Ramadan

[teacherorpreacher]

Sorry if this is the wrong place. We are a group of friends in a chat group. Today one of the group posted a group message and said to our Muslim friend...bet you are glad Ramadan is nearly over I could never do that I like my food too much...friend who is practicing Ramadan phoned me upset because she felt that our friend that had posted that remark was being disrespectful to her and her religion. I totally agree with her. So what I am asking is do you think I should say something to the poster friend that she has upset my friend or is it between them and I should but out. TIA

Instead of engaging in a he said/she said bitch fest I would keep out. Instead of being offended but not saying anything about it your Muslim friend could have used it as an opportunity to educate the group in a nice way. So something like ‘you’ve really missed the point of Ramadan, it’s all about xxxxxxxx. I wouldn’t go round saying that to any other Muslims!’

Agree with this (am a Muslim observing Ramadan)

You could read it as the non Muslim being empathetic. They recognise the difficulty of fasting and wants to acknowledge that in the way people often do - jokingly.

I have a friend who runs marathons most weeks. I have much respect for them and am sure I have jokingly said - I could not do what you are doing as I value my sofa too much. It doesn't mean I am not in awe at what they do.

Fasting is difficult - I have a few friends doing it and they tell me how much a struggle they find it.

Why do you think she's being disrespectful? Was that your opinion before your friend called you?

If your friends Muslim it is absolutely not the first time somebody's said that to her and it's not disrespectful in the slightest.

If she wanted to, she could use the opportunity to explain that Ramadan is more than just fasting, and why Muslims do it.

As a Muslim I'm not sure why your friend is offended. You can't expect people who don't follow Islam to know the full meaning behind the concept of Ramadhan. Rather than getting offended it would be better to educate and have an open dialogue. Getting offended and not providing an explanation just breeds more ignorance towards religion. Its not just about abstaining from food and drink. Its about discipline and engaging in more acts of worship and good deeds. Or abstaining from something considered sinful that you have done outside of Ramadhan and you carry on abstaining from that sin. If you can abstain during Ramadhan then you can abstain outside of Ramadhan. Or the good deed or worship you took up during Ramadhan you can continue it outside of Ramadhan. You will hear others say its to feel how how the poor people feel who don't have food or water. That's only a very minute part. It is also a very charitable month.

Also just to add .. things that are usually halal for us such as eating and drinking we abstain from during sunrise and sunset. So if we can abstain from those then we can abstain from any haram acts. That's probably a more concise way to put it.

Wow. Sounds like the person was trying to be supportive. People can't expect others to be overly sensitive about their mytholigies etc. Massive overreaction tbh. If somebody decides not to eat all day it's pretty reasonable to say "wow you must be hungry" or similar, whatever the reason for their choice to not eat. People can do what they want but can't expect others to walk on eggshells around their random beliefs, and in that I include all religions and a lot of other beliefs with no evidence to support them.

If your friend was offended by that, imagine how Satanists feel, as people often disrespect and say bad stuff about Satan (peace and blessings be upon him).

Don't understand why it's offensive. Think
She was just trying to be supportive in a lighthearted way.

I practice lent. People say the same thing to me every year. Never occurred to me to take offence.