RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COURCEWORK
Ramadan
Mehreen Iqbal Khan
10.7
Part A:
According to the Islamic calendar, Ramadan is the 9th Islamic month, in which all Muslims fats for 29 or 30 days. Ramadan holds great importance for Muslims for a number of reasons. Sawm is the Arabic word for fasting, particularly in the month of Ramadan. This is one of the five pillars of Islam, and should be done by all Muslims. Fasting in the month of Ramadan is a commandment from Allah, and shouldn't be ignored by any Muslim. Those who decide to go against Allah and not follow this commandment given by him are committing a big sin and will be punished on the day of judgement.
Travellers, breast feeding women, pregnant women, sick people, old people, and disabled people (insane person) do not have to fast. As the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has said "that the insane person is not responsible for anything until he comes back to sanity". They can be forgiven because of the excuses they have, but they need to feed a poor person for every fast that they miss.
There are certain rules to be followed while you are fasting. One of those rules is that, there should be no sexual intercourse during the fasting hours. But as the fasting hours end, sexual intercourse is allowed till fajr, when another fast begins. You are to avoid swearing, lying and back chatting about people. If there is any of that, then your fast simply doesn't get counted, because you are saying bad things about other people, which you shouldn't be doing. If you want other people to think well about you, then there is no reason why you should be talking bad about other people.
There should be no eating or drinking during the fasting hours, but if you eat something accident ...