A Community Day of Fasting
Thursday, 28 July 2011 19:51
Ramadan Lantern photo from WikipediaRamadan (Ramzan) in 2011 will start on Monday, the 1th of August and will continue for 30 days until Tuesday, the 30th of August (tentative dates). Dates will be confirmed when the new moon is actually sighted. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Muslims consider this whole month as a blessed month. They fast during the days of this month and make special prayers at night. Muslims fast for the sake of God (Arabic: الله, trans: Allah) and to offer more prayer than usual. [Wikipedia] People also give more charity and do extra righteous deeds. Also, in this Holy Month, The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) received the first revelation of Al-Qur'an (in one of the last ten odd nights of Ramzan). Ramazan/Ramadhan is the month of celebration as well as the month of discipline and self-control.
We must not allow ourselves to forget the gender-based oppression found in all of the Abrahamic faiths. So while we stand in alliance with the peace-loving, justice-seeking, courageous voices in each of those traditions, we are not in alliance with their opposition.
The Pool of Siloam at St. Hildegard is a social justice work group formed under the principles of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. We advocate learning and acting on social justice issues. This Ramadan season we ask your participation in a community season of fasting. We are publishing a Community Fasting Calendar on our website and ask you to pick a day in the season for you to fast. The fast only lasts from dawn to dusk and after dusk you eat a simple meal. During the fast day you can also pick an activity in which to do a good deed. There are no set rules to doing a good deed but here are a few examples:
- • offer to take a home-bound neighbor to do grocery shopping
- • pick up trash at a local park
- • visit the elderly in an nursing home
- • provide a meal to a homeless person
- • mow the lawn for a neighbor
If you wish to accept this invitation to join us in this community fast, we ask you look and select date in the month of August from the Fasting Calendar. Send us an email, Subject: Fasting and include your name and phone number for the date you are going to fast. Tom Egan will be calling you the day before to remind you about your fasting commitment. If someone has already reserved the date you wanted or the family wishes to fast together go ahead and add your name to that date. We'd love to fill every date, but it is more important that the fasting intention is done. We'll be updating the Community Fasting Calendar as we receive new names. Check the Fasting Calendar to see who has signed up!
