powerdesal Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Ramadan Kareem to all who may be interested (happy Ramadan-ish) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 And to you. Is the correct response 'Ramadhan Mubarak'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted September 23, 2006 Author Share Posted September 23, 2006 No, Ramadam Mubarak is another way of wishing someone best wishes for Ramadan, the two greetings seem to be mutually interchangeable.We also say 'Christmas Mubarak' as a point of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Thanks. Although we have a lot of Moslem kids at school, Ramadhan is rarely mentioned, but it can cause older pupils some difficulties (tiredness especially). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoddy Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 That's interesting, Dick. Ramadan used to cause major problems in my old school, especially for the girls.Hoddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 How so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted September 23, 2006 Author Share Posted September 23, 2006 Dick & Hoddy,Interesting comments, the religious stricturs of Ramadan do not, as far as I know, apply to children or those adults that are ill or travelling further than 15kms!. There is of course the practice of partying the night away because muslims cannot eat or drink between sunrise and sunset. This could well affect children who did not go to bed at a reasonable hour. The practice always seems to me to be defeating the 'fasting' spirit which is supposed to be such a major part of Ramadan.The present system here of Ramadan is in fact somewhat hypercritical, the daily working hours are substantially reduced (for most) to 0800 - 1300 (5 days a week), the shops and restaurants stay open until 2 or 3 in the morning (or later) and effectively a large portion of the population effectively swing into night shift living and sleeping during the day. That is not 'fasting' in my book but thats the way it is.The muslims I really feel sorry for are the labourers who still have to work outside in the hot sun and cannot have anything to drink. That situation gets worse, or will get worse for the next few years as ramadan starts earlier each year by about 15 days, thus in a few years it ill be in the middle of summer when temperatures are 45+ in the shade (assuming you can find shade). I remember some years ago during the last summer ramadan cycle that we had considerable numbers of labourers collapse and there were inevitably some deaths.On a purely personal note, I too have to work only 25 hours a week for the next 4 weeks. Its tough, but someone has to do it!!! [:(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 I believe that children under 14 don't have to fast, but some do, and of course we have pupils up to 19! I thought it was OK to drink plain water? We need a Moslem to put us straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted September 23, 2006 Author Share Posted September 23, 2006 Not even water Dick, the rule strictly is that nothing should pass the lips between sunrise and sunset, and sex isn't allowed either in those hours!!!The exceptions are for illness and as a result, tomorrow morning there will be large queues at the Govt medical centres - I'm not joking.Those who cannot fast due to illness or who are travelling are supposed to make up the fasting afterwards. The 15km travel thing is quite ridiculous, people live in Sharjah and work in Dubai which is 26 kms each way, I dont know if anyone has actually pushed their luck with the Police on that one.Agewise I am not sure, 14 may well be the cut off as its all based on 14th century stuff anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Most of my pupils start ramadan at around 12/13, but it seems to be a personal choice here. We have a tiredness problem too, both children who will have partied all night and those who won't be eating anything all day. I have to say that most of them are very impressive, you wouldn't know they are fasting. The main problem is to do with PE lessons, especially swimming (many worry that they might swallow water by accident) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoddy Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 All our Moslem pupils who were aged 11 to 19 observed Ramadan while in school. Some of them came from homes where the rules were more lightly enforced, but we always had a sprinkling of boys who’d been to a madrassa and who felt able to tell the others what they should be doing. They even pressured a colleague not to wear lipstick.The result was a degree of tiredness, listlessness and short- tempered behaviour which was higher than normal. Even if they fainted they would not allow us to sponge their lips with water.I thought it was harder for the girls because most of them would menstruate during the course of the month. PE was particularly difficult. It had an impact on the school dining room too because the take up of school dinners was down by about a thirdHoddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 [quote user="Dick Smith"]I thought it was OK to drink plain water? [/quote]No, and the really serious ones won't even swallow their own saliva. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 Ah. Perhaps it is better to be frivolous, then. The things people do in the name of superstition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 Another frivolous response comes to mind about not being allowed to swallow their own saliva but I won't say it. Crazy world, innit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 Ah yes. But then, I'm drinking more than my own saliva at the moment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted September 24, 2006 Author Share Posted September 24, 2006 So am I, but I have an excuse, being in a Muslim country in Ramadan [8-|] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted September 24, 2006 Author Share Posted September 24, 2006 I feel a bacon sannie coming on, or would that be non PC????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 Oh, no! I could KILL for a decent bacon sarnie! Why did you have to mention that???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted September 24, 2006 Author Share Posted September 24, 2006 Theres nothing better in Ramadan than cooking smoked bacon on the barbie for Friday brunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 [quote user="Cassis"]Oh, no! I could KILL for a decent bacon sarnie! [/quote]Bad Cassis, you'll just encourage Chris to post his piggy pic again. And you know what happened the last time! [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWINKLE Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 [quote user="Cassis"]Oh, no! I could KILL for a decent bacon sarnie! Why did you have to mention that????[/quote]There you go Phil - tuck in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Oh, Twinks, that's a gorgeous sight! The cafe near where I used to work in London did a fab breakfast bap - bacon, sausage and egg (mushrooms optional) in a giant square toasted ciabatta. [:D]Almost made it worth going to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Jude says that was very cruel of you - but she's agreed to try to get the butcher to do some bacon for me, so thank you! [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 I remember when I was a student doing holiday work in a factory in the Netherlands, Ramadan was a real "pain". As there were quite a few Muslim workers there, when we arrived for the night shift, we worked a short time then had to have our first break. We then had to work right through until virtually the end of the shift to get the 2nd break.The women working there hated it as well as they had to stop work (and thus stop being paid) for the duration.Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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