Don't make my old Ramadan errors!

Assalamu alaikum,

Learn from my mistakes:

1. I thought eating at sunset meant when the sun was totally down and no light in the sky!

Actually,  it means when the sun is below the horizon.  At that point there will still be light in the sky.

2. I thought that us women, during our periods, had the option of not fasting during those days and making it up later. But if one of us felt ok then then she can continue to fast and not have to make it up later. If my period was uncomfortable then I didn't fast, and when it didn't bother me I would fast.

Whatever it was I read was not clear. I think it was talking about the mercies on women during Ramadan. So actually we are not allowed to fast at that time and we have to make it up later. This is supposed to be for our health. The missed prayers do not need to be made up for later. That's a mercy. Fasting when no one else is sucks, and getting the fasting rhythm back does as well. Nothing to be done for it, though.

3. I was told that we fast from sunrise to sunset. On the prayer chart they often give the time of sunrise. So I ate until that time. I also read that thing about being able to distinguish between a white thread and a black thread as being the time to not eat any more. 

They say 'sunrise' to make it sound simpler. There is a difference between dawn and sunrise. Just as there is still light in the sky at sunset, there is light in the sky at sunrise.  Dawn is at the time for fajr salat, so that is when fasting begins. 

4. I thought you could pray before eating suhoor.

See number 3.

Islam is said to be simple. When you think of the details of anything, even simple things get complicated. Then when you understand them they become simple again.