Ramadan spirit makes cabin crew fast longer

By Salman Siddiqui/Staff ReporterAlthough Islam offers Muslims many concessions, including skipping fasts while travelling, there are people in the aviation industry who carry on with a smile despite the challenges they face during Ramadan.Sonia is one of the devout Muslim cabin crew members of Qatar Airways who routinely travel to international destinations. Her job is to not only ensure that all passengers stay safe during their long-haul flights, but also serve them delicious meals and snacks with a smile on her face.“I’ve been in the airline industry for more than three years now and been keeping all 30 fasts during the last three years of Ramadan,” she said.Initially, Sonia recalled, the experience was a “little bit” difficult, but now she doesn’t feel that her fasting periods get longer as she jumps from one time zone to another.Sonia typically has her Suhoor early morning before she departs from Doha for her international flight and then waits for the sun to set in her destination for Iftar. “The longest fast I kept was when I was on a flight from Doha to Sao Paulo, which made the fasting period exceptionally long - like more than 24 hours,” she said with a laugh.Religious scholars offer different options to Muslims about fasting during travelling. One option is to skip the fast in its entirety, while the second is to follow the Suhoor and Iftar timings of the place from where one has departed for the journey, which gives the option of breaking the fast during the trip. The third is to follow the Suhoor and Iftar timings of the destination and wait for the sun to set there. Technically, if she wanted, Sonia could skip the fast and keep it on later days when she was not flying. In fact, many of her other Muslim fellow cabin crew break their fast mid-flight by following the Iftar time from the place of departure. “Honestly, I could do all that too and it would be much easier for me. But I just love the holy month of Ramadan and enjoy fasting so much that I choose to wait for the sun to set in the destination I arrive in,” she said. “Besides, when the flights are to Algeria or Paris, the time difference is just a couple of hours, so I easily manage that.”She added that as long as a person’s faith was strong, one wouldn’t notice how long the fasting period was. “In fact, I always end up just thanking the Almighty for the numerous bounties He has awarded us with, especially things like food, which we too often take for granted.”