August 17, 2010 
VirtualMosque 
The Holy Quran tells us that fasting is nothing new. Allah prescribed it for all religions and it was being made mandatory for Muslims. Unlike other religions the purpose of fasting in Islam is to guard one’s self against evil and not a kind of punishment for wrong-doing.
People forget that there is no compulsion in religion, so its not up to one person to force another to fast.
Just as importantly people also forget that God says he does not want to make religion a burden for us, therefore to force people affected by calamities and who are in distress and without means to fast is a clear violation of these two injections of the Holy Quran.
Where fasting is made mandatory it is also said that if its not possible for a person to fast he should feed a poor person as recompense. The Holy Quran does not define what is meant by if its not possible for a person to fast leaving it to the individual to decide in the light of his own circumstances.
Related posts:
Tags: 
