By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Kampala Resident City Commissioner (RCC)Hajat Faridah Mayanja Mpiima has advised Muslim women to desist from acts that would spoil their fasting period and instead participate in humanitarian activities like donating to orphans, the sick and the elderly.
Mayanja said this while addressing the press at her office located along Nakasero road, in Kampala.
“Some of you lie to allah that you’re not fasting because you’re sick when as not, please allah knows you better than yourself. This is the season where we come up closer with our Allah, once we have that opportunity, let’s do our best, it’s during this fasting season that we need to serve needy, sick and elderly, allah calls us during this season to look after his people who are in need,” she said.
But What’s The Meaning Of Fasting To Muslims?
Fasting is another unique moral and spiritual characteristic of Islam. Literally, fasting means to abstain “completely” from foods, drinks, intimate intercourse and smoking, before the break of the dawn till sunset, during the entire month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year.
Ramazan, Ramzan, Ramadhan, or Ramathan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (sawm), prayer, reflection and community.A commemoration of the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad,the annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one visual sighting of the crescent moon to the next.
The word Ramadan derives from the Arabic root ramiḍa or ar-ramaḍ (“scorching heat” or “dryness”).Fasting is fard (obligatory) for adult Muslims, except those who are ill, travelling, elderly, pregnant, breastfeeding, diabetic, chronically ill, or menstruating. Although fatwas have been issued declaring that Muslims who live in regions with a midnight sun or polar night should follow the timetable of Mecca, the more commonly accepted opinion is that they should instead follow the timetable of the closest country to them in which night can be distinguished from day.
While fasting from dawn until sunset, believers refrain from food, drink, smoking, sexual relations, and sinful behavior that may negate the reward of fasting,striving to purify themselves and increase their taqwa (good deeds and God-consciousness). The predawn meal is referred to as suhoor, while the nightly feasts to break the fast is called iftar. Spiritual rewards (thawab) for fasting are believed to be multiplied during the month of Ramadan, when believers devote themselves to salat (prayer), recitation of the Quran and the performance of charitable deeds.
