ant london wrote:Yeah the thing about Islam (in relation to this subject) is the fact that the Prophet said that alcohol was "haram" (edit...interesting BiB...I didn't know it specifically referenced wine) which is why Muslims by and large don't indulge in boozing.
BUT...the Koran said nothing about any narcotics so lots of people in this part of the world won't drink but will happily smoke weed (...or worse) and have no theological issue with that...even though in substance lots of those indulgences are more harmful to the body (which, in my interpretation, is what the Koran is saying is sacrosant so you shouldn't defile by boozing or, for example, being tattooed).
A bit like the fact for "Halal" meat cattle are slaughtered by having their throats slit and being bled out. At the time this was the most humane way to kill an animal with minimal distress. So the practice continues...even though there are nowadays much more humane ways of killing animals. The dogma of the book overrides all interpretation.
A bit like the pork thing for Jews and Muslims - trying to keep pork safe is tricky in a hot climate, especially for a nomadic people. The best way to stop people killing themselves doing something is to tell them that their god says it's bad.
With alcohol, the countries that first became Muslim had already worked out the benefit of boiling water before drinking it, whereas northern Europe had to drink beer to avoid catching something nasty. If they'd tried Islam in England first, the followers would have been dead in about three weeks.
Sort of back on topic, I do think Ramadan had a slight impact on Yaya last year and it's hardly surprising. I'd find it very difficult to do and I'd hardly class myself as being a professional athlete. This must be the worst time of the year, too, with the heat (sometimes) and long days. From a selfish viewpoint though, it's good timing for City as it's over when we need him back
