7 ms·

I will add, the fasting from food and water is the easy part. The more important fast is fasting from everything that is bad -- cursing, backbiting, lying, etc

I will add, the fasting from food and water is the easy part. The more important fast is fasting from everything that is bad -- cursing, backbiting, lying, etc -- and from your own desires. All these things are things you shouldn't do anyway, but this is a time to refresh commitment to not doing those things. As the Quran says: "Oh, you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may learn piety and righteousness" [Quran 2:183]

peanuty1 3y ago
Fasting from sexual desires is the hardest part for me.
- BossingAround 3y ago
  It's from sunrise to sunset, no? Can't you get it on at night instead of during the day?
  - muzani 3y ago
    Technically, yes. Many treat it similar to NNN, though. As in sex with spouses is fine, but they take advantage of the holy month to quit pornography.
  - vladvasiliu 3y ago
    Don't know how this works for Muslims, but if it's anything like for Christians, the goal is to not have the desires to begin with, not just refrain from acting on them (though that's a good start).
    - Aerbil313 3y ago
      How can average Joe have no desires? I understand and know that monk-like complete refrain from worldy pleasures really leads to having no desires at all (a type of ego-death), and this has some place in Islam too, although it is not obligatory for every muslim. In Ramadan, the goal for a muslim is to not act upon forbidden desires for Allah’s sake.
    - 35208654 3y ago
      I’m skeptical of this point. Growing up Baptist, I was taught that temptation itself is not a sin because Christ was sinless and he was tempted in the desert by the devil.
    - BossingAround 3y ago
      > the goal is to not have the desires to begin with Which is an empty exercise. You can't "stop having desires" for a month. Just another ritual to control the population, huh?
  - Aerbil313 3y ago
    Yes you totally can.
tradertef 3y ago
>> I will add, the fasting from food and water is the easy part. Yes, sleep deprivation is the most difficult part. Going to bed late due to invitations, prayers.. getting up early morning to eat breakfast and waking up for work :)
hqudsi 3y ago
Yea I like to describe fasting like going super saiyan but in spirituality and religiosity.
jorts 3y ago
Thanks for that insight. I didn't realize it extended beyond food/water/certain vices.
- HarryHirsch 3y ago
  The Christian tradition calls it "fasting, prayer and almsgiving".
  - _a_a_a_ 3y ago
    does it correspond to lent in some way?
    - Jorengarenar 3y ago
      "Lent"?
      - _a_a_a_ 3y ago
        yes, this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent
theobeers 3y ago
No smoking all day is a big deal for many Muslims in the Middle East. One year I was living in Cairo during Ramadan, and each day when it got close to the sunset call to prayer (which heralds the end of the fast), it seemed like all the cab drivers had cigarettes in hand, waiting eagerly to light up.
- thuridas 3y ago
  It is a shame that it didn't lead them to stop smoking
  - kjellsbells 3y ago
    Humans are hilariously fallible. I find it interesting that , somehow, preparing for Lent, a time to eat simply and consider the elevation of your soul, became Mardi Gras, an excuse to let it all rip.
    - atchoo 3y ago
      Hah, I didn't know that. It's like Pancake Day in the UK. Traditionally the time to use up sugar/milk/eggs before lent but turns into everyone buying extra to pig out on. To think we could have got Mardi Gras instead.
  - H8crilA 3y ago
    People underappreciate how addictive nicotine is. I've been an addict for 15 years and I quit so many times, sometimes for longer than a year. The new smoking inventions only make it worse because they allow for much much higher dosages. I've seen teens smoking what amounts to 10 packs a day worth of nicotine. And they didn't have to chain smoke for 12 hours to achieve that.
    - girishso 3y ago
      What new smoking inventions? Genuinely interested.
tokyolights2 3y ago
> and from your own desires As a non-religious gay I probably wasn't invited anyway. But this kind of thinking is what leads conservatives to so much repression and hate. The idea that the wants and needs of your body are something which the mind must actively fight. That the scratchy, ill-fitting wool sweater of your culture is something that you must keep on at all costs. And it leads to resentment of people who are not under such self-imposed restrictions. There is a reason in queer culture that 'shadiness' is a bigger sin than anger. Shadiness is what happens when someone represses their true feelings. Those feelings don't go away though, they just resurface in other unexpected and non-adaptive ways.
- n1b0m 3y ago
  You could say the same thing about extreme endurance sports. It’s not about looking down on other people. It’s about appreciating what you have and for one month putting yourself in the shoes of those for whom even one meal a day isn’t something they can take for granted.
- pwillia7 3y ago
  I'm non religious too and I take your point, but to play devil's advocate -- Most of civilization and the ability for humans to live and cooperate together in large groups, requires us to move past our base wants, desires and the actions they would create. Even if you want to burn down my house and murder me because I wronged you or slighted your family, that's not morally correct. We have secular law to codify what we see as morally right and I think it makes sense that before states really existed or unified people through national myths, that function was served by Gods
- throwaway6734 3y ago
  The ability to repress desires to focus on long term goals or to develop appreciate for the satiating of those desires is a good long term skill to have. Distance makes the heart grow fonder
- Brendinooo 3y ago
  Repressing my desire to eat every bit of food in front of me helps me on the scale. Repressing desires to stay on the couch and going for a run instead gives me freedom to experience the world without being out of breath or stopping halfway on the hike. Repressing desires to keep all of my money for myself leads me to be more charitable, which is better for others. So yeah, self-control is a great thing to cultivate because the presence of a desire does not mean that the desire is good. And even if it's not bad, then it's something that can hinder a greater good.
n1b0m 3y ago
I find the lack of sleep the hardest. You don’t really miss the lack of food or water unless you’re in a hot climate.
- throwaway128128 3y ago
  You sleep less during Ramadan?
  - smusamashah 3y ago
    Depends on which part of the big ball you are located. If the nights are smaller for you, there isn't really a way to get good long sleep.
  - n1b0m 3y ago
    Yes, especially near the end. You need to stop eating when the first rays of light can be seen which is a few hours before sunrise. As this starts becoming earlier and earlier you get to a point where it’s hardly worth going to sleep and waking up to eat. Also, you’re in the mosque till late for night prayers.

