so that has to be done before sunrise, the day is quite normal except nothing is to pass their lips. The month
of Ramadan is spent praying and remembering Allah and the last prophet Muhammed. Round about half
past 1, Muslims pray the Zuhur namaaz .Muslims are strictly instructed to finish reading a whole Quran
within the month of Ramadan, as it was the time when the Quran was completed and sent to Muslims
through the prophet Muhammed. Muslims are also strongly told to pray their namaaz 5 times a day (the
namaaz involves a prayer mat). After Zuhur the asr namaaz is prayed at half past 3. Maghrib) is prayed at
half past 5. The namaaz times vary throughout the year, in summer and winter they are different due to the
movement of the moon. Since Muslim months are based on the moon, Ramadan falls 11 days earlier each
year. The final namaaz of the day is Isha and that is prayed between half past 9/10. Farz are prayed for God,
Witr also for God, Sunnat for the prophets and Nafals for ourselves. The duty of fasting cannot be avoided
unless you are expecting a baby who will need food to keep itself healthy and strong. If you are ill and need
medication at the time you have to fast then you are let off and also if a woman is on her monthly periods
then she cannot fast as she will be unclean and in Islam you have to be pure in order to fast. Likewise if you
are under 12 then there is no need to fast and if you are on a journey which may cause real pain or suffering.
Although you cannot fast at the time, Allah still expects you to make up for the days you have missed,
everyone is commanded to fast, and so everyone should be treated equally but if you still have a reason for
not making up for the fasts you have missed then you should provide food for the needy. Fasting times
change everyday, you don’t know what exact time to start eating, so the time it says on the timetable that is
when you begin to eat. Timetables are distributed to the Muslim community free of charge in Mosques or
Islamic centres. Even more exciting is the end of
the fast. There is a wonderful feeling of joy and achievement after each day’s successful discipline. The fast
is opened by eating a date, most Muslims do this as the last prophet had done so. Muslims like to follow his
examples as he was sent on Earth to set examples. The date is the only important special food eaten in
Ramadan. We know that the prophet liked opening his fasts by eating dates as it says so in the Hadith (a
book full of quotes of what all the prophets said or did). After the date has been eaten (a fruit grown in warm
countries), then you can eat however much your heart desires but it is sensible not to eat too much
otherwise you can feel sick (Muhammed himself only had a couple of dates or a drink). The food that breaks
the fast after sunset is called iftar, at the end of the day all Muslims will pray the tarawee namaaz unless they
have the problems listed above. It is possible to cheat, but Muslims believe that God sees everything,
human beings may be deceived, but you can never deceive God. At the end of the day the tarawee namaaz
is prayed by men in the Mosques and women pray it at home but if a woman wants to pray in the mosque
there’re are separate facilities for them. The tarawee namaaz is only prayed in Ramadan, it’s a vital part to the
day because without reading the tarawee namaaz you have not fully fasted. In Islam men and women have
to be strictly apart so instead of reading the namaaz they don’t have desire for the opposite sex because the
purpose of namaaz is to remember God. This is probably the only service in the Mosque in the month of
Ramadan because aswell as reading the tarawee namaaz there are people who give talks about the religion.
More larger meals follow, for at night feasting is allowed. Ramadan is not a slimming exercise and because
some of the feasts are so liberal that Muslims actually gain weight. This is how all the 30 or 29 days are
spent, even the not so religious Muslims change their lifestyles when it comes down to the holy month of
Ramadan.
b) Explain the importance of Ramadan to Muslims and the way in which it may affect their lives.
