Ramadan?

[anneasquith]

is today the beginning of Ramadan ? best wishes to all who will be participating,

[pixie373]

Yes, i believe so...

[VHG]

Yes, a great suggestion to stop people drinking ANYTHING from dawn to dusk.

Are they trying to make their followers ill?

I can understand the fasting concept, but surely allowing a person to drink a glass of water every now and again would be a good idea.

I went to Saudi Arabia on business about 10 years ago, and it was HOT HOT HOT. And Ramadan was due to start a week or so after I was there.

There were signs all over the company building asking people to drive home carefully at the end of the day if they had had nothing to eat or drink as they may be weakened and drowsy.

Seems many people have "parties" at the end of the day, so people RUSH home in their cars to get to these parties, to get something to eat and drink, but in their weakened state (no food or drink) they were having car crashes.

Still find it hard to accept a religion can expect you to put yourself in such danger.

[Peter Pedant]

yeah not designed for Northern Climes

The hour of sunset is around 9 pm
and dawn is still 4.30

which means that the time without fluids in the UK is eek 15 h or thereabouts

[237SJ]

Yes, it`s Ramadan. That`s why I had a Saudi Arabian lady at work the other day who drank one and a half bottles of red wine out of a china mug, went off to pray and then changed into her black garb before walking off stone cold sober. She must have been stocking up for Ramadan.

[jomifl]

It appears that the words of the koran have been edited somewhat, since the koran actually requires fasting(no mention of drinking) for the entire month of ramadan. The modern rules of ramadan allow eating and drinking only between sunset and sunrise. I guess it all depends on interpretation of the word 'fasting'.

[sandyRoe]

Mention of Ramadan makes me ashamed of the pale imitation of it that Lent has become in most of the Christian world.

[andy-hughes]

I think if you are brought up in the tradition, your body would adapt to the deprivations.

I know that children are allowed a drink of water - my wife was Deputy Head at an inner-city school with a mostly Muslim intake, and the children had water at lunch time.

I am not sure about 'parties' VHG - most families have a larger than usual evening meal during Ramadan, but parties are saved for Eid, a three-day holiday to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

[Octavius]

Sandy, surely you have deprived yourself of chocolate for Lent.

[FredPuli43]

Surprising if they don't allow drinking. When Jews fast, they are allowed water.

[Octavius]

It is a test, so that the observant can learn to appreciate what Allah has provided.

[keyplus90]

Ramazan (as it should be pronounced) would start from Wednesday 10th July. As it depends on the sighting of new moon so there might be few people who started it today but I am not sure.

It is only compulsory for adults who can take the difficulty of going without food, drink and so many other things. And every individual knows his/her own limit and therefore it has been left to the individuals to decide. Person who is sick, travelling etc are not supposed to fast. Even a mother if she is breast feeding not supposed to fast because a child is depending on her food. These are few things otherwise it is a long subject.

Objectives of Ramazan (or fasting) are many, physical as well as spiritual. And the myth about partying is not known to me unless someone is misunderstanding a family sitting together as partying. However a collective aftari (finishing of fasting at sunset) with basic food and drinks is appreciated and arranged by local mosques or even restaurants in Islamic countries where anyone can go at that time and eat usually free. The objective of that again is collectiveness but if someone wants to call it partying then that is just another words.

Finally, thanks for the best wishes Ann.

[anneasquith]

keyplus, very informative, thank you. I have a friend who uses 4 weeks of her annual leave entitlement to observe the fasting.

[keyplus90]

Ann - Its ok and yo uare welcome. That is good for your friend but personally I like working during Ramzan as it makes it easier to pass time. Now I work from home so does not make much difference. I even play cricket in this heat during Ramazan. It is all about will power.

[anneasquith]

it does make no coffee during the 6 weeks of lent seem very lame though, good luck/

[andy-hughes]

fender - the fasting observances are not compulsory - and if it is not physically possible, then fasting is escused for adherants. Allah is not in the business of making his followers suffer unduly - simply understand for a short time the suffering of others, and feel grattitude for what they have - a lesson the Christian (?) church might do well to think about.

[Svejk]

I saw a muslim policeman on tv who couldn't chase some offender as he was weak from fasting.
Lucky he wasn't a fireman!
Should people get paid when they're, voluntarily, incapable of doing their job?

[mikey4444]

What about Muslim diabetics ? I'm a diabetic and would have a hyperglycaemic fit long before sundown.

[mikey4444]

For hyperglycaemic, read hypoglycaemic !

[237SJ]

The elderly and infirm are excused from fasting. I guess diabetics would be excused.