Yasin's Special Ramadan Task

[Phteven]

Now that Yasin is nearly 3 his job is to serve dates when it's time to break the fast. He also gets his Dad a glass (plastic cup lol) of water.
I think he likes having a special job although he usually helps himself to dates and needs to get a few more lol.

[Michelle71]

Chloe - at what age will Yasin participate in the fasting?? Are there stages children go through in the years leading to them fasting at Ramadan??

[Phteven]

Michelle my plan is to introduce it gradually - in primary school he can do a mini-fast where he fasts for just a few hours before Iftar (the meal at the end of the fast) and then when he gets older he can choose when he's ready to fast a full day. I wouldn't expect him to fast the whole month of Ramadan until he reaches adulthood but if he wants to when he's a teenager I wouldn't try and stop him.
But Ramadan is about more than the physical dimension of fasting - you're also expected to try to be a better person who argues less and does less backstabbing etc so I'm hoping that I can start introducing those concepts a bit younger.

[Phteven]

yeah, it can be a bit challenging doing the cooking when you're so hungry. The shopping is even worse. When I go shopping when I'm fasting I bring home so many snack foods lol.

[Antheia]

So can you still eat at night or not at all? Just curious

[Phteven]

Tegan, the fast is from sunrise to sunset so at night you can eat and drink as much as you like. Some people eat so much at night that they actually put weight on during Ramadan.

[Michelle71]

One of the moments when night shift would be preferable What other aspects are there to Ramadan - fasting, being a better person by refraining from negative behaviours?? What other things can you do?? I work (usually) in health and it is challenge with the older population who are unwell but still attempt the fasting aspect of Ramadan. What alternatives could they do to respect the principles??

[Antheia]

Yeah i'd be interested to know too about what else you do?

[paradise lost]

Aw that's sweet for Yasin! A big grown-up job for Ramadan

My friend Shaz tells me she did an afternoon fast from age 6 or 7, not everyday, but sometimes, and then every afternoon when she was 9, then when she was 11 she did her first full-day fast every Thursday of Ramadan (and afternoon fasts in between). She fasted her first full Ramadan when she was 13 (after her periods had begun). Her parents never pushed it but supported it, if you know what i mean? Like they never criticised if she wasn't ready to fast, but they praised when she decided to, they discouraged full fasting until she'd hit puberty - is this one of the rules? She said the extra day prayers and got up for the Taraweeh (?) from age about 9 she thinks.

Bx

[Heaven]

That's very cute, lol.

Thinking about Ramadan, is it a coincidence that it's around the same time as the day of atonement, which came about because of this:

After the Ten Commandments were given to Israel on Pentecost, Moses ascended Mt. Sinai and remained there 40 days to receive the Tablets. He descended on the 17th of Tammuz and broke the Tablets because the people worshipped the Golden Calf. For forty days Moses set up his tent beyond the camp of Israel, and the people mourned. On the 1st of Elul (sixth month), Moses ascended the mountain to receive the Second Tablets. During this period the Hebrews fasted daily from sunrise to sunset. On the 40th day they fasted from sunset to sunset. This was Tishri 10. On the morning of the 10th, the Hebrews wept when Moses came down with the tablets, and he wept when he beheld their repentance. Then God said, "Your repentance is accepted, and this day will remain the Day of Atonement throughout all generations

I also read somewhere, now I can't find it, that mohammed did observe the day of atonement but then he changed it later to Ramadan? Would this be right? I'm learning that there are a lot of similarities between the religions.

Oh I think I might have just found the answer, looked it up and this is what it said:

Many are aware that Muslims devote an entire month--that of Ramadan--to a fast that extends through the daylight hours, coinciding with the revelation of the Koran, the sacred scripture of Islam. The fast is known as the sawm (identical to the Hebrew word for a fast, tzom). Less widely known is the fact that the institution of Ramadan took the place of an earlier practice, a single-day (24 hour) fast known in Arabic as the Ashura.

Islamic tradition bases this custom on a reference in the Koran (2:183-187) to keeping "the fast as it was prescribed for those before you". Muslim tradition explains that "those before you" were the Jews, and that Muhammad in this passage was commanding that his followers adopt the Jewish custom of fasting on the Day of Atonement.
The Arabic word Ashura is none other than the Hebrew word Asor, the tenth, the term used in the Bible (Leviticus 16:29, etc.) to designate the date of the holiday (the tenth day of the seventh month).
The origin of this precept is described in the Muslim "oral tradition" (Hadith) as collected by the noted 9th century authority, Al-Bukhari:

When the Prophet came to al-Madinah he found that the Jews observed the fast of Ashura. He enquired about this and was told that it was the day on which God had delivered the Children of Israel from the enemy and Moses used to keep a fast on it as an expression of gratitude to the Almighty. The Prophet thereupon remarked that "Moses has a greater claim upon me than upon you," and he fasted on that day and instructed his followers to do the same.

[sofy]

hi and salaams (peace) to you all,

i'm ttc after my son passed away in july shortly after he was born. i would like to request you to pray for me also in this blessed month, who knows who's prayers are being accepted.....

michelle71
i think elderly people who are medically unfit to fast can compensate for fasting by feeding the poor. i beleive this is only an option if there is no chance for their health getting better.

sarajane
we fast at 'ashura' but we have to keep two fast. on the day of ashura the day before or the day after. but, fasting on these two days is optional unlike the fasting in rmadhan which has to be done.

[feeb]

A question re pregnant woman and fasting.

Do they have to do it or do they get an exemption? And if they dont do it when preg do they have to make it up??

Also what about breastfeeding woman.

[sofy]

the same rule applies for fasting women if theyare medically unfit (which generally ther are) they are exempt from fasting. but, as there chance of getting better is almost definite they can't compensate by feeding the poor they have to make them up once they are better. in th uk this is usually best done in december as sunrise and sunset are so close together .

with women who are breastfeeding it depends on the individual if tehy feel fit enough to fast and the fasting is not depriving the child. but if missed its the same as with pregant women they have to be made up at a later date.

i may be wrong! but. im sure this is what i was taught at muslim school...

[feeb]

Ahh great thanks for that always curious about all these things