pillar 4 - sawm

• sawm - fasting from just before dawn until sunset. abstinence is required from all food and drink also smoking and sexual relations
• Ramadan


  The purpose is to purify oneself, increase spirituality and self-discipline
• Fajr prayer


  Performed at dawn
• Sawm

  Fasting during Ramadan
• Sawm


  1. Practice of fasting during the Month of Ramadan

  2. The holiest Month of the year

  3. Prophet Muhammed received the first verses of the Quran

  4. Begins with the appearance of the new crescent moon
• Fasting begins each day at first light and until dusk
• Suhur


  Eaten before dawn
• Iftar


  Eaten at dusk to break the fast
• Celebrating the Quran


  1. Recitation of a section of the Quran each day, by the end of the Month the whole Quran should be recited

  2. Muslims should attend the mosque and celebrate Laylat-ul-Qadr (the Night of Power)
• The 27th day of Ramadan is when the Angel Jibril visited Muhammed and God revealed the Quran to him
• Fasting


  Obligatory, a duty given by God to Prophet Muhammed
• Fasting


  Brings the believer closer to God
• Fasting is commanded in the Quran and follows the example of Prophet Muhammed (the Sunnah)
• Fasting celebrates the fact that God has given humans the Quran
• Who should fast


  • All adult Muslims
  • Children from a young age may fast a few days a month
  • Certain people are excused if ill or travelling
• Fasting is not an option, it is an obligation that God has decreed
• Halal


  Foods that Muslims are allowed to eat
• Haram


  Foods that Muslims are not allowed to eat
• Animals must be killed in a specific way according to Shariah law
• Muslims argue that fasting times should be standardized as Muslims in the Middle East only fast for a few hours, while Muslims in places like the UK may fast for up to 14 hours which is difficult especially for students doing exams in summer