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Ramadan Fasting: The "Out of Balance" Islamic Approach Turns Beneficial Fasting Into a Harmful Practice

Humans already knew that practices like yoga and fasting are beneficial for us. But yoga does not make the Hindu religion to be a true religion. Similarly, even if fasting has some beneficial effects, still it does not make Islam to be true. Moreover, the practice of fasting predates Islam and perhaps every other religion too. 

Thus, no one denies the benefits of fasting, but it is the issue of the "out of balance" Islamic approach, which turns even beneficial fasting into a harmful practice.  

These "out of balance"  aspects of Ramadan fasting prove that there exists no Divine Allah in the heavens, but Muhammad was making the revelations on his own. Since he was only a human being, thus he was not all-Knowing, and he made many human mistakes in Ramadan Rulings. 

Table of Contents:

Ramadan: The "out of balance" Islamic approach

Basically, Islamic Fasting is nothing else than:

  1. Disturb your sleep and wake up in the middle of the night which opposes the health principles. It is known as Suhur (سحر) i.e. 'pre-dawn meal' before the start of the fast. 

  2. The duration between night dinner (a heavy meal) and Suhur (again a heavy meal at the last part of the night) is not long enough for the stomach to digest the previous food that was eaten at dinner. Therefore, eating once again at Suhur in the state of an already full stomach is against wisdom (it again opposes the health principles). Even animals are wise enough and if cattle and horses are fed in the middle of the night or even before dawn, then they don’t touch food. They start eating only after dawn. 

  3. And after eating a meal at Suhur, immediately running towards the mosque and doing sit-ups and prostration during prayer with a full stomach. It is a recipe for stomach upset and again opposes the health principles. 

  4. Normally, many people go for a long morning walk and morning exercise and to the gym (especially in countries with a warm climates). But in Ramadan, they cannot go for long healthy morning walks or gym, while their stomachs are full of food. Moreover, they also avoid healthy activity in the morning due to the fear of becoming thirsty. Thus, gyms become empty in the morning, and there are hardly any people who go out for long morning walks.

  5. And then spend the next 14 to 18 hours in a state of thirst and laziness and weakness and dreaming about food. The output during this whole period is minimal. 

  6. And in the evening, break the fast (known as Iftar) by attacking the food and eating all types of unhealthy foods. There are two factors involved. One is hunger and thirst, while the other is Muslims cooking their most delicious and their most expensive food during the month of Ramadan, which makes it difficult for people not to over-eat. 

  7. And after some time again start eating the night dinner (although the stomach is still full of the evening Iftar eating). It again opposes the health principles.

  8. After taking dinner, immediately run towards the mosque for the 'Isha and Tarawih Prayer and spend the next one and a half hours in a state of standing and pain (once again it opposes the health principles as the human body does not need this running and standing after the full stomach, but the rest so that blood can gather in the digestive tract (digestive mussels) to digest it (link). You just have to watch how people are standing in Tarawih with full stomachs. They are half asleep and wishing (or perhaps even praying) only for the completion of this punishment i.e. Tarawih. 

  9. A person needs a certain amount of liquid consumption per day. Since people cannot drink during the fasting period, thus people are Drinking + Eating at the same time at Iftar and at dinner and at Suhur (which opposes health principles). In simple words, there is never enough time to give a break between eating and drinking during Islamic fasting and people are compelled to do both at the same time. 

  10. People cannot go to bed early to sleep, as they need some time for their families too. Iftar and then Tarawih prayers in mosques waste a lot of their time which they cannot spend with their families. As a result, they are late going to bed for sleeping. 

  11. It also affects the 'sex life'. Firstly, Muslims are allowed to do sex with their partners only during the night. Secondly, they have to take a whole body bath before the Fajr prayer. This once again reduces the time for sleep. People have to make water hot (especially in cold places and in winter). Women with long hair need a lot of time after bathing to dry their hair.  Remember, in the past centuries, people didn't have the luxury of bathrooms in their houses, and they had to go to the common Hammams. Now imagine how difficult it was for men and women to go to Hammams during the middle of the night.

