And the day looms ahead seeming
very long. It’s another dreary morning
here in DC and last night the air was rented with nothing but thunder along
with the sounds of torrential rain. I
briefly thought of those who may still have been out there and thanked Allah
for having given me all that I have so I could stay dry and safe.
So today, on day 3, I've decided
to write quickly about those reasons which exempt us from having to observe the
fast. As you know, nothing about my
writing is ‘quick’ therefore don’t be counting on this to be a short read.
As a child, I think I viewed
Islam as a very rigid, tedious and difficult religion to follow. The things we were required to do, multiple
times a day, the tongue twisting language which it was (is) written in that was
not of my own understanding, the night long prayers, and the fasting…all these
things led me to believe that the rest of the religions around the globe had to
be a bit easier to follow. I had, in my
more youthful silliness, wondered why I wasn't born as something else.
Again and again though, as
knowledge was imparted upon me, I came to realize that Islam best fits me; a
religion which actually isn't meant to be inflexible to follow, not if you don’t
make it so. I admit enlightenment is a
pretty cool thing.
One of the things I believed as a
kid was that no matter what, one had to observe the fast. It didn't strike me that there were a myriad
of ailments and circumstances in this world that would prevent one from this
particular undertaking. But alas one
learns, then learns some more. So here
they are the accepted reasons as to why a person doth not have to suffer from
hunger.
1.)
God has
bestowed upon woman the wonderful curse of having a monthly visitor. Sure, even
as I write this I’m wincing a bit. This epic
jinx hails back to the misdeed of Eve and I must say the punishment seems a bit
severe to me since we are still, so many eons later, paying the price. And boy what a number this particular curse
has done, if you really think about it for it’s not just women who suffer, men
as well. Ask any guy who has to deal
with a female as they traverse through the lovely world of PMS. Not fun.
But yea, this is one excuse as to why the fairer sex does not have to
fast. It’s rational also. Don’t make me have to spell out why it is
there is no nice way of putting it so just go with it. However that being said, it’s not like we’re
excused forever, as in if you miss, you miss.
No indeed, one has to make it up before the next Ramadan. Hey, you have a long time in which to do so;
it’s not that big of a deal. (Err…no
really, it’s not). Oh and guess what you
men out there, this does NOT apply to you (rather stating the obvious here) so
even if you act as if you’re PMS-ing, which some sure do, you can’t use it as
an excuse. Seems unfair? Well would you switch sides with women, even
for a minute and go through the pain and discomfort, never mind the whole ugly
rest of it? Think about it. No,
right? Okay then.
2.) Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s Off to ______ we go. Oh I know the lyrics to this song but I
left it out simply because ‘work’ isn't appropriate in this reference. Just because you’re working doesn't excuse
you from the fast. Sorry buddies, suck
it up. This of course means slugging
through an endless day of watching other people eat, drink and be
hydrated. Oh the unfairness of it all! But, if you’re traveling anywhere for less than 5 days, you can give it a
rest. Basically, if you have a bag
packed and going great distances, no worries, you can make up your fast
later. Again proof that God is all knowing,
correct? I mean even the Big Dude is
like ‘well that’s not reasonable, the persons going to be traveling, putting up
with some physical discomfort and not even I know where they’ll be during the
time of fast or whether they’ll have access to food…shoot I’ll just cut them
some slack.” Again may be not a verbatim
quote from the Quran but that’s about right (I think). You guys know I’m all about taking a bit of
creative license. It’s far more amusing
and less hard to understand. Okay, so
moving on…
3.) Oh, you’re pregnant, how nice…what’re you
having? Yea so if you got knocked up
and are happily glowing away to infinity and beyond, guess what, you probably
have to eat, or at least take meds. In
this case you can rest easy (or I bet uncomfortably from what I heard) with the
assurance that after your bundle of joy makes his/her appearance; you have the
chance for a do-over (ahem…of the fast *winks*). It’s good because you’ll have to lose some
weight anyhow right? BTW, I hate those
women who look like they haven’t gained an ounce through their pregnancy, its
super annoying. Bleh. Sorry I digress. Again, another example of how things in Islam
are really just common sense. You have
to sustain the lil tyke that’s growing inside of you, which counts on you for
sustenance and being healthy for it to do what it needs to do. What I don’t get, and have never understood,
are those women who insist upon still observing the fast even when there are
dispensations. It’s silly. God has said its okay then who are you to
negate it? You ain’t actually gaining
any brownie (mmmm…brownies…) points for this so quit hurting yourself as well
as the baby. This also applies to women
nursing.
4.) I’m
always physically ill, what
then? Well this is an interesting one. If you are sick, physically unable and if
doing the fast would put your very life in danger, then you are not required to
fast. In fact, those who are infirm, too
old or count on taking medicine every single day, these people are completely
excused and no, they do not need to make up either. So what do they do? Well they feed one poor person for the whole
month. To break it down, if I can’t observe,
then I will basically sponsor someone else for a day’s worth of food for every
day I miss. This too is nothing but
fair. And convenient as well if you ask
me (which I’m assuming you are)
5.) Oh, you’re off to fight the Huns? Yes you soldiers you, guess what? You don’t have to either. Isn’t that handy? I’m not sure though if you’ll have to make it
up later, I guess my research hasn’t gone that far.
And you don’t have to start the
act of fasting until after puberty.
Listen up kids, you just don’t know how good you got it, take your time
in growing up, seriously, it ain’t all that it’s cracked up to be anyhow.
A few things that you should
refrain from during this month are:
eating (of course), drinking (well duh), vomiting on purpose (so you bulimics
stop it) and sexual relations (no comment)…all these things at least during the
times of the fast. You should also refrain
from the following: violence, anger,
envy, greed, lust, angry/sarcastic retorts, gossip and you’re supposed to be
more kumbaya with your fellow human beings than you otherwise would be. You don’t believe me regarding this
list? Check out wikki. I have to say though; it seems like all the
really good things are taken away from a person, doesn't it? But the return is far greater…I mean heaven is
a fairly good payout.
To summarize: Life is important, the life that Allah
bestows upon you. And even though it
seems like popular sentiment is that Islam is rigid and harsh, it is in fact
quite the opposite. These few rules
above prove that Allah isn't out to make things problematic for us. God isn’t some mean-spirited all-knowing
damning entity who looks for ways of sending you to hell in a hand basket, in
fact quite the opposite. God, to me, is
compassionate, loving and most of all, forgiving. You
have a problem; there is a way to get around it. You need advice, trust me you can easily find
it. You need a bit of understanding and
compassion also? It’s all there in the
Quran. Just take a look see for yourself
if you feel inclined. If not, that’s
cool, you can just believe me.
Alright, I’m off. I think I did my share of doling out wisdom
and ample information.
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