Hadi Çiftyürek told ILKHA correspondent about Ramadan at past times and compared to today's Ramadans.

The elderly man said that the night prayer and worship are what keeps him up so far, also mentioned the years of famine.

"The would fire cannonball to let us know it is time for iftar but we would never hear it"

Hadi Çiftyürek explained the famine years he lived and the Ramazans that corresponded to the summer months:

"I'm 110. We had not many things. There were unemployment and disgrace. I would ask my mother what she had prepared for me in the heat of summer. She used to say to me, 'I fried mulberries and I added eggs.'"

"When we were coming back from Siverek [District of Şanlıurfa, a southeastern province of Turkey], we would break our fast with the bread we bought in the city."

"We would not hear the sound of adhan. They would fire cannonball to let us know it is time for iftar, but we would never hear it. So we used to break our fasting in accordance with the estimates."

Hadi Çiftyürek added that they would harvest crops in the field with bare hands while they were also fasting. "Our food was mostly lentil soup. Sometimes we'd cook wheat and eat wheat like that."

"May Allah help the Ummah of Muhammad; it was the years of famine back then. There are all the blessings [food] I have right now, but I only eat yogurt and grape molasses."

"People used to take the risk of death when it comes to religion and not retreat to one side"

People today are connected to the possessions said Hadi Çiftyürek. "There are lots from everything now, but Muslimism is getting lower. I do not know what to say."

Saying that if a war erupts now, people will try to protect their possessions first, Hadi Çiftyürek noted that people used to take the risk of death when it comes to religion and did not retreat to one side.

"They knew the value of blessing [food] even if they were in hunger and misery. The value of blessings was more known in the past because there were famine and scarcity."

Fasting in 3 summers

Hadi Çiftyürek continued his words as follows: "At the age of 20, I started fasting. If we calculate that the month of Ramadan corresponds to the same month every 30 years according to the calendar, it takes 90 years."

"I remember once my mother said to me, 'do not fast, or we will lose our crops'. So I told my mother, 'mom look at me, my father passed away, so the death is real,' and I continued my fasting despite extreme hot weather."

"The sweetest and most beautiful thing in this world is praying and walking on the path of Allah. In addition, health and family peace are so."

"There is no abundance for not giving zakat"

One who saw me once that I was healthy, said to me, 'which oil do you use?' and I said to him, 'you pay attention to the night prayers! The real oil is in the night prayer.'

"There is no abundance today because no one gives zakat properly. No matter how much he/she has got, always says 'it is not enough'."

Allah has made me poor, made you rich, and put my rights into your possessions but you do not give me the right, and you say no. However, if you give zakat, Allah will increase the number of your possessions. Examples of this are many."

ILKHA