  12. And then repeat this unnatural cycle of eating and sleeping for the next 30 days.

Muslim Excuse: Allah didn't tell us to overeat, but Muslims are responsible themselves for overeating

It is the most common excuse from Muslim preachers when it comes to overeating during Ramadan. 

But this excuse is not correct while the so-called All-Wise Allah is unable to understand Human Nature. Human hormones are not working properly after being hungry for such a long time. And as a result, when they see food, then they just attack it and overeat. This is a normal human response in such a situation. There is a reason why a heavy majority of Muslims overeat, despite being taught that overeating is not good.

This overeating by Muslims kept on happening for the last 14 centuries, and it will keep on happening in the future too. And no Islamic teaching is going to change it, while Islam is going against human nature and the working of hormones in such situations. 

Hormonal Imbalance and Irregular Periods in women due to Fasting for 30 consecutive days

Link to the full Scientific Study:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3941357/

Does Ramadan fasting has any effects on menstrual cycles?

Results: 

We found 11.3%, 30%, and 16.3% of participates had abnormal menstrual pattern three months before, during and three months after Ramadan, respectively. In participates who fast more than 15 days, menstrual period had significantly more abnormality than participants who fast less than 15 days. Considering our results we demonstrated that menstrual abnormalities during Ramadan month reach to their peak and three months after Ramadan reduce but do not return to previous condition.

Conclusion:

This study confirms that menstrual abnormalities including oligomenorrhea, polymenorrhea and hypermenorrhea increased during Ramadan especially in participates with more than 15 days of fasting.

If Allah is really all-Knowing, why didn't He then know that women's bodies are not made for fasting for 30 consecutive days, and it will harm some of them? These poor creatures suffered from it for the last 14 centuries.

Again, this "out of balance" Islamic approach proves only one thing that there exists no divine Allah in the heavens, and Muhammad was making the revelation on his own. Thus, he is making human mistakes here. 

Only Thanks to Intermittent Fasting + Open Western Society that the negative side of Islamic Fasting + Closed Islamic society got exposed

Due to the closed system for women in Islam, their problems and health risks due to fasting in Ramadan never came to light. 

Every type of continued fasting is a risk for women. The Western world realized it first when intermittent fasting became popular. Some women started having all kinds of problems due to continued intermittent fasting (although they are even allowed to drink water during the fasting time). And since the western system is not closed (in the name of so-called modesty) thus things came to light pretty quickly. 

The experts are thus recommending women on intermittent fasting not fast on consecutive days, due to the danger of their 'Hormonal Health' and 'irregularities in Periods'. Women  are recommended:

  • to fast on alternative days
  • or twice a week
  • and to expand it to the whole year. 

Why?

Because women’s bodies are biologically built for fertility and reproduction. Extended periods without food tell the body that now isn’t a good time for reproduction.

You might be thinking So what? I don’t want to get pregnant now or maybe ever. But fertility isn’t the only problem. Women need to consider that estrogen and progesterone do more in the body than simply getting pregnant. Estrogen helps us with metabolism, weight loss, mood, anxiety and stress, energy, bone density, and cognitive function, to name just a few.

The disease of irregular periods is easy to determine for women, but other diseases due to hormonal imbalance and others are difficult to determine. The people of ancient times had no idea about them. Those diseases kept on making women more and more ill internally, and they even didn't know what wrong was happening with their bodies. But Allah should be All-Knowing, and He should be protecting women from it. Nevertheless, Allah acted in the opposite direction and made the life of such women even more difficult through the obligation of 30 consecutive fasting days of Ramadan. 

Please read more details here. 

Ramadan Fasting: EXTREME HARMS to Pregnant Women and their Babies

This is the largest & the latest Study (December 2021): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34960063/

Abstract
... Sixteen studies from non-duplicate search results were included. Most studies suggest negative consequences from in utero Ramadan exposure on health, as well as on economic outcomes later in adulthood. Higher under-five mortality rate, higher mortality under three months, and under one year, shorter stature, lower body mass index, increased incidence of vision, hearing and learning disabilities, lower mathematics, writing and reading scores, as well as a lower probability to own a home were associated with Ramadan exposure during conception or the first trimester of pregnancy....

