Fasting – 可怜

We have been playing badminton quite regularly in the evening. As I mentioned in my previous blog, we have quite a handful of children who would join us in playing the game and they are a good mixture of Chinese, Malay and Indians.

Yesterday evening, one of the Malay boys said: “aunty, this Saturday we are starting our fasting month, so we cannot come down and play for the whole month.”

It was his way of informing me of their soon to be absence, I guess, and I think it was a very polite gesture on his part. I always like talking to this Malay boy because he is of very good nature and he speaks very politely. Not that the rest are rude but he stands out a little more in term of being courteous. Anthea also had the same impression and she said she likes him best…haha.

After the game, Anthea asked me: “mommy, what is Fasting:” I explained to her that during fasting month, the Malays will not eat or drink from sunrise. They will only eat/drink after sunset. This is call break-fast.

She asked: “then why they cannot play badminton?” I explained to her that they need to rest the bodies well as any exercises may cause dehydration.

Then she said: “wow…they are so 可怜，cannot eat and drink, they will sure feel dizzy. Lucky I am not Malay.”

When I heard her comment, I quickly add on: “Oh..They are not 可怜，this is their Muslim religion and they have a belief in their religion. Anyway, it is not that they cannot eat totally. They will eat heavy breakfast before sunrise and when sunset, they can have their dinner too.”

I took the opportunity to explain the goodness on fasting – Muslims are reminded the suffering of the poor. I told her we must always be mindful that some people are not as fortunate as we are to have a comfortable home and food. There are needy people in our society who need help.

As I have limited knowledge to the reasons, I also goggled to find out more about Ramadan and hopefully can explain in details to Anthea.

“Fasting serves many purposes. While they are hungry and thirsty, Muslims are reminded of the suffering of the poor. Fasting is also an opportunity to practice self-control and to cleanse the body and mind. And in this most sacred month, fasting helps Muslims feel the peace that comes from spiritual devotion as well as kinship with fellow believers.”

It is such a coincidence that only this week I heard the PM speech on religion and here we are – learning the real life things about our Muslim friends. I am really glad she has this exposure to learn about such practise. Slowly but surely she will learn more about other religion and their practises too. This is what I call “Learn through Play”…haha.