Muslims urged to continue smoking abstinence after Ramadan
by Laura NinehamMuslims who abstain from smoking during Ramadan should seize the opportunity to permanently quit, say NHS chiefs.
According to The BBC, Muslims must abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and conjugal relations from dawn to dusk during Ramadan.
It's considered the most important religious festival to Muslims because it celebrates the time when the angel Gabriel revealed the Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad.
"The underlying message behind Ramadan is self-discipline and self-control," explained Nazia Hassan from NHS Peterborough. "A healthy diet is encouraged in the Qur'an in numerous verses... Not being able to smoke in the day during Ramadan is the ideal opportunity to stop smoking altogether."
Ahmed Rahman managed to quit smoking during Ramadan. According to the NHS' website, Mr Rahman smoked between 1 and 15 cigarettes a day for 20 years. "We cannot smoke during the day during the time of fasting, so I thought that if I could give up smoking during the day there was no reason why I couldn't eventually stop altogether," said Mr Rahman. "Not eating or drinking anything during the day is difficult, but for me not smoking was harder."
As reported by Al Jazeera, even Israeli soldiers will be banned from eating, drinking and smoking in public, especially those stationed at crossings, for the duration of Ramadan.
To aid going cold turkey over Ramadan, Muslims should consider stop smoking hypnotherapy. It will help them ignore cravings for nicotine and boost the success rate of stopping smoking by will power alone.
