How are you all preparing for Ramadan?

[ya falaha! 0]

My sons have these books, they're very cute. I especially like "Celebrating Ramadan" by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith. Great photos and very easy for children to read and relate to.

Books for children:1) "Ramadan," by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi

Enhanced with beautiful drawings, this lovely book covers all the special traditions of the month through the eyes of Hakeem, a Muslim boy in America. Awarded Book of the Year by the National Council for the Social Studies in 1997.

2) "Three Muslim Festivals," by Ibrahim Ali Aminah and A. Ghazi (Eds.)

A collection of stories about the three main celebrations in Isalm: Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha. Told through the eyes of children and illustrated with lovely watercolors, this book captures the warmth of the holidays and traditions.

3) "Celebrating Ramadan," by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith

This new book (September 2001) follows Ibraheem, a Muslim fourth-grader, as he and his family observe the holy month of Ramadan. Photographs accompany the brief yet comprehensive text, making this a quality introduction.

4) "Magid Fasts for Ramadan," by Mary Matthews

This charming story captures the excitement of a young boy trying to fast his first Ramadan. While it is not required for him to fast, he is determined to make it through the day.

[m&n 0]

Hey..........I know the book you're talking about........I actually know the kid on the front cover.....and his entire family to be exact......he is a student at the school I work at..........

My sons have these books, they're very cute. I especially like "Celebrating Ramadan" by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith. Great photos and very easy for children to read and relate to.

Books for children:1) "Ramadan," by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi

Enhanced with beautiful drawings, this lovely book covers all the special traditions of the month through the eyes of Hakeem, a Muslim boy in America. Awarded Book of the Year by the National Council for the Social Studies in 1997.

2) "Three Muslim Festivals," by Ibrahim Ali Aminah and A. Ghazi (Eds.)

A collection of stories about the three main celebrations in Isalm: Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha. Told through the eyes of children and illustrated with lovely watercolors, this book captures the warmth of the holidays and traditions.

3) "Celebrating Ramadan," by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith

This new book (September 2001) follows Ibraheem, a Muslim fourth-grader, as he and his family observe the holy month of Ramadan. Photographs accompany the brief yet comprehensive text, making this a quality introduction.

4) "Magid Fasts for Ramadan," by Mary Matthews

This charming story captures the excitement of a young boy trying to fast his first Ramadan. While it is not required for him to fast, he is determined to make it through the day.

[Henia 11]

Anyone have any special Ramadan traditions to share? One you made up, or did in your SO's country? Or read about?

[doodlebug 3]

It is funny that some people think kissing or touching is not allowed during Ramadan, since it is allowed...as long as it is not sexual in nature and does not lead to sexual thoughts or actions.

Ok I give up...how do you kiss or touch your spouse without having it be sexual in nature or leading to thoughts or actions?

[Nasturtium 500]

The same way you kiss your kids and not have it lead to sexual anything Think quick pecks on the cheeks or lips, but not all making out on the couch... I probably touch him hundreds of times in a day, but it doesn't make me think of sex.. stuff like "oh you have a leaf there" or just a pat, or something like that... hugs when one of us leaves the house...

[UmmSqueakster 54]

The husband isn't really in to traditions. However, we talked about how important they are to me, so he's agreed to create some for our own little family

Thus far, our traditions consist soley of green "holiday" lights strung around our apartment and going to the masjid on the weekends for iftar and prayers.

However, some ideas I'm thinking about trying this year:

*Getting a fanoos to stick on our coffee table for decoration. Funny story actually, the husband came a few days before Ramadan 2 years ago and I asked him to bring a fanoos with him. He bought me one - a key chain

*Making a special "ramadan dessert" - some kind of cheesecake, me thinks. If I make 2 or 3 before Ramadan starts, I can cut them up into small pieces, freeze them, and then take out only a few so we don't stuff ourselves on it each day.

*Invite friends over once a week for iftar

*Doing more community service each week, esp. something with feeding the poor.

*Spending time together each day to read Qur'an

*Going to the MOA amusement park for eid

*Going to the masjid for fajr on eid, then going to the gas station to get cheap cappucino - we did this last year, and it was suprisingly fun, so inshaAllah going to try to make this a tradition. Yes, we're boring people

Edited August 7, 2007 by rahma

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Also, most excellent!!!!! I've been grumbling for ages that Saudi Aramco World online didn't have up my favorite piece on Ramadan in America. Well, low and behold, there's now a pdf scan of it! Happy dance, now I can link people to it

In fact, if you go here, it looks like you can access a lot of pdfs of past magazines. One of the problems with the old archive is that there weren't all the spiffy pictures. Looks like these pdfs has lots o pics

[doodlebug 3]

*Getting a fanoos to stick on our coffee table for decoration. Funny story actually, the husband came a few days before Ramadan 2 years ago and I asked him to bring a fanoos with him. He bought me one - a key chain

Is a fanoos a lantern? If so, will you just put the lantern on the table and light it or something?

[UmmSqueakster 54]

*Getting a fanoos to stick on our coffee table for decoration. Funny story actually, the husband came a few days before Ramadan 2 years ago and I asked him to bring a fanoos with him. He bought me one - a key chain

Is a fanoos a lantern? If so, will you just put the lantern on the table and light it or something?

Na'am. My mom always decorated lavishly for holidays, so I'm going to work on building up a store of Ramdan/Eid decorations. But, all I can think of right now is lanterns and "holiday" lights. Will probably pick up some balloons at the dollar store to bring to the masjid to decorate for eid and then take back to our apartment.

[Ban Hammer 12,866]

Ok I give up...how do you kiss or touch your spouse without having it be sexual in nature or leading to thoughts or actions?

stick something like a hatpin in a wall socket. touch it while kissing or touching your spouse. or you can opt for holding a large block of ice while doing so.