posted
Im trying to understand the reasons for not fasting - if the person has diabetes, are they required to fast? or on medication that fasting would cause an unbalance in the body - im reading conflicting reports. -thankyou
Posts: 131 | From: uk | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
I am not going to fast the whole of Ramadan this year as I am insulin resistant (not diabetic)and not eating regularly makes me collapse or act like I'm drunk (stumbling, slurring words, disconnected thoughts) and I have exam resits near the end of Ramadan and I wouldn't be able to do them fasting (due to problems listed above), I spoke to my Imam and he basically told me to do the best that I can and ask god for forgiveness as Allah knows what is in our hearts and knows if we have done our best.
Posts: 195 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
O you who believe, fasting has been decreed for you as it was decreed for those before you, perhaps you may be righteous.
A fixed number of days; however, if any of you is ill or traveling, then the same number from different days; and as for those who can do so but with difficulty, they may redeem by feeding the needy. And whoever does good voluntarily, then it is better for him. And if you fast it is better for you if only you knew.
A month of aspiration, in which the Qur'an was revealed; as a guide to the people and clarities from the guidance and the Criterion. Therefore, whoever of you witnesses the month, then let him fast therein. And whoever is ill or traveling, then the same number from different days. God wants to bring you ease and not to bring you hardship; and so that you may complete the count, and glorify God for what He has guided you, that you may be thankful.
posted
Firstly thankyou for reply - and apologies for my bad spelling -meant imbalance.- So? if one was to not fast for a certain number of days -these can be made up later in order to complete the fixed number? and if to feed the needy they are also exempting themselves?
-------------------- tilly "I can make you feel good" -shalamar Women dont have hot flushes they just have power surges" Posts: 131 | From: uk | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
Mary dot not sure if your post is for me or Steph - im ok im just asking for general info as i do know someone who is diabetic.
-------------------- tilly "I can make you feel good" -shalamar Women dont have hot flushes they just have power surges" Posts: 131 | From: uk | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
Basically in my understanding, if it would harm you to fast then do not do so, but try to feed homeless/do something good to show that you understand the purpose of the action.
Posts: 195 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Jan 2009
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Ramadan Fast A Challenge For Pregnant, Nursing Women
By Omar Sacirbey
(RNS) Last year during Ramadan, a pregnant Kamelia Basir-Rodriguez tried to join other Muslims in fasting from food and drink from dawn to sunset but was told by her doctor to stop when she experienced contractions and blackouts.
This year, as Ramadan starts anew on Wednesday (Aug. 11) the 34-year-old former soldier is breast-feeding her healthy nine-month-old daughter and is again wrestling with whether she should risk dehydration and drying up her milk supply by fasting, or skip it altogether.
After questioning imams and looking for information online, she concluded most scholars agree that Islam exempts pregnant and nursing women from fasting, so long as they make up the fasts later. Still, she knew the potential of being criticized as soft by other Muslim women.
"There are some sisters who will look down upon other sisters who don't fast," said Basir-Rodriguez, of Springfield, Va. "Finally, my husband cleared it up. He said, 'God gives you the exemption as a mercy, it would be rude not to accept.'"
Basir-Rodriguez is not alone in her struggle to reconcile piety and parenting. Muslim parenting blogs like "Hijabi Apprentice" and "Journey of a Baby" are abuzz with Muslim women chatting about fasting while pregnant or nursing, including the "Muslim Families" group at Babycenter.com, to which Basir-Rodriguez belongs.
A significant number of women choose to fast instead of taking the exemption. Some say they prefer to fast as part of a community rather than making up the fasts later, alone.
"There's such anticipation to the fast. It's being part of a community," said Pamela Taylor, a progressive Muslim activist in Cincinnati who skipped the fast while pregnant and nursing her three children, now 20, 16, and 11.
"If you're not fasting, you feel left out."
Similar debates arise in Judaism, which has four major fast days. Pregnant and breastfeeding women are exempt from fasting on three of the four fasts, except Yom Kippur, when only women in childbirth and experiencing post-childbirth bleeding are exempt.
It's a serious health issue for both mothers and their babies. As Ramadan creeps back into summer on Islam's lunar calendar, the hotter and longer days increase the risks.
