And because Ramadan occurs in the summer, breaking the daily fast doesn’t happen until after the sun sets, often after 9 p.m.
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Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, meaning it occurs at different times year-to-year in the Western calendar.
Muslims who observe Ramadan, which began on Monday, do not eat or drink anything, including water, when it is daylight.
The highlight of this holy month is the special “Taraweeh” prayer offered in the late evening hours for the whole month.
Chinese authorities have ordered students, civil servants and many other residents of the mainly-Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang to avoid fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. The fast is broken after sunset with a meal called “iftar”.
“During the Ramadan month, food and drink businesses must not close”, it added.
Fasting occurs from dawn to dusk and is considered one of the Five Pillars that are the fundamental religious duties of Islam.
During this period, which lasts 29 or 30 days, believers abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex, from sunrise to sunset. Muslims taking part will always be able to break their fast at sunset, knowing that others throughout the world do not have such a luxury. A majority of Indonesian factory workers and domestic helpers – numbering 254,000 as of mid-2015 – are also Muslims. The concept of Ramadan is to cleanse one’s mind and body or things deemed negative or harmful and instead fill the body and soul with prayer and good thoughts.
The sick, elderly and very young children don’t take part in the full fast, but they can if they want. It is a time to reconnect with their faith, and is centered around charity for others. They have to get up after sunrise to perform morning prayers with the family.
May this Ramadan be a month of blessings, whose beginning is mercy, whose middle is forgiveness and whose end is celebration.
Ramadan is expected to end on July 7 this year, with Muslims celebrating Eid al-Fitr, one of the major holidays for Muslims.
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MONDAY marked the start of Ramadan for Muslims across Scotland. Families gather for a celebration meal and food is shared with neighbours.