Again, this "out of balance" Islamic approach proves only one thing that there exists no divine Allah in the heavens, and Muhammad was making the revelation on his own. Thus, he is making human mistakes here. 

Did Allah EXEMPT pregnant women from Fasting? Shameful DISHONESTY/DECEPTION of Modern Islamic Apologists

Modern Islamic Apologists claim that Allah EXEMPTED pregnant women from Fasting, and they fast ON THEIR OWN despite this exemption (e.g. link 1 & link 2). But this is a complete lie.

The largest Islamic Fatwa Website IslamQA writes (https://islamqa.info/en/answers/3434/):

Question: Is it permissible for my wife who is breastfeeding my ten-month-old son not to fast during Ramadan?
Answer: It is not permissible for a pregnant woman or breastfeeding woman not to fast unless they have an excuse. If they do not fast because they have an excuse, they have to make up for the missed fasts (later in that year).

More Fatwas of all 4 Sunni Imams + Zahiri Fiqh:

  1. Shafi'i Fiqh
  2. Hanbali Fiqh
  3. Malik
  4. Hanafi Fiqh
  5. Islamweb.Net
  6. IslamQA (detailed Fatwa, which refutes modern Islamic preachers) 

This means ALL millions of Pregnant/Breastfeeding Muslim women of the last 14 centuries indeed fasted, then it was OBLIGATORY upon them to fast (otherwise they sin).

Yes, if they FEAR any risk, then they are allowed not to fast. Nevertheless, this FEAR does not help, as women cannot be UNAWARE of how consecutive fasting is harming and damaging them gradually from the inside. Even modern doctors cannot be aware of this harm. It is only this modern Study of 2021, which proved these extreme inner harms due to Ramadan Fasting.

The Muslim women in the 16 Studies above were also allowed not to fast if they feared any harm. Nevertheless, they feared no apparent/known harm and thus continued with fasting, and the final results were catastrophic.

Remember, poor pregnant/breastfeeding women don't even menstruate, and thus they are not even able to get a 3 to 7 days break due to menstruation during Ramadan. Yes, they have to fast for 30 consecutive days. 

Menstruating Women:

Moreover, Muslim preachers brag that Allah took care of menstruating women and thus he exempted them from fasting.

But this is again a lie. Allah (i.e. Muhammad) didn't exempt menstruating women from fasting while he felt any sympathy for those menstruating women. No, the so-called Allah (i.e. Muhammad) prohibited them to fast while he considered them impure and not even worthy enough to worship him. 

Islamic Fasting has nothing to do with “Intermittent Fasting”

Intermittent Fasting is about:

  • Taking full sleep, and sleeping at the right times.
  • And to eat at the right time. 
  • And to take a rest at the right time. 
  • And to keep active throughout the day. 

You stay more active throughout the day without eating, but without “drinking”, you become extremely weak and lazy and thus inactive, which happens exactly during Islamic Fasting. Therefore, as far as active routine is concerned, then both Intermittent fasting and Islamic fasting are totally opposite to each other. 

 You will never hear that:

  • A person on intermittent fasting never asks other people to "respect" his fast and not to eat in front of him (as it happens in Islamic Fasting).
  • A person on intermittent fasting never asks others to give him concessions of doing less work during his job (as it happens in Islamic Fasting all the time). 

Not drinking water all day long has no benefits. Even the sunrise to sundown fasting has no benefits when you gorge yourself in the morning and evening. That is giving yourself massive insulin spikes which could be avoided by spreading your meal out. Intermittent Fasting has nothing to do with Islamic fasting. It includes drinking water and the no-food fast lasts longer than the Islamic one because that is needed to trigger autophagy.

Islam advocates: Muslims become honest during Ramadan

Islam advocates claim that Muslims are not allowed to tell lies and commit any other moral crimes during fasting, due to which Muslims and the Islamic Society become morally honest. 