Current medical research holds that breast milk provides essential antibodies for a newborn's immune system, as well as essential vitamins and nutrients. Most mothers are advised to nurse their newborns for at least six months; the Quran says women should nurse for two years.
Some medical studies have found that fasting has minimal impact on fetal development and milk supply, but others have linked fasting to reduced fetal breathing, induced labor and dehydration. Doctors say nursing mothers should consider the baby's age, health, and how much of the baby's diet is reliant on breast milk.
Laila Al-Marayati, a family physician and spokeswoman for the Muslim Woman's League in Los Angeles, said pregnant and nursing women can meet their caloric needs during "iftar," the Ramadan sunset meal that breaks the fast, and "suhur," the pre-dawn breakfast many Muslims use to fuel themselves for the fast ahead.
They can't, however, compensate for fluids, which are critical for pregnant and nursing mothers, she said.
"I discourage pregnant women from fasting mostly because they cannot stay hydrated since ours is a complete fast that prohibits even the consumption of water. This puts them at risk for kidney infections, (premature) birth and other complications," Al-Marayati said.
Scholars say the exemption is based on several hadith, or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, that exempt pregnant and nursing women from fasting, as well as a verse in the Quran that exempts the sick from fasting.
Interpretations vary, however. The least lenient view holds that pregnant or nursing women should try to fast, but can stop if they feel they are harming themselves or their babies. Others suggest that not accepting "a mercy" exemption from God would be a sin. The most common opinion holds that women can choose according to their own situations.
Many women still decide to fast, some even sneaking fasts behind their husbands' backs. Ayeda Khalid Malik's husband persuaded her to stop fasting during the final six days of last year's Ramadan, shortly after they discovered she was pregnant.
Malik researched the issue but found the answers more confusing than clarifying. If she had to make up the fasts later, she figured she might as well go ahead and fast now with friends and family. This year, Malik intends to fast even as she breastfeeds her three-month old daughter.
"There's so much out there, and I'd just rather be on the safe side," said Malik, 25, of Danvers, Mass.
She also doesn't believe that not taking the exemption is an affront to God. "I don't see God as being so harsh just because I'm doing something out of sheer fear and the fact that I want to be blessed," she said.
Maceo Nafisah Cabrera Estevez, who is eight months into her first pregnancy and facing a due date of Sept. 10, the same day that Ramadan ends, won't be fasting.
"I don't want to do anything that will jeopardize my baby's health," said Estevez, 34, of Oakland, Calif. "It's very logical to me that that's what God would want, giving me a break."
posted
so they would rather put their baby at risk than give in charity to a poor person just so they look good in the eyes of thier community and not feel left out? Does that make any sense to anyone else?
-------------------- If you don't learn from your mistakes, there's no sense making them. Posts: 15090 | From: http://www.egyptalk.com/forum/ | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Ayisha: so they would rather put their baby at risk than give in charity to a poor person just so they look good in the eyes of thier community and not feel left out? Does that make any sense to anyone else?
They've lost the purpose of the fast.
Posts: 758 | From: Here. There. Everywhere. | Registered: Mar 2008
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quote: "I don't see God as being so harsh just because I'm doing something out of sheer fear and the fact that I want to be blessed,"
They are being selfish and stupid. Getting a reward or not being *punished* is more important for them than their children's well-being. Wow, how very pious!
There is a lot of scientific evidence out there that fasting, particularly not drinking, is harmful for an unborn child, so the argument that the woman should fast as long as she "feels" her or her baby's health are not in danger is silly at best, dangerous at worst. A pregnant woman can feel great even when the baby is in a bad condition.
Also, I find it very contradictory that the very same women who think they have to fast while being pregnant or breastfeeding, will see no problem with not fasting while on their period, although there is nothing in the Qur'an saying that menstruating wome shouldn't be fasting. Posts: 2803 | Registered: Feb 2007
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As Muslims around the world celebrate Ramadan, rights activists in Morocco are battling what they call the "religious radicalization" of the month of fasting, exposing conflicts between tradition, power and modernity. Alexander Goebel reports from Rabat
Last year, a group of young Moroccans campaigning to change the law banning eating in public during the Muslim Ramadan fast made plans for a picnic via social networking site Facebook.
