The sun had just set over Khadija Khan’s home, wood paneling glinting in the low light, the aroma of samosas and masala spice wafting into the living room. In the kitchen, her family prepared food for iftar, the breaking of the fast, chopping, heating, waiting.
“There’s a certain calmness that comes over you in this month,” Khan said.
In the ninth month of the lunar calendar, known as Ramadan, Khan, along with nearly 2 billion Muslims around the world, adjust the rhythm of life to follow the sun’s path. While celebrated differently across cultures, the Ramadan fast is one of the obligatory five pillars of Islam. Observers abstain from food and water in daylight hours and are encouraged to devote more time to prayer and reflection, reading the Quran and giving to charity…