The month of Ramadan just started

Nandos ads are the best...just saw this one

Thats very funny Tom34

its very funny... but im glad im not muslim. that chicken looks really yummy.

I saw the commercial earlier and it made me want to eat chicken too, despite feeling sick today. I don't think I would be able to do Ramadan though and still go to classes or work, I don't work well with no food.

I've often wondered what a Muslim would do if they were in the north of Norway or Iceland in the summer when the sun never really sets. Ramadan is not at a set calender date like christmas, so it would mean that they can't eat for a month wouldn't it?

Anything more than 45 degrees north or south of the equator is considered "abnormal" and you can choose to fast within the hours set at 45 degrees. Today, it is not much of a factor, but it obviously is when there are much shorter or longer days.

What amuses me is how God could not see that and put only in Kuran from sunrise to sunset.

I don't mean to be cheeky, but this has to be a recent development...

It's clear that most of the humans live in the reasonable-length daylight. and that's why sunrise to sunset easy to understood. if the islamic teaching would cover every single case and exception it would be very lengthy, buerocratic, non-practical and annoying. simply Allah talks to humans who are intelligent enough to get the message.
centuries ago, the islamic scholars understood (sunrise to sunset) = equivalent daylight length. so if literal sunrise and sunset doesn't exist due to geographical location, people still follow biological clock which is in sync with our normal day... so they can follow the nearby city where normal sunrise and sunset are existing.
@sharpe: no one ever of the muslim history though about the necesity of such explicit role as they always have enough intelligent to understand.

I forgot to mention it earlier, but there is also the option during Ramadan to use the sunrise/sunset times for Mecca or Medina for those far from the equator. This has actually been accepted practice for a longer period of time than the use of 45 degrees latitude for those living further north or south of the equator.

Before we "laugh" at Ramadan, we should remember that the Christian tradition has similar concepts.
Why do we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday for example?

well its ironic that Ramadan is at the same time as the Oktoberfest... I have only actually met 4 Muslims that don't drink...2 of those in Munich! and they are on TT (both did showems scavenger hunt last year) and i have worked 2 years in Saudi in one stint and 13 weeks second stint so I have met a fair few

bad that I cant remember their names but not seen either of them since

The health benefits of fasting

Before we jump pre-emptively to the defense of something purely because it is foreign, and therefore must be fantastically great because its PC to like "diversity", we should remember that Ramadan is a load of old bollocks.
If you wanna compare it to xmas, let's do just that, and remember that nobody gives a crap about the religious apect of xmas, its all about presents and partying. If Ramadan also ignored the religious aspects, and simply became a festival where you could eat & drink loads of ace stuff, it would be undoubtably better. Fact.

Isn't that what they do after sunset?

i do not want to enter another religious discussion here as we have enough topics on it. I was born as a Muslim, studied it and read quite a bit about it. Kuran being the ultimate word of God that can not be chnaged should have addressed the issue of people living in the places where you have longer or shorter daylight times. However, Muhammed probably did not know it. This is how it says in Kuran:

It is made lawful for you to have sexual relations with your wives on the night of the fasts. They are garments for you and you are the same for them. Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He turned to you and forgave you. So now have sexual relations with them and seek that which Allah has ordained for you, and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then complete your fast till the nightfall.

Absolutely excellent post there don.. good work.. you're spot on..