Ramadan Mubarak
Today officially starts the first day of Ramadan for Muslims around the world. For the next 30 days, Muslims will be fasting, performing good deeds, and reading Quran.
Here are some facts about Ramadan :
- In Islam, there are 5 pillars or foundations (Attesting God is One, Prayer, Fasting, Pilgrimage, and Charity)
- It starts after the new moon has been seen.
- It is 30 days long.
- This Ramadan (2017) will begin end May and finish end June.
- Muslims fast from dawn to sunset.
- This means no food or drink.
- For some Muslims, it is a short time and others it is long
- For example, in France the fast is from 4:30 am to 9:30 pm
- They break their fast by eating dates.
- And then they eat a healthy and filling meal.
- Muslims who are sick, pregnant or younger than 12 are dismissed from fasting.
- Every Muslim tries to read one full Quran.
- The Quran is a holy book filled with stories of the Prophets and information on Islam
- One Quran has 30 chapters, so reading one chapter a day would make a complete Quran
- During Ramadan, Muslims try to perform good deeeds and stay away from the bad.
- Helping out neighbors is considered a good deed.
- While yelling at your parents is considered a bad deed
- After a long of month of fasting, Muslims celebrate with a festival called Eid
- They greet others with « Eid Moubarak » or May your day of Eid be a blessed one.
- They eat lot of delicious goodies and children are given gifts.
So wish the Muslims in your community a Blessed Ramadan with this greeting from Emilie of Arabic Seeds!
