Ramadan and fasting

mikemac

Genuinely asking here

The current heatwave in the USA is getting a lot of attention and of course these high temperatures exist in the Middle East and other countries too.

In American football, players will be attending training camp very shortly and as you can imagine practicing six hours a day in the heat can be brutal
Interesting article here from last year on such a player in Minnesota
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/sports/football/06fasting.html

But I was wondering, suppose I'm a Muslim and an engineer/labourer or any physical labour job in the Middle East?

Am I realy expected to abstain from water for the working day?
People will be fainting and falling off oil rigs all over the place! :eek:

So how does it work? Production can't shut down for the entire month, the work has to be done so do some Muslims get exemptions so the water fasting does not apply?

Tom Dunne

As a non-Muslim working in a Muslim country, I can tell you that the workday is shortened from 8 hour day to 6 hours.

From my own observations, road works and building works seem to stop and commence after dark (so workers can take water/eat). It is 45 degrees outside, after all.

And yes, as a worker (Muslim or non-Muslim) you are expected to abstain from eating/drinking for the whole day in public. As a non-Muslim, however, my employer does set aside staff rooms where non-Muslims can eat and drink water, out of the sight of Muslim staff. And of course, I can eat/drink what I like in the privacy of my own home.

To the best of my knowledge, the only exemptions for Muslims are the standard ones - the old, the young, pregnant women, the ill and a few more that I am probably forgetting.

No exemptions for regular workers.

Jaafa

To my knowledge it is also ok for workers such as you mentioned, who work in extreme conditions to break fast early or as soon as they feel their health is at risk.

I believe fatwas have been released to this effect.

masadjie

In my understanding, physical worker who work in extreme conditions are allowed to abstain from fasting during fasting month but they need to repay their fasting in other month (to fast another day) before the next fasting month.

If they work in extreme condition for the whole year then they can give "fidyah" (to feed a poor person) instead of repay the fasting. But in my opinion it is very rare condition that people have to work in extreme condition for the whole year.

Link about Fidyah.

Tom Dunne

Just observing building sites and roadworks this morning as I came in to work and yes, there are people working.

And, to my surprise, I did see water bottles and coolers. I thought it was illegal to eat/drink in public?

Jaafa

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Just observing building sites and roadworks this morning as I came in to work and yes, there are people working.

And, to my surprise, I did see water bottles and coolers. I thought it was illegal to eat/drink in public?

Who told you that?

Tom Dunne

Jaafa wrote: »

Who told you that?

Our HR department.

Jaafa

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Our HR department.

Well I'm no expert on the subject but is it possible they meant its frowned upon to eat or drink in public? Not necessarily illegal? What country are you in btw?

Tom Dunne

Jaafa wrote: »

Well I'm no expert on the subject but is it possible they meant its frowned upon to eat or drink in public? Not necessarily illegal? What country are you in btw?

Just checked the e-mail from HR, definitely said it is illegal.

I am in Bahrain.

Alice1

I think it depends on local laws. In Bahrain, I beleive it is regarded as a civil offence to eat, drink, smoke, chew gum etc in public during Ramadhan.

The Gulf Daily News says "Although non-Muslims are allowed to eat during the daylight hours, it is illegal to do so in public"

Jaafa

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Just checked the e-mail from HR, definitely said it is illegal.

I am in Bahrain.

Well in that case they must have been fairly sure they could get away with it. Maybe the law isn't really enforced.

So can tourists still eat outside? What about if you were inside a restaurant? Does that count?

IITYWYBMAD

Jaafa wrote: »

Well in that case they must have been fairly sure they could get away with it. Maybe the law isn't really enforced.

So can tourists still eat outside? What about if you were inside a restaurant? Does that count?

I think it is illegal to do so in public, for both Muslims and non-Muslims. From memory, there are certain areas set aside for non-Muslims.