Personally, I could never do any sort of fasting.. I'm a skinny git with a HUGE appetite, lol. Good luck to you guys on your fasting though, I hope it brings new meaning to food
There are many branches in Islam but the biggest is the split between Shia (me) and Sunni (RPgx). Rpgx you should obviously know what shias believe, so don't go spouting that to everyone that there is 1 imam per mosque. Basically At Gadir-E-Khum (between Mecca and Medina) Prophet Mohammed proclaimed himself to be the last prophet and that Aly (his cousin) was to be the first Imam. From that day we have had 49 Imams, all of whom are blood related back to Prophet Mohammed. So for us Shias, there is not one Imam per mosque. There is one Imam who leads all of us. The sunnis took when Prophet Mohammed said whoesever Mowla I am, Aly is their mowla. They took mowla to mean friend and not leader. So for them it stopped at Prophet Mohammed. Shias took it to mean leader.
eventually...but i mean eating once a week or so...thats good...for me and there are lots of ppl who could use a good fast...
I respect this very much. I read the Quran and study Islam but I would not say I am a Muslim. I do agree with a lot of the views and beliefs, and it is a beautiful relgion, but like I said, I do not label myself with any one thing.
after reading this, a thought entered. the fasting month has been a practice in islam for hundres of years. with science, it's proof that fasting is good for ya!