Some Resources for Ramadan
Wikipedia has a very wonderfully succinct yet complete article on Ramadan. I usually refer to moonsighting.com for the day ramadan begins in the northern hemisphere. Muslims use a lunar calendar, referred to as the islamic calendar, rather than a gregorian one. Here's a wonderful article with 10 things listed and summarized that you may not know about Ramadan. A YouTube video with 10 suggestions to succeed in Ramadan.
It is said about fasting that it is the one thing you do for god alone. Noone knows you are fasting unless you tell them. Not only are you put in rememberance of the poor when the pangs of hunger hit during the day, you remember that all you have comes from god and can be taken away by him. Keep in mind there are allowances in place for those who are pregnant or who have health issues that would make fasting a hardship. Another of the mercies of god. If one eats sensibly and mindfully of fasting one can be relatively free of discomforts of fasting. But fasting isn't only the denial of food for a prescribed time, it's a denial of all those habits and practices we have fallen into over the year that we should not do.
Ramadan is also an opportunity to curb one's temper, tongue (whether caustic or foul), to read qur'an, to really engage in "random acts of kindness", to mend fences and build bridges. It is a time when all our good deeds are rewarded exponentially and our bad deeds are forgiven in multitudes. It is a time when those things that prevent our doing what's right are removed as obstacles in the way. The devils are chained.
PS: I just realized I'd not made this viewable to everyone when I posted it initially. Sorry.
[07/26/11: Date changed to bump up in journal.]
It is said about fasting that it is the one thing you do for god alone. Noone knows you are fasting unless you tell them. Not only are you put in rememberance of the poor when the pangs of hunger hit during the day, you remember that all you have comes from god and can be taken away by him. Keep in mind there are allowances in place for those who are pregnant or who have health issues that would make fasting a hardship. Another of the mercies of god. If one eats sensibly and mindfully of fasting one can be relatively free of discomforts of fasting. But fasting isn't only the denial of food for a prescribed time, it's a denial of all those habits and practices we have fallen into over the year that we should not do.
Ramadan is also an opportunity to curb one's temper, tongue (whether caustic or foul), to read qur'an, to really engage in "random acts of kindness", to mend fences and build bridges. It is a time when all our good deeds are rewarded exponentially and our bad deeds are forgiven in multitudes. It is a time when those things that prevent our doing what's right are removed as obstacles in the way. The devils are chained.
PS: I just realized I'd not made this viewable to everyone when I posted it initially. Sorry.
[07/26/11: Date changed to bump up in journal.]