Ramadan month 2018: Can Muslim be excused from fasting

New Delhi : The holy Ramadan month has started and it is time of contemplation and worship. Muslims believe that fasting on this particular month will let them go close to ‘Allah’. The fasting also tends to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate. While every Muslim try their best to keep fasting rules and rituals, some can excuse them from fasting in this holy period. Here is the reason why Muslim can be exempted from fasting in Ramadan.

Ramadan rules excuse children, the elderly, those who are ill, women who are pregnant, nursing or menstruating, and people traveling, which can include athletes during tournaments.

Many Muslims living in the United States and Europe accept and welcome others around them who do not observe Ramzan.

In some Mideast countries, non-Muslims or adult Muslims who eat in public during the day of Ramadan can be fined or even jailed. For instance, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are home to large Western expat populations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In many predominantly Muslim countries like Indonesia, karaoke bars and nightclubs remain closed across much of the country for the month. Also, restaurants use curtains to hide customers who eat during the daytime.

In Egypt, the Dar al-Ifta, the main in charge of issuing religious edits, warns against eating in public, saying this is not an act of "personal freedom, but chaos, an assault on Islam."

In China, minority Uighur Muslims complaint of restrictions by the Communist Party, such as bans on fasting by party members, civil servants, teachers and students during Ramzan, as well as generally imposed bans on children attending mosques, women wearing veils and young men growing beards.