They organized to meet in Mohammedia near Casablanca for the public feast. It was a risky move because under Moroccan law, eating in public during daylight hours in the holy month is considered a crime.
Sure enough, the authorities in Morocco monitored the Facebook group and cracked down before the demonstration could take off.
"We were met by hundreds of police at the station in Mohammedia. They were like an army waiting for terrorists," Zineb Elghzaoui, one of the co-founders of the group called Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms (MALI), remembered.
"We were abused, forced back on the train and then we were arrested and interrogated for hours. It's only because the incident attracted international attention that the police finally closed our cases - for now," she said.
Activists get death threats
The incident initially sparked online comments ridiculing the police clampdown, with articles carrying headlines such as "100 Policemen against 10 Sandwiches in Morocco." But things took an ugly turn when Moroccan media reportedly began a witch hunt and the campaigners received dozens of e-mailed death threats.
For their part, the founders of MALI say their demonstration wasn't in any way targeting Moroccan society or Islam. And, neither were their actions aimed at Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam.
MALI says it's not against fasting but rather in favor of decriminalizing non-fasting. Zineb El Ghazaoui said the group's criticism of what it calls "totalitarianism of religion" has struck a chord in Morocco. The activist said the state's excessive use of force against a group of fast-breaking teenagers spoke volumes.
"Of course we're scared - that's exactly what the government wants. Foreigners in Morocco don't dare eat in public and Muslims who secretly break their fast are punished. Some people even go to prison because they're denounced by their neighbors," Elghazaoui said.
"But by definition, Ramadan is a private matter between me and God alone. You don't fast for others even though that's what has been hinted to us. But all this here has nothing to do with common sense."
Controversial issue
But the crackdown on the fast-breakers goes to the heart of a politically explosive issue in Morocco - the separation between the church and the state and the power of the monarchy.
Under Morocco's constitution, Islam is the country's state religion and the king is the highest keeper of the faith. However the constitution also guarantees all citizens the right to freely practice their religion. At the same time, according to paragraph 222 of the penal code, those who publicly eat during Ramadan can face a fine and up to six months in prison.
That's a blatant contradiction, according to Zinab Elghzaoui, and one that she said violates the UN human rights treaty that Morocco has signed up to.
"I think that the allegedly big social consensus during Ramadan is in reality just hypocrisy. A Moroccan only exists within the framework of the Umma - the religious community of Muslims. The Moroccan as an individual, as a citizen in a state based on rule of law - that only exists in theory but not on a practical level," Elghzaoui said.
Individual freedoms under threat
Morocco wasn't always so conservative when it comes to religious matters. In the 1970s, the country was considered a beacon of liberalism when it came to Ramadan. Students at universities could eat, drink and smoke in public. That's unthinkable today.
Elghzaoui admitted that Morocco has made progress in social issues in recent years thanks to King Mohammed VI who she said had ended the backwardness of the dictatorship of King Hassan II.
But at the same time, the civil rights activist said she feared that the state had allowed Islamists to gradually chip away at the protection of individual freedoms.
But conservative Moroccan politicians don't agree with Elghzaoui. Abdellilah Benkiran, the general secretary of the Justice and Development party (PJD), describes the Ramadan fast-breakers of MALI as "firebrands."
"We're in the middle of a transformation process in Morocco but we can manage very well without these rabble-rousers," Benkiran said. "These people are pathetic provocateurs - they think 'modernism' means an atheist state. And as Muslims we say 'not with us.' Not at the price of our religion. The absolute majority of the people here know that Ramadan is a wonderful thing."
Back to the liberal future
It's something that Zainab Elghzaoui knows well. She's aware of surveys that show religion is indispensable for 98 percent of the Moroccan population. And that's why, she said, she will continue her fight in the name of religion as a right for each individual and against the radicalization of Ramadan as a social pressure tool.
Elghzaoui said she's campaigning for a state that shakes off its helplessness against the use of religion as an instrument.
Zineb Elghzaoui wants to go back to the future - to the religious liberalism of Morocco in the 1970s. It remains questionable whether she will succeed.
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