peanuty1 3y ago

Fasting from sexual desires is the hardest part for me.

BossingAround 3y ago
It's from sunrise to sunset, no? Can't you get it on at night instead of during the day?
- muzani 3y ago
  Technically, yes. Many treat it similar to NNN, though. As in sex with spouses is fine, but they take advantage of the holy month to quit pornography.
- vladvasiliu 3y ago
  Don't know how this works for Muslims, but if it's anything like for Christians, the goal is to not have the desires to begin with, not just refrain from acting on them (though that's a good start).
  - Aerbil313 3y ago
    How can average Joe have no desires? I understand and know that monk-like complete refrain from worldy pleasures really leads to having no desires at all (a type of ego-death), and this has some place in Islam too, although it is not obligatory for every muslim. In Ramadan, the goal for a muslim is to not act upon forbidden desires for Allah’s sake.
  - 35208654 3y ago
    I’m skeptical of this point. Growing up Baptist, I was taught that temptation itself is not a sin because Christ was sinless and he was tempted in the desert by the devil.
  - BossingAround 3y ago
    > the goal is to not have the desires to begin with Which is an empty exercise. You can't "stop having desires" for a month. Just another ritual to control the population, huh?
- Aerbil313 3y ago
  Yes you totally can.

tradertef 3y ago

>> I will add, the fasting from food and water is the easy part. Yes, sleep deprivation is the most difficult part. Going to bed late due to invitations, prayers.. getting up early morning to eat breakfast and waking up for work :)

hqudsi 3y ago

Yea I like to describe fasting like going super saiyan but in spirituality and religiosity.

jorts 3y ago

Thanks for that insight. I didn't realize it extended beyond food/water/certain vices.

