It is Ramadan!
Happy holy Ramadan!
Isn’t it beautiful?
A whole month where you don’t eat too much.
Where you eat less and become thinner.
Or is it?
["Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven]
Ramadan is a very complicated issue.
When I was a very religious Muslim, I used to fast during Ramadan.
It felt peaceful and great to fast, to be honest.
I was very much convinced that the sacrifice that I was making throughout the day, which
is hungering and dehydrating myself, was a holy sacrifice whose reward was given to me
and would hopefully be given to me by Allah.
Such a conviction gives you an interesting feeling of spirituality as I still remember.
Look, I get it.
There is devotion in Ramadan, in fasting.
You abstain from eating, drinking, sex, and all that stuff during the day and that feels
like a sacrifice that you make to Allah, for your submission and obedience.
But I have some issues with the topic sacrifice already.
Is it healthy?
Is it really healthy?
This is definitely important because this topic is really worth a discussion and we
can’t just brush it off like that.
So, is fasting in Ramadan healthy?
No, it’s not.
Or should we talk further about it?
Should we talk further about whether it is healthy or not to stuff yourself before sunrise,
not to eat and drink for the entire day and then stuff yourself again at sunset with a
huge feast that your body cannot possibly process until you go to sleep, not even after
going to the mosque and practicing prayer gymnastics for half an hour, and that for
an entire month?
I really wonder if that is healthy.
Yes, although fasting is connected to abstaining from eating and drinking and different pleasures,
many Muslims actually eat much more during Ramadan because when the fast is broken in
the evening, the meals become immeasurably huge and just irresistible.
Ramadan and fasting always reminds me of the sight of people feeling full and fat after
the dinner in the evening.
Is that healthy?
Credible sources will tell you it is at least questionable and that you should be really
careful with such a practice.
Even Muslims that are corrupted by common sense and science will tell you to fast responsibly.
But if you ask totally pro-Islamic sources, pro-Muslim sources, they will turn Ramadan
fasting into another miracle, everything about Islam is a miracle, and tell you about the
mind-blowing healthy benefits of Ramadan that does not only turn you into the most healthy
and stable human on earth, it also makes your spirit pure and completely at peace.
Surprising health benefits of Ramadan.
[chuckles] If you attach the word “surprising” to a fact, it sounds more believable.
That’s very surprising, isn’t it?
What is very funny is that many people prefer to sleep during daytime in Ramadan.
Resting during daytime makes the time pass much faster.
And that makes Ramadan more bearable.
That’s very smart.
And surprisingly healthy.
But also, how is all this a sacrifice anyway?
According to so many reports, people waste more food during Ramadan, eat more during
Ramadan, gain more weight during Ramadan, which is normal if you stuff yourself in the
evening, and... commit more crimes during Ramadan.
But some Muslim source will quickly fix that with “Surprising Decrease in Crime During
Ramadan” The very few Islamic terrorist organizations,
namely ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Taliban, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al-Shabaab, Jaish-e
Mohammed, and hundred others would happily object to such a finding though, because they
celebrate Ramadan with a very wild spirit of global Jihad.
What better time is there to k-- for Allah than the holy month of Ramadan?
Gladly the peaceful majority, the global Muslim community, also voices their strong opposition
to such a monstrosity in this holy month.
It... must be here somewhere.
I’m sure the news just couldn’t catch such protests.
They surprisingly happen, though.
Many Muslim don’t even know when Ramadan is until Ramadan is.
Islam uses a lunar calendar that is of course very practical because a lunar calendar doesn’t
fit with the solar calendar and therefore one specific month can have winter in one
year but summer 20 years later.
Muslim don’t know when Ramadan is until Ramadan is, because Mohammed said in a hadith:
“When you see the crescent (of the month of Ramadan), start fasting, and when you see
the crescent (of the month of Shawwal), stop fasting; and if the sky is overcast (and you
can't see It) then regard the crescent (month) of Ramadan (as of 30 days)".
So, what Mohammed means is that you should look for the crescent and when you see it
decide that this is the beginning of the month Ramadan, then look for another crescent, a
new month, and end your Ramadan fasting, because the month of Ramadan is now over.
A new month has begun.
Many Muslim nations and authorities take this too literally, of course, because Mohammed
told people to watch for the crescent because Mohammed lived in a time 1400 years ago in
a savage desert where that is how people told the time.
We can meanwhile tell the phase of the moon years in advance and don’t need to look,
but...
I don’t have a cloth on my head.
Of course, I don’t know better.
Trust these guys.
Speaking of moon and sun, if you live somewhere were the sun doesn’t set for a few months
or doesn’t rise, you would, of course, die of hunger or never be able to never be able
to participate in the fasting.
Therefore, because the Quran didn’t know of such places and told people about the time
of fasting in 7th century language, “from sunrise to sunset”, and didn’t explain
what people north of the arctic circle should do, Muslim scholars later came up with different
solutions that the Almighty Allah didn’t know about.
I always say it: Listening to Allah is dangerous, for you.
But apart from that, isn’t Ramadan a bit unfair?
I mean, someone who fasts in Germany can’t be equal to someone who fasts in Arabia.
Fasting in Germany is much easier.
Seriously, if you’re fasting, go on a vacation to a nicer place to fast.
But Allah knows better.
Allah knows best.
Also, if you fast in Russia where there is currently daylight for 20 hours, so you have
to fast 20 hours, compared to Ushuala in Argentina where you fast for only 11 hours, you can
blame Allah for such double standards as well.
An almighty and all-knowing God would’ve probably given people a better measure to
stick by instead of the movements of the sun that are completely different around the world.
But Allah was an Arabian god who didn’t see very much beyond the peninsula.
How would he know?
But anyways, I don’t want to bother the regular Muslim viewer too much.
Hunger brings enough anger already.
But please, don’t project your anger in form of an increase in crimes, Morocco is
complaining, or telling people who don’t observe Ramadan to respect Ramadan or else,
that doesn’t help us explain that Islam is just misunderstood and actually so peaceful.
And please, be easy with the infidel.
That is all I have to say.
Enjoy your Ramadan!
Oh, and stay away from Islam!
[music]