Why Do Muslims Eat More During Ramadan?
http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2013/07/why-do-muslims-eat-more-during-ramadan.html
About a decade ago, when I was an undergraduate taking an Islam
course, my professor (who was a Muslim) told me that Muslims consume
far more food during Ramadan than during other months. To outsiders,
this is profoundly odd, since one of the goals of fasting is to
deliberately deprive oneself of basic physical needs (typically in order
to focus on spiritual matters). Gorging oneself before dawn and after
sunset hardly seems like a spiritual pursuit.
Consider some data on Ramadan food consumption in Tunisia:
Why do Muslims eat more when they're fasting than when they're not fasting? Why put a mask of piety on gluttony?
The answer, I think, lies at the very heart of Islam. Islam does not make people more holy or spiritual. Rather, it gives them a religious framework for carrying their desires to perverse extremes.
If a non-Muslim man hits a few clubs and somehow manages to have sex with ten women in one day, Islam will condemn him as a fornicator. But if this same man converts to Islam, marries four women, and takes six sex-slaves as his captives after a battle, he can be perfectly righteous before Allah, even if he has sex with ten women in one day.
Likewise, if a man hires a prostitute and sleeps with her, he has sinned, according to Islam. But if the same man sets up a "temporary marriage" (a practice called "Muta"), he can hire the same prostitute, for the same amount of time, have sex with her in the exact same way, and bear no shame whatsoever in the Muslim community.
If a psychopath goes on a killing spree, brutally murdering men, women, and children, he is surely going to hell, according to Islam—unless, of course, he is killing men, women, and children in a terrorist attack for the sake of Allah, in which case his violent massacre will earn him a one-way ticket to Paradise.
Even according to Muslim sources, the tribes of Mecca were violent, lascivious, and gluttonous. Muhammad didn't change their behavior by forcing them to convert to Islam. He simply made their violence, lasciviousness, and gluttony pleasing to Allah. Should we be surprised that Ramadan is a month-long feast that Muslims call "fasting"?
Consider some data on Ramadan food consumption in Tunisia:
Tunisian consumption in food products skyrockets during the holy month, Ahmed Methlouthi director of the communication unit at the National Consumer Institute (INC) told TAP news agency.
This increase involves:
- Milk, rising to 2 liters of monthly consumption during the month of Ramadan against 0. 9 liters per person throughout the yearRegarding supply points of Tunisian consumer, 57.8% of Tunisians prefer to buy from hypermarkets and supermarkets, while 42.2% remain faithful to the traditional distribution channels (local grocery), the source said. (Source)
- Yoghurt pots went up to 12.9 per person, against 5.4 pots monthly during the rest of the year.
- Eggs are consumed at 26 per person, against 12.8 eggs per month in normal times
- Roll (baguette) 1.4 kg against 0.6 kg per month in normal times
- Oil, 1.2 liter, against 1.14 liters per month in normal times
- Meat: 1.1 kg of mutton, against 0.75 kg outside Ramadan, 0.5 kg of beef per month against 0.22 kg and 1.8 kg of poultry against 1.28 kg per month.
Why do Muslims eat more when they're fasting than when they're not fasting? Why put a mask of piety on gluttony?
The answer, I think, lies at the very heart of Islam. Islam does not make people more holy or spiritual. Rather, it gives them a religious framework for carrying their desires to perverse extremes.
If a non-Muslim man hits a few clubs and somehow manages to have sex with ten women in one day, Islam will condemn him as a fornicator. But if this same man converts to Islam, marries four women, and takes six sex-slaves as his captives after a battle, he can be perfectly righteous before Allah, even if he has sex with ten women in one day.
Likewise, if a man hires a prostitute and sleeps with her, he has sinned, according to Islam. But if the same man sets up a "temporary marriage" (a practice called "Muta"), he can hire the same prostitute, for the same amount of time, have sex with her in the exact same way, and bear no shame whatsoever in the Muslim community.
If a psychopath goes on a killing spree, brutally murdering men, women, and children, he is surely going to hell, according to Islam—unless, of course, he is killing men, women, and children in a terrorist attack for the sake of Allah, in which case his violent massacre will earn him a one-way ticket to Paradise.
Even according to Muslim sources, the tribes of Mecca were violent, lascivious, and gluttonous. Muhammad didn't change their behavior by forcing them to convert to Islam. He simply made their violence, lasciviousness, and gluttony pleasing to Allah. Should we be surprised that Ramadan is a month-long feast that Muslims call "fasting"?
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