Washing your mouth out with water does not break your fast as long as you dont drink it. The idea is to abstain from food in an effort to show self control. Washing your mouth out with water is allowed during fast, it is actullay required during wuzu (a pre prayer cleansing of the mouth, nose, ears, face, arms, and feet with water)
I remember that Hakeem had arrhythmia when ramadan and games took it place, well, I dont remember very well if that was true, but I think it is.
Ok, hold on, one thing to know is that during the Muslim fast you can not drink or eat anything....during DAYLIGHT...they can eat and drink after dark or early in the morning. So, Hakeem could get up...eat breakfast....and then after dark eat and drink again. Day games were tough, but otherwise, it was not like a real...nothing type of fast. DD
Hakeem's fasting during Ramadan and still playing NBA games is still one of the most incredible feats of will and inner strength I've seen in sports. Seven dates and water... until game time. Then bring on David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Shaq, and MJ... lol. http://www.beliefnet.com/story/55/story_5556_1.html And, as he has every year for the last decade, Olajuwon is spending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan fasting from dawn to dusk, even as he plays professional basketball. He awakens before dawn to eat precisely seven dates—the traditional Muslim fast-breaking food--and to drink a gallon of water. Then he prays for strength. He touches no food or liquid until sunset. Then he allows himself a well-balanced dinner--chicken, vegetables, and rice, perhaps. When he plays an afternoon game, he pants for water—and drinks not a drop. Still, he says, “I find myself full of energy, explosive. And when I break the fast at sunset, the taste of water is so precious.”
I was on a sea canoe tour in Thailand during Ramadan. The tour guides were muslim and they would paddle us around the bay in 90 degree heat for hours without drinking water. It was the most amazing thing I had ever witnessed. These guys were smiles the whole trip.
I actually became a fan of the guy after watching an afternoon game where he dominated while fasting. Don't remember which game it was, but the act in itself amazed me.
haha, clearly you haven't fasted like this before, at least not for an entire month. not eating, drinking, and having relations with your spouse for an entire month is difficult. and you also have to keep in mind hes a professional athlete, this isnt' like playing ball at your local gym for a couple hrs. eating and drinking during the day is essential for these guys. the whole ramadan experience is tiring, especially for hakeem since his ramadan does not consist of simply not eating and drinking. he was at the mosque every morning for the pre-dawn prayer, he didn't eat and drink during the day, he abstained from relations with his wife, he spent the evenings in prolonged congregational prayer. as he said in the above quote, it's about controlling your desire. spending an entire month as he did where you're focused on trying to suppress your desires is draining, but of course spiritually uplifting. from truehoop, mario elie remembering his playing days with hakeem: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-34-31/Mario-Elie-on-Hakeem-Olajuwon.html Hakeem was an amazing leader. Going into Islam and getting deep into his religion really helped him with his discipline and focus as opposed to his prior years where had some problems. He prayed five times a day. During Ramadan, he didn't eat all day (I think Shareef Abdur-Rahim does the same thing). The average guy had to eat and drink water during the course of a game. Hakeem got up at 5 a.m. to eat and then didn't eat again until after sundown. With an 82-game schedule with games starting at 7:30 pm, that's hard. But it never affected his game.
ok peresonally met hakeem many many times as he prayed in my mosque for many years and i still see him on occassion . he never took small sips of water during fast , that would make the fast meaningless . and well i only can speak for 90's because i followed basketball since 89 , He had some amazing games during fasting in the 90's and by amazing i mean some of his best performances in the league. i distinctly remember more than a few 30 plus point games while fasting.
this exact feat made my favorite player Hakeem my idol. As a muslim, whenever I have a hard time fasting, I just think of Hakeem. You are allowed to fill your mouth with water (in fact, prayer requires that you do it beforehand), but no swallowing. Ordinarily, I feel more thirst than hunger as well, but its simply unfathomable to imagine a person playing an NBA basketball game. Simply amazing. One thing that might have helped is that as the month progresses, you feel it less. This certainly doesn't mean its any easier, but Im thinking that practicing and scrimmaging while fasting helped him make the adjustments while playing in a fast, and playing after breaking the fast made him even better.
Dream was off the charts. I don't think people really understand the fast for those day games on the weekend. The fast starts at 6am to 6pm in which u can't ingest anything. Now when the rox played at 730, that 5am breakfast was cool until the 6pm snack, but when u have a game at 12pm, that's another story. I think he got player of the month in februry.
I remember hearing David Robinson saying he hated playing Hakeem during Ramadan because he played so well.
