“_O true believers, a fast is ordained you, as it was ordained to
those before you, that ye may fear God. A certain number of days shall
ye fast; but he among you who shall be sick, or on a journey, shall
fast an equal number of other days. And those who can keep it and do
not, must reckon their neglect by maintaining of a poor man. And he
who voluntarily dealeth better with the poor man than he is obliged,
this shall be better for him. But if ye fast it will be better for
you, if ye knew it._”
[Sidenote: Roza]
It is probable that Muhammad ordained the month of fasting in imitation
of the Christian Lent. Ramadhán, the ninth month of the year, made
sacred for ever by the descent of the Quran from highest heaven, to
be revealed to the Angel Gabriel (who delivered it as required to the
Prophet), is set apart for this religious sacrifice. Every Mussulman
is on the look-out for the first appearance of the new moon, sign of
the beginning of the fast (the lunar year is followed), and from that
evening for thirty days, from dawn until sunset neither food nor water
is touched. When Ramadhán in the course of the years occurs in the hot
season, the fast is terrible in its severity. Cloudless sky, scorching
sun, burning winds, and not one drop of water to quench the awful
thirst; and at the same time additional prayers, with the accompanying
genuflections; this while the day’s task must still be accomplished; it
is a terrible test of the obedience and devotion of the Faithful. It
is true that travellers, invalids, women nursing little children, and
the weak, are exempt; but the fasts are supposed to be made up, and we
have known many who have struggled through the month, who were quite
unfit for it. The early morning and evening meal—taken before dawn
and after sunset—is not appetizing, for it is always composed of stale
food.
I have never known any religious man or woman who regarded the fast
as a hardship. “It is little we can do to serve God,” said one woman.
Little children plead to be allowed to fast. Boys and girls become
utterly exhausted, parched and fainting, in homes where religious
observances are faithfully kept.