Great! :)
Thanks, we'll contact you soon.
Ramadan: The Muslim Holy Month Beyond Fasting
Ramadan Mubarak!
Monday, April 12th marked the first day of Ramadan. Integrant wishes everyone celebrating the Holy month, "Ramadan Mubarak!" or "Ramadan Kareem!"—or a blessed Ramadan.
At Integrant, we acknowledge the importance of all cultural and religious practices and prioritize a healthy and sustainable work/life balance for all employees. Ramadan is a special time for many members of our Integrant family along with the Muslim community worldwide.
Our goal each year is to allow our employees the freedom to celebrate Ramadan as they wish and share the wonderful things about this time of year with our customers and community. As we prepare for the Ramadan season, we often receive several questions surrounding delivery, productivity, and more from new employees and new customers. Similarly to how each employee celebrates Ramadan in their own way (like one's own holiday traditions), we have a custom approach to ensuring our customers and employees feel comfortable about delivery schedules, meeting times, and more. Our agile environment and tools like CodeVovance grant our employees the room to pivot their schedules as needed, without interrupting their projects workflow and deadlines.
Why is Ramadan Important to Integrant?
What matters to our employees, matters to us. Many of those a part of the Integrant family celebrate Ramadan, and we want them to feel respected and comfortable during this holy time. Just as many of us in the U.S. celebrate Christmas and Easter, Muslims give the same importance and appreciation to the month of Ramadan. We encourage a healthy and happy work-life balance here at Integrant and want to give equal respect to people of all cultural and religious backgrounds.
Here are some quotes from Integrant employees when asked about what they most love about Ramadan:
"What I love the most about Ramadan is what we call, "the smell of Ramadan", which describes the kind atmosphere and the good spirit of Ramadan. It makes us feel that it smells different than any other month, and we start to feel this atmosphere even from the month before (Shaʻban).
Indeed, Ramadan for the Muslim community is the most important time of the year, it unifies people around the world on doing good things for the community and practicing good conduct."
"What I love the most about Ramadan is reuniting with old friends, becoming a better version of myself, Taraweeh, and watching TV shows with family."
"What I love the most about Ramadan is everything! The fawnees (lanterns) in the street and in people's homes and how lively the streets of Cairo are. Spending time with relatives and friends. Self-improvement and charity work. And of course, the special desserts for Ramadan only; a lot of twists on classic Egyptian desserts!"
"What I love the most about Ramadan is that it's a time to develop good habits, Taraweeh prayers, the community spirit, and Iftar treats."
What is Ramadan?
Ramadan is a 29-to-30-day period of fasting during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. During this time, Muslims around the world will fast from sunrise to sunset everyday as a period of spiritual growth and self-reflection. Ramadan is one of the five pillars representing the core beliefs and practices of Islam. It is celebrated yearly to seek deeper connection between the soul and body by forgoing common essentials that humans often take for granted. It is believed that by fasting one can better empathize with the poor and understand the greater purpose of life, while growing closer to the creator of existence.
How is it Celebrated?
A Day in the Life
For a typical Muslim family, a daily routine during Ramadan will begin with rising around three thirty in the morning to eat a modest breakfast, called Suhur, followed by a morning prayer. Once the sun rises family members will go about their days as normal while abstaining from eating and drinking until sundown.
At sundown, a breaking of the fast, known as Iftar, will take place. Iftar will commonly consist of a few dates and water and depending on the culture of the area some fruits and soup may be included. After Iftar, sunset prayer will begin, later followed by dinner.
Ramadan in Cairo
In Cairo, Egypt, the home of many Integrant team members, the streets come alive during Ramadan nights. It is tradition for individual homes and shops to put out special lanterns, called Fanous. These beautifully colored Fanous will line the streets of Cairo for the entirety of Ramadan, resembling the many traditions and importance that Cairo represents during this holy month.
Common Customs
It is common for neighbors and friends to invite others over to take part in Iftar together.
Ramadan emphasizes the importance of taking care of your community members and practicing unity and understanding with others.
Many people will go to the Mosque to take part in night prayer and Taraweeh, a special prayer for Ramadan.
Many Mosques, shops, and individuals host community Iftars.
These especially benefit students and the poor and emphasize the theme of community by spending time with family and your neighbors.
Donations and charitable acts are encouraged during Ramadan.
Many Mosques and charities will put together food drives or fundraisers to help make donating more accessible and promote the incentive to do good.
Some Mosques will hold open houses for friends and community members of other faiths to take part in the breaking of the fast.
The end of Ramadan is met by Eid Al-Fitr, or the "festival of the breaking of the fast."
In celebration of Eid al-Fitr, many will attend communal prayers and a Khutbah, or sermon. Community meals and festivities are also common, and many take this time to visit family, wear new or nicer clothing, and give gifts to children.
Our Commitment to Client and Employee Satisfaction
We know how important it is for our client’s projects to go uninterrupted and remain on schedule. To work around time zones and employee schedule shifts during Ramadan Integrant utilizes the flexibility of our Agile mindset to its full potential. Our engineers work hard to ensure that they can implement reliable and productive schedules that allow them to keep up with projects and clients while taking part in Ramadan.
An important part of our work-life balance here at Integrant is learning to work with different cultural and religious standards. Integrant is and will remain a safe place for all our clients and employees. We are committed to keeping clients satisfied, deadlines met, and celebrating everything with all of our teams!
