Just thought I'd better say something regarding the posts I wrote on the last couple of days of Ramadhan. In my references to just how ill I felt on those days (and, boy, did I feel bad, though now it seems like forever ago) the non-Muslim reader may have seen evidence of the extremes to which Islam takes its adherents in the name of its demanding God. (That last bit's a sort of hazily-remembered not-quite-quotation from Conrad in Lord Jim, but I haven't got a copy so I can't look it up.) This is very far indeed from the truth.
There are always acceptable reasons for not fasting (and 'paying back' when you can) and, of course, illness is amongst them. In fact, you definitely must not endanger your health. I decided to keep fasting, not because I had to but because it seemed to me the best thing to do in my circumstances. I knew it was within me to do so, and in some ways enjoyed the test, bringing me a tiny bit closer to those in really testing circumstances. And I could, at any point, if it had all got too much, have elected to stop fasting and drink something and refresh myself.
I'm glad I didn't. And I'm super-excited about being able to go into the SAC at work tomorrow at some point and enjoy the exhilarating wonder of a cup of tea down there.
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