Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak on his blog, wrote:
Ramadan can be a time of great spiritual growth and brotherhood, just as Malaysia can be a country free of poverty if we are committed to making it happen.
(Source: 1Malaysia.com.my, Have A Blessed Ramadhan)
On Fasting
The act of fasting during the month of Ramadhan is obligatory upon all Moslems. One such injunction to fast is as follows:
"Oh ye who believe,
Fasting is prescribed to you
As it was prescribed to those before you
That ye may learn self restraint".
- Sura Baqara verse 183
(Source: My Sinchew.com, 22nd August 2009. It's Ramadan)
The typical day of a Moslem's life during Ramadhan can be divided into two portions: Fasting, and non-fasting. Many Moslem friends I know have woken up in the middle of the night to take their meal of "sahur" before commencing the fast. Fasting begins upon the break of dawn. (Source: Islam Online, Do Not Miss Your Sahur) MUIS (Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura) states on its website that "Fasting starts with Subuh, not Imsak nor Syuruk." (Source: Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura, Frequently Asked Questions.)
According to Adil Salahi, in the above piece "Do Not Miss Your Sahur", fasting among Moslem communities differs from that of the Jews, in that fasting for Jews begins from the moment they wake up, right to sunset, when the fast is broken. The Jews do not have an equivalent to sahur. But you should know that Moslems are encouraged to defer their meal of sahur until the last possible minute. (Source: Islam Online, Do Not Miss Your Sahur) I suppose this statement will dispel any ideas of an extra-early sahur (some creative people might imagine that it's possible to extend supper right to sahur).
During the hours of fasting, Moslems are encouraged to put effort into following the teachings of the Qur'an. They are told to avoid as much as possible from thoughts and acts which are obscene, impure, sexual, etc. (Ref: Wikipedia, Ramadan.) MuslimConverts.com, a website geared towards Muslim Converts, says that the following are forbidden during the hours of fasting: food and drink, sexual intercourse, and masturbation. (Source: MuslimConverts.com, Ramadan 2009 Special)
Fast is broken at sunset. In countries where the hours of the day have become longer, sunset falls at a later hour. The fast, as a consequence, is broken at a later hour as well. According to KIVI TV:
Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, will begin in August for the first time in 33 years this year. Moreover, it will be creeping deeper into summer for each of the next seven years because the Islamic lunar calendar is roughly 11 days shorter than the international solar calendar. That means Muslims in the U.S. face longer, hotter days of religious devotion because of longer, hotter summer days ...
(Source: KIVI TV, 22nd August 2009. Longer, hotter days strain Islamic holy month.)
This means that people would be breaking fast later, and sleeping later, as a consequence. It may mean that performance will have to suffer as a form of trade off. But Moslems frequently remind themselves that the Battle of Badr was fought with warriors from the Moslem side fasting throughout the month of Ramadhan. (Source: MuslimConverts.com, Ramadan 2009 Special.)
What happens if the fast happens to be broken? From the KIVI TV website again:
... the longer, hotter days re-emphasize another element of the Ramadan season: God's forgiveness. For Muslims who break the fast, they can make up the day any time before Ramadan the next year.
According to the Jamiatul Ulama (Council of Muslim Theologians), Johannesburg, there are ten (10) valid grounds for not observing the fast.
VALID REASONS FOR NOT OBSERVING THE FAST
There are ten valid reasons on account of which one is allowed not to observe the Fast and they are as follows:
1. Being on a journey;
2. Sickness;
3. Pregnancy;
4. Suckling;
5. Intensity of hunger and thirst;
6. Weakness and old age;
7. Risk of life;
8. Jihâd;
9. Unconsciousness;
10. Insanity.
[Source]
Prayers
During this month, Moslems will be praying for extended periods of time throughout the night. These are known as "terawih" prayers.
Further Reading
I found the following post on the Ramadhan Blog and it was quite good: Benefits of Ramadhan (We Need Ramadhan).
A simple question and answer format explanation of Ramadhan fasting from a Moslem's perspective is found at Examiner.com's Answers to common questions non-Muslims ask about fasting in Ramadhan (Source: Examiner.com, 23rd August 2009).
Wikipedia's page on Ramadan is also quite instructive.
Finally, for Moslems in particular, The Islamic Workplace's Ramadan 101 + Ramadan Duas from Qur'an and Sunnah is quite an eye-opener. But if that doesn't get your attention, perhaps the link to various free e-book downloads at The Islamic Workplace might!
No comments:
Post a Comment