lot.

4:14

Say it with me, Ramadan

4:17

Mubarak. Thank

4:21

you Jamie, that was super helpful. Oh

4:24

it's cap calling. Hello? Yep.

4:28

Oh that's great. What's up, right?

4:31

Tracy sat down with some friends of the

4:33

10 that observed the month of Ramadan so

4:35

we can hear about their firsthand experiences. Let's

4:38

hear it. My name is Yahia, I am

4:40

a junior at Montero Vista High School in

4:42

Denville, California. I love to

4:44

play sports and I look and I

4:46

enjoy spending my time playing video games.

4:50

And I'm Hadra, I'm currently a sophomore at

4:52

Montero Vista High School. I

4:54

love swimming and just watching

4:56

Netflix. So it

4:59

is the month of Ramadan. What special family traditions

5:01

do you have to observe it? So

5:03

one thing we do often as a

5:05

family, which is pretty special honestly, is

5:07

I mean we just break our fast

5:09

and we start our fast together so

5:11

we have our meals together. And on

5:14

top of that we also do all of our daily prayers

5:16

together. And this is something special

5:18

because you know Hadra and I are both

5:20

high schoolers. We have conflicting schedules

5:22

with our families. You know we're pretty busy doing

5:25

homework and everything. So we don't

5:27

have a lot of time on

5:29

our hands and we don't really get to

5:31

spend quality time with our family that often. So Ramadan

5:34

you know gives us the perfect opportunity to spend

5:36

quality time with our family even though that even

5:39

though we're really busy. Is that your favorite part

5:41

or are there other things that you do that

5:43

that really stand out for you? My

5:46

favorite part of Ramadan of course family is a big

5:48

part of it but on top of that it's also

5:51

like spending time with my friends. So

5:53

usually to break the fast

5:55

we go to our local mosque or

5:57

oftentimes we go to our friends

5:59

houses. These are places where we

6:01

can spend time with our Muslim community, our

6:04

Muslim peers and friends. And

6:06

honestly, the community aspect of Ramadan is

6:08

really my favorite. I

6:11

definitely agree. The community aspect is my favorite too.

6:13

It's really nice to be with my

6:16

Muslim peers and just being able to

6:18

relate to them while fasting. And it's

6:20

definitely something I look forward to, breaking

6:22

my fast with them throughout the day.

6:25

When did you both start fasting? I

6:28

started around the age of 13. And

6:31

I started fasting around the age of 12. So

6:33

I started slowly and for example,

6:35

I would try to fast every other day,

6:38

for example. And each year I

6:40

just progress more and more until I was able to

6:42

fast every day of the month, which I do currently

6:44

now. And what's your experience like

6:46

at school? Do your teachers know that

6:48

you're fasting? Do they make accommodations? What's

6:51

that like? Yeah,

6:53

so my teachers, they ask a

6:55

lot of questions, which is amazing. And they're very

6:57

interested in this. So I love to explain it

6:59

to them. And my school, they're

7:01

very great with accommodations. For

7:04

example, last year in PE, instead

7:06

of having to do the mile run or

7:08

the 800 meter dash or the pacer test,

7:11

which is very high intensity workout, our

7:13

teachers would give us an alternative option

7:16

and something more low intensity, for example,

7:18

like walking around the gym or walking

7:20

around the track. And,

7:22

you know, there's something very considerate of them.

7:24

And we really appreciate them doing this because it makes

7:27

it way easier for us. So it sounds like you

7:29

have this great experience with your friends, your school is

7:31

super supportive. What would

7:33

you like non-Muslims to understand about the month?

7:37

I think I would like non-Muslims to

7:39

understand that Ramadan is actually a

7:42

time that most Muslims, or I should say

7:44

all Muslims look forward to every year. It's

7:47

not something that I feel like we

7:49

feel forced to do or pressured by

7:51

because of all the benefits that we

7:53

receive, whether that's spiritual, mental or physical

7:55

benefits. And it's actually enjoyable for us

7:57

compared to like all the other people.

8:00

stereotypes that exist right now. One of the most

8:02

common questions that I get asked is,

8:04

oh, like, aren't you starving yourself? Or

8:06

like, how do you not eat

8:08

for 30 days straight? But it's like, no,

8:11

like, it's not that, it's not that much. It's

8:13

like, you know, we wake up in the morning

8:15

early to eat and then that'll last us about

8:17

the day and then we'll break our fast. And

8:20

it's not, it's really not that bad. And then

8:22

another really common question is, not even water. That

8:24

one's asked a lot. And

8:27

yeah, not even water. So

8:29

we have a special holiday called

8:31

Eid. And

8:34

it's specifically for Ramadan, it's called Eid al-Fitr.

8:37

And it is a very special

8:39

day. It is one of two

8:42

special holidays that we have as Muslims. And

8:45

on that day, we start the day

8:47

with a little sermon. Some

8:49

person comes and talks about something, you

8:51

know, some Islamic concept. After that, we

8:53

have a prayer that we

8:56

do together. And then after that, it's a

8:58

celebration for the rest of the day. We meet

9:00

our friends, you know, spend time with the

9:03

family, eat like amazing food, you know. So

9:05

we maybe couldn't eat during Ramadan because we

9:07

were fasting. And it's a

9:10

great holiday, honestly. All the children get

9:12

money from their parents and,

9:14

you know, family, friends and everything. It's very

9:17

amazing. Oh, I love this.

9:20

Yeah, I do. I

9:22

do love Eid. It's a time that

9:24

I really look forward to. Definitely with

9:26

like the community aspect and everything. But

9:28

and of course, the Eid, which is

9:30

what the money that we receive is

9:32

called. And

9:35

I think my favorite part

9:37

about Eid is the clothes

9:39

because Eid clothes, especially for

9:41

girls, are like super fancy.

9:44

And you know, like during

9:46

Ramadan, I think it's something that

9:49

girls look forward to because, you know, like my friends

9:51

and I right now, we're like planning our Eid outfits

9:53

and everything. And I think it's something that's really fun.

9:55

That's great. That's wonderful. Well, then I will

9:58

say to both of you, Ramadan Mubarak. Thank

10:00

you so much. Thank you. Thank

10:03

you so much. Thank you. Thanks,

10:05

Chapp. Those teens are awesome. I

10:12

wonder if they'd let me celebrate Eid with them?

10:14

Thanks for listening to this 10 News Mini-code. We'll

10:19

be back next week with a full ep. The

10:24

10 News is a co-production of Small But

10:26

Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcast and

10:28

part of the Airwave Podcast Network. I'm

10:31

Pamela Kirkland. And I'm Ryan Willard.

10:33

Thanks for listening to the 10 News. Thank

10:58

you. Thank

11:28

you. Thank

11:58

you. you you