Ramadan and football practice?

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Ramadan and football practice?
Before anyone brings up "Fordson" (movie about Muslims playing football in Ramadan in Dearborn), I used to go to Dearborn High School and the fordson guys were actually our rivals haha I knew some of them..

Anyways, it's going to be the hottest part of the summer and I need to keep from dehydration as well as malnutrition.

Remember, we only fast while the sun is up. So around 4:30-5 am I'll eat, and 9pm~ I'm allowed to eat/drink again.

Any advice?

Thanks, I really appreciate it.

That's an awfully long fast! 7 in the morning to 7 at night should be just fine.

Yet another reason why I could never become a Muslim. Aside from the fasting, any religion that tells you what you can and can't eat is nuts. (Why is pork banned? What do they think is going to happen? Didn't the guys who compiled and edited the Koran realize that Jesus repealed the Mosaic laws when Christianity got started? And yet those same guys also claimed that Muslims are free to "eat of the food of the Jews and Christians"!) And I can say this because I've worked for Muslims.

Our fast is from dawn from sunset. It is not in accordance to the actual hours of the day.
I'm not exactly sure of the dietary restrictions you speak of, and anyways we believe it's God-given, not missionary-given, anyway.

Cheat? This would get more into a religious discussion, but I think the Ramadan fast is a ridiculous idea. It's just like Muhammad was like "Aha, the Christians have Lent, but we're gonna do it our way and be suicidal!" So many Muslims die during Ramadan, and lots end up gaining weight because it screws your metabolism up. The Christian fasting schedule is much more sensible, there's only a couple days out of the year we don't eat anything (before Pascha/Easter,) and the rest are vegan/meat free days.


http://stronglifts.com/ramadan-weight-l ... -lose-fat/
He's Egyptian, basically he says lift at night. Which you can't do.

Pig was/is considered an unclean animal, and there was a valid reason for it. (Heard similar reasoning a while ago so I just pulled this answer): Interestingly enough, chemical analysis of this blood shows that it contains an abundance of uric acid, a chemical substance which can be injurious to human health. Also, there are many harmful effects of the consumption of pork, in any form, be it pork chops, ham, bacon. Medical science finds that there is a risk for various diseases as the pig is found to be a host for many parasites and potential diseases as the pig's biochemistry excretes only 2% of its total uric acid content, the remaining 98% remains as an integral part of the body. I imagine that in antiquity it would have been noticed that those who frequently ate this meat were subject to various diseases and maladies.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_Muslim ... z20F1dzYFM

I would say do not do any exercises outside of what is needed. Possibly explain to a coach how (because of your religion) you are unable to eat or drink during the day. They might lesson the amount of work you are given. But don't exercise outside of football preseason.

Perhaps your coach could excuse you from practice, or allow you to train later in the evening. Granted you may miss practicing with your team, but you could still train. If that doesn't work, perhaps you should present your issue to your Imam and get his advice.

There is a whole list of things wrong with that statement. Non-Jewish communities in the Middle East loved their pork just as much as we do now. Trichinosis? That's found in all climates and occurs more in COLD climates than in hot ones! Early Semites also viewed the act of eating pork as one of reverence Furthermore, all those harmful effects are eliminated by proper cooking. Thus the whole ban on pork is invalid. There was never any good reason for it 1,400 years ago and there's no good reason for it now. Get rid of it. Break that f**ked-up taboo. You don't need it. Nobody does. Just because some old Arab guy said pork is bad doesn't make him right any more than some old guy sitting on the throne of St. Peter saying it's wrong to use birth control.

And why let good meat go to waste? The Plains Indians used the whole bison. Italians and Chinese? They don't waste anything.

Lastly, if any god didn't want us eating pork, he wouldn't have made pigs and given us the know-how to raise, slaughter, and cook them.

I'm (Nazarene) Christian. The teens at my church did a 30 hour famine a few months ago. it was to raise money for kids in Africa. We could only drink clear liquids and instead of sitting around and starving, we played a huge scavenger hunt in the neighborhood and slept out side in tents. It was fun.

but I've never done a fast before easter or anything like that because its not required.

Some people think that the ban on pork is due to the fact that Influenza viruses can become much more deadly by swapping genes in pig's throats, which has similar genetics to humans.

Hence why swine flu was more deadly than bird flu.

Well you may have to make a choice. Playing football during fasting hours (as opposed to after iftar) may well be a bad idea. This is something that is best discussed with a doctor, who knows how well and fit you are generally.

If you must play football I'd suggest drinking quite a bit of water before sunrise and eat a decent meal with plenty of slow release carbohydrates (wholemeal bread, or porridge for example) and some protein for suhur. There is quite a lot of information online for having a healthy fast. If you are playing football after sundown make sure you don't overdo it at iftar, a very full stomach isn't much healthier than an empty one.

Could you miss football for a month? You could use that time for activities beneficial to your deen. Whatever you decide, please check with your doctor, football coach or parents and take their advice.

If you don't like my lifestyle, cool, but you don't have to rip on it like that.

I don't know the particulars of what is or isn't allowed on Ramadan. I was raised a Bahai, and they do a similar fast, sunrise to sunset, for 19 days. However, there are many exemptions to the fast- if you are pregnant or nursing, if you are sick, if you are traveling, if you are doing heavy labor.

I assume however that you do want to fast. I don't think you need to worry about malnutrition- you are eating, and replentishing your body's nutrients, just with longer than usual periods between.
I think what might be a problem is not drinking while being in the heat and sweating a lot. Maybe you could be granted an exemption on that? Again I don't don't know what is allowed.

@1000knives I was told the reason for fasting was to make one aware that many people in the world who are experiencing hardship, starving or suffering. That being willing to experience some small part of that could make one a more spiritual person.

Jonathon Saffron Foyer in his book Eating Animals talks about his Grandmother during World War 2, walking across the countryside and close to starving (if this isn't already obvious, she was Jewish). He asks how she survived. "Sometimes people were kind, one time a farmer took pity on me and gave me a piece of meat" "He saved your life" " I didn't eat it, it was pork."
Jonathon goes on to discuss the question of whether or not she should have eaten pork to save her life.
She said " What would be the point of surviving if I lost my beliefs."

Last edited by lasirena on 11 Jul 2012, 10:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

Choose. Which is more important to you? Do you risk not being able to play if you skip practice? It would be very dangerous to skip food/water during practice (the all day practices in the summer, correct?)

Even the Orthodox would have told her to eat the meat. Not just said it's ok, but told her too.

Kosher goes out the door when life is in danger.

Ok (I see what you are saying). I think in the context of the book Jonathon is exploring the theme of how do we reconcile our ideals with the realities and pressures of life. (and this is perhaps the heart of the op's question)
I was not advocating her choice. I don't think Jonathon was either, I think he was using her example as a mirror to make the reader question what ideals do they believe is important to live by, and more importantly what they would risk or sacrifice to hold on to those beliefs.
What his grandmother was saying was that her beliefs (can't think of better word) gave her a reason to live and that was more important than the physical substanance, in such a harsh situation her beliefs (again not really the right word) kept despair at bay.

There is another way to think about it- would you eat human flesh to save your life- say if you were the sole surviver of a plane that had crashed in some remote barren landscape.