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Mon 25 Sep, 2006 09:16 am
Every year in the lunar month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from first light until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations. Those who are sick, elderly, or on a journey, and women who are pregnant or nursing are permitted to break the fast and make up an equal number of days later in the year. If they are physically unable to do this, they must feed a needy person for every day missed. Children begin to fast (and to observe the prayer) from puberty, although many start earlier.
Although the fast is most beneficial to the health, it is regarded principally as a method of self purification. By cutting oneself off from worldly comforts, even for a short time, a fasting person gains true sympathy with those who go hungry as well as growth in one's spiritual life.
This month provides an opportunity for Muslims to get closer to God. This is a month when a Muslim should try to:
- See not what displeases God
- Speak no evil
- Hear no evil
- Do no evil
God Almighty says: "O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint,-" [Noble Qur'an, 2:183]
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. Whoever prays during the nights in Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. And he who passes Lailat al-Qadr in prayer with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven" (Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim).
Ramadan ends with a day long celebration known as Eidul-Fitr. Eidul-Fitr begins with a special morning prayer in grand Mosques and open grounds of towns and cities of the world. The prayer is attended by men, women and children with their new or best clothes. A special charity, known as Zakatul-Fitr is given out prior to the prayer. The rest of the day is spent in visiting relatives and friends, giving gifts to children and eating.
Hey muslim1,
I just heard a radio programme about Iran which said more food is sold and consumed during Ramadan than in any other month of the year. The claim "beneficial to health" looks a bit shakey !
Look, I respect Ramadan and Muslim adherence to it, but then saying it's beneficial to health when there's nothing to prove it is so is another thing altogether.
Quote:This is a month when a Muslim should try to:
- See not what displeases God
- Speak no evil
- Hear no evil
- Do no evil
Shouldn't you be doing this all year long? Actually I dont give a damn what muslims do or dont do. Or followers of any other delusion. I just want them to stay out of my way and stop pestering.
Steve 41oo wrote:Quote:This is a month when a Muslim should try to:
- See not what displeases God
- Speak no evil
- Hear no evil
- Do no evil
Shouldn't you be doing this all year long?
We should.
The Islamic Scholars even say that among the signs of acceptance (by Allah) of good deeds in Ramadan is to follow them with more good deeds after Ramadan.
Quote:The Islamic Scholars even say that among the signs of acceptance (by Allah) of good deeds in Ramadan is to follow them with more good deeds after Ramadan.
That is a very sensible idea.
A poem for those who may be fasting during Ramadan:
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=83327
I think Ramadan is a great. Like anything in life, you get what you want to put into it.
cheers muslim1
Thanks flushd for the poem
muslim1 wrote:Steve 41oo wrote:Quote:This is a month when a Muslim should try to:
- See not what displeases God
- Speak no evil
- Hear no evil
- Do no evil
Shouldn't you be doing this all year long?
We should.
The Islamic Scholars even say that among the signs of acceptance (by Allah) of good deeds in Ramadan is to follow them with more good deeds after Ramadan.
So whats the point of Ramadan? Shouldnt it be ramma year? When I consider the hypocrisy, the violence, the intolerance, the sheer bloody minded stupidity of religious fanatics it makes me want to start an intellectual war on religion to bury their medieval repressive backward looking and dangerous delusions once and for all. And before anyone here starts calling me a hate filled islamophobe let me make it quite clear that I dont hate
anyone. I hate bad ideas. I hate ideas that lead people to commit despicable crimes in the name of god. I hate the idea that a person is somehow doing good by doing bad. I hate the idea and the religion that infects the minds of the under educated and the vulnerable and exploits the power it gives for political ends. Lets replace bad ideas with better ideas. Lets apply what we know to be true for the benefit of mankind, not hold on to out moded ways of thinking because it provides a power base for an elite.
Steve,
The ccncept of "a sabbatical " is not in itself a bad idea. The problem as I see it is that Ramadan is an usually extended sabbatical which had its origins in Hebrew one day fasts such as Yom Kippur. (This is the accepted interpretation of "those before you" quoted by muslim1 above)This unilateral extension by Mohammed after his rejection by the Jews as a prophet serves to strenghthen the already heavy social conditioning of muslims within a framework of "other world rationality" over and above their rituals involving prayers throughout the day. Clearly the so-called "benefits" of Ramadan should be weighed against its elemental tribal aspects.
Re: The Holy month of Ramadan
Quote:
This month provides an opportunity for Muslims to get closer to God. This is a month when a Muslim should try to:
- See not what displeases God
- Speak no evil
- Hear no evil
- Do no evil
Is there a month in which muslims must refrain from murdering infidels? Or igniting homicide bombs?
There should be.
I wonder how long it will take muslims to wake up to the truth about their religion?
that the koran was written after the time of mohammed
that islam is best seen as a heretical form of rabbinical judaism
that we know almost nothing about the life of mohammed
that islam grew rapidly based on its followers desire for conquest
that islam originated as an anti christian alliance between arabs and jews
well actually not long if they read and learn the five points above.
Wolf - do you, yourself, have proof that fasting is not beneficial to one's health? Loads of people, muslim or otherwise, fast for healthy living. Have you checked the research?
littlek wrote:Wolf - do you, yourself, have proof that fasting is not beneficial to one's health? Loads of people, muslim or otherwise, fast for healthy living. Have you checked the research?
no need for research there is a 100% correlation between not eating and premature death. Dead people dont eat either.
littlek wrote:Wolf - do you, yourself, have proof that fasting is not beneficial to one's health? Loads of people, muslim or otherwise, fast for healthy living. Have you checked the research?
There is none, which is why I think his claim is spurious.
I thought Ramadan was a song by the Edsels:
Who put the bomb
in the suicide bomb a bomb . .
I'm not anti muslim or anti iraqi or anti arab. I'm against bad ideas. Religion is nothing but a set of ideas. Just as you can rank ideas, so you can religions, and right towards the bad end of the spectrum is islam. I've posted the five pillars of anti islam above. Those here afflicted with islamism should read them.
Now, now, Islam isn't all that bad.
A lot of the greatest discoveries were made in Muslim countries, like modern medicine. (Not the modern numerical system, however. That was Indian). Ah, how much better off we would be if there were more Muslims like those that used to live in Muslim Spain in the old days.
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