Does it mean we (Muslims) have to fast on Friday... or the first fast is on Saturday?
I didnt fast today... and dont want to be buggered
I was gonna follow according to London times, but Thanks EF, can get enough information here too.
Starting Friday 21 August?
I am also following my old local London mosque and will start to fast tomorrow inshallah - Ramadan Mubarak everyone.
Anyone know which mosques do Taraweeh?
As a muslim, you do not HAVE TO fast. It is a choice
Yes, most Mosques start tomorrow.
Does anyone know where I can get a timetable for Zurich?
and/or the closest mosque in 8001?
Check those places
For timetable : http://www.masjid.ch/linked/ramadan%202009.pdf
Ramazan Mubarek olsun!
For the Turks, it's today the first day of fasting.
Hopefully, it will come easily to the one who does it.
Well just wanted to clarify..people who are sick, travelling, children and babies, mother who is breast feeding, women who are pregnant are not allowed to fast.
If somebody is a heart patient for example or has diabeties and needs to take medicine durign the day does not need to fast.
Only the healthy individuals...
jrspet started this thread with the best of intentions, it would be sad to see it hijacked by anti-religion baiters.
That'll be good for a start ZDA.
Nobody is required to suffer because you are fasting. If a person has mood swings etc than he / she needs to control that as sawm (fasting) does not only mean fasting for food but also fasting from every bad habit/thoughts/actions.
As i said before the idea is not to starve yourself and to see who can survive but the main idea behind is to give up something that you like/desire for the sake of One True God. It makes you more obedient and make you more pious when you keep yourself away from food/drink(that you love) and from every bad habit (that is not good). Allah says in Quran that if you lend a good loan to Him then he multiplies many many times and gives you back in this life and hereafter.
Ramadan trains oneself and keeps you steadfast. It reminds you your obligations to God and others around you. Ramadan is the time when you are supposed to do lot of good deeds, charity, forego your bitterness for the other person etc.
Fasting is one of the pillars of Islam. It is a compulsory act for anybody who has attained an age of 13-14 (puberty). But there are exceptions for people with sickness, travel etc. They can choose to keep fasts in future. Or if he cannot keep fasts because he is very weak or ill than he can feed a poor for every day missed according to his means. Islam does not burden anybody more that what he can bear.
According to me what God says is natural as he created everything. So his commandments are natural and everything else unnatural. If you don't believe than you may think otherwise. It depends on your perception.
I hope i have answered above to your questions.
Taken from http://www.islam.ch/typo3/ for Zurich - screenshot enclosed
There is a calendar ( says 2008 though ) for Luzern here
Some useful links from the same website here
Blimmey, you fast and get it up the backside. That's one tough religion...
That is such a paragraph full of horse poop!!! You must have obtained your facts from a think-tank known as "Your Behind". Gosh!!! sometimes I wonder why in this day and age of the information superhighway, the misinformed headcount keep skyrocketing...
You are both kind of right. Truth is somewhere in the middle.
Up the backside?? is that what buggered means in Swiss?
I only meant, I wouldnt have wanted to miss it...
Thanks ZDA - this thread is about fasting, not about consumption of alcohol.
I have written that based on having lived and worked in both of those countries. So calm down and get your words together.
Classic! Thanks for the laugh
On another note, I've traveled through Morocco, Turkey and Uzbekistan during ramadan and never had a problem finding a place to eat during the day. IN fact, I don't recall seeing locals abstain from food in UZ at all. Morocco was quite special though, I was travelling there alone and if I happened to be out and about at sunset, some guy would inevitably hand me dates to break the fast and bring me to his family's home for a harira. What warm and fuzzy memories.
I would caution against smoking in public (if you're a smoker) because people who fast can't smoke either; their nerves are already on edge and they could get downright snappy if they catch a whiff of cigarette smoke.
I wonder while Fast is broken in dinner time, why we have word "breakfast" for morning meal?!