A question for Muslims?

Question

Do you really really manage to fast the whole entire Ramadan, or do you sometimes cheat? And if you really fast - how does it affect your physical and mental health?

B, it must be hard to be so virtuous on an empty stomach! Do you have to be all those stuff also after Ramadan is over?

Yes, Furqaan, I do try it a few times a year, like on Yom Kippur :) You see, we have one day of repentence, not a whole month.

Answer 1

fasting is between dawn to sunset..In my experience and observation almost all muslims fast sincierely.

Answer 2

it's not hard at all......It's a great feeling to know that there have been so many great things about this month and I feel honored to fast for the sake of my god! It might be hard for the first couple days , but ultimately it's given me sooooo much power that I didn't know was there. I never cheat, cuz each day is so precious. I wish that we could fast 11 months instead of 1 ........Physically and mentally it's draining, but I try to keep busy. Funny thing for me is when I first started out fasting , I would dread the stomach pains and thought oh god it's going to be like this for another 8 hours !! but then the pain is their for like a minute and then it disappears and it might happen again another couple times , but then the power of the body is amazing (and consider it a blessing from god to make this fast easy on oneself) it completely is gone for me and I can make it jsut fine...

Answer 3

Only the first few days are hard... the rest of it your body kinda adjusts to it...

Eating your fast has a huge penalty... which is that you can NEVER actually make it up... each day you eat without a legit excuse is equal to 60 days of fasting and/or feeding 60 poor ppl PLUS the day you broke your fast...

The only thing that fasting affects is that it changes my study schedule... I used to study in the evening towards the end of the night... now I study from dawn until whenever I can... :) or sometimes stay awake at night to study but I do that in non-fasting times too... so its not that different...

Answer 4

Yes (the Quran puts exceptions for those who are 1- Sick 2- on a trip/journey) but women do not fast during their Menstrual period.

Physical: Well Muslims tend to eat alot after Iftar but the effects are mostly positive, it's like body cleansing.

Mental Health: During the fast we must show patience, we cannot say bad things and we cannot do bad things, we must avoid sin, we must help anyone that asks for our help, we must give money / food to those that ask for it. Also Fasting teaches discipline, and also the Prophet is reported to have said that Fasting helps Muslims who are well Off and able to provide for themselves to sympathize with those people who are poor and cannot find anything to eat everyday, this will encourage Muslims to reach out and help these poor people through Charity. Ramadan also brings a feeling of Unity.. all the Muslims break their fast at the same time (Sunset).

edit: it could be hard but the Prophet said that if one fasts only by leaving food and drink, and does not fast spiritually (from saying / doing bad things) then his / her fast is useless because God does not want us to be fasting and at the same time doing things that go against the whole point of fasting.

Well Ramadan is the most blessed month of the Year, and fasting helps remind us not to do whatever bad deed we're about to do, but yes we should try to keep these virtues throughout the whole year but that does not mean we have to be perfect, no one is perfect.

Answer 5

There is no such thing as 'cheating' in Islam, God knows the real reason why some Muslims don't fast. Anyway, it doesn't really effect my physical health, but after I've fasted around 6 hours I feel tired and irritated but I suppose that hows it feels for those out there who don't have anything to eat, or even worse.

Answer 6

Eat just enough to survive between sunset and a little before sunrise.

It makes your spiritual side overpower the physical (weakness) of the flesh.

If done correctly the person will actually receive sustenance spiritually and become even stronger than they did by eating and filling the stomach.......

Then only a small amount if food will be needed since actual "strength" will be spiritual in nature.

10 days after Ramadhan is extra to make a complete 40 days.

.

