Ramadan begins this week

INDONESIA: Muslims around the world are gearing up for the holy month of Ramadan this week amid security concerns, massive price hikes and extravagant all-night festivities.

The start of Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month of the Muslim calendar, is traditionally determined by the sighting of a new moon, often dividing rival Islamic countries and sects over the exact date.

For the month, Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn until dusk as life slips into a lower gear during the day, and activity peaks between “iftar”, the breaking of the fast at sunset, and “suhur”, the last meal of the day before sunrise.

In Cairo, the shopping frenzy began weeks ago despite soaring prices, as the faithful prepare for the first day of Ramadan where extended families break the fast with dates and milk, in accordance with Islamic tradition.

In the teeming city of 18 million notorious for gridlock, traffic police have been banned from taking time off during Ramadan, with extra wardens deployed to control pre-iftar accidents as cars clamour to get home in time for iftar.

In Baghdad, the 400 year-old Shorja market has been bustling with activity with war-weary residents stocking up on spices, sugar, tea and nuts these days imported from neighbouring Syria.

“Visiting Shorja is like an annual tradition for us and we can’t give it up for fear of bombings,” said Um Ahmed, a Baghdad housewife.

The US military, which has deployed thousands of troops in Baghdad, said levels of pre-Ramadan violence are lower this year, and expects the trend to continue. A top Iraqi security official announced on Monday that the nightly curfew in Baghdad and a vehicle curfew will be eased during Ramadan.

Residents of Gaza spending their first Ramadan under Hamas, which seized control of the tiny territory in June, are bracing for clashes after Fatah and other Palestinian groups called for sunset street prayers in defiance of a Hamas ban.

On a positive note, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas during talks on Monday to release prisoners as a traditional goodwill gesture for Ramadan.

Security is also expected to be tight in Afghanistan, where Taliban violence has increased.

The militia in power from 1996 until 2001 when they were toppled by a US-led invasion, is waging a guerrilla-like war with over 100 suicide bombings in the past nine months alone.

Saudi Arabia, home of Islam’s holiest shrines, is this year preparing to receive around one million pilgrims expected to perfom “umrah”, or a smaller pilgrimage, in Mecca.

And as political and commercial activity shifts slows down during the day, life in the Gulf begins in earnest at sunset with lavish iftar parties and extravagant social gatherings that last well into the night.

Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, regains its bustle at night, with shops making up for the slowdown in daytime activity by opening until midnight and thousands of people gathering in lively entertainment tents for the night.

AFP

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Dates for Ramazan

COLOMBO: A consignment of dates from Saudi Arabia has been sent at the request of Petroleum & Petroleum Resources Development Minister A.H.M. Fowzie to be distributed to among the Muslim community for the Ramadan Fasting.

The officials of the Saudi Arabian Finance Ministry will hand over the consignment of dates officially to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Husain Bahila on September 13 at 11.00 a.m. at the Auditorium of the Ministry of Petroleum & Petroleum Resources Development, No. 80, Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha, Colombo 07.