Source: International Business Times
In the midst of a record-breaking heat wave that has killed 750 people, senior Islamic clerics in Pakistan have issued rare religious pronouncements, or fatwas, this week allowing Muslims to forgo the Ramadan fast. Mufti Mohammad Naeem, the head of the biggest madrassa in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and the hardest hit by the heat wave, said the life-threatening consequences of the scorching 113-degree temperatures make breaking the fast permissible, particularly for people with medical conditions.
“If an expert doctor says that your life is threatened due to the heat, or some condition you may have is going to get worse because of fasting, then you can forgo the daily fast,” Naeem told NBC News, in a report published Wednesday. “This is conditional on your medical condition and how you react to the heat, not a free-for-all.”
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Fasting, Religion, Utilitarian value