Answer 7

Nope no cheating lol
Between Dawn till sunset. We have breakfast at sunset time and it is prefered to to have another meal (Sohoor) later at night before dawn comes.
It is one of the main pillars of islam. The people who are supposed to fast and Adults (not kids).
Only 3 groups of people are permitted not to fast. Those who are travelling, those who are sick, and women in their periods.
Those 3 groups are required to compensate for the days they missed from Ramadan any time they want and the deadline is the next Ramadan.
There are people who cannot fast at all such as those who have chronic illness and need medications all the time or else they would suffer and very old people who cannot tolerate fasting they are not required to fast. I think they should give other food as breakfast instead of fasting (this last sentece I need to check with sources about the way of compensation)
Those who are not sick and not travelling and are fit for fasting are required to fast and if they dont they suffer a penalty in the after life may god have mercy on them.

Some people just forget that they are fasting (not "pretend" to forget lol) and by mistake get a sip of water or eat something and after that they remember. It is ok. That doesnt really break your fasting. God is merciful he wont punish someone about something that he forgot or was out of his hands to control.

They say fasting is a healthy way of dieting and regulating weight. You can live your daily life normaly although some times you would feel hungry at the end of the day but since you are an adult you can easily tolerate it.
I think it also regulates your Cholesterol and lipid levels in your blood. As long as you dont just go and eat alot of fat and oil at night.
Also it raises the insulin resistance and with some exercise after breakfast you have less chances of developing diabetes.
Personal experience: Fasting helped me tolerate dieting and I lost 33Kg in 1.5 year ;p

Finally the mose important thing about Fasting. Fasting isnt really about not eating or drinking. Fasting is about polishing your manners and the way you behave with other people under those conditions. Mohammad PBUH says that those who fast all day but go and fight that person, swears at others, and troubles others the only thing he is going to be rewarded at the end of the day is his suffering from hunger and thirst.
This means that every bad behaviour you do specially towards other keeps chipping away from all the good deeds/reward/(Hasanaat) you are supposed to get at the end of the day untill you end up with nothing in your scale. So you would have suffered hunger and thirst all for nothing.
So you should be good all day long so that you get your reward.

Thank god I have this religion that teaches people to love each other and respect each other and aims to polish good behaviours in humans like that.

And peace brothers and sisters

Answer 8

Of course we do fast Ramadan unless if a person is sick yes he is able not to fast taht day. Fasting will never affect us phisically or mentally . DURING Ramadan I become more happier than any day before.

Answer 9

well, the muslims that are really dedicated to islam, unless they have problems, do fast daily the whole ramadan, and u know fasting daily means keeping urself from all kind of mental and physical enjoyment since dawn to dusk. so fasting dsn't only means starving, it also means keeping all kind of desire out of ur mind.

physical effect: it affects a lot. it weakens ur sexual desire. prophet mohammed (pbuh) suggested those ppl, who r not married and can't control sexual urges, to fast as many days as possible. scientifically fasting is also good for health. check the link out http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f02/web1/wcarroll.html

mental health: it gives muslim a kind of peace that all the day they r dedicating themselves to the great almighty allah. and as in this month all the good and bad works are counted after mulipltying with a big number, ppl try to avoid evils as much as they can. i mean that if u do a bad work in this month, it will be counted as thousands times of itself, and if u do a good deed, it will be counted thousand times of itself too. Ppl try their best to do good works at this month. and mentally they feel fresh and so on.
and one more thing is that after fasting all the day, breaking fast at the end of the day gives a divine feeling that can't be compared with anything else.

Answer 10

I want to echo what has been said by my brothers and sisters above and add one thing.

Fasting is done for the sake of God. In it we remember our love for God and our true connection with inner divine guidance. Through the purification of fasting from food, drink, sex, anger, anmity, greed, etc. we draw closer to God and remember God throughout the day.

At night, even though we are not required to fast, we are encouraged to do extra acts of worship such as certain types of prayers that can be done alone at home or together in the masjid. Thes extra prayers, and reading of the Qur'an increase our spiritual life and deepen our heart connection with God.

May your fast be accepted and easy, insha'allah!

Peace and Blessings,

Imam Salim

Answer 11

I fast during the whole month unless I'm traveling or have an exam, the first few days its hard to change the schedule but later it feels good...
People can break the fast before noon if they think they can't keep it for the day or feel sick, and people who don't feel well don't have to fast...
I think its harder for smokers than non-smokers...