What is ramadan fasting?
The fourth pillar of Islam is fasting. Allah prescribes daily fasting for all able, adult Muslims during the whole of the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar calendar, beginning with the sighting of the new moon.
The fourth pillar of Islam is fasting. Allah prescribes daily fasting for all able, adult Muslims during the whole of the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar calendar, beginning with the sighting of the new moon.
Exempted from the fast are the very old
and the insane. On the physical side, fasting is from first
light of dawn until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and
sexual relations. On the moral, behavioral side, one must abstain
from lying, malicious gossip, quarreling and trivial nonsense.
Those who are sick, elderly, or on a journey,
and women who are menstruating, pregnant, or nursing are permitted
to break the fast, but must make up an equal number of days
later in the year. If physically unable to do so, they must
feed a needy person for each day missed. Children begin to fast
(and to observe the prayers) from puberty, although many start
earlier.
Although fasting is beneficial to the
health, it is regarded principally as a method of self-purification.
By cutting oneself off from worldly pleasures and comforts,
even for a short time, the fasting person gains true sympathy
for those who go hungry regularly, and achieves growth in his
spiritual life, learning discipline, self-restraint, patience
and flexibility.
In addition to the fast proper, one is
encouraged to read the entire Qur'an. In addition, special prayers,
called Tarawih, are held in the mosque every night of the month,
during which a whole section of the Qur'an (Juz') is recited,
so that by the end of the month the entire Qur'an has been completed.
These are done in remembrance of the fact that the revelation
of the Qur'an to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was begun during Ramadan.
During the last ten days - though the
exact day is never known and may not even be the same every
year - occurs the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr). To spend
that night in worship is equivalent to a thousand months of
worship, i.e. Allah's reward for it is very great.
On the first day of the following month,
after another new moon has been sighted, a special celebration
is made, called 'Id al-Fitr. A quantity of staple food is donated
to the poor (Zakat al-Fitr), everyone has bathed and put on
their best, preferably new, clothes, and communal prayers are
held in the early morning, followed by feasting and visiting
relatives and friends.
There are other fast days throughout the
year. Muslims are encouraged to fast six days in Shawwal, the
month following Ramadan, Mondays and Thursdays, and the ninth
and tenth, or tenth and eleventh of Muharram, the first month
of the year. The tenth day, called Ashurah, is also a fast day
for the Jews (Yom Kippur), and Allah commanded the Muslims to
fast two days to distinguish themselves from the People of the
Book.
While fasting per se is encouraged, constant
fasting, as well as monasticism, celibacy, and otherwise retreating
from the real world, are condemned in Islam. Fasting on the
two festival days, 'Id al-Fitr and 'Id al-Adha, the feast of
the Hajj, is strictly forbidden.
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