Explaining Ramadan

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Explaining Ramadan

'O believers, you must fast so that you may learn self-restraint.

Fasting is prescribed for you during a fixed number of days.

(Surah 2:183-4)

Sawm, or fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam. Sawm is the

deliberate control of the body by an act of will. During the 29 or 30

days of the Muslim month of Ramadan healthy adult Muslims will go

without all the pleasures of the body during all the hours of

daylight. The fast begins as the first light of dawn touches the

horizon and ends with sunset. Hunger, comfort and sex are the three

things, which have to be brought under control.

Nothing must pass the lips (not even chewing-gum, a cigarette, or the

smoke of someone else's cigarette!), and a real conscious effort must

be made to make sure no evil deed or thought is committed. If the

emotions of the heart or mind, or the behavior of the Muslim are

wrong, then the fast will lose its real significance.

Along with salat, another important form of worship is fasting. It is

obligatory for each Muslim, apart from some exemptions, to fast in the

month of Ramadan. During the hours of fasting, food and drink and

sexual relations between husband and wife are forbidden. It is

enjoined that during fasting one should pay attention to remembrance

of God and study the Holy Quran in abundance. One should try to

curtail one's worldly pastimes as much as possible during Ramadan, and

to be particularly inclined towards charity and alms giving.

Human life is dependent on food and drink and the continuation of the

human race depends on the marital relationship. While fasting one

refrains from them both, as if bearing ...

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...isadvantage I can think of fasting is

if a child is too young and tries to keep a fast when he can not, but

children do not have to fast compulsory until they are thirteen years

old. So on the whole I think that fasting has too many advantages and

not many disadvantages. So I think that fasting is good thing for

Muslims not a bad thing. Looking at it from a Muslims perspective

there are no disadvantages about fasting.

If you look at it from another religions perspective, because they

would not be used to keeping fasts they could say that it could affect

the way you work during the day. It can make you tire quickly at you

would not be able to carry out your daily tasks properly. Every one

would have their own different view on it, me being a Muslim, I do not

believe that there are any sort of disadvantages in fasting.

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