Ramadan Kareem - "Kul 'am wa enta bi-khair"! (May every year find you in good health!)

I figured seeing that we are living in a Muslim country I should at least try and understand the religion and one of the most important Islamic celebrations a little better.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic (lunar) calendar and it is considered the holiest of the four holy months in Islam and begins with the sighting of the new moon. Ramadan begins at sundown tomorrow, September 1.

For more than a billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month of blessing and it is marked by prayer, fasting and charity.

Muslims believe that during the month of Ramadan, Allah revealed the first verses of the holy book of Islam (Qur'an). Around 610 A.D. a caravan trader named Muhammad was wandering the desert near Mecca (today's Saudi Arabia), thinking about his faith when one night, the voice of Angel Gabriel called to him, and told him that he had been chosen to receive the word of Allah. In the days that followed, Muhammad found himself speaking the verses that would be transcribed as the Qur'an.

During Ramadan, a couple of chapters of the Qur'an is recited each night in prayers known as tarawih and by the end of the month the complete scripture will have been recited.

Fasting is one of the duties of Islam and they take part in sawm (fasting) from the age of twelve. They fast for the entire month, and may not eat or drink anything, including water, while the sun shines.

During daylight hours, most restaurants are closed. Families get up early to eat a meal (suhoor) before the sun rises. After the sun sets, the fast is broken with a meal (iftar), that usually begins with dates and sweet drinks to provide them with a quick energy boost.

Ramadan ends with the festival of Eid al-Fitr, on Wednesday, October 1. Eid al-Fitr is one of the two very important Islamic celebrations (the other occurs after the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca) and literally means; “Festival of Breaking the Fast". People dress in their finest clothes, decorate their homes with lights and other decorations, give treats to children, and spend time with their family and friends. As the month draws to a close, Muslims are obligated to share their blessings by feeding the poor and making contributions to mosques.