This argument is illogical. 

According to Muslims, Allah is present there ALL the time, and not only during the fasting period. Therefore, if the fear of Allah all the time is not enough to prevent him from telling lies and committing other crimes, how can then only fast stop him from these moral crimes? Is fasting bigger than the concept of Allah itself?

Thus, this Islamic morality during the month of Ramadan is "ARTIFICIAL" and only a deception.  Even if we assume that there is any change, then it is temporary and disappears after the fasting is over. That is why Islamic countries have a huge culture of corruption throughout the year.

Compared to Islamic countries, we have an atheist country like Japan, which is the most HONEST society on the planet earth. Japanese citizens handed over a record ¥3.9 Billion in Lost Cash to the Tokyo Police in 2019 (link).  While the Morality of atheist Japanese is based upon the education of "Humanity", which is permanent.

Islam advocates: Muslims learn sexual self-control due to Fasting

Muslims are not allowed to have sex with their wives during the fasting period. Therefore, Islamic preachers claim that Muslims learn sexual control upon them through Fasting. 

This argument is also absolutely worthless. Sex is not a bad thing that one has to abstain from it. Why should one try to crush sexual urges without any logical reason? 

And non-religious West "educates" people to respect the choice of their partners, and if their partner is not ready for sex, then they have to control their sexual urges. It is much better than Islamic fasting for sex control, in which people are not allowed to do sex according to the demand of nature during the fasting period. But after the fasting period, Muslim men are allowed to commit the marital rape of their wives and show no respect for the choices of their wives.  

Islam apologists: Middle East has a low rate of cancer due to fasting

Islam apologists present the following video (link) as their proof, in which it is claimed that the middle east has less rate of cancer than the rest of the world, and one reason could be Islamic fasting.

Answer:

Islam apologists have not answered the points that have been raised in the post itself.

Running towards this youtube video is also not going to help Islam apologists, while:

  • Dr Berg is a westerner and he does not know exactly what happens during the month of Ramadan.

  • Dr Berg claimed that less Sugar due to fasting is the main reason for less cancer in the Middle East**. But what Dr Berg does not know is the fact that all Muslim countries have MORE consumption of sugar during the month of Ramadan. See this Study about the increase of sugar during Ramadan (link). 

  • Therefore, there is no solid proof that less rate of cancer in Arabic countries is due to fasting.

  • Dr Berg himself further provided more factors for it i.e. less smoking and less consumption of alcohol in Arabic countries may also be the factors for less cancer.

And intermittent fasting is good for health, but it is different from Islamic fasting.

Blasphemy: Islamic Countries punish people for so-called not respecting Ramadan by eating/drinking in public

If any person (even if he is a non-Muslim) eats and drinks in public, then Islamic countries punish him in the name of blasphemy against Islamic Fasting.

And Muslim logic for punishing that person is that he hurt the feelings of other Muslims who were fasting by eating/drinking in front of them and not showing respect to Islamic practices. 

Muslims are strange that they get angry with others only after fasting for 12-15 hours for eating/drinking in front of them, and they want to beat and punish others for it. 

On the other hand, these are poor children who have been suffering from hunger for years and years, but thankfully that they don't apply the Muslim logic here. Otherwise, these poor children have to set the houses of Muslims on fire for hurting their feelings through their Iftar parties and all the delicious food they eat at Suhur (سحر) and Iftar.

Ramadan Poor Children + An old Hindu man beaten for eating in Ramadan

The question is, why there exists this draconian law in Islamic countries? The presence of such a law is itself a disgrace to humanity.

It is not necessary to stay hungry to understand the miseries of poor people

Muslims also claim:

When rich people have to fast, then they understand the hunger of poor people too, and they help poor people more. 

Answer: 

If someone is crippled, then we don't need to break our leg too in order to understand his suffering. 

It is not necessary to stay hungry and thirsty in an unnatural and harmful way of Islamic fasting, but it is enough to think about the poor people and feel humanity. 

