CALGARY – Calgary Muslim community have welcomed the holy month of Ramadan with fasting, special prayers and Qur`an, marking one of the longest fasting months in decades.
“Here is Calgary it will be almost 18 hours of fasting, so it’s a little bit challenging for everybody,” Calgarian Shima Safwat told CBC News on Monday, June 6.
Safwat added that Ramadan brings together the devout and the less than devout followers.
“It is the month when the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. It is a kind of celebration of the Qur’an to get closer to God and to practice more your religion,” she explained.
“It’s a good opportunity for Muslims who are not practicing the whole year, to practice during Ramadan. It is a spiritual month to purify the soul and body.”
Ramadan is the holiest month in Islamic calendar.
In Ramadan, adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.
Worshippers dedicate their time during the holy month to be closer to Allah through prayers, self-restraint and good deeds.
Muslims in North America started fasting on Monday, June 6, on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.
Muslims make around 1.9 percent of Canada’s some 32.8 million population.
Their number has increased dramatically over the last decade and Islam has become the number one non-Christian faith in Canada.
A recent survey showed that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are proud to be Canadian, and that they are more educated than the general population.
Easy Fasting
Abstaining from food and water for 18 hours a day, Safwat said that Ramadan does not prevent them from work or living their lives.
“When we come back we should take some rest because it’s a long day and then we start reading the Qur’an. We have 30 chapters of Qur’an so every day we have to finish a chapter. So by the end of Ramadan we will finish the whole Qur’an,” she said.
The month-of-two added that when the sun goes down, dates are the common way to break the fast, mainly because of their nutritional value.
“After sunset we break our fast, with some dates and then we eat a little bit. Then we go to pray in the mosque. Prayer will start around 11:30 p.m. It takes around an hour. Then we go back home, eat a little bit and then wait for the dawn prayer and then start a new day,” Safwat said.
Once you get used to it, the long days without food or drink actually go quite quickly.
“To be honest, it’s like one minute because there are lots of blessing and God gives you the power to continue your day in good shape,” she said.
“It is not from you, it is from God.”
At the end of Ramadan, there is huge three-day celebration called `Eid Al-Fitr.
“The day after, it’s the big celebration,” Safwat said with a smile.
“We eat a lot, we put new clothes on. We have to celebrate. In the morning we go out for prayer at 7:30 a.m. Very big prayer, everybody, even people who are not practicing, they love to come to celebrate.
“Lots of food, lots of sweets for the kids, balloons.”