I look forward to fasting for Ramadan. I have never done the full month and I doubt I will this time around either. The first time that I fasted was in summer 2009. It changed my life.

I hate feeling forced to do anything. I love the spiritual connection and inner power I feel when I fast. I also enjoy praying but I do a remixed Maryam version of it. Nothing about my fasting experience is traditional other than the actual fasting part.

If I don't wake up on time to eat before sunrise, for example, I won't fast that day. I would not torture myself just for the sake of sticking to imaginary restrictions. I make my own rules in that way.

But if I do wake up on time and eat before sunrise, I would not break my fast until it is time to break the fast. I don't cheat.

Fasting by own rules is a privilege that many people around the world do not have due to governmental, societal, community and familial pressure and restrictions.

Also, I've never read the Quran and I doubt I ever will. I am not interested to read the holy books of any religion. I don't see the point.

I read one chapter of the Quran once in the Abbasi Hotel in Isfahan in 2003. I found it in the drawer of the nightstand. I had trouble falling asleep so I read it until I fell asleep. I don't remember anything from what I read.

Fasting can be abusive if it is forced on. There are families who force their children to fast. That's nothing short of child abuse.

In Iran, if you get caught eating or drinking a beverage in public (even water), the authorities have the right to issue you a fine or lash you.

One such example: https://twitter.com/maryamnayebyazd/status/874248819046834176?s=20

Ramadan is not so positive in Iran, but many Muslims around the world ignore the realities in Iran. My theory for why they do is that they don't want to look themselves in the mirror as they probably act similarly to the regime in Iran within their own communities or families.

Well this thread had a plot twist.