Reality is:

  • One does not feel much about the hunger of poor people through Islamic fasting, but the hunger of Muslims increases many folds during Ramadan. That is why Muslims spend almost 2 to 3 times more on their own hunger during Ramadan. 
  • The prices of food items are skyrocketed during Ramadan, and life becomes even more difficult for poor people.
  • And then Islamic countries have laws that hotels and restaurants and small vendors could not sell anything for eating/drinking during the whole day. Thus, many poor people even lose their earnings during Ramadan. How then this Ramadan could be a "Rehmah (mercy)" for poor people?
  • As soon as Ramadan comes, then all Muslims become lazy, and business activities go down to about 78%. And all this has a massive impact on poor people. Ramadan is not mercy, but it proves to be an Azaab (torment) for poor people. 
  • And then a question for poor people: How are they going to do hard labour jobs hungry and thirsty? And without work, how are they going to feed their family? 

This is the reality of the Islamic fasting of Ramadan as far as poor people are concerned.

Ramadan is indeed a torment for the poor. 

Islamic preachers come up with an excuse that Zakat saves poor people during Ramadan. But we all know that Zakat system is broken in almost all Islamic countries on the state level, and there is no guarantee that every needy person get Zakat. Many people have Ghayrah and they don't want to take beg for Zakat, but they are also compelled for it. 

And here is a Study of Egypt which tells Zakat is absolutely not enough to help alleviate poverty (link):

The study estimates the potential zakat collection in Egypt while the potential zakat as percentages to GDP were 1.05%, 1.04% and 1% for years 2000, 2005 and 2008 respectively. Accordingly, zakat contributes by 0.233$, 0.196 and 0.387 per day in years 2000, 2005 and 2008 respectively and these are not enough to alleviate poverty in the Egyptian Economy. 

Some more Muslim Excuses:

(1) Suhur doesn’t fill your stomach though, but it is only a midnight snack, not an actual meal

Answer: Even if we assume it is only a snack, still getting up in the middle of the night and eating snacks before dawn is not s WISE thing to do.

And people are eating a so-called snack at Suhur along with DRINKING a lot of water at the same time. They have to drink a lot of water because they want to stay hydrated for the next 12-14 hours. 

Moreover, a snack is often not able to provide you with energy for the whole day and you may face dietary deficiencies. It may make it difficult for you to concentrate on your studies during the whole day, or to perform your duties as a factory worker, or as an office employee.

Especially if these are pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers (who are also not exempted from fasting), then they are at risk of having deficiencies due to this light snacking at Suhur. Please note, these deficiencies do not appear immediately, but they are there due to 30 days of consecutive fasting during the month of Ramadan. 

(2) Follow the law of the country if it bans eating/drinking publically

Muslims come up with this excuse:

If you live in an Islamic country, then you should also follow its law. If it prohibits eating & drinking in public, then you should follow it and there is nothing wrong in it. Or that only applies to Christian and western nations, and only Muslim are demanded to follow their laws if they have to live there?

Answer: 

If secular western countries make a law to ban the Preaching of Islam, will Muslims then follow it, or will they protest against it while claiming it to be against basic human rights?

Are you not able to see your Double Standards here?

Eating and Drinking is a Basic Human Rights, and no Law should be made to usurp these basic human rights from them. Neither by religion nor by their followers.

By the way, we not only protest against Muslim made law of Blasphemy against Ramadan, but we also protest against Islamic law in Muslim countries, where it does not allow the non-Muslims to criticize Islam and publish our books against Islam and not preach our ideology, and not to let Muslims leave Islam and become ex-Muslims.

(3) France also banned Hijab in schools, so don't whine about the ban on eating/drinking in public

The next Muslim excuse is:

France also banned Hijab in Schools, and atheists tell Muslims to follow the French law.

Only citing French law about a partial ban on the Hijab (i.e. only in schools for girls under the age of 18) and then taking shelter behind it for all the crimes against humanity in Islamic countries (like blasphemy laws and Ramadan laws etc.) is futile.

