Muslim women address period-shaming during Ramadan

It is halfway through one of the holiest months in the Islamic Calendar.

During Ramadan, Muslims around the world are avoiding drinking and eating from sunrise to sunset.

But, there are a list of people who are exempt from fasting during this time, among them are women who are menstruating, and there’s one question some dread getting: “Why aren’t you fasting?”

Erin Clegg, a Muslim woman from Virginia, recently tweeted out a video where she expressed frustration over bring questioned on why she was eating during Ramadan.

She told CityNews she wanted to address this cultural taboo and start a conversation.

“When a girl is on her period, she can’t fast and we know this,” she said in the video that was tweeted out to her followers. “So tell me why we’re looking at girls who are obviously Muslim and are eating like they’re doing haram. Stop looking at me, stop asking me why I’m not fasting.”

The 21-year-old told CityNews she was encouraged to make the video after she felt unwell while out with friends, one encouraged her to eat, while the other told her not to be vocal about why she wasn’t fasting.

“There’s a lot of guys especially, who will be like just eat in private and go, you’re wasting everyone’s time,” Clegg explained. “I don’t understand why it’s problematic to eat in public when we need to eat. That’s just telling women to stay in small spaces, to not be outside, to not be at work. I don’t understand why a normal thing like our periods should hold us back from eating in public. ”

Clegg, who is a convert to Islam, says she was open about responding to people who asked why she wasn’t fasting, but friends quickly told her that being open like that wasn’t appropriate.

“But then I studied it and I was like there’s no rule about how to converse about that, so where did it come? Culture,” she said. “Now I’m just like ‘I’m on my period’, flat out.”

It’s a shared experience other Muslim women around the world, including in Toronto can relate to.

Having friends, family, and even strangers asking them the dreaded question. Shazlin Rahman, who lives and works in Toronto, can relate to Clegg’s frustrations.

“It has been my experience, I come from a majority Muslim country so I did grow up with the stigma around being on my period and being ashmaed of talking about it,” she said. “Especially in Ramadan, it manifests in a tangible way where we’re not allowed to eat in public and Muslim women have to hold that back and do a delicate dance around telling people why we’re not fasting or pretending to be fasting so that we don’t have to talk about it.”

Men are also getting in on this conversation.

A group of actors and comedians from the U.K, calling themselves the Halalians released this video with over half a million views on Instagram.

It shows men questioning their female relatives on why they’re not fasting, and ends with a frustrated woman throwing pads at the man who asked.

Many in the comment section thanked the group for using comedy to tackle the issue, but there were also others who didn’t feel the same way.
“This is not in the least bit funny, some things need to remain private,” one woman commented.

Islah Abdur-Rahman, a film maker and actor, says they were encouraged to make the video to address this cultural taboo where men don’t have a conversation.

“We wanted to encourage other women to understand that it’s okay,” he said. “The guys that do ask, I think they should just talk about it if they see their wives or daughters eating.”

There are also others who are exempt from fasting during Ramadan, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, those who are sick, and the elderly.

If possible, Muslims will make up any fasting days they miss at a later date. If not, they can make a charitable donation.