Understanding Ramadan

Ramadan Kareem! That is the common greeting for a bountiful or generous month at the start of Ramadan.

Sunday night at sunset marked the start of the holiest month of the Islamic calendar for Muslims — a month filled with prayer, fasting, charity and community get-togethers.

According to Islam's lunar calendar, at dusk on Sunday, the date changed to Ramadan 1, 1432. 

On the first night of Ramadan, millions of Muslims around the world visited their places of worship— Masjids, or Mosques — for special prayers where lengthy amounts of the Qur’an, or the Muslim holy book, are recited. It is common to recite at least one chapter each night so that, by the end of the month, all 30 chapters of the book are recited.

Fasting

What Ramadan is best known for is its daily fasting. Muslims who are healthy and able refrain from food and drink from before the sun rises to just as the sun sets. That’s about 16 hours of fasting in one day, when Ramadan falls in August.

Since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, it moves up about 10 days every year, compared to the more commonly used Gregorian calendar. My first fast, as a 9-year-old, was when Ramadan was in December and fasting days were about 10 hours. Saying no to water will be especially trying at this time of year. But I, and everyone who fasts with me, always make it through.

There’s a strong will in Ramadan — a determination and strength in believing that anything is possible. Muslims see Ramadan as a re-charger for the rest of the year, where we acquire God consciousness and self-restraint. Feeling the hunger pangs of fasting during the day forces us to remember why we are doing it and that fills the mind with thoughts of God.

Self Control

Self-restraint is also an underlying value that comes along with Ramadan. If a person can stop eating and drinking during daylight hours, which are perfectly acceptable things to do, then there is no reason why that person cannot stop doing unacceptable things. Therefore, a fasting Muslim is a patient Muslim.

On Monday, Muslims woke up in the early hours of the morning, when the sky was still dark, to eat a pre-fast breakfast, called suhoor.

At dawn, all eating and drinking stoped until dusk, for iftar, a meal to break the fast. It is said in Islamic tradition that feeding a fasting person gives the provider of the meal all the good deeds of the fasting person, without taking away from the faster. For this reason, many Muslims host iftar parties or send over meals to their Muslim neighbors.

Various verses in the Qur’an speak to the tradition of fasting. Some of the most common appear in chapter two of the book.

“Oh you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous …” (Qur’an – Chapter 2, Verse 183)

Charity

Charity and other good acts are also emphasized during the month of Ramadan. Good deeds are believed to be rewarded more than in other months of the year, so Muslims scramble to do their best whether it’s feeding the poor, donating their money or taking part in random acts of kindness.

Ramadan is a special time for family, friends and faith take priority. Wish your Muslim neighbor a happy and blessed Ramadan.