Little did I know, but this past Friday (Aug 21st) the Muslim celebration of Ramadan began. What is Ramadan? It is "the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawnuntil sunset[1] Fasting is meant to teach the Muslimpatience, modesty and spirituality. Ramaḍān is a time to fast for the sake of Allah, and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramaḍān, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds."
I don't talk much about work in this blog on purpose - but this topic is interesting enough to bend the rules. In July, I was asked to lead our telesales channel for the UK which consists of four teams - one on the ground in the UK of 5 people and three in Indian through our outsourced partners at IBM. Three of my sales consultants in the UK are Pakistani, all born in Pakistan but migrated here at various ages to England. Two of the three are Muslims and are now fasting for Ramadan.
Mid-morning on Monday, they tell me they've started fasting for Ramadan. Of course, I immediately think, "how in the world will they live if they don't eat for a whole month?". As it turns out, you can't eat between sunrise and sunset. Therefore, they get up at 4pm in the morning, eat, go back to sleep, get up and come to work. Then, they go home and can eat again after the sun sets at 8pm. Here's the kicker. Ramadan is set on the lunar calendar which moves about 10 days every year. Therefore, it keeps getting earlier in the calendar year. If Ramadan was in December, they would only have about 8 hours of daylight to make it through each day. But in August, almost 16 hours!
It's tough to watch them slug through it. In fact, one had to go home early today simply because his head was hurting so badly. Their energy level is low, and naturally, sales performance has also dipped. However, they tell me that it is all worth it because it is for a higher purpose in which they deeply believe.
Makes the Christian practice of Lent seem like a much easier load to bear.
