At an age when children spend their time playing with each other, get tired and ask for food or water, four-year-old Zainab has set a unique example. She made her family and community proud by observing fasts on all the 29 days of Ramadan — a milestone by any standard.
Even if it may not be medically advisable or have any religious sanctions to fast day after day at this tender age, the girl did not show any signs of fatigue or exhaustion and hence her parents allowed her to fulfil her desire.
Her accomplishment is all the more laudable as even some young and healthy persons would feel uncomfortable while fasting during the scorching season.
“We allowed her to keep fasts considering her enthusiasm, but I was not sure she would go this far,” said her father, Azhar Hanif Butt, who has been working in Jeddah for many years.
Butt said he did not force her to fast, as there was no need for it. “It is not obligatory for her, so there was no reason to prod her for fasting,” he said.
He added that he did not want to dampen her wish to observe fasts. She was in any case constantly under our watch during her fasting days throughout the holy month.
Zainab’s other two siblings, her elder brother and sister, are very happy at their little sister’s feat.
In Islam, a child is not required to do the obligatory duties, including fasting, until he or she enters puberty. It is also not medically recommended for small children as they are not capable of fasting.
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