I'm a Muslim and it's Ramadhan - AMA

[ttcchapter1]

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How do you keep your breath fresh during the fast?

This is quite a superficial question and I apologise in advance. One of the newer slimming regimes is intermittent fasting.
Do you find you lose weight during Ramadan

Thank you for this thread! I’ve moved house and my next door neighbours are Muslim. They have been absolutely amazing at welcoming us to the area and at Christmas their daughters baked us cupcakes with Santa on them. I would like to give the children a gift for Eid is there something you would recommend or anything I should avoid? We have never had nice neighbours before so have no idea what is an acceptable gift!

Sorry to butt in. But countries where there is no clear sunrise and sunset eg Iceland and the hour slot of sunlight in winter. They then follow the closest Muslim country which has clearly defined daylight hours and sundown or Saudi Arabia for their hours of fasting. This is decided by the Fiqh council of the particular country and mosques will follow the ruling.

Also anyone making up fasts cannot fast on Eid it’s not permissible. On Eid day every single person celebrates the end of Ramadan and food is shared so nobody goes without food on that day. There’s a specific charity every Muslim able to had to give (we give also on behalf of our children. Whereby each person in the household that can afford it, gives a specific amount per head within each household to feed the poorest who would otherwise not have food. So if there are five people in a household they would give food for five people for Eid day. The amount is small £7 per head maximum this year.

OP I'm not sure why you started this thread if you are not going to come back .

@frazzledasarock thank you that post was really useful

@DrDetriment

OP I'm not sure why you started this thread if you are not going to come back .

Maybe it was your stupid question that stopped the OP from coming back 🤷🏼‍♀️

@Thegreymethod it's not a stupid question though was too direct and pretty rude in a way. I was brought up a Christian, had to get married and go to heaven etc which was great but no one would ever tell me why so I struggled with that. I fully respect every religion and want to know more but I knowing why they believe that is the main question. It isn't to destroy them it's to respect them and their beliefs more

I was interested, not criticising. I would happily answer a similar question about my beliefs. It is an AMA! Perhaps the OP is a convert, perhaps comes from a religious household.

Assalaikum alaikum and Ramadan Mubarak! There's a Ramadan thread in chat where everyone is welcome 💐

I have a simple question. Why are you a Muslim?

I don't know why TheGreyMethod calls that 'a stupid question'. It's everything, really, isn't it?

Presumably the OP is a Muslim because she believes in the faith? Surely that's obvious.... 🥴

@madmomma

How do you keep your breath fresh during the fast?

It's not my thread but in the OP's absence I can answer this question.

There is a saying of the Prophet: “By the One in Whose Hand my soul is, the breath of the fasting person is more pleasant with Allah than the smell of musk.”

So people are encouraged not to be self conscious about their breath. I brush my teeth with toothpaste. Some people don't want to put something so strongly flavoured in their mouths while fasting, so they may prefer to brush before dawn.

In the time of the Prophet people used a 'miswak' - a twig from a particular tree that when cut the inner strands are like the bristles of a toothbrush, and it contains a fragrant sap which cleans the teeth. You can buy them in many shops and some people prefer to use this than toothpaste during the fasting day.

Point is, there is no right or wrong so long as the intention is good.

@Thestoppedfan

Thank you for this thread! I’ve moved house and my next door neighbours are Muslim. They have been absolutely amazing at welcoming us to the area and at Christmas their daughters baked us cupcakes with Santa on them. I would like to give the children a gift for Eid is there something you would recommend or anything I should avoid? We have never had nice neighbours before so have no idea what is an acceptable gift!

This type of question gets asked a lot on MN. The simple answer is the usual things you might give to anyone, barring a bottle of wine! Go for vegan/vegetarian if getting any kind of food. I'm sure your neighbours will appreciate the thought.

When you have your morning meal, do you have to stay up for the day after that, or can you go back to sleep? A colleague fasts and I find it jncredible, the resilience it must take is off the scale to me!

We definitely go back to sleep, even if it's for an hour. It's school holidays now so we sleep in as long as possible.

@CharityShopChic

Why does Ramadan happen at a different time each year? I remember possibly 5 or 6 years ago chatting with my DD's friend's mum at a sports day in a blistering hot June and she wasn't drinking water because of Ramadan. Something to do with the moon?

Yes. Ramadan is the 9th month of the lunar calendar, which is about 10 days shorter than the solar calendar so Ramadan will be 10 days earlier each year. This means that while we fast long hours in the summer, we fast short hours in the winter (unless we live nearer the equator).