Ramadan for Non-Muslims (2)
The main thing to remember about Ramadan is that this month, the month when the Koran was first revealed to the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), is the month when Muslims try to turn toward the spiritual. I would say that this is like the Christian Lent, but last Lent I asked all the Westerners I knew, and none of them had heard of the concept.
In the Middle Ages, the Church provided Christians with an extensive set of guidelines, spiritual exercises to help Christians focus on the spiritual and think less about worldly things during the period of Lent, and these guidelines included fasting. As late as the 18th Century, Almanacs clearly indicated Lent, and had suggestions to help Christians with these exercises, e.g. appropriate recipes.
I read in my grade school history text that, during the Middle Ages, to help Christians follow these guidelines, anyone breaking the Lenten fast would have all his teeth extracted (I've since learned that not everything in my grade school history text was, in fact, historical).
By the 20th century, most Westerners were unaware that Lent existed, and, while most are aware that Buenos Ares and Rio have a big party called Carnaval every year, they are not aware of the reasons for this party.
In the 1960s, Vatican II told Catholics that they were to turn toward spiritual matters for Lent, but it would no longer provide guidelines: Catholics must find their own ways to be more spiritual, and the Vatican no longer required fasting nor defined precisely how fasting should be conducted.
Islam, however, tends to provide detailed guidelines for everything, including fasting, although, as I mentioned in 'Ramadan for Non-Muslims (1),' different groups differ on the details, but all agree that the idea is to use fasting as a way to focus on spiritual matters.
In the Middle Ages, the Church provided Christians with an extensive set of guidelines, spiritual exercises to help Christians focus on the spiritual and think less about worldly things during the period of Lent, and these guidelines included fasting. As late as the 18th Century, Almanacs clearly indicated Lent, and had suggestions to help Christians with these exercises, e.g. appropriate recipes.
I read in my grade school history text that, during the Middle Ages, to help Christians follow these guidelines, anyone breaking the Lenten fast would have all his teeth extracted (I've since learned that not everything in my grade school history text was, in fact, historical).
By the 20th century, most Westerners were unaware that Lent existed, and, while most are aware that Buenos Ares and Rio have a big party called Carnaval every year, they are not aware of the reasons for this party.
In the 1960s, Vatican II told Catholics that they were to turn toward spiritual matters for Lent, but it would no longer provide guidelines: Catholics must find their own ways to be more spiritual, and the Vatican no longer required fasting nor defined precisely how fasting should be conducted.
Islam, however, tends to provide detailed guidelines for everything, including fasting, although, as I mentioned in 'Ramadan for Non-Muslims (1),' different groups differ on the details, but all agree that the idea is to use fasting as a way to focus on spiritual matters.
posted by Dubai@Random at 9:50 pm
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