The Quick Ten is a special Ramadan series initiated by The Edition where we asked the same ten light questions from different people every day of Ramadan to collect data for a general round up at the end of the month.
Similar to Muslims across the globe, Maldivians also undertake the act of fasting during this holy month with entire lifestyle taking a drastic turn during this holy month in both individual and work life alike.
This Ramadan, the Edition took it upon ourselves to conduct a daily interview of Maldivians on their customary routines and practices during this month that concluded yesterday with today being celebrated as the Eid-Al-Fitr.
In a bid to collect the changes in the people’s lifetime during this festive month the, Edition compiled a series of ten light questions which features main themes connected with the changes that occurs in general lifestyles in connection with the month.
With a total of 30 interviewees - one each day of Ramadan - whose responses both interestingly differed and paralleled each other, we have compiled the average data collected from each question into charts.
The first question we asked our interviewees was to provide a simple description of themselves. We received many distinctive responses from passionate artists, keen photographers, gamers, writers, football lovers, musicians, students, entrepreneurs, hoteliers, ocean enthusiasts and even people whose quickest answer to describe their interest is interestingly enough; sleeping - something we can all empathize with.
The second question aimed to collect individual household preferences on a theme that is rapidly changing from the tradition together with the advancements in the world.
Here, interviewees were provided two options; takeout and homemade food, in order to discern the rotation in households with the significant shift caused by modern routines.
Although households are becoming more and more predisposed to choosing the convenience of takeout owing to busy schedules that do not accommodate the time to prepare large feasts, traditional homemade food still prevails over takeout with a significant 93.3 percent leaning towards homecooked feasts while only 2 interviewees had shared their household's preference for takeout.
Suhoor, or locally referred to as 'Haaru' is the the meal eaten just before dawn to equip the body with the nutrients it requires to stay energized during the day.
Although this meal is traditionally taken right before Fajr prayer, many households take their pre-fasting meal before going to bed as opposed to rousing an hour or two before sunrise to have the meal.
The Edition questioned the interviewees on which of these two practices is most often frequented in their respective household.
The collective results were not too far apart with only a 20 percent difference in their answers which had leaned towards the convenient practice of taking a meal before bed as opposed to the customary Ramadan routine of waking right before Fajr.
On this widely debated theme, the Edition intended to find out the most common changes to individual physiques caused by the diverse feasts, varieties of food and rotation of meal timings during Ramadan.
Despite the common perception that Ramadan meals tend to drastically affect body weight, 50 percent of our interviewees had reported that no changes to their physique was noticed due to the various meals taken during this month. The remaining 50 percent was divided amongst both weight gain and weight loss with 30 percent noticing their body weight reducing in Ramadan.
The hours right before Maghrib is a time when many experience significant tiredness. However, many also go about various recreational routines while others are frantically still cooking to fill their table with the Iftar meal in time for Maghrib and some patiently wait for the minutes to tick until they can break their fast.
The Edition aimed to collect most commonly undertaken individual practices during this little time remaining before Maghrib prayer call and presented the interviewees with four most common options.
Understandably so, a striking 46.7% of interviewees reported that they simply unwind and lounge back during the time between 5PM and Maghrib prayer call. While the next most frequented routine amongst these interviewees was cooking during this time, this round up was data collected with 6 responses from 3 females and 3 males.
The remaining responses were divided amongst recreational drives and waiting for the prayer call with each of these options amassing 16.7% of the total collected responses.
With the notable changes to lifestyles caused by the distinct routine of fasting and prayers during this month, social life also takes a drastic impact. Some are endorsed to interact more with friends and external family due to the changes in their routines while other tend to mingle less and stay within the confines of a small circle or home.
Not much of a substantial difference was noticed between the two amongst the Edition's interviewees with 56.7% of responses reporting more social activity noticed in their lives during Ramadan.
The inquiry on the meaning of the world 'Ramidha' which is the origin of the word 'Ramadan' had highly amused the interviewees, as fun facts usually do.
Although not many were able to guess the correct answer, a small portion had.
The Arabic word 'Ramidha' or Ar-Ramad signifies intense scorching heat or sun baked sand. This meaning was experienced quite literally by the people living in Maldives this year with extremely high temperatures recorded across the country during this month. The Capital City, Male', had recorded the highest temperature ever experienced in the city with a feels-like temperature of 46 degree Celsius recorded on April 3.
Ramadan is believed to be named after this word because it burns away the sins of believers.
A mere 26.7 percent of the total responses had inclined for the option 'intense heat' with the most number of interviewees guessing 'Peace and Quiet' as the meaning of 'Ramidha'.
Interestingly, the people questioned during the first few weeks of Ramadan only had a single response guessing the correct answer, 'Intense Heat', however, this number slowly soared within interviewees pulled aside during the last few weeks of Ramadan.
Fresh juice is widely prepared across household during Ramadan with Watermelon traditionally playing an important role across local Iftar tables on this holy month.
Interestingly, locals refer to the fresh juices prepared during Ramadan for Iftar as 'Fani' although this term is not popularly used to describe fresh juices during any other month.
Interviewees were offered four most commonly preferred local fresh juice options with this Question; watermelon, guava, mango and orange.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of responses had clarified their preference of watermelon, locally referred to as 'Karaa' with over 50 percent amassed in favor of the fruit.
The second most popular 'Fani' was observed to be orange with mango placing in second while guavas received the least number of applaud with only one interviewee inclining towards it.
Dates are an important staple food item that graces tables for Iftar during Ramadan and this fact remains the same for Muslims country-wide. Breaking fast with a date is considered a Sunnah and this staple was the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) most favored food item.
The Edition aimed to collect local preferences on dates during Iftar hours and presented the interviewees with four options indicating the number of dates eaten during each Iftar meal.
While the most number of responses leaned towards 1 to 3 dates for each Iftar meal, the next highest number recorded was notably 0 with 23.3 percent of the total interviewees stating their preference of not eating this staple during or before the meal. While the option '7 plus dates' had amassed 2 responses, only one interviewee had opted for the answer 4 to 6.
The final question that interviewees were inquired was on who they would invite for an Iftar feast in their homes. The responses were not confined to families and friends and was allowed to extend towards celebrities, sports players and anyone around the world. While many male interviewees had answered with their favorite sports player, some had also named favorite celebrities as well. Most of the responses, however, were encircled around close friends and family while two answers had highlighted children around the world who are in need.
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