HarryHirsch 3y ago
The Christian tradition calls it "fasting, prayer and almsgiving".
- _a_a_a_ 3y ago
  does it correspond to lent in some way?
  - Jorengarenar 3y ago
    "Lent"?
    - _a_a_a_ 3y ago
      yes, this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent

theobeers 3y ago

No smoking all day is a big deal for many Muslims in the Middle East. One year I was living in Cairo during Ramadan, and each day when it got close to the sunset call to prayer (which heralds the end of the fast), it seemed like all the cab drivers had cigarettes in hand, waiting eagerly to light up.

thuridas 3y ago
It is a shame that it didn't lead them to stop smoking
- kjellsbells 3y ago
  Humans are hilariously fallible. I find it interesting that , somehow, preparing for Lent, a time to eat simply and consider the elevation of your soul, became Mardi Gras, an excuse to let it all rip.
  - atchoo 3y ago
    Hah, I didn't know that. It's like Pancake Day in the UK. Traditionally the time to use up sugar/milk/eggs before lent but turns into everyone buying extra to pig out on. To think we could have got Mardi Gras instead.
- H8crilA 3y ago
  People underappreciate how addictive nicotine is. I've been an addict for 15 years and I quit so many times, sometimes for longer than a year. The new smoking inventions only make it worse because they allow for much much higher dosages. I've seen teens smoking what amounts to 10 packs a day worth of nicotine. And they didn't have to chain smoke for 12 hours to achieve that.
  - girishso 3y ago
    What new smoking inventions? Genuinely interested.

tokyolights2 3y ago

> and from your own desires As a non-religious gay I probably wasn't invited anyway. But this kind of thinking is what leads conservatives to so much repression and hate. The idea that the wants and needs of your body are something which the mind must actively fight. That the scratchy, ill-fitting wool sweater of your culture is something that you must keep on at all costs. And it leads to resentment of people who are not under such self-imposed restrictions. There is a reason in queer culture that 'shadiness' is a bigger sin than anger. Shadiness is what happens when someone represses their true feelings. Those feelings don't go away though, they just resurface in other unexpected and non-adaptive ways.

n1b0m 3y ago
You could say the same thing about extreme endurance sports. It’s not about looking down on other people. It’s about appreciating what you have and for one month putting yourself in the shoes of those for whom even one meal a day isn’t something they can take for granted.
pwillia7 3y ago
I'm non religious too and I take your point, but to play devil's advocate -- Most of civilization and the ability for humans to live and cooperate together in large groups, requires us to move past our base wants, desires and the actions they would create. Even if you want to burn down my house and murder me because I wronged you or slighted your family, that's not morally correct. We have secular law to codify what we see as morally right and I think it makes sense that before states really existed or unified people through national myths, that function was served by Gods
throwaway6734 3y ago
The ability to repress desires to focus on long term goals or to develop appreciate for the satiating of those desires is a good long term skill to have. Distance makes the heart grow fonder
Brendinooo 3y ago
Repressing my desire to eat every bit of food in front of me helps me on the scale. Repressing desires to stay on the couch and going for a run instead gives me freedom to experience the world without being out of breath or stopping halfway on the hike. Repressing desires to keep all of my money for myself leads me to be more charitable, which is better for others. So yeah, self-control is a great thing to cultivate because the presence of a desire does not mean that the desire is good. And even if it's not bad, then it's something that can hinder a greater good.

n1b0m 3y ago

I find the lack of sleep the hardest. You don’t really miss the lack of food or water unless you’re in a hot climate.

throwaway128128 3y ago
You sleep less during Ramadan?
- smusamashah 3y ago
  Depends on which part of the big ball you are located. If the nights are smaller for you, there isn't really a way to get good long sleep.
- n1b0m 3y ago
  Yes, especially near the end. You need to stop eating when the first rays of light can be seen which is a few hours before sunrise. As this starts becoming earlier and earlier you get to a point where it’s hardly worth going to sleep and waking up to eat. Also, you’re in the mosque till late for night prayers.