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Muslims follow a lunar calendar. The lunar calendar is 355 days instead of 365 day, such as the solar calendar. The lunar calendar has twelve months and one of then is Ramadhan. This is the month that Muslims fast from dawn - about two hours before sunrise - till sunset.
Fasting in Islam means to abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, sexual acts and all worldly desires or lusts.
The Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) tells us that everything we do is for ourselves except fasting. We fast for the sake of God. We are showing our devotion to God by our self discipline. If a Muslim is physically able to fast, then he should. God does not want to put any hardship upon mankind and tells us in the Quran that if a person has any hardships then he should not fast.
Surat Al-Baqara 2:185
Ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the Quran, as a guide to mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between what is right and wrong). So everyone of you who is present (at his house) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put you to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance you shall be grateful.
If a person is ill, or traveling, or a woman is pregnant or menstruating, then they are excused from the fast until they are able to fast. Then they must make up the missed days of the fast. If a person has a condition where they are on heart medication or diabetic, where they must constantly be on a medication, then they are excused from fasting but must feed a poor person for every day of the month. They are physically excused but not morally excused. They still have a spiritual responsibility to their fellow man.
Some of the lessons that fasting instills upon the Muslim are to feel what the poor feel when they go without food for a period of time. Of course a person who is fasting will not feel the same impact of hunger that a poor person who has very little food will. But this will put the Muslim in a position to begin to see what people with very limited means are going through.
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posted 7/5/2003