Firstly, France's Hijab ban is controversial even among the Secularists themselves.

The line of reasoning for the French decision is that CHILDREN should be protected against Brainwashing by anyone (including religious brainwashing from their parents too). It is a great injustice against children to let them become the prey of this brainwashing in their childhood. This religious brainwashing is a reality, and that is why a Hindu child becomes a Hindu, a Christian child becomes a Christian, and a Muslim child becomes a Muslim after becoming an adult. Thus, children should be protected from this religious brainwashing, and they should accept any religion/philosophy on their own after becoming adults. 

That is why there is already a movement which is demanding a ban on all such brainwashing and religious practices which are forced upon children by their parents (like taking them to mosques, churches, Hindu temples etc.). 

But when these children become 18 years old, then they will be fully allowed to read and decide for themselves which ideology they want to follow, including Hijab and Islam. 

In this system, all children and all parents have equal rights as human beings. It is not like the Islamic system, which is an Unjust system, which allows only Muslims to preach to non-Muslims, and to publish all kinds of books criticizing other religions/ideologies, but does not allow non-Muslims to criticize Islam or to publish books against Islam, or to preach their ideology to Muslims. 

(4) Ramadan fasting is a suitable starting point as an intervention for the global obesity epidemic

Answer:

False. Contrary to this, food consumption (including sugar) increases in Muslim countries during Ramadan.

Ramadan fasting is linked with extreme laziness, which ultimately results in extremely low output during the whole month. Thus, it can never be an answer to problems which humans are facing, but it will only increase their problems. 

(5) Scientific study proves that people indeed lost weight during Ramadan Fasting

Muslim preachers also come up with this study (link), which claims that people indeed lost weight during Ramadan, which may also help in cardiovascular diseases (link). 

Answer:

Once again, nobody denies the health benefits of fasting. But the issue is only about the "out of balance" Islamic approach. 

Moreover, the reduction of weight during Ramadan is not based on any HEALTHY Physical Activity (like walking, jogging, going to the gym etc.). But it is solely based upon this unhealthy way that people don't get enough time to eat enough healthy food during Ramadan. In that small window between Iftaar and Suhur, they have not only to eat but also to hydrate themselves by drinking a lot of water simultaneously. 

There is a reason why fasting is not considered a healthy way of reducing weight. That is why, when Ramadan is over, then people go back to their older habits, and again start eating the same way as before, and again gain weight. 

As far as Healthy Physical Activities are concerned, then they are REDUCED significantly during Ramadan, and people become extremely lazy. Moreover, they avoid morning walks or any other physical activities due to the fear of becoming thirsty so early during their fast. 

(6) Don't trust this website, as it is BIASED against Islam

During the discussions, we see that Islamic preachers are unable to answer the criticism directly. In the end, they start making an accusation that this criticism against Islam cannot be trusted while this website is not Neutral, but BIASED against Islam. 

But the truth is, this accusation against us has no value. It is not our duty to stay neutral. We believe Islam to be wrong and harmful to humanity, and thus it becomes our duty to criticize Islam by bringing evidence and proof. 

It is the same for Islamic preachers. They are also not neutral and they are based in defending Islam. 

Please understand that it is only the duty of all Readers (all those who are in the search of Truth) to stay Neutral. They have to read our criticism of Islam and also the defence of Islam by Islamic preachers, and then take the right decision. 

Moreover, it is the Quran which is hundreds of times more biased, and filled with hatred against us (i.e. non-Muslims). Why should we then not reject the whole Quran for its bias and hatred?

Quran says that non-MUSLIMS:

It is a challenge to Islamic preachers to show us where have we shown so much hatred against Muslims as the Quran has shown against non-Muslims.

Remember, it is not allowed to show hatred against Muslims, but respect them as human beings. Nevertheless, as far as Islam is concerned, then it is only an ideology, and we have the full right to despise and oppose and criticize it if we believe that it causes harm to humanity. 

So, why should we then not reject the whole Quran for its extreme bias and hatred towards non-Muslims?

 

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