VERSION|0.5.1|SUBJECT|Sarah Joseph OBE, Editor of the Muslim Lifestyle Magazine, emel   |CONTENT|[b]Rating[/b] 3 out of 5 (Fairly platitudinous)

[url=http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap130710.html][img=images/2013/07/pic130710.jpg popup=false float=right][/url][i](We interrupt a scientist telling you about improvements in the measurement of time and the fundamental constants of nature, so that you can listen to a religious person talk about their Invisible Magic Friend instead.)[/i]

Happy first day of Ramadan everyone! Ramadan is a happy time of fasting: no food or drink between sunrise and sunset. And because a certain well known prophet didn't know anything about the effect of the earth's tilt on the length of the day outside of the latitudes that he lived in, that means we have to fast for 19 hours here in Britain.

But Ramadan is a joyful time; it is a spiritual time. What this means is that, here in Britain, we get even more joy and even more being spiritual than Muslims who had the misfortune to be born in lower latitudes. If we had been lucky enough to be born north of the artic circle we could fast for the entire day. Just think how joyful and spiritual we could be then! In fact, I wish it was Ramadan all year long, then we could be joyful and spiritual all the time, but too much of a good thing would just spoil us.

Tomorrow is Srebrenica Memorial Day, when the massacre of 8,000 men and boys by the Serbian army is remembered. The horrors of Srebrenica put many of our own little problems into perspective.

Which brings me back to Ramadan and how joyful and spiritual it is. A [url=http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/R/RumiJelaludd/Fasting.htm]famous poet[/url] agrees with me so I must be right.

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01cjxrz]Listen/Read[/url]|CATEGORIES|89,94|IP-ADDRESS|94.168.119.214|DATE|1373443333|CREATEDBY|admin
