Edited to add- I have just kept my first fast of the month of Ramadan (it is 5:25 here in Philly) and I know it will be really tough not being able to drink (espec.) any water or something until 6:30 in the evening, the eating part, I can handle but water...
OK, the first Roza (fast) has ended and it was tough, I just wanted to drink a glass of water but I got through it-
THANK god, I just know I am so glad the first one is over-ONLY 29 more to Go :)
I know people in other religions fast (Jews and some Christians) but in Islam it is a long month that we have to control and stop doing certian things to show that we are willing to learn about control and do it to prove how strong our faith is.
Not only that, the message is to also experience how it is for those who don't have the money to eat as much as those as the people who have money.
It is called Ramadan (the month of fasting)
Starting tomorrow, and for 30 days--from Sunrise to Sunset--Muslims can't eat or drink anything, should not think bad thoughts, curse or take part in sexual intercourse during the hours of fasting.
It is really hard for people who work all day and for people who have classes from morning till evening, having to lug textbooks around the campus.
But then- I think about the Muslims out there in other countries or in different circumstances who are not as well off as me
They have the jobs such as working on the farms and fields of labor, in the bright sun light from morning till night. They fast-everyday-not complaining about their situation because it is the order of Allah to teach us something and I think...
...Wow, I am so blessed and should not complain or whine about my life.
And I guess I am saying I have always liked this part of Islam. The message is not that Allah is being cruel- on the contrary he is teaching me of the variety of human experiences and how tough it is for humans to learn to control sinful instincts. but that it can be done (of course--not the eating and drinking part but other stuff)
ALL the good deeds you do in this month get more value and blessings--People who die in this month are going straight to heaven because they were that good to die in this month (ON death-the day you are going to die is already predestined/written at your birth)
Everyday in the month-the prayer at night is extended so that we can finish the whole Quran as one community at a mosque where we all get together.
At the end we celebrate with the Holiday of EID al FITR
It's fun to end the month of fasting and it gets really colorful for Pakistani and Indian muslims---
We dress up in our cultrual dresses and go to each others houses and just get together to share our experince of how the month has been and how we got through it.
I forgot to mention about Food-AH YES, when we do open our fast at sunset, we usually eat the best tasting food (not excessively-in moderation because otherwise what's the point of fasting)
Have people tasted North Indian food? Pakistani food is almost the same
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I wish that my part of Christianity would do that sort of thing. It seems like a great way to pray for others and really get your attention. I've fasted, but not for a month. I admire this part of Islam
have been really tough--you get so many temptations to eat, your stomach growls and you get hunger pains but
really--- that is when i know how hard it is to be somone who doesn't get all the meals in a day or is not as rich as people who really do have the things necessary in life and then some (i am included in that)
"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right."
I have a question that will probably seem ignorant, but I'm going to ask it anyway. When fasting, you can't eat or drink anything at all for a month? Or can you drink certain things? I guess I'm asking because I don't understand how one would survive an entire month with nothing to drink.
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~Fallon~
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." Henry David Thoreau
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each day is separate, i mean like you start to not eat and drink at sunrise and then you stop and open your fast at sunset
so ofcourse we get to drink and eat, just not during the fasting hours of the day
sorry about the confusion
"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right."
Oh okay, I didn't see that part. Makes a lot more sense now. I couldn't fathom how in the world you didn't eat or drink anything at all for a month and actually survive it.
lol, I told you it was an ignorant question!
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~Fallon~
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." Henry David Thoreau
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I am glad you asked because I was wondering the same thing. We get so much of only certain things here, it is nice to have new information to extend my cultural and religous learning.
all truths are easy to understand once discovered; the point is to discover them ~galileo
it was confusing, it makes complete sense that you would have questions espcially if you don't know a muslim person or family...I really learned alot about christianity frm here and from my own friends
"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right."
Haha, don't worry, that's not an ignorant question. I remember in 5th grade, I explained to my homeroom teacher why I would be going to the library and not to lunch for a month. After I explained about Ramadan, I saw that she was horrified. She looked at me with pity and said, "you're not going to eat for a whole month!" And then I caught my mistake in explaining and had another go at it. I saw her at a store last month and we still laugh over it.
Thank you for posting your experience about Ramadan. I especially enjoyed how you tied it in with the concept of understanding the suffereing of many people around the world. Just one point I'd like to make is that when you say it is 'to prove how strong our faith is', I don't disagree, instead I see it as a time when we work to make it strong, sort of energize it for after Ramadan and the rest of the year. But that is just probably a semantic difference!
and I often have trouble with explaining my thoughts
I wish my sentence construction and grammar would be a bit better
working on it! but I agree with the way you worded it
It is not about proving to others about our strong faith or something
but reminding ourselves about Islam and the teachings that we need to follow all year round
:)
"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right."
http://www.progressiveu.org/231615-this-is-a-muslim-girls-plight