I don’t know about you but I tend to get quite grumpy when I’ve missed a calorie-intake session. I’ve never been a big breakfast fan but by midday the inevitable signals are sent from my stomach to my brain and if I pay them no heed I become less productive and more obsessive about food. If I then go on to miss out on an evening meal as well as lunch I really get ratty.
Ramadan started on Saturday and millions of good Muslims all over the world, this country included, will be observing a daytime fasting ritual as a result. I say “fast” but really it is more like a farce.
Ramadan is not a fast because Muslims are not denying themselves food for long periods. Instead, Muslims do not eat between sunrise and sunset. In the average British summer’s day that leaves a good six hours in which they can stuff themselves to their heart’s content and in fact this is effectively what happens.
No doubt as a result of their “spiritual” concentration on food as well as an internal body-clock disruption to regular calorie intake, many Muslims actually put on weight at Ramadan. In Britain Muslims go all day long with cups of hot lemon tea and then stuff themselves in the evenings when they get home from work.
We are concerned about that great ideal “The British Worker” taking time off to see the dentist because of the number of man-hours that are lost and we have minimum consecutive hours policies for doctors, lorry drivers and for those in any profession where others may be put in danger through a lack of concentration. Why do we allow all these people a choice out of respect for their faith to go for eighteen hours without taking in calories?
Look at it this way. If you were to catch a late bus after a long day at the office and you were asked to choose between a driver who’d been driving solidly for eight hours without a break or one who hadn’t eaten anything for twenty four hours, which one would you choose?
Filed under: Islam, Special Religious Dispensation, Ramadan
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