The Truth abt Islam

fasting has become not only one of the 5 tenets in islam, it has become a way of life. as natural as santan is to malays...or bread to the westerners.when i was doing my MA, i was required to read interesting reads for my classes n assignments. one of them is beyond belief by vs naipaul who won nobel prize for literature (but i forgot wat year he was awarded). seeing from the eyes of a biased unbeliever, the travel writing depics the islamic world from a shard of naipaul's eyes, which isnt true, bcoz he tends to be presumptious.he wrote that islam is a hegemonic religion, saying that it requires absolute submission. i guess he said that bcoz he's not a believer in any faith. salman rushdie also wrote abt islam in almost all of his novels. he questions the role of islam in one's life. he believes in hybridity, n rejects the purity of a single faith or thought or culture. he thinks in such a manner bcoz he is a Bombayite through n through. despite my admiration for his forte in writing, his wittiness, his humour, his erudition, there r some things that i dont agree with him.as we r exposed to more n more new advents of some hi tech gadget or entertainment, we tend to be lax in carrying out our responsibilities as muslims. it is funny that a woman can starve to diet n yet cant pray five times daily. it is funny that a muslim man (whose certain needs make him oblivious to everything else) can have one night stand n yet will never touch pork. irony, irony, irony. this is the temptations that must be curbed. y? some of u might ask. bcoz without rules, or some kind sanctions, we r no better than animals. even in chaos there is still order (cant remember which philosopher said that). which is y fasting month exists. it is for us to contemplate our past n future actions n their consequences. it is for us to contemplate where we r heading. in the end, it is only peace in our soul that we crave, n not some big bungalows or kompressors...have a productive ramadhan.