Workplace

How to support your Muslim colleagues during Ramadan

Ramadan has started; here's how you can support your observing co-workers.

Reading the Quran

Ramadan is the ninth month on the Islamic lunar calendar.

Photo: Ed Us/Unsplash

Raheem Ashrafi likes to manage the way he would like to be managed. So when Ramadan rolled around this year, the product manager at tech consultanting company Productive Edge took to LinkedIn to educate and share tips for providing a more inclusive and healthy work environment for Muslim colleagues.

Muslim tech workers are frequently put in the position of educating their colleagues about Ramadan and the necessary accommodations or considerations. But some say they appreciate it when leadership or HR recognizes and proactively provides awareness around it.

“I made that post because I was thinking, ‘Maybe I'll give some tips to other managers,’” he said. “I don't have any Muslim co-workers on my team that report to me, but I was just thinking [about] what would I have liked if I was on a team, and what I expected from my manager. So I came up with a few of these tips.”

Ashrafi shared that his company did send out communications to employees recognizing Ramadan in the following days, and he was pleased with the amount of awareness and resources it provided. He said it was clear that the company had done its own research about Ramadan beyond simply resharing his post.

Ramadan is the ninth month on the Islamic lunar calendar, and marks the time in which the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. This year, Ramadan began on the evening of April 1. It lasts between 29 and 30 days (depending on the lunar cycle), and during this time millions of Muslims fast between dawn and sunset. Ramadan closes with Eid al-Fitr.

While some people don’t mind educating their colleagues about it, others would prefer that their leadership provide information. Asima Silva, a principal software engineer at Raytheon Technologies, said she feels comfortable sharing about Ramadan as a more senior employee, but hearing from leadership goes a long way.

“I've been in software engineering for almost 20 years, and 20 years ago the political climate wasn't so positive and open-minded with Muslims. So what I found originally, like maybe 20 years ago, is a lot of people didn't advertise they were Muslims. And it was difficult then. I think it has become much, much more open now,” she said.

Recently her team discussed wanting to have an ice cream social in April. Silva asked for a rain check. She didn’t immediately offer the reason why: that she would be fasting during this time. But she resolved that she would inform her colleagues if they asked. When they did, she took it as an opportunity to educate.

“If someone like myself doesn't take the opportunity, if asked, to talk about it, then the young college grads that are coming in are going to then feel like they also can't share,” said Silva. “So I think people who are in leadership positions or are in slightly higher-level positions can take the opportunity to share. Or in a company meeting, say, ‘Those who are fasting, happy Ramadan, let us know what you need.’”

Even a simple statement like that from leadership opens the door for others to feel comfortable with sharing and being open about observing Ramadan and fasting, she shared with Protocol.

Samad Jawaid, a senior software development engineer at Amazon, also said he believes awareness is one of the most important factors when it comes to supporting colleagues. But, in his opinion, communications from HR have the potential to come off as a bit heavy-handed.

“I don't think that's the right approach. For other religious observances, we don't really send out HR notes … I don't think I'd want HR for any one single religious observation to have communication. But if they did it for everything, that might be kind of cool,” said Jawaid.

He does see talking about Ramadan with more direct colleagues and in more casual settings as a great team-building opportunity.

“I do think it's cool if senior leaders do recognize that there are team members observing something. It is nice when, in a large Slack channel, somebody just mentions that this month it’s starting, and, you know, so and so is observing, or something like that. That is nice,” he said.

Here are a few ways you can best support colleagues during Ramadan.

  • Spread and promote awareness. As stated, simply wishing employees a happy Ramadan goes a long way, or you could say "Ramadan Mubarak," which means "Blessed Ramadan." It reinforces a diverse and inclusive work culture in which employees want to stay. Awareness can also look like managers being aware of who on their team is observing Ramadan, or HR sending out general communications recognizing the month if it feels appropriate. “I feel like HR’s responsibility is really three things: It's to inform, to educate and then also to advise accommodations,” said Ashrafi.
  • Be accommodating. This is often among the top pieces of advice offered for supporting colleagues. And though helpful, many colleagues often jump to the conclusion that it simply means not inviting a Muslim co-worker who’s observing Ramadan to lunch or coffee. Lunch meetings are still OK, said Jawaid. Instead, ask if any specific accommodations are needed.

    Silva said it is important to note that fasting does not make anyone less capable of doing their job. “When I say accommodating, I don't think any company should expect any less of our work,” she said. It’s more about recognizing the times in which someone will not be available because they are opening fast or participating in prayer.
  • Foster an environment of intentional flexibility. It’s important for managers to learn how to accommodate employees without hesitation, said Ashrafi. And remember: Just because more people are working from home, it doesn’t necessarily make stepping away from your desk when needed any easier. For hybrid workers, it’s helpful when leadership allows employees to choose which days they come into the office during Ramadan. Also, many Muslims observing Ramadan will need more time off toward the end, Jawaid said, as the last 10 nights are considered the most holy. Eid is the most important time to take off and be with family.
  • Respect boundaries, especially when it comes to scheduling times for meetings. If a colleague tells you when they’d prefer to schedule meetings, don’t ask them to budge.
  • Remember: The experience of observing Ramadan can be slightly different for everyone. Silva points out that while some people may try to fast and only do so once or twice, others will fast and some will even do the Shawwal fast (which occurs after Eid). “I think we need to show a diversity within the Muslim culture, too. And when we talk about opening iftar, we should use that opportunity to talk about how all the diverse cultures and countries open iftar. It's very different,” she said.
Fintech

Judge Zia Faruqui is trying to teach you crypto, one ‘SNL’ reference at a time

His decisions on major cryptocurrency cases have quoted "The Big Lebowski," "SNL," and "Dr. Strangelove." That’s because he wants you — yes, you — to read them.

