Page:The young Moslem looks at life (1937).djvu/89

 STRAIGHT PATH 75

is his guide and that it is worth while to put God in his daily timetable.

3. Fasting. The month of Ramadan is the time for fasting in Moslem lands. This article of the faith corresponds in some sense to the month of Lent among Christians, but is observed in an entirely different way, and for an entirely different purpose. Observance of fasting during the month of Ramadan is for the purpose of obtaining merit. As one tradition says: ". . . The rewards of fasting are beyond bounds, for fasting is for God alone, and he will give its rewards." The fast begins before sunrise, and ends at sunset. Not a morsel of food, nor a drop of water, nor a whiff of a pipe or cigarette may be taken during the day, no matter how great the heat, or how long the summer day in the tropics. It thus falls particularly hard on Moslems during the years when the lunar calendar brings Ramadan in the hot months.

The following quotation from The Iran, a Teheran newspaper, reflects the meaning of Ramadan there:

For Moslems the month of Ramadan is the month of prayer. There are a certain few people who have a special account with God, that is, in eleven months out of a year they do whatever they wish to do: drink wine, gamble, commit adultery, etc.; but when the month of Ramadan comes they put away all their bad acts and not only fast but pray as often as they find free time from their business.

Another group of Moslems pray all the year round, but more for the sake of trying to impress people that they are real Moslems. Every time they bow down their heads in