Ramadhan Mobarak

[Tyr]

Or Ramadhan Mabrook, depending on where you're from. It's actually the 2nd (or by some accounts the 3rd) day of Ramadhan, power to you all who fast during the month.

I've never had problems fasting, with exception to thirst. Hunger is easy - I usually just one meal the days (iftar only), but I can't get away from the thirst. My mouth gets so dry, and I'm a talkative person, so it gets even worse. And don't get me started with breath. After an hour or so, the effects of brushing my teeth wear off and I'm stuck with something that makes halitosis seem pleasant.

28 more days to go.

[archibaldcrane]

That sounds awful. Why do you do this?

[Blarg]

I hear if you wear a hat you can eat and drink without god seeing it, umbrellas work too.

Seriously though, when I played soccer one of our players fasted and on some of those days playing 1.5 hours in the sun just killed him.

[Callisto]

I'm voting for him.

[tyven]

good thing you can go to little johns at 4am

[Tyr]

Wow, thread didn't take long to become deluded by people with false senses of grandeur...

Why do I fast? Well, I am a Muslim - the simple answer which suffices for myself is that I believe in fasting as a necessary action in the month of Ramadhan in accordance to the actions of Prophet Mohammad.

I'm born Muslim, so my experiences drastically differ from a person I met recently who converted to Islam, solely from the month & the process of fasting. He put it much more eloquently, but initially, 3 years ago, he fasted to see "why 1.5 billion people in this world fast for an entire month," at which point he began looking at Islam for answers.

I'm trying to choose my words carefully - I don't want someone to misquote me to say something otherwise.

My ignorance in anatomy & biology can't be understated - but I've read that fasting as observed by Muslims (namely, one month during the year) serves as a purification and cleaning process for the body. My actions aren't governed necessarily by the physical benefits of the act, but I would be interested to know if fasting does have some benefits on the body that are scientifically provable.

[Churchill]

What are you doing for Eid

[Lordwafik]

I am doing it too. It's not hard when you're not working in a demanding environment, like now I have a printing job, on the lunch break I just play my DS instead. It was SO SHITTY when I had a bricklaying job, dear god every minute felt like an hour.

In Australia now the days are shorter, ending at 6PM so it's not bad at all. When daylight saving sets in and the days end at 8pm, those are "fun".

That sounds awful. Why do you do this?

Spiritual reason : It makes everyone have a sense of equality. Whether Rich, Poor, have 17 kids, or raising a bale of turtles instead, they are all equal for that period of time.

[fren.]

Thirst is the main issue. I can go without eating, while working..it's rough.

[Akun]

So what exactly is this? You dont eat or drink for a month? Or you dont when the sun is out?

[Tyr]

What are you doing for Eid

Same thing I do every year - wake up, realize I can eat, eat/drink breakfast, do the prayer appropriate for Eid, spend the day with my family, then in the afternoon, the Eid Bowl (football with some friends).

So what exactly is this? You dont eat or drink for a month? Or you dont when the sun is out?

You don't eat from dawn (Fajr - the call to prayer in the morning) until dusk (Maghrib - the call to prayer in the evening). At the moment, Fajr is @ around 5:05AM, Maghrib is at 7:57PM. Times shorten by a minute or so each day.

[pohibaba]

I'm a committed atheist, but I may try this next year, sounds very interesting. Once it's dusk, do you eat anything special, or just whatever you want?

[fren.]

So what exactly is this? You dont eat or drink for a month? Or you dont when the sun is out?

Edit: Beaten.

I'm a committed atheist, but I may try this next year, sounds very interesting. Once it's dusk, do you eat anything special, or just whatever you want?

Anything; I ate BK today because I was in class.

Usually there's a small feast, but that's about it. Dates/Lemondae are about the one thing my family eats to break the fast.

[Tyr]

I'm a committed atheist, but I may try this next year, sounds very interesting. Once it's dusk, do you eat anything special, or just whatever you want?

Traditionally, you open your fast with a date. Ice cold water, for example, is terrible because it's like shutting your system down.

Usually people open with something sweet, then they eat a meal - varies by household, sometimes a feast-like meal or sometimes something more regular.

Back at home, my dad always opens with dates & tea and bread & cheese or jam. Often times hardboiled eggs too. Once that's over, then my mom busts out the more substantial food like chicken, rice, yogurt, salad, olives, other things.

[Lordwafik]

I'm a committed atheist, but I may try this next year, sounds very interesting. Once it's dusk, do you eat anything special, or just whatever you want?

It all depends how into it the families are.

Think of Thanksgiving / Christmas dinners, but for a month. My mother gets all into the cooking, so every day for me is like christmas dinner yumyumyum but obviously on a smaller serving scale

[Tyr]

It all depends how into it the families are.

Think of Thanksgiving / Christmas dinners, but for a month. My mother gets all into the cooking, so every day for me is like christmas dinner yumyumyum but obviously on a smaller serving scale

Man, the Pakistani/Indian crew do it right. Their moms make pakora (sp?) and samosas -every night- for Ramadhan. That's insanely awesome. And apparently pakora and samosas are only served in Ramadhan.

[guartz]

Arabic is a semitic language. "Semite" does not refer exclusively to Judaism.

Yea, but Anti-Semite almost exclusively refers to jews...

[fren.]

What the hell is pakora's? Samosa's are fucking delicious, I tell my mom everytime she goes to NY (only place nearby that sells it) to get those.

Pita bread with Kebabs is my favorite, massive heartburn and $15 for each serving. I can't read this thread tomorrow.

[elison]

Spiritual reason : It makes everyone have a sense of equality. Whether Rich, Poor, have 17 kids, or raising a bale of turtles instead, they are all equal for that period of time.

We're all equal regardless of what time of year it is. Ramadan is mostly for us to appreciate what we have been given, and to feel what the dirt poor families across the globe go through 365 days a year vs our 1 month of fasting.

In the end, we finish this month with a deeper understanding of what it's like to not have food and water for a entire day, and a deeper thankfulness of what we have in life.

[Darus Grey]

As far as physical benefits, there is no proven(or even correlative) benefits to fasting.

Infact there's only downsides,it's main effect is slowing down your metabolism, which isn't a big deal in general, but in modern society this can lead to un-needed weight gain, which as I'm sure most fat people know is an exponential problem(i.e. metabolism slows, gain weight, weight gain makes it harder to raise metabolism, slows again...rinse repeat until you're 1600lbs) though most people reach an equallibrium point far before then, since weighing more causes you to burn more calories for the same activities, and you reach a point where the actions required for survival(work,etc) consume the same amount of calories you eat and you stay there. Yay for tangents.

My point being, fasting has no benefits, the downsides aren't serious(barely mild) , but it specifically does not cleanse your body.

The symbolic meaning of fasting as has been pointed out is the true reason. Just like the Hajj, every Muslim(is supposed to) travel to Mecca, and every Muslin(is supposed to) fast for Ramadan.

You can take two completely opposed people and they can still talk about their Hajj or Ramadan, and as we all know, common ground is the first step to negotiation and tolerance.