The streets are quiet and the sky is still black at half past three in the morning when cell phones and alarm clocks beginning buzzing across the city reminding Muslims to wake, eat and pray. Hassan is one of these guys. He owns a noodle shop. He and his family wake around 3:30 a.m. to eat a hearty breakfast before the Salat al-fajr prayer time at 4:10 a.m. After they pray, they will go back to sleep for a couple of hours before they rise and head to work.
Even though they are not able to eat or drink anything for about 17 hours every day, they still diligently go to work and cook noodles and serve tea to all their Han customers. It is the middle of summer. Their little restaurant does not have an air conditioner. The kitchen gets hot, but they do not drink. They do not eat.
Around the city, many Chinese Muslims go about their jobs like it was a normal month except for the fact that they are fasting and going to the mosque five times a day to pray. Butchers continue to work. Shop owners faithfully open everyday. Taxi drivers continue to carry passengers around the city. Xining does not shutdown for Ramadan. Life continues.
There are a few who are able to rest during Ramadan. Some families come home from other parts of China just for Ramadan. They are usually successful businessmen that can afford to return home and hire someone to work in their place. Many Muslim students also return home for Ramadan and rest during the day or spend it playing with their friends.
For some, fasting 17 hours a day is a very trying experience. Take, for example, a young girl in her first trimester of pregnancy that is faithfully fasting all day, everyday. Her mother-in-law discouraged her from attempting to fast, but she felt that she must or something bad might happen. She feels sick most of the day, but she does not eat or drink.
Chinese Muslims in Xining take Ramadan very seriously. It is not optional, but required. Mosques across the city are full daily as men come to pray and break fast together at night. If they are unable to fast one day, they will make it up later in the year.
Around 8 p.m., Hassan and his family rush to clean up and close their restaurant. The Salat al-maghrib prayers begin at 8:40 p.m. Directly before the prayer time they are able to break fast by eating a date with the rest of the men in the mosque. They rush over to the mosque take a date and a drink. They eat quietly before filing in to pray in unison with the other men for about 20 minutes. Then they rush home to eat quickly before returning to the mosque at 9:40 p.m. for the last prayers of the day, the Salat al-‘isha prayers. They will pray from 9:40 until 11 p.m. This time will include individual prayers, corporate prayers and chanting of the Quran. When the service ends at 11 p.m., men and boys quickly head home and straight to bed.
They only have 4 hours before they will awake at half past three to eat a quick breakfast before the Salat al-fajr prayer at 4:10 am.
Prayer Requests
- Pray for the devout Muslims of Xining. Ask God to show them that works will not save them, only Jesus.
- Pray for God to give Chinese Muslims dreams and visions pointing them to Jesus during Ramadan.
- Pray that seekers will be able to find followers of Jesus and hear the Gospel during Ramadan.