I hope this fasting goes FAST!

Today I am studying the Islamic religion. There is a ton of information for each of these religions and I am noticing that as I read about Islam a lot of their ideas are the same as the Christian faith. Here is some of what they believe:

Six Articles of Faith

The six articles of faith are the main doctrines of Islam. All Muslims share beliefs in the following:

    1. God
    Islam preaches that there is only one Supreme, Eternal, Infinite and Unparallel entity, Allah (God). He alone is the creator of all the universe. Quran declares "That is God, your Lord. There is no god but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything." (6:102)
    2. Angels
     Muslims believe in angels. They are comprised of light, and each have different purposes. Angel Gabriel brought the divine message to Mohammad. Two angels (Kiraaman and Katibeen) are assigned to record the actions of the human beings; one records good deeds, the other bad deeds. The angel of death (Azrael) takes the soul out of the body. Angels Munkir and Nakir questions each person in grave.
    3. Scriptures
    It refers to believing in all the four books; the Torah (Moses), the Psalms (David), the Gospel (Jesus) and the Quran (Mohammad). Muslims also believe that all other books are alteration with time by its followers. Muslims believe that Quran is the only book which can never be distorted as God has himself taken the responsibility of its protection, "We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption)." (15:9)
    4. Prophets
     It is obligatory on every Muslim to believe in all the messengers from Adam to Mohammad without any discrimination. Quran treats all the prophets equally, "Say (O Muslims), we believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the Prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered." (2:136)
    5. Resurrection
     Muslims have faith that after the end of the world, every human will be resurrected from the grave. They will be held accountable for whatever they have done in their lives. The day is known as the Day of Judgment. On this day, justice will be done to every individual soul. The innocent ones will stay in Heaven, whereas, the corrupted ones will go to hell. Quran testifies it by saying, " This day We seal up mouths, and hands speak out and feet bear witness as to what they used to earn." (36:65)
    6. Divine Creed
    It is one of the main aspect of Islam. Believing in divine creed refers to predestination. Muslims believe that unlike living beings, God is not limited to anything; even with time. Everything that has happened, is happening, or will happen is evident to Him. Living beings are being given a free choice to do whatever they want to do, but God knows what choice they will make. It must also be clear that God's knowing does not restrict anyone from making a free choice. Quran proclaims, " Knowest thou not that Allah knows all that is in heaven and on earth? Indeed it is all in a Record, and that is easy for Allah."

The Five Pillars of Faith

The five pillars of faith are duties each Muslim performs to demonstrate his or her faith.

     1. Testimony of Faith (Kalima)
One must state, "There is no god, but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah." It consists of three parts
a)    To reject all the false gods.
b)    To accept Allah as the only sole creator of everything.
c)     To Mohammad as the last messenger of Allah.

(all this information comes from http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/islam/beliefs.html)

Allah to the Islamic faith is the same as God in the Christian faith, therefore like I said some of the ideas are the same.
However, the Islamic faith is a bit stricter than others in the way that they must pray five times a day (no matter what they are currently doing), they must abstain from drinking, they must give at least 2.5% of their yearly savings to charity, they must fast during Ramadan, and they must make a pilgrimage to Kaaba in Makkah when they are physically and financially ready.

For my challenge today I decided to go with fasting. Something I knew would be a complete challenge for me. Let's just say I get completely cranky when I don't eat. It is noon and I am already starving. To fast in the Islamic religion means no food, no drink, no smoking, and no having intercourse. They must abide by this from sun up to sun down for an entire month. For Islamics they must excrete complete physical discipline, and they do that with many of the other things in their lives as well. I cannot lie, I am only a few hours in and I am wanting to eat everything in sight. I cannot believe they do this for a whole month, but I must admit you have to be strong willed to follow through on something like this.