Doha: A group of doctors and religious scholars from Qatar and various countries of the world participating in the Green Tent called for the need for fasting patients to follow the recommended instructions, which would preserve their health, noting the importance of fasting as it has become one of the new ways to treat a number of diseases.
In the second symposium organised by “A Flower Each Spring” programme under the title “ The New in Science and Medicine in Aiding Sick Fasting People”, the participants discussed the diseases brought about by contemporary civilization and their impact on the fasting person, harnessing the latest developments in modern medicine to treat and mitigate the effects of aging diseases. They also discussed the Sharia licences and medical prohibitions and the danger of ignoring them, and the psychological effects of not fasting on the patient.
Participants pointed out the importance of fasting in cases of chronic diseases related to aging, with the need to follow the therapeutic and preventive instructions, which include healthy, balanced food full of vegetables and fruits to stimulate immune cells, as well as a balanced exercise, stressing the importance of the patient consulting a doctor to find out whether or not he can fast without causing any harm to his health.
The participants stressed the dangers of neglecting doctors’ recommendations, and the negative impact on the health of the fasting person, explaining ways to confront the psychological effects of the patient’s failure to fast, including the shake-up of their self-confidence when they are forced to break the fast, therefore, they must be convinced that the religion of Islam concerns the individual in his health and illness, in his life and death, and in his childhood and old age.
They pointed out that most modern health systems have begun to focus on fasting as a form of treatment for some diseases, given its benefits to the body and its role in rebuilding cells, since cell fasting has a positive effect on the immune system, and thus enables it to resist diseases, explaining that this is related to the need to adhere to a balanced diet, while reducing sugars, drinking plenty of fluids, and avoiding stress.
They indicated that fasting has many benefits even in the presence of viruses, especially when these viruses are mild and do not have a severe effect on the fasting patient, while in the case of acute diseases that require admission to the hospital, it is necessary not to fast, and to take medical advice, as confirmed by religious scholars.
Speakers at the symposium reviewed the legal rulings on fasting and breaking the fast for all patients, pointing out that the scholars forbade fasting in the event of harm to the patient as a result of fasting, especially in the case of a disease that causes pain, or in the case that fasting is a reason for increasing the disease, or delaying recovery. They emphasized that Islam came to preserve the human soul and protect it from any physical or psychological harm.
They explained that a Muslim who is unable to fast due to illness or age must pay (Fidya) for each day, while the patient whose recovery is hoped has to break his fast and he has to make it up, while the patient must break his fast if fasting delays his recovery.
In this regard, Head of A Flower Each Spring program Dr. Saif bin Ali Al Hajri explained that this renewed version of the Green Tent includes a group of thinkers, scholars and doctors, to talk about the new in science and medicine in aiding the sick fasting people, considering that this issue is part of the challenges for those whom Allah Almighty has afflicted with some incurable diseases that interfere with fasting, pointing out that the true Islamic religion permitted the use of the Sharia license that is available for patients as a kind of relief for them, in addition to the presence of medical advice to relieve these patients to maintain their health.
