| c o u r r i e r | WEEK-END --- dimanche 9 septembre 2007 |
RAMADAN — A SACRED MONTH FOR TWO BILLION MOSLEMS
RAMADAN — A SACRED MONTH FOR TWO BILLION MOSLEMS
Ramadan is the most sacred time of the year for the world's nearly two billion moslems. The exact date of Ramadan is determined by the sighting of the new moon by a trustworthy witness. It is normally falls in the nine month of the Moslem year as prescribed in the Koran.
Ramadan's fast, called 'Sawn', is one of the five pillars, or basic institutions of Islam. The other four are affirmation that there is only Allah and Mahomed is his prophet praying five times daily, giving alms and making a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Moslems are supposed to abstain from eating, drinking, or sexual activity from dawn to dusk during Ramadan.
"Long before Islam, the month of Ramadan was regarded by Arabs as a holy month" wrote Ismail R. AI Farqui, PhD, in the January 1994 edition of AI-Hewar. The Arabs reckoned Ramadan as the month of spiritual stocktaking. Throughout its duration, they were especially keen to please, to settle old debts and disputes, to do good to their neighbours. Moslems often use the time for spiritual introspection, much as Mahomed did before his commission as Prophet, AI Farqui wrote.
Fasting in the month of Ramadan is compulsory on every moslem adult. The Arabic word sawn is used for fasting. The word sawn (plural siyam) literally means 'to refrain', but as an Islamic term, it means refraining from food, drinks and sexual activity from dawn to sunset. Allah says in the Koran, in Surah AI-Baqarah (2-183): "O you who believe, siyam is prescribed on you as it was prescribed to those before you so that you may become self-restrained". The importance of Siyam in Ramadan is clearly expressed in several sayings of Prophet Mahomed. It is reported by Abu Hurairah that the Prophet Mahomed said: "he who fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeks his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven; he who prays during the night in Ramadan with faith and seeks his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven." (Bukhari and Muslim)
Fasting in Ramadan is practiced by Moslems all over the world. The most significant aspect of siyam is the development of Allah-consciousness (Taqwa) in the heart and the soul of a fasting Moslem. One must abstain from immoral behaviour and attitude as well. The Prophet of Allah is reported to have said: " If one does not abandon falsehood in words and deeds, Allah has no need for his abandoning of his food and drink." (AIBukhari).
Fasting is mandatory on every Moslem who is sane, adult, able and resident. The following exemptions apply: (a) The insane, (b) Children who are not adolescent yet, (c) The elderly and chronically ill for whom fasting is unreasonably strenuous, but such persons are required to feed at least one poor person every day in the Ramadan period for
which he/she has missed fasting.(d) Pregnant women may postpone the fasting at a later time;(e) Women during the period of menstruation or of post childbirth confinement.
The things which invalidate fast are of two kinds. The first one requires Qada ( only making up missed days), the other one not only requires Qada but also Kaffarah ( a penalty). The following are the things that require Qada only: (1) Eating or drinking intentionally. This includes non-nourishing items taken by mouth. (2) The beginning of menstruation or post-childbirth bleeding even in the last moment before sunset (3) Ejaculation for reasons other than sexual intercourse.(4) Intending to break the fast before sunset even if one changes his mind, since intention is one of the pre-requisites of the validity of fasting.(5)Eating, drinking or having intercourse after dawn on the mistaken assumption that it is not dawn yet. Similarly, engaging in these acts before Maghrib on the mistaken assumption that it is already sunset.
Things that not only require Qada but also Kaffarah are the following: Sexual activity during, fasting (dawn to dusk). The penalty is to fast an additional period of 60 continuous days. If one is not able to do so then he must feed sixty poor people-one average meal each.
Before the days of the Prophet Mahomed, slavery was a common practice in the Arab world, Islam eliminated slavery from the society in a very short period of time. A useful approach was to allow people free a slave as a charity or as a penalty for a sin. Thus during the time of the Prophet, setting a slave free was the penalty one must pay as a kaffarah, if he or she had a slave.
What constitutes not breaking, the fast : (1 ) If anyone forgets that he is fasting and eats or drinks, he should complete his fast, for it is only Allah who has fed him and given him drink. (2)Unintentional vomiting. (3)Swallowing things which are not possible to avoid, such as one's saliva, street dust, smoke, etc ... (4) Brushing the teeth.(5) Injection or intravenous which is solely medical and not nutritional.
AHMAD MACKY
La censure des affiches Benetton
Hypocrisie
L'apport des moralisateurs (et autres bien-pensants qui nous gouvernent) à la créativité qui fait si souvent défaut ici est incommensurable! Mais je ne dois pas être très doué, car je n'ai pas compris leurs motifs sur ce qui les choque réellement sur l'affiche de Benetton, ni sur ce qui soi-disant choque le peuple admirable de Maurice en 2007...
Je croyais naivement que la petite exposition de Right Now sur la liberté d'expression à la galerie IBL aurait aidé certains à penser et agir autrement... à ne pas toujours croire que ce sont les publicités ou autres affiches de publicitaires créatifs qui ont rendu malade la société mauricienne... Est-ce mal de penser, comme je le fais, que c'est sans doute la réaction de ces extrémistes de la morale qui font le plus de tort aux jeunes en les laissant dans des ghettos intellectuels et moraux qui empêchent toute réelle émancipation, responsabilisation et sens critique?! Est-ce en les élevant au gré des tabous que nous en ferons des adolescents responsables, des adultes raisonnables et avertis?
Notre jeunesse et nos compatriotes sont-ils des cons-patriotes influencés par de simples publicités alors que les CD pornos et internet permettent un accès illimité à plein de plaisirs divers sous tous angles et tous rapports??? Sans compter les MMS et autres vidéos scolaires avec des starlettes locales et des jeunes garçons plein d'avenir (sic)! Bientôt, la censure des clips vidéos de RnB et Rap, des défilés de mode, des touristes occidentaux adeptes du monokini, des magazines divers dévoilant les charmes des people, des chaines satellites, des débardeurs, des mini-jupes, etc... Et je croyais avoir plus qu'un grain de lentille dans le crâne, mais ces personnes admirables qui décident pour nous (qui nous gouvernent?) me déclarent de facto seulement apte à me remplir de leurs idées et valeurs. Quelle déconvenue ! Où donc ai-je été éduqué (ainsi que mes amis) pour y apprendre le sens critique tout autant que l'ouverture d'esprit?
Merci à la Road Development Authority de me remettre les pieds sur terre... sur cette ile si admirable de par les prises de position de ses princes, qu'elle crée un exode des jeunes vers des ailleurs qui semblent forcément meilleurs, car libres! Ah mais oui, ça y est, je comprends mieux... j'ai commis le sacrilège de ne pas penser " hypocrite " ! Toutes mes excuses, il faut respecter toutes les croyances, et se soumettre à celles des hypocrites. Autrement, nous risquons tous de finir au bûcher!
V. B.
PS: les vrais malades à censurer ne sont-ils pas ceux qui voient le sexe ou le mal partout, comme nos sangsues... euh censeurs?
c o u r r i e r WEEK-END --- dimanche 9 septembre 2007
