preview

Essay on Explaining Ramadan

Good Essays

Explaining Ramadan

'O believers, you must fast so that you may learn self-restraint. Fasting is prescribed for you during a fixed number of days.

(Surah 2:183-4)

Sawm, or fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam. Sawm is the deliberate control of the body by an act of will. During the 29 or 30 days of the Muslim month of Ramadan healthy adult Muslims will go without all the pleasures of the body during all the hours of daylight. The fast begins as the first light of dawn touches the horizon and ends with sunset. Hunger, comfort and sex are the three things, which have to be brought under control.

Nothing must pass the lips (not even chewing-gum, a cigarette, or the smoke of someone …show more content…

The various other benefits of fasting are that man gets to exercise sacrificing physical comfort and to endure hunger and thirst. Fasting creates a sense of equality between the rich and the poor. By developing an appreciation of hunger and thirst, it makes the well-off think of the needs of the poor and impresses a feeling of compassion in their hearts. It makes them appreciate, through the practicality of it, the state a human being endures when hungry and thirsty. Ramadan is a most effective and excellent means of spiritual development for mankind.

'If you do not give up telling lies God will have no need of your giving up food and drink'

'There are many who fast during the day and pray all night, but they gain nothing but hunger and sleeplessness.'

(Hadith)

AIMS OF SAWM ============

· To develop self-control and overcome selfishness, greed and laziness

· To restrain passion and appetite

· To prepare for any real sufferings that may be faced later

· To experience hunger, and thus develop sympathy for the poor

· To gain spiritual strength

· To experience companionship through shared 'ordeals'.

After a couple of hours the body is sure to feel uncomfortable, and starts complaining like a spoilt child for its usual supplies of food and drink. But Muslims allow the mind to take control. The body will not get its way. The path of

Get Access