Later this week Muslims across the world will begin observing the holy month of Ramadan. For 30 days, Muslims will not be eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset and will be breaking their fast during the evening.
During this time however, Muslims must carry on with their day to day tasks such as going to work or school. Fasting during Ramadan is an integral part of a Muslim's life as it is considered one of the five pillars of Islam.
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The five pillars are a set of core beliefs and practices that are essential for Muslims. The five pillars of Islam are prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage and the belief that there is only one God (Allah) and Prophet Muhammad is his messenger.
It isn't just eating or drinking that can break a Muslim's fast during daylight in Ramadan. They must steer away from things such as sex during fasting hours, swearing, lying, cheating, unnecessary fighting and much more.
Ramadan is expected to begin on Wednesday, March 8 but may fall on Thursday, March 9, depending on the sighting of the moon.
It is expected to end on the evening of Friday, April 21, and will be followed by Eid al-Fitr which translates to ‘festival of breaking the fast’.
Can you vape during Ramadan?
To know whether you can vape during Ramadan, you must understand the rulings and guidance over smoking or using tobacco products and whether it is halal (permissible) or haram (forbidden). The topic of smoking cigarettes or tobacco products during Ramadan has well been documented and discussed throughout the years.
In Islam, something is determined to be haram if it is likely to cause harm to yourself or others. Over the years, research has shown the devastating effects smoking can have on your body due to it's chemicals.
Despite smoking not being specifically mentioned in the Qu'ran, many scholars have agreed that smoking is haram due to it's harmful effects on your health thus making it haram.
However, there are some scholars that argue smoking isn't haram but when you smoke, you ingest nicotine particles that enter your body in different ways depending on the product. With this in mind the general rule for Muslims is to avoid smoking during Ramadan as it would break your fast through ingesting the particles or taking part in something that is forbidden.
Vapes are a new phenomena but the general guidance is that it also should be avoided during the holy month due to the number of chemicals that can be found in e-cigarettes. Islamic education group AlMaghrib Institute research say that it "is impermissible to use e-cigarettes because of their harmful nature, and in addition they also break the fast due to the ingestion of nicotine as well as the manner of its ingestion, identical to the rulings applied to normal cigarettes."
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