Ramazan or Ramadan, is a lovely festival which is celebrated amongst the Muslims all over the world to celebrate the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which strict fasting is done by the Muslim community from dawn to sunset.
Advertisement
Monday marks the beginning of the holiest month for more than one billion Muslims around the world.
This re-emphasises the fact that Ramadan goes beyond fasting to include charitable works and self-improvement.
According to the statement: “I congratulate the Muslim faithful as they begin this year’s Ramadan Fast, which is one of the five pillars of Islam”.
“During Ramadan, Muslims fast during daylight hours to increase their patience, closeness to God, and generosity towards those less fortunate”. They are allowed to eat only two meals in a day; the meal before sunrise is called “suhoor” and the meal after sunset is termed “iftar”.
Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan with a three-day holiday called Eid al-Fitr. In Kerala, today is second day of holy month of Ramadan. They break the fast with a meal known as “Ifthar” as soon as sun sets.
Each day for the month of Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from sunrise to sunset to focus on spirituality, good deeds and charity. Some will exchange gifts, greeting cards and prepare special foods.
How many hours do Muslims fast for?
The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days and each month of the Islamic calendar commences on the birth of the new lunar cycle. However, pregnant women, women breastfeeding, or on their monthly cycle, people who are sick, and travelling are exempt from the fast.
Ramadan is the 9th month in the Islamic calendar. This isn’t the case, however, for numerous Muslim students at our school, who fast for the month long Islamic holiday “Ramadan,”which began Sunday evening (June 5th) in accordance with the Lunar calendar”.
Muslims believe Ramadan to be the month in which the first verses of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago.
“My diary is still full for Ramadan – we’ve got the European Union referendum coming up and I could even have to open my fast on stage with a glass of water at an event”, he wrote in a comment piece for The Guardian.
Advertisement
If you know anyone who’s fasting for Ramadan, don’t offer them any food, but you could say “Ramadan Mubarak” – Happy Ramadan.
