The above, a Stuff web-site heading explaining Ramadan’s meaning; specifically no eating, no drinking (including water) or sex, between dawn and dusk. This was described as spiritual detoxification, although it sounds a damn sight more physical to me.
Having been in numerous Islamic countries during such occasions, I’ve witnessed the day-time detoxification well and truly compensated for after dusk, with a fair amount of jollity and re-toxification going on.
But that’s only one manifestation of it. There’s another, as probably most Muslims could recount, namely explosive bad tempers. Take this incident for example.
Once sitting with a girl-friend in the back of a Cairo taxi during Ramadan, we pulled up at traffic lights alongside a young fellow on a motor-scooter, with his girlfriend seated behind him.
For some reason our driver and the young bloke began exchanging abuse. Then the lights went green whereupon the scooterist shouted something plainly extremely offensive resulting in our driver going beserk and chasing him through the streets while raging away.
Just as we were closing in, the scooterist panicked, shot across the pavement and through the wide-open doors of a large store. And unbelievably we followed, scattering shoppers everywhere.
We got out and left them to it with the shop customers now all joining into the hullabaloo.
So much for detoxification.
10 Comments
A whole new level of hangry
A right old Ramadan-a-ding-dong, by the sounds of it.
I lived in Malaysia for 10 years. After dusk during Ramadan, the food markets were crammed with Muslims shovelling plate loads down the hatch. I have never seen so much food being eaten. It was gluttony, night after night for a month. The food vendors must look forward to Ramadan because it must be the most profitable time of the year for them.
Fabulous!
Can we legislate to make such effective conflict resolution compulsory as a first step toward reconciliation?
But seriously, the purpose is entirely spiritual in the same way the SAS etc are trained – coping with being deprived leads to spiritual awareness, empathy, tolerance. Hardship leads to resilience. And frankly more of these things would be good for all of us – even me!
Didn’t you lot know that? Don’t you know what it’s like to be deprived of ANYTHING??!!
We’re all self-entitled to deprivation as well as all that boring western world colonising and feasting on the ill-gotten gains; being a deprivee is actually much more enlightening than being a depriver…if not as comfortable.
The sky bayer’s of every religion have something to reinforce their stupidity.
Songkran I Thailand yesterday. Wetness everywhere!!! 5555
5555 probably lost for most here.
Ha ha ha ha
I hear PM Jacinda has sent a twitter message whishing Aotearoians a blessed Ramadan.
I must have missed the Easter message to all the Christians.
Welcome to Maorified Muslimised Nu Tirani.
Seriously???? I hope u jest.
It is both amazing and alarming what people can be induced and coerced into believing.
Apparently Md. decreed that for 30 days shalt thou fast, but he didn’t say anything about the nights. Certainly in KSA, Ramadan is the only time you see whole families going out shopping and dining together. Kinda nice.