{"id":1833,"date":"2011-08-11T11:22:17","date_gmt":"2011-08-11T03:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/muzlimbuzz.sg\/?p=1833"},"modified":"2011-08-11T11:32:22","modified_gmt":"2011-08-11T03:32:22","slug":"ramadan-diaries-a-fasting-child-speaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/ramadan-diaries-a-fasting-child-speaks\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramadan Diaries: A Fasting Child Speaks"},"content":{"rendered":"

[dropcap]F[\/dropcap]or Muhammad Seifullah Giri\u00a0Serfly, age is not a concern when it comes to fasting. The 7-year-old Primary One student at St Joseph Institution Junior started fasting when he was 5 years old, albeit only till 10:30 in the morning. Gradually, he tells me, he will fast till Zuhur and he finally managed a full day fast when he was 6. Not bad for someone so young.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A fasting Seifullah poses with food he can't yet eat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you not get hungry at school or throughout the day, I ask.<\/p>\n

“In the beginning, I feel thirsty and hungry that’s why you must always eat during sahur (pre-dawn meal),” replied Seifullah. He shares with me his favourite foods for sahur: Rice or half\u00a0 boiled egg with bread. And he won’t go a day in Ramadan without his dose of sugary goodness: “I will always eat a bar of Kit Kat during sahur.”<\/p>\n

As for iftar, Seifullah says, “My father would make me eat one date and I like to drink\u00a0bandung or orange juice. \u00a0Sometimes I have my favourite Ramly burger.” Now who doesn’t love a good Ramly burger?<\/p>\n

He also had words of advice for his young companions who are trying their hands – or stomach, really – at fasting too.<\/p>\n

[quote]”In order to fast full day we must not think about food and drinks. When I feel hungry and tired I would sleep or read books.”[\/quote]<\/p>\n

While Seifullah shared with me about his Ramadan experience, he failed to tell me that he also gets monetary compensation each time he completes a fast. Like many of us when we were starting to fast, Seifullah’s father, Serfly Giri, tells us that Seifullah gets a dollar for every day he endures through the hunger & thirst. Added Mr Serfly, “We motivated him by promising him $1 a day for every day he fast as he likes to keep money inside his bank. Also since everyone at home is fasting, I told him that Allah will be angry with him if he does not fast.”<\/p>\n

[pullquote_right]Seifullah gets a dollar for every day he endures through the hunger & thirst.[\/pullquote_right]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After conquering the full-day fast last year, Seifullah looked forward to this year’s Ramadan because he started going for taraweeh prayers as well.<\/p>\n

Mr Serfly tells us, “Since taraweeh is held just opposite our block and only 8 rakaat plus 3 witir, he managed to perform it without much distraction. This is his first year performing taraweeh prayers. Alhamdullilah without any problems.”<\/p>\n

Finally, we asked Seifullah what he likes about Ramadan and this was what he had to say:<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Seifullah on the way to taraweeh prayers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

“Ramadan is fun and good because I can\u00a0go to terawih prayers and\u00a0celebrate Hari Raya after fasting for one month!”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Well Seifullah, here’s hoping that you’ll develop the love for praying and fasting insyaAllah (and that\u00a0you get the full amount of $29 this year!).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____<\/h2>\n

What were some of your childhood memories of fasting? As for parents, how did you motivate your child to fast or pray taraweeh? Share your stories and comments with us!<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[dropcap]F[\/dropcap]or Muhammad Seifullah Giri\u00a0Serfly, age is not a concern when it comes to fasting. The 7-year-old Primary One student at St Joseph Institution Junior started fasting when he was 5 years old, albeit only till 10:30 in the morning. Gradually, he tells me, he will fast till Zuhur and he finally managed a full day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[683],"tags":[716,10,109,401,696,715,714,717],"class_list":["post-1833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ramadan-resources","tag-children-fasting","tag-featured","tag-muslim-children","tag-ramadan","tag-ramadan-diaries","tag-seifullah","tag-serfly","tag-teaching-your-child-to-fast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1833"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1838,"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833\/revisions\/1838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplyislam.sg\/muslimbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}