“Islam is a religion of safety, equality, freedom, fraternity, dignity and pride. This is clearly evident in its laws, principles and conduct. Fasting in Islam is not like fasting in other religions, because the problem of the person is not to just suppress the desires of his body, as monks do, until the body of one of them becomes like a moving skeleton. Islam disciplines the bodily desires and does not repress them. Fasting in Islam entails making the soul accustomed to maintaining patience and jihad against the sinful and forbidden desires, to observe God in secret and in public, and to taste deprivation and hunger, so as to become sympathetic towards the disadvantaged. Fasting is also a chance to give the body a break from satiety for this break is good for people where their health, soul and mind is concerned, and for the society to grow closer in its cooperation and unity. “
