Q: With Ramadan finishing up, I’ve heard some strange things about how modern the rules are getting. I heard that a cleric had to issue a ruling on using diet pills during Ramadan. What’s up with THAT?

A: Indeed, modern times have affected Ramadan, just like they’ve affected everything else. So, there have been several "fatwas," or religious decrees, clarifying such things as the usage of diet pills to help people through the fasting that is mandated during the Islamic holy month. Turns out that diet pills are not "haram," or forbidden.

Fatwas have been issued on dozens of queries about Ramadan observances and what’s allowed. In fact, so many questions come up that some governments in Islamic countries have turned to technology.

In the United Arab Emirates, a call and e-mail center has been established solely to answer religious questions.

Around 40 religious experts — "muftis" — man the phones and the computers, fielding some 30,000 calls and e-mails per month, according to a recent report on the BBC. Perhaps the strangest came from a writer wondering how, if a person was on Mars, they would be able to measure the phases of the moon and, in addition, how to know when prayer times were.

The mufti said the answers would take a few weeks of research.

Got a question about goings-on in the Mideast?E-mail: news@estripes.osd.mil