Monday was the 104th time Fata Husic started her intermittent fasting that will last throughout the holy month of Ramadan.
The 111-year-old grandmother from the southern city of Mostar has never missed fasting for Ramadan for more than a century, she told the Anadolu Agency.
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“I am never hungry or thirsty,” the devout Muslims said, adding that she also prays five times a day.
“It is good for me, as I got used to it and all of my family lives like that,” she said.
At her age, sleeping is often a problem but she spends that time at night praying.
The times when Husic would get up in the middle of the night to prepare breakfast so the family can eat it before sunrise and spend the day preparing the evening feast, the Iftar, which starts when the sun sets are long gone. Her grandchildren do that for her now, she said.
One of the Bosnian traditions for Ramadan Bajram, which marks the end of the month of fasting, is preparing the baklava. Most Bosniak families have their own family recipe, and Husic said her daughter in law prepares the baklava according to a recipe by her mother, who was a great cook.
Husic, meanwhile, tries to convey to the younger generation in her house some of the wisdom she gained throughout her life.
One piece of advice is: keep your neighbours and friends close and share your joy with them.
The Iftar table in the Husic household is always full and there is always enough for neighbours and friends who come even from nearby towns to visit her every Bajram. Husic said she also visited them while she could on every possible occasion.
She said that it is important for every Muslim to know that Ramadan is not only about refraining from eating and drinking, but much more. Fasting also includes patience and understanding for others.
She stressed the importance of ‘Sadaqah’ – which is, in Islam, a charity for the needy.
As much Sadaqah one gives, that much God protects him, she said.
Husic said that experience taught her to respect religious customs in life, such as that Muslims should recite the ‘Bismillah’ as they enter and leave their house and car.
She said she learned this as a child in World War I.
“When dad went to war, my grandmother, aunt and mother were crying, and I could not understand why,” she said.
But he came back along with seven of his comrades. “Every one of them was wounded except for dad,” she said. Husic believes that it was the women’s prayers, the fasting and the Sadaqah that saved him.
The old woman survived three wars, including the one in Bosnia in the 1990s, but never lost her faith.
She keeps telling the youth about prayer, fasting and Sadaqah, saying it is what God loves and every person needs.
Sharing is also important, she stressed.
“Come Bayram (Eid), welcome everybody with a good heart and share with them,” Husic advised. “Welcome them as if they were your closest. Even enemies will then leave as friends.”
