The holy month of Ramadan or Ramzan will be commencing on April 2. For people of Muslim faith, this is a very crucial time as this is the month of abstinence and submission to Allah. For a complete month, Muslims observe fast from fajir or dawn ie before the sunrise to maghrib or dusk ie after the sunset. This period is marked by an increase in devotion to Allah but there are several rules to fasting or roza and praying that need to kept in mind if you are observing Ramadan.
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Rules of fasting for Muslims
-- Those chronically ill, pregnant, breastfeeding, diabetic, old and sick with health restrictions are exempted from observing a fast during Ramadan.
-- Those not fasting due to the aforementioned reasons should compensate for it by performing Fidiya or feeding a poor person on every day of Ramadan or every day of missing one’s fast.
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-- A woman during her menstrual cycle or post-childbirth bleeding is not obliged to observe fast but the missed fasts. Missed days of fasting need to be compensated later.
-- Apart from offering daily prayers or namaaz five times a day-- Fajr (dawn), Dhuhr (noon), Asr (afternoon), Maghrib (evening) and Isha (night), those fasting should not eat or drink anything intentionally in a state of fast and abstain from smoking. Else the fast will become invalid.
-- If you have consumed any food item due to absent-mindedness or by mistake, it will not have any negative effect on the fast. Your roza will not be invalid. A person can repent for this mistake and continue to fast as per the customs.
-- People observing fasts must at all costs refrain from false speech, insulting, cursing, lying and fighting. This is said to negate the reward of fasting.
-- Giving alms to the needy, an act called Zakat, is obligatory in Islam. This act is compulsory during the holy month of Ramadan.
-- A very important rule for Muslims observing the Ramadan fast is that physical intimacy like indulging in sex is not allowed during the holy month. People are required to let go of worldly pleasures during the period of Ramadan when they observe the fast.
