As Muslims across South Africa celebrate the holy month of Ramadan, one of the painful sacrifices they must make is load shedding by Eskom.
The month of Ramadan officially begins on Thursday in South Africa, with the first fast starting on Friday.
Once the fast begins, Muslims are not allowed to eat a morsel of food or drink water until sunset.
Eliminate the burden
Depending on the timing and schedule, the load shedding is expected to cause major problems for Muslims during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar that has many blessings for those who believe in Islam.
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk and usually eat before dawn before the fasting begins.
Now in the city of Johannesburg, the fast starts at about 4:52 and ends at 6:18 p.m.
Also read: Ramadan: 23 tons of dates will be distributed in Africa, benefiting 70,000 Muslims
Not comfortable
With the deliberate power outages, Muslims now wake up earlier to eat before breaking the fast and also prepare food in advance to break the fast at sunset.
For Nasreen Jeewa, the burden they have placed on her will cause discomfort for her and her family.
“A lot of prayer time will be spent preparing the meal beforehand. Usually during the day you can read the Qur’an and before opening we start preparing savory and delicious food to enjoy after fasting.
“Sometimes our burden is from 2 pm to 4:30 pm and others from 4 pm to 6:30 pm. This is the worst time to relieve the burden because this is the time when most women go to the kitchen to start preparing,” Jeewa said.
casualty
Ammara Patel said reducing the burden would increase the sacrifices Muslims have to make during Ramadan.
“I hope we don’t get a load at 4 in the morning because this is the time we have sehri (meal before dawn) which is recommended to maintain the nutrition during the day during fasting. If there is a load at that time, we have to get up earlier and we will not can prepare something or even drink coffee, and I have children who also fast.
“I feel so much for those who don’t eat before dawn or don’t have anything before they start fasting and have to work, especially Muslim women who have to hurry home after a long day and still prepare a meal for their family. Now, imagine when they come home and there’s a load that’s gone, it can affect you,” Patel said.
Alternative
There are many Muslims in South Africa who echo Jeewa and Patel’s sentiments and while some can afford generators, inverters and gas stoves, others cannot, especially in informal settlements.
Many South African Muslims were hoping that there could be some reprieve from Eskom or adjustment of shedding times to help people who are sacrificing more than thirteen hours a day without food or water.
While Ramadan is the month of sacrifice, Muslims in South Africa will give up spiritual time during the holy month to prepare meals.
Also read: Ramadan: Ramaphosa, political parties and others wish Muslims good health