Oct 4 - Nov 3, 2005

Ramadan is the ninth month of the lunar year. A lunar month can last between 29 to 30 days. A lunar year counts about 10 days less than a Georgian year, which means in fact that every year Ramadan moves 10 days ahead.

In the year 610 some time during the last ten days of this month the Prophet Muhammad received the message of spreading the word of God. The angel Gabriel appeared to him, while he was meditating and demanded from the illiterate to read. Three times Muhammad refused with the words: “I can’t read,” and three times the angel insisted and finally Muhammad read:

Read: Bismillah (in the name of God), who created men out of a clot of blood. Read: God is merciful... and taught men what they did not know…. (Sure 96)

- Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. The Islamic faith is based on the believer’s total submission to God. In Arabic islam means ‘submitting’ and the Muslim is a ‘submitter’. The root of the wowrd Islam is the same as salaam, which means PEACE. The faithful observe:

- the creed or shihada: there is no God but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God.

- Sala’ or Prayers should be performed five times a day: sunrise, noon, late afternoon, sunset and night.

- Alms or zakat: one-fortieth of the annual income should be paid to the poor.

- Pilgrimage: every Muslim, who can afford it should make the hajj to Mecca once in a lifetime.

During fasting Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse between sunrise and sunset. Extra prayers and Qu’ran recitation are encouraged, especially from on the night of 27th (lailat al qadr), until the end of Ramadan. This is supposed to be the night, when God revealed the Qu’ran to men for the first time .

The purpose of fasting is to bring people closer to God. The considerable effort needed to fulfill this religious requirement greatly contributes to each individual’s sense of belonging to the Muslim community. Everybody shares the same experience at the same time.

The Qu’ran says, religion should not be a burden for mankind, the sick, the pregnant and menstruating women and the travelers are excluded from fasting. Instead they should provide food to the poor.(zakat)

People, who can afford it provide Maida el Rahman, a place serving free Iftar for the poor, homeless or travelers.

Ramadan is not a detested month. Muslims love it. They fast during the daylight hours and celebrate the break of fasting gathering around the Iftar- or breakfast-table. Nights are lively and offer joyous occasions for socializing.

Naturally Ramadan has great influence on daily routines and all daily activities are kept to the lowest possible level.

For the Sinai traveller nothing serious changes. Maybe in the first few days service - usually excellent - will slow a bit down until everybody has adjusted to a new routine.
At about 5 pm when the sun goes down (Maghreb) the traveller will often experience that shops are either closed or that in shops people gather to break fasting.