Ramadan affects Muslims in many ways, it helps them develop self-control and overcome selfishness, greed
and laziness. When Muslims eat to their heart’s content, it is being greedy because they are not thinking
about others, who cannot afford the luxeries they are entitled to. The only thing going through their mind is
themselves and any way in which they can comfort their bodies. Fasting involves eating from sunrise and
sunset. It is not very easy waking up at sunrise and when they do this for 1 lunar month, it automatically
becomes a habit and prevents them from being lazy. Fasting makes their self-control increase because they
are limited, and when they eat and this is having control over themselves as they are stopping themselves
from being tempted to eat food. It is good to restrain passion because that way it controls their desires or
actions towards the opposite sex and this will stop Muslims from breaking their fast. People who have large
appetites will also learn to hold back because they have to fast for a lengthy period of time and having a
large appetite will only make fasting worse for them. Muslims in Third World countries are basically given a
headstart in preparing for any sufferings that maybe faced later. In Britain we are highly unlikely to face any
suffering of any sort, Third World countries face problems like famine, drought, floods, plagues etc. and
these problems without a doubt cause concern for the amount of food and water available. Many people die
of starvation but if they have been fasting and are used to the process then they could possibly survive
longer or until there is food available to eat. Experiencing hunger thus develops sympathy for the poor.
Many of us don’t experience hunger that is near enough starvation, and undergoing such an experience
increases our feelings for the needy and it will make us want to help them. If by any chance we came across
a person who was hungry we would feed them as we have experienced the pain of hunger. Muslims also
gain spiritual health which strengthens their confidence, it makes them confident enough to achieve their
goal and achieving their goal increases their confidence. They get better at fasting and they gain strong
spiritual health. The followers of Islam experience brother-hood through shared ‘ordeals’. All Muslims
experience the same thing at the same time (fasting). This brings some sort of bond between Muslims. If 2
people get robbed on the same street, they have shared an ordeal together, so Muslims are sharing the same
‘ordeal’ by doing what their poor or rich brothers and sisters are doing (fasting). Ramadan is very important
to Muslims, the origin of fast is not known but Muslims observe it as 1 of the 5 pillars of Islam of their faith
explicitly mentioned in the Quran. ‘You who believe, fasting has been prescribed for
you, just as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may do your duty on days that have been
fixed. Any of you who is ill or on a journey should choose a number of other days. For those who can afford
it, making up for it means feeding a poor man; if someone offers even more, it is even better for him;
although it is better for you to fast.’ (surah)
During Ramadan, especially in Muslim countries, even the more lax Muslims are more regular in their
observances. In the evenings the men will gather in the Mosque to say their prayers, and most will keep the
fast. Ramadan is not only a month of fasting or seriousness. It is also a time for rejoicing. Ramadan is the
only month referred to in the Quran and it is mentioned for 2 reasons, the fast and the giving of the Quran.
This is indeed the greatest and unique merit of Ramadan that the Quran, which is the last and only Book of
Divine Guidance in the world, was sent down in this month, One can imagine that without this source of
right guidance the world in spite of all its charms and fascinations would have been dark, gloomy place and
a veritable Hell. Without it, Man would still have been living the life of the beasts, full of vice and sin.Before
ramadan ends a final obligation must be observed, that of making a special contribution for the care of the
poor, Zakat-Ul-Fitr, ‘the charity of fast breaking’. Generosity, caring for the poor, is one of the great virtues
encouraged in Islam. The purpose of this requirement is to insure that no Muslim is unable to break his fast.
Ramadan has as 1 of its aims the reminding of the rich of what it means to go hungry. The 30 day experience
ought to make them thankful for their wealth, and more prepared to share it with those in need. The fast also
stresses the equality of everyone, for when all go without food there are no rich and no beggars, and all
share the same duty to obey God by keeping this pillar of the faith.
The faster who abstains from satisfying
his most basic needs and powerful urges of life for hours together even in hidden and secret places
develops in him the feeling that he is an utterly helpless and powerless creature, who is dependent upon
Allah’s compassion and beneficence for the most ordinary necessities of life; then when he views Allah’s
blessings from which he benefits day and night in hundred and one ways, he is inclined to adore and
worship Him with all his heart and mind. His abstinence from physical needs and desires of the flesh even in
secret places where none but Allah can watch him, produces in him a deeper and deeper awareness of fear
of Allah and an awe of His Presence so that even a slight suggestion of sin sends shudders through his
body.
