DPA: Muslims await beginning of Ramadan

By Pakinam Amer
Sep 23, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Cairo - The new moon was finally sighted in Egypt indicating the beginning of Ramadan, Muslims' holy month of fasting as a struggle for spiritual transcendence.
Starting Sunday, practicing Muslims around the world are asked under Islam to to refrain from eating and drinking during daylight along with other restrictions and prayers in a long list of religious rituals.
Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is what Muslims deem the holiest month of the year. It is believed to be the month when the Koran was first revealed in fragments to Prophet Mohammed, founder of Islam, through the Angel Gabriel.
Marking this event Muslims strive to get closer to the Divine throughout Ramadan by good deeds, fasting and paying alms to the poor. Amongst other restrictions, inappropriate manners, bad language, and sex during the day are also regarded as spoiling the ritual of Ramadan.
For most Muslims, it is also regarded as a months of connecting with people and the daily fast-breaking meal is oftena major social event. Phone calls, greetings, messages and warm hellos fly around as the month approaches.
Advice, Islamic teachings and fervent sermons could be heard throughout different media and in mosques as Islamic communities were preparing for the holy month.
Many television programmes in Islamic countries offer a wave of entertainment shows, talk shows and serials, designed to amuse the Muslim during and after his fast.
Muslims in Arab countries work only for six hours during Ramadan, as opposed to eight. During the day, many Muslims are usually pre-occupied with getting home as early as they can, before the rush hour where traffic, one or two hours before the evening prayer, is almost unbearable.
However, tlthough the month of Ramadan is theoretically based on the three foundations of worship, spending on the needy and observance of principal Muslim duties such as work, many Muslims seem to ignore the third base and take fasting as an excuse to tone down their day labor.
Some complain about having to give up their daily intake of coffee or cigarettes, which in the absence of they often become edgy and tense.
In Cairo, families and friends traditionally gather around the table close to sunset, usually listening to Koran verses or a prayer read out on television as they wait for the evening call to prayer, which is when they can break their fast.
In the streets, the 'Rahman (merciful God) feasts', where tables of free food and drink are set for the poor and the needy, are also filled with Muslim fasters who are as eagerly waiting for the same sign.
Muslims of Egypt are especially used to breaking their fast, not only when they hear the call to prayer cutting throughout the silent streets, but also at the firing of the Salahuddin Citadel's cannon, an Egyptian tradition of many decades.
The streets are usually decorated; colored tin lanterns - an equivalent to the Christian Christmas tree - adorning shops and supermarkets. Cart sellers of oriental sweets, dates, and cold drinks such as hibiscus, fill the streets.
Shisha Cafés are usually swarming with people; young and old enjoying the festive spirit of oriental Ramadan nights. Celebrations and feasts carry on until dawn.
Mosques around Cairo usually hold evening and late night prayers - the so-called prayers of comfort (Taraweeh), which last for hours. Carpets and mats are laid in the streets infront of mosques that rarely accommodate the number of worshippers coming for the prayers; which take place only during Ramadan and whose reward is considered to be immeasurable.

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