I never thought I would willingly give up food and water for an entire day. Not for a diet, not for a cleanse, and certainly not for a religious ritual that wasn’t my own. Yet, here I was in Dubai, watching the sun creep toward the horizon, my stomach twisting in knots, waiting for the moment when I could finally break my fast. It was the first time I had truly felt hunger — not just the mild annoyance of skipping a meal but the deep, gnawing kind that makes every minute stretch into an hour.
