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3 6 Islam
sacrifice.
Every Mussulman is on the look-
of the new
out for the first appearance
moon, sign of the beginning of the fast
(the lunar year is followed), and from
that evening for thirty days, from dawn
until sunset neither food nor water is
touched. When Ramadhan in the course
of the years occurs in the hot season, the
fast is terrible in its
severity. Cloudless
sky, scorching sun, burning winds, and not
one drop of water to quench the awful
thirst ;
and at the same time additional
prayers, with the accompanying genuflections
;
this while the day's
task must
still be accomplished ; it is a terrible test
of the obedience and devotion of the
Faithful.
It is true that travellers, invalids,
women nursing
little children, and the
weak, are exempt but the fasts are
;
and we have
supposed to be made up,
known many who have struggled through
the month, who were quite unfit for it.
The early morning and evening meal-