Ramadan 2023: This is what you should know about the Muslim month of fasting
Between five and six million people in Germany belong to Islam. Many of them take part in Ramadan. But what is that anyway, Ramadan? And how do Muslim people celebrate and when? We’ll tell you all about it here.
Ramadan 2023: Everything you need to know about the origin of the Muslim month of fasting
Ramadan is the month of fasting in Islam. According to tradition, the prophet Mohamed received the Koran, the prophecy, in this month, which incidentally does not follow our Gregorian monthly calendar. The Koran is the most important scripture in Islam.
Ramadan is made up of two Arabic words, “ramida” and “arramad”, meaning “burning heat”. Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam: The five pillars of the world religion are the most important guidelines and commandments for Muslims. These include the public profession of faith, daily prayer (Arabic: salad), social donations, the pilgrimage to Mecca (Arabic: hajj), which every believing Muslim:a should have completed once – and the month of fasting, Ramadan.
Fasting, just like the fasting period for Christians, should help them to concentrate on what is important, God, their faith. Faith should be strengthened, mercy increased and the individual brought closer to God. The fasting month of Ramadan stands for peace, harmony and reflection.
As with the Jewish Festival of Lights or Christian Christmas, Ramadan is a time that in Islam is often spent with loved ones: the nightly breaking of the fast often takes place with family and friends, while for devout Muslims the family becomes the focus of everyday life shifted.
Ramadan 2023: Period
In 2023, the fasting month of Ramadan starts on March 22nd and ends on April 21st. Ramadan always lasts 29 or 30 days. It takes place in the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar – and is therefore rarely on the same date. The beginning and end of the fasting month of Ramadan is always the sighting of the new crescent moon in the ninth or tenth month.
Depending on where you live on earth, the fasting days can be of different lengths – as a rough rule, the traditional fasting period is from sunrise to sunset.
Ramadan 2023: Fasting Rules
Healthy believers in Islam are supposed to fast in Ramadan from puberty onwards. Even if the suras in the Koran do not specify exactly when a day of fasting begins, the general fasting period is now the day – i.e. from sunrise to sunset. It is traditionally measured by the sun: as soon as it is on the horizon, it is day, only when it has disappeared in the twilight does night begin, and only then is it allowed to break the fast.
A day in Ramadan is pure fasting: no food or water is consumed. Luxury foods such as cigarettes are also taboo. Believers should refrain from sexual intercourse and sins and practice abstinence. So fasting people could concentrate completely on themselves.
Does everyone really have to fast in Ramadan? It honestly depends on where you live. In strictly believing Islamic states, everyone is required to observe the obligation to fast in public, including non-Islamic people. In Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Malaysia and Morocco, non-Muslims or non-Muslims who did not observe the rule of fasting during the day were also arrested.