Muslims To Embrace Fasting Month Tomorrow

The holy month of Ramadhan meets more than a billion Muslims tomorrow. Ramadhan is the month when Muslims seek Allah's blessings and forgiveness. It is the month when the gates of mercy are open and evil spirits are chained. The next thirty days will test Muslims all over the world as they abstain from food, water and any other activities or behaviour that could nullify the fast, during the period of time when the sun rises till it sets. Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam and every Muslim is obliged to fast during Ramadhan unless they are unable to do so due to medical reasons.

A Muslim who satisfies the following conditions must fast during Ramadhan:
1) Sane, normal, and not mentally ill
2) Reached puberty
3) Is able to do so, not badly sick or weak

A Muslim is excused from fasting during Ramadhan only if:
1) he or she is sick
2) he or she is travelling (musafir)
3) he or she is old and very weak
4) she is pregnant and/or breast-feeding the baby

Besides abstaining oneself from eating or drinking, a Muslim is also not allowed to do certain activities which could nullify the fast (from the period of time after the sun rises till it sets) such as:
1) Sexual intercourse
2) Engaging in activities that could cause the ejaculation, such as masturbation and watching pornographic videos
3) Taking injections or abusing drugs
4) Smoking
5) Menses

My non-Muslim friends often ask me if fasting affects our ability to study or revise our work as we may be hungry and thirsty. Well, we Muslims actually treat the fasting month as the perfect opportunity to revise our work. We will use our breaks or recess time to study instead of eating ot drinking in the canteen. Besides that, we usually stay at home during the day instead of going out. We spend the time at home completing out revision. In fact, Ramadhan is perhaps the best time I can fully focus on my studies while returning to Allah in repentance. I believe spirituality can affect the effectiveness of our revision sessions.

So have I ever skipped a day of fasting? Well, I guess I did so a couple of times when I was still a child:









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