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Tell HN: Eid Mubarak

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161–170 of 371 posts

Re: Tell HN: Eid Mubarak

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No smoking all day is a big deal for many Muslims in the Middle East. One year I was living in Cairo during Ramadan, and each day when it got close to the sunset call to prayer (which heralds the end of the fast), it seemed like all the cab drivers had cigarettes in hand, waiting eagerly to light up.

It is a shame that it didn't lead them to stop smoking

People underappreciate how addictive nicotine is. I've been an addict for 15 years and I quit so many times, sometimes for longer than a year.

The new smoking inventions only make it worse because they allow for much much higher dosages. I've seen teens smoking what amounts to 10 packs a day worth of nicotine. And they didn't have to chain smoke for 12 hours to achieve that.

Re: Tell HN: Eid Mubarak

#163
post #77

I am a bit confused: are we going to get more similar posts (which is tangent to some proselytism, under the premise of well wishing?) for each and every religious faith major event around the globe? I am saying this as a former believer (and holding no grudge), definitely aware of the fine line between sharing and pushing cultural items, and balancing the two rather equally in a diverse team. EDIT: actually, it's a…

[deleted]

Re: Tell HN: Eid Mubarak

#164
post #101
post #72

Just a reminder that Mohammed raped a nine-year-old girl, and women and girls under Islam are still suffering to this day under this perverse, misogynistic belief system. Eid Mubarak.

Please don't take HN into religious flamewar. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

If there were an HN thread celebrating some holiday in Scientology or FLDS or the Westboro Baptist Church, would you hold people to these same rules and flag any criticism?

The founder of Islam was far worse than the founders of any of the religions I listed. Why does he get a pass? Just because billions of people think he was a good person?

Re: Tell HN: Eid Mubarak

#165
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes there is two main opinions for scholars. The first one is obvious, people in this place follow the fasting time of the nearest place that have sound sunrise/sunset times. The other is to follow the fasting times of mecca.

[flagged]

> I realize there's a 99.9% chance this will cause some emotions, so I won't post any further.

Or maybe go the whole hog and just don’t post? I’m not religious but questions like this can only be asked in very specific circumstances without causing offence.

This a thread trying to wish a significant segment of the hn community a happy festival. Is now really the time to question their beliefs?

Re: Tell HN: Eid Mubarak

#166
post #141

I was unaware until this year that it was based on when the moon was _sighted_, not just on a conventional lunar calendar. This leads to very short notice public holidays in a couple of countries AIUI.

Most Muslim majority countries give one or more day before/after the expected day just in case

Ramadan is one clear case where being in a place with many coreligionists obviously improves the experience of practising that religion. one can meditate alone, pray alone, even keep kosher as a small minority, but fasting amongst people with snacks and big gulps all day is harder than all together.

Eid Mubarak!

Re: Tell HN: Eid Mubarak

#167
post #6

I will add, the fasting from food and water is the easy part. The more important fast is fasting from everything that is bad -- cursing, backbiting, lying, etc -- and from your own desires. All these things are things you shouldn't do anyway, but this is a time to refresh commitment to not doing those things. As the Quran says: "Oh, you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before yo…

> and from your own desires As a non-religious gay I probably wasn't invited anyway. But this kind of thinking is what leads conservatives to so much repression and hate. The idea that the wants and needs of your body are something which the mind must actively fight. That the scratchy, ill-fitting wool sweater of your culture is something that you must keep on at all costs. And it leads to resentment of people who ar…

It's more subtle than this. Your brain can tell you to do stupid things. Not all desires are good. I can over eat, over spend, over work or procrastinate. And that's not even going into deeper brain reflex or addiction. And then you have actual neurology.

I'm not a religious person, but I believe (sic) that behind fasting periods, there's a training around the theme of balance.

Re: Tell HN: Eid Mubarak

#168

It seems like there is a geographical bound on practicing (Orthodox?) Muslims. I imagine past 66.5 degrees of latitude, someone fasting would probably die due to the fact that the sun will never rise for a month. Has there been any debate or clarification on how Muslims living in complete darkness are to practice? Edit: sun will never set/living in 24 hour sunlight. The fasting time is during daylight hours.

Im curious what the approved method is for muslims in space? like, can you have a snack every 90 minutes?

It’s my understanding that if you are subject to unusual fasting conditions - 24hr daylight / darkness / in space you follow the rules as if you were in Mecca.

Re: Tell HN: Eid Mubarak

#169
post #6

I will add, the fasting from food and water is the easy part. The more important fast is fasting from everything that is bad -- cursing, backbiting, lying, etc -- and from your own desires. All these things are things you shouldn't do anyway, but this is a time to refresh commitment to not doing those things. As the Quran says: "Oh, you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before yo…

> and from your own desires As a non-religious gay I probably wasn't invited anyway. But this kind of thinking is what leads conservatives to so much repression and hate. The idea that the wants and needs of your body are something which the mind must actively fight. That the scratchy, ill-fitting wool sweater of your culture is something that you must keep on at all costs. And it leads to resentment of people who ar…

Hate is natural, just look at history. Practicing restraint from natural feelings like hate is a purpose of fasting. Do note, it has been an organized practice in western civilization centuries longer than even Islam has existed.

Re: Tell HN: Eid Mubarak

#170
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and from your own desires As a non-religious gay I probably wasn't invited anyway. But this kind of thinking is what leads conservatives to so much repression and hate. The idea that the wants and needs of your body are something which the mind must actively fight. That the scratchy, ill-fitting wool sweater of your culture is something that you must keep on at all costs. And it leads to resentment of people who ar…

As a non-religious gay, I fully agree that continually denying yourself something that makes you happy isn't a virtue. However, raiding the cabinet of historically religious practices and stripping god out of them can be helpful. A lot of things we do on impulse don't actually make us happy, and cutting them out for a bit can be a good way to examine whether they've become unhelpful/unskillful habits. I don't think d…

freedom in the matter of choosing your own actions is definitely a nice tool to have when planning your week or day, or or responding to stressful suprises.
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