The ways Zia Faruqui (right) has weighed on cases that have come before him can give lawyers clues as to what legal frameworks will pass muster.

Photo: Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images

“Cryptocurrency and related software analytics tools are ‘The wave of the future, Dude. One hundred percent electronic.’”

That’s not a quote from "The Big Lebowski" — at least, not directly. It’s a quote from a Washington, D.C., district court memorandum opinion on the role cryptocurrency analytics tools can play in government investigations. The author is Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui.

Keep ReadingShow less
Veronica Irwin

Veronica Irwin (@vronirwin) is a San Francisco-based reporter at Protocol covering fintech. Previously she was at the San Francisco Examiner, covering tech from a hyper-local angle. Before that, her byline was featured in SF Weekly, The Nation, Techworker, Ms. Magazine and The Frisc.

The financial technology transformation is driving competition, creating consumer choice, and shaping the future of finance. Hear from seven fintech leaders who are reshaping the future of finance, and join the inaugural Financial Technology Association Fintech Summit to learn more.

Keep ReadingShow less
FTA
The Financial Technology Association (FTA) represents industry leaders shaping the future of finance. We champion the power of technology-centered financial services and advocate for the modernization of financial regulation to support inclusion and responsible innovation.
Enterprise

AWS CEO: The cloud isn’t just about technology

As AWS preps for its annual re:Invent conference, Adam Selipsky talks product strategy, support for hybrid environments, and the value of the cloud in uncertain economic times.

Photo: Noah Berger/Getty Images for Amazon Web Services

AWS is gearing up for re:Invent, its annual cloud computing conference where announcements this year are expected to focus on its end-to-end data strategy and delivering new industry-specific services.

It will be the second re:Invent with CEO Adam Selipsky as leader of the industry’s largest cloud provider after his return last year to AWS from data visualization company Tableau Software.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donna Goodison

Donna Goodison (@dgoodison) is Protocol's senior reporter focusing on enterprise infrastructure technology, from the 'Big 3' cloud computing providers to data centers. She previously covered the public cloud at CRN after 15 years as a business reporter for the Boston Herald. Based in Massachusetts, she also has worked as a Boston Globe freelancer, business reporter at the Boston Business Journal and real estate reporter at Banker & Tradesman after toiling at weekly newspapers.

Image: Protocol

We launched Protocol in February 2020 to cover the evolving power center of tech. It is with deep sadness that just under three years later, we are winding down the publication.

As of today, we will not publish any more stories. All of our newsletters, apart from our flagship, Source Code, will no longer be sent. Source Code will be published and sent for the next few weeks, but it will also close down in December.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bennett Richardson

Bennett Richardson ( @bennettrich) is the president of Protocol. Prior to joining Protocol in 2019, Bennett was executive director of global strategic partnerships at POLITICO, where he led strategic growth efforts including POLITICO's European expansion in Brussels and POLITICO's creative agency POLITICO Focus during his six years with the company. Prior to POLITICO, Bennett was co-founder and CMO of Hinge, the mobile dating company recently acquired by Match Group. Bennett began his career in digital and social brand marketing working with major brands across tech, energy, and health care at leading marketing and communications agencies including Edelman and GMMB. Bennett is originally from Portland, Maine, and received his bachelor's degree from Colgate University.

Enterprise

Why large enterprises struggle to find suitable platforms for MLops

As companies expand their use of AI beyond running just a few machine learning models, and as larger enterprises go from deploying hundreds of models to thousands and even millions of models, ML practitioners say that they have yet to find what they need from prepackaged MLops systems.

As companies expand their use of AI beyond running just a few machine learning models, ML practitioners say that they have yet to find what they need from prepackaged MLops systems.

Photo: artpartner-images via Getty Images

On any given day, Lily AI runs hundreds of machine learning models using computer vision and natural language processing that are customized for its retail and ecommerce clients to make website product recommendations, forecast demand, and plan merchandising. But this spring when the company was in the market for a machine learning operations platform to manage its expanding model roster, it wasn’t easy to find a suitable off-the-shelf system that could handle such a large number of models in deployment while also meeting other criteria.

Some MLops platforms are not well-suited for maintaining even more than 10 machine learning models when it comes to keeping track of data, navigating their user interfaces, or reporting capabilities, Matthew Nokleby, machine learning manager for Lily AI’s product intelligence team, told Protocol earlier this year. “The duct tape starts to show,” he said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kate Kaye

Kate Kaye is an award-winning multimedia reporter digging deep and telling print, digital and audio stories. She covers AI and data for Protocol. Her reporting on AI and tech ethics issues has been published in OneZero, Fast Company, MIT Technology Review, CityLab, Ad Age and Digiday and heard on NPR. Kate is the creator of RedTailMedia.org and is the author of "Campaign '08: A Turning Point for Digital Media," a book about how the 2008 presidential campaigns used digital media and data.

Latest Stories
Bulletins