What kind of fasting do muslims practice

Professionals should closely monitor individuals who decide to persist with fasting. The main chronic diseases of concern are diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, renal disease, and peptic ulcers. Compliance with medications may be an issue, especially for those on daily daytime dosages. For patients with diabetes, things to consider are feasibility of adjusting medication and insulin dose, clinical stability, history of hypoglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis, and the presence of other comorbidities.

Tips for the Dietitian Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the pillars of the religion and a highly valued act of worship. For dietitians to build a bridge of trust with their Muslim patients, they must respect the fasting practice and its spirituality. Dietitians can tailor nutritional care to the lifestyle of the month. The following are strategies to use to support your fasting patients:. Many Muslims agree that fasting is more mental than physical. Effective communication is key when working with a Muslim patient, as it is with any other.

Because the American Muslim community is diverse, assumptions can be barriers to rapport while individualized treatments produce the best results. Ask your patients what their eating habits look like during Ramadan, as they would love the opportunity to talk and share.

She is also a nutrition consultant and a freelance writer. References 1. Washington, D. In continuation with the practice of fasting, the missionaries in the early days of Christianity used to fast before setting on to a preaching mission.

Fasting has been a gateway to the spiritual world for the prophets and a means to communicate with God. The act of fasting is closely associated with spirituality, especially in Islam.

Fasting gives an opportunity to glorify Allah, thank Him for His favours which are often taken for granted. Fasting in Islam is an important ritual because while fasting, Muslims try to perfect their manners in accordance with Islamic morality by controlling their behaviours and ego nafs. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast for an entire month comprising 29 or 30 days from dawn to dusk as prescribed in the Holy Quran. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts on Monday, April 12, and even amid a global pandemic, most of the world's 1.

Which means there's a good chance you might encounter someone — a friend, a coworker, a neighbor, your child's teacher — who will be celebrating, fasting, and doing all sorts of other activities that are unique to the holy month. But what is Ramadan, exactly?

Ramadan is the most sacred month of the year for Muslims — the Prophet Mohammed reportedly said, "When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of hell are closed and the devils are chained. Muslims believe it was during this month that God revealed the first verses of the Quran, Islam's sacred text, to Mohammed, on a night known as "The Night of Power" or Laylat al-Qadr in Arabic.

During the entire month of Ramadan, Muslims fast every day from dawn to sunset. It is meant to be a time of spiritual discipline — of deep contemplation of one's relationship with God, extra prayer, increased charity and generosity, and intense study of the Quran.

But if that makes it sound super serious and boring, it's really not. It's a time of celebration and joy, to be spent with loved ones. It's kind of like the Muslim version of Christmas, in the sense that it's a religious holiday where everyone comes together for big meals with family and friends, exchanges presents, and generally has a lovely time.

Of course, the Covid pandemic has made many of the more social aspects of Ramadan a lot harder to do safely, given restrictions on travel and the need to maintain social distancing and avoid large, indoor gatherings. But Muslim community leaders are aware of this, and have put out detailed guidance on how to have a happy and fulfilling Ramadan while making sure everyone stays safe. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars — or duties — of Islam, along with the testimony of faith, prayer, charitable giving, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca.

All Muslims are required to take part every year, though there are special dispensations for those who are ill, pregnant or nursing, menstruating, or traveling, and for young children and the elderly. The practice of fasting serves several spiritual and social purposes: to remind you of your human frailty and your dependence on God for sustenance, to show you what it feels like to be hungry and thirsty so you feel compassion for and a duty to help the poor and needy, and to reduce the distractions in life so you can more clearly focus on your relationship with God.

During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating any food, drinking any liquids, smoking cigarettes, and engaging in any sexual activity, from dawn to sunset. That includes taking medication even if you swallow a pill dry, without drinking any water. Chewing gum is also prohibited though I didn't find that one out until about halfway through my first Ramadan after converting — oops. Doing any of those things "invalidates" your fast for the day, and you just start over the next day.

To make up for days you didn't fast, you can either fast later in the year either all at once or a day here and there or provide a meal to a needy person for each day you missed. Muslims are also supposed to try to curb negative thoughts and emotions like jealousy and anger, and even lesser things like swearing, complaining, and gossiping, during the month.

Some people may also choose to give up or limit activities like listening to music and watching television, often in favor of listening to recitations of the Quran. During Ramadan, Muslims wake up well before dawn to eat the first meal of the day, which has to last until sunset. This means eating lots of high-protein foods and drinking as much water as possible right up until dawn, after which you can't eat or drink anything.

At dawn, we perform the morning prayer. Since it's usually still pretty early, many go back to sleep for a bit before waking up again to get ready for the day I certainly do.

Muslims are not supposed to avoid work or school or any other normal duties during the day just because we are fasting. In many Muslim countries, however, businesses and schools may reduce their hours during the day or close entirely. For the most part, though, Muslims go about their daily business as we normally would, despite not being able to eat or drink anything the whole day.

When the evening call to prayer is finally made or when the alarm on your phone's Muslim prayer app goes off , we break the day's fast with a light meal — really more of a snack — called an iftar literally "breakfast" , before performing the evening prayer.

Many people also go to the mosque for the evening prayer, followed by a special prayer that is only recited during Ramadan. This is usually followed by a larger meal a bit later in the evening, which is often shared with family and friends in one another's homes throughout the month. Then it's off to bed for a few hours of sleep before it's time to wake up and start all over again. Phenylalanine is an amino acid that your body uses to make important molecules.

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