Ramadan

Ramadan is an Islamic holiday marked by fasting, praise, prayer, and devotion to Islam.

Why is it important?

Ramadan, Arabic Ramaß©ì─ün, in Islam, is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and the holy month of fasting. It begins and ends with the appearance of the crescent moon. Because the Muslim calendar year is shorter than the Gregorian calendar year, Ramadan begins 10–12 days earlier each year, allowing it to fall in every season throughout a 33-year cycle.

Ramadan is a holy month of fasting, introspection and prayer for Muslims, the followers of Islam. It is celebrated as the month during which Muhammad received the initial revelations of the Quran, the holy book for Muslims. Fasting is one of the five fundamental principles of Islam. Each day during Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink from dawn to sunset. They are also supposed to avoid impure thoughts and bad behavior.

Significance

Islamic tradition states that it was during Ramadan, on the "Night of Power" (Laylat al-Qadr)—commemorated on one of the last 10 nights of Ramadan, usually the 27th night—that God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad the Qur╩¥─ün, Islam's holy book, "as a guidance for the people." For Muslims, Ramadan is a period of introspection, communal prayer (ß╣úal─üt) in the mosque, and reading of the Qur╩¥─ün. God forgives the past sins of those who observe the holy month with fasting, prayer, and faithful intention.

Ramadan, however, is less a period of atonement than it is a time for Muslims to practice self-restraint, in keeping with ṣawm (Arabic: "to refrain"), one of the pillars of Islam (the five basic tenets of the Muslim religion). Although ṣawm is most commonly understood as the obligation to fast during Ramadan, it is more broadly interpreted as the obligation to refrain between dawn and dusk from food, drink, sexual activity, and all forms of immoral behaviour, including impure or unkind thoughts. Thus, false words or bad deeds or intentions are as destructive of a fast as is eating or drinking.

The Quran states:

"The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it."

source: britannica.com

Islam and the Quran

Muslims believe that around 610 A.D. a man named Muhammad (c.570-632) from the Arabian city of Mecca started receiving revelations from God, or Allah, via the angel Gabriel. The revelations were collected into a 114-chapter holy book known as the Quran (or Koran), which Muslims believe contains the exact words of God.

Muhammad is, according to Muslims, the final prophet in a line of prophets (including Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus) who were chosen by God to act as messengers and teach mankind. Muslims believe there is one all-knowing God, and people can achieve salvation by following his commandments. In Arabic, Islam means "submission" or "surrender" (to God).

Did you know?

America's first mosque was built by Lebanese immigrants in North Dakota in the 1920s. The mosque was torn down in the 1970s and later replaced. What's believed to be the oldest surviving mosque in the U.S. was constructed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the 1930s.

Five Acts of Worship

A series of formal acts of worship, known as the Five Pillars of Islam, are fundamental to the lives of Muslims.

The pillars include:

shahada (a declaration of faith: "There is no deity but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God");

prayer (Muslims pray five times a day);

zakat (charitable giving);

fasting and pilgrimage (Muslims are supposed to make a trip, or "hajj," to the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, at least once in a lifetime if they are physically and financially able).

During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk each day. They are supposed to avoid eating, drinking, smoking and sexual activity, as well as unkind or impure thoughts and words and immoral behavior.

Ramadan is a time to practice self-restraint and self-reflection. Fasting is seen as a way to cleanse the soul and have empathy for those in the world who are hungry and less fortunate. Muslims go to work and school and take care of their usual activities during Ramadan; however, some also read the entire Quran, say special prayers and attend mosques more frequently during this time.

ifṭār

After the sunset prayer, Muslims gather in their homes or mosques to break their fast with a meal called ifß╣¡─ür that is often shared with friends and extended family. The ifß╣¡─ür usually begins with dates, as was the custom of Muhammad, or apricots and water or sweetened milk. There are additional prayers offered at night called the tawar─½ß©Ñ prayers, preferably performed in congregation at the mosque. During these prayers, the entire Qur╩¥─ün may be recited over the course of the month of Ramadan. To accommodate such acts of worship in the evening, work hours are adjusted during the day and sometimes reduced in some Muslim-majority countries. The Qur╩¥─ün indicates that eating and drinking are permissible only until the "white thread of light becomes distinguishable from the dark thread of night at dawn." Thus, Muslims in some communities sound drums or ring bells in the predawn hours to remind others that it is time for the meal before dawn, called the suß©Ñ┼½r.

Ṣawm (refrain) can be invalidated by eating or drinking at the wrong time, but the lost day can be made up with an extra day of fasting. For anyone who becomes ill during the month or for whom travel is required, extra fasting days may be substituted after Ramadan ends. Volunteering, performing righteous works, or feeding the poor can be substituted for fasting if necessary. Able-bodied adults and older children fast during the daylight hours from dawn to dusk. Pregnant or nursing women, children, the old, the weak, travelers on long journeys, and the mentally ill are all exempt from the requirement of fasting.

Eid al-Fitr

The end of the Ramadan fast is celebrated as Eid al-Fitr, the "Feast of Fast-Breaking," which is one of the two major religious holidays of the Muslim calendar (the other, Eid al-Adha, marks the end of the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims are expected to perform at least once in their lives if they are financially and physically able). In some communities Eid al-Fitr is quite elaborate: children wear new clothes, women dress in white, special pastries are baked, gifts are exchanged, the graves of relatives are visited, and people gather for family meals and to pray in mosques.