Dubai: Muslims are not the only ones fasting this Ramadan. Thousands of Coptics here will share the spirit of the holy month with Muslims as both Ramadan and the Apostles fast overlap. The Copts, who fast 208 out of the 365 days of the year, mainly come from Egypt and follow the Orthodox Church. There are around 22,000 Copts living in the UAE.
“Like the Muslims, we fast in order to get closer to god and feel for those who are unprivileged. It is an expression of love and devotion to god. Fasting also teaches people how to say no — ‘no’ to cigarettes and other bad habits,” said Priest Youhanna Zakaria.
Priest Yohanna, a priest who was a heart doctor for 22 years, is in charge of two of the seven Coptic churches spread cross the UAE. “We fast around 208 days of the year. We fast before Easter for 55 days, before Christmas for 43 days and for the Virgin Mary for 15 days [some people fast an extra week]. We have the Apostles fast, which is the current fast and it lasts for 42 days. Finally, we have the Yonan fast and it lasts three days.”
These fasts are considered to be the major fasts in the Coptic religion and, in addition to all of this, Copts fast every single Wednesday and Friday.”
Priest Youhanna said their fasts have different requirements.
“During the Yonan fast and the Wednesday and Friday fasts, Copts have to stop eating from 12am to 5pm. After that they can end their fast but they can only eat lifeless food (foods that don’t come from animals, basically vegan food),” he said.
During the Virgin Mary fast and the Apostles Fast, he said, Copts end their fast at 3pm and can only eat fish in addition to their vegan diet.
Priest Youhanna said unfortunately not everyone in the Copt community fasts correctly. “Some people are just changing their diet. They remove this ingredient and add that but they are not cutting themselves off from food completely as required.”
The younger Copt generation interviewed by Gulf News admitted to this and shared some of the fasting challenges they face.
“My biggest challenge is giving up chocolate and eating vegan food. I don’t like vegan food so I usually stick to having zaatar the whole time,” said 22-year-old PR intern Sylvia Narouz from Egypt.
Sylvia said she does not cut out food completely and does not observe all the fasts like many other youth.
“I think this is mainly because our church does not tell us that we must do it. It is not mandatory, it is by choice, so people do whatever they please.”
Like Sylvia, 21-year-old Nader Rophail, who is a senior civil engineering student in the American University in Dubai, said having to eat vegan food is the biggest challenge.
“If you are fasting for 45 days and you don’t find vegan food while you are in university, it is challenging. Your stomach also starts hurting after a while because it is not used to getting only vegan food,” he said.
Rophail also does not observe all the fasts and does not cut out food completely. However, he makes sure to fast every Friday, which is a requirement for Friday church day. “Fasting is by choice in our religon. At the end of the day it is between you and god,” he said.
