Ramadan For Muslims is now Lent

Ramadan: For Muslims is now Lent

07/13/2013

On Tuesday began the Islamic month of fasting Ramadan. For more than 1.5 billion people, this means one month of austerity and fasting.

17.5 hours daily without food and drink
Since Tuesday, hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world have been fasting from sunrise to sunset. The month of fasting Ramadan, called in Turkish Ramazan, is considered a holy month in their religion, Islam. In Ramadan, which lasts for 29 or 30 days, believers are not allowed to eat, drink, smoke, have sexual intercourse during the day, or indulge in other worldly pleasures. Ramadan follows the Islamic lunar calendar and shifts it by ten days each year. Therefore, the faithful have to fast 17.5 hours a day this year.

Positive effects of fasting
During Ramadan, all Muslims are required to spend the days fasting, with the exception of the sick, pregnant women and children, who have not reached the age of puberty. From a medical point of view, positive effects due to fasting or therapeutic fasting are regarded as proven. Thus, Lent detoxifies the body and can also promote endurance, patience and self-control. However, the fasting should pay particular attention to the signals of their body, as depending on the physical constitution circulatory problems and a drop in blood pressure could occur.

Fasting ban on „sugar Festival“
Unlike Ramadan's general understanding of fasting, Muslims do not completely abstain from eating, but use the evening hours after sunset and the time before dawn to provide the body with essential nutrients. Ramadan is also considered the time for alms and donations. It should also contribute to a stronger sense of solidarity with the poor and those in need. The highlight of Ramadan is the big feast after the month of fasting, which lasts three days and in this country falsely as „sugar Festival“ referred to as. Muslims are not allowed to fast at this festival, which will take place this year from the 8th to the 10th of August. Ramadan 2013 ends on Wednesday, the 7th of August. (Ad)

Also read:
Health benefits of Ramadan fasting

Image: Torsten Born