Ramadan, Islam's Most Sacred Month, Begins

Last night at sundown, Muslims all over the world began celebrating Ramadan.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days according to the visual sightings of the crescent moon. It is considered by Muslims to be the holiest month of the year.

Beginning last night and lasting until the evening August 17, Eid ul-Fitr, Muslims will refrain from food, water and sex, from sun up until sundown as a demonstration of their submission to Allah.

Fasting is practiced only by those Muslims who are healthy and have reached puberty. An estimated 800,000 Muslims in New York City, many of them in Brooklyn, will wake up well before sunrise to eat a small meal before the fast begins.

During Ramadan, Muslims also are encouraged to pray more frequently and read the entire Quran, beginnng now until Eid.

According to Islam, the sawab (rewards) of fasting are many, but in this month, they are believed to be multiplied.

“Ramadan to the Islamic community is very important to us because it is a commandment from Allah, the creator of the heavens and the earths,” said Tariq Dawan, an Imam at the Masjid Abdul Muhsi Khalifah mosque in Bed-Stuy.

“He said all you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you today as it was prescribed to those before you so that you may learn self-restraint.”

While the lack of sleep can be challenging, the most difficult test for practicing Muslims during Ramadan is often thirst said Yusuf Abdul Ahad, a Muslim for more than three decades and member of the well-known on  Fulton Street and Bedford Avenue.

“We have to make sure we get enough to drink in the morning because one of the things we found in fasting, especially during this hot weather is that thirst is a bigger challenge than hunger,” said Ahad.

“I have fasted in all the four seasons of the year and certainly summer is more [challenging], as from daybreak to sunset the days are longer. So we’re talking about a 16-hour fast, whereas in the wintertime you’re talking about a 12 hour fast.”

The well-known Masjid At-Taqwa mosque is one of 27 mosque’s located in Brooklyn and has been around for 30 years now. During Ramadan, the mosque draws over 3,000 worshippers for evening prayers alone.

Besides fasting, Muslims are encouraged to focus on self reformation and to slow down from engaging in worldly affairs. Spiritual cleansing and enlightenment, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others also are imperatives.