Ramadan fasting month

Ramadan fasting month is a recurring point of connection in Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s life: it marks family-directed money transfers and his role leading prayers in Montreal, but also the denial of religious practice during his Guantánamo detention. The contrast turns a season of communal observance into evidence of how confinement disrupted both worship and family life.

Family Obligations and the Ramadan Calendar

While living in Germany, Mohamedou Ould Slahi remained in contact with Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, his distant cousin and brother-in-law. On two occasions, he helped transfer $4,000 to Mahfouz Ould al-Walid’s family in Mauritania around the Ramadan holidays. The timing places the month within a practical network of kinship and support: its significance in the account is not only devotional, but also connected to obligations maintained across distance.

Religious Service in Montreal

After moving to Montreal in November 1999, Mohamedou Ould Slahi lived for a time at the al Sunnah mosque. Because he had memorized the Qur’an, he was invited to lead Ramadan prayers when the imam was traveling. The role reflects a recognized religious ability put to use within a local community, a public expression of faith distinct from the private family ties associated with the Ramadan holiday transfers.

Observance Denied in Detention

The account sharply reverses this earlier picture during Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s detention at Guantánamo. In October 2003, he was forbidden to fast during Ramadan fasting month and was force-fed. During the same period, he refused food and drink in a session with interrogators; he also recounts that his ritual prayers were prohibited for about a year after that encounter. These restrictions made the month a setting for the suppression of religious practice rather than its communal observance.

Meaning Across the Account

The references to Ramadan fasting month span different forms of religious and social life: giving financial help to relatives, leading a congregation in prayer, and being denied the ability to fast in detention. Their force comes from that contrast. A practice associated with shared time and religious commitment becomes, in the prison account, another part of life controlled by interrogators.