Ramadan Mubarak

The most wonderful time of the year!

Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam — it’s a central tenant of the faith. Healthy adults who are not pregnant, nursing, ill, traveling or elderly are required to fast from just before sunrise until sunset, abstaining from food and water among other things. Islam follows a lunar calendar, and Ramadan is the ninth month of that calendar, marking the month in which Prophet Muhammad received his first Quranic revelation from God. The Qu’ran is the holy book of Islam.

The start of Ramadan is based on the first sighting of the waxing crescent after the new moon. Because moon-sighting methodology differs among sects, this leads to different sects of the faith and countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two apart.

The tradition I grew up with marks the beginning of Ramadan at sundown tomorrow in the United States, but many Muslims in the U.S. recognize Ramadan as beginning today and will begin fasting tomorrow.

Fasting is a practice shared by many of the world’s religions. In Islam, fasting during Ramadan is considered a form of spiritual purification which is meant to be supplemented with prayer, charity, recitation of the Qu’ran, reflection, and appreciation for what one has.

Ramadan is usually marked by a lot of group activities — iftar dinners, congregational prayers at mosques, and getting together with friends and family. This is all obviously impacted by the pandemic again this year, as it was last year.

“Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means being farsighted enough to trust the end result of a process.

The lovers of God never run out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to become full.” — 40 Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

Ramadan Mubarak. Ramadan Kareem.