“There’s a hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness.
We are lutes, no more, no less. If the soundbox
is stuffed full of anything, no music.
If the brain and the belly are burning clean
with fasting, every moment a new song comes out of the fire.
The fog clears, and new energy makes you
run up the steps in front of you.
Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry.
Emptier, read secrets with the reed pen.
When you’re full of food and drink, an ugly metal
statue sits where your spirit should. When you fast,
good habits gather like friends who want to help.
Fasting is Solomon’s ring. Don’t give it
to some illusion and lose your power,
but even if you have, if you’ve lost all will and control,
they come back when you fast, like soldiers appearing
out of the ground, pennants flying above them.
A table descends to your tents,
Jesus’ table,
spread with other food, better than the broth of cabbages.”

Rumi

Ramadan (also known as Ramadhan or Ramzan) is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. It is a time when Muslims around the world focus on prayer, fasting, giving to charity, and religious devotion. The last third of Ramadan is a particularly holy period, as it commemorates when the Koran’s (Qu’ran) first verses were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (Mohammad or Muhammed).
What do people do?

Muslims worldwide fast (or swam) during the hours of daylight in Ramadan. They do not eat, drink, smoke or engage in sexual intercourse during the fast. They also focus on reading the Koran (Qu’ran), donating to charities (zakaat), and certain activities such as refraining from gossip. Some people try to recite the entire Koran by the end of Ramadan.

Communal prayers and meals are held at mosques or in private homes in many Islamic communities in the evenings of Ramadan. The prayers and meals are usually well-attended. Some people spend the entire night praying or reading Islamic texts at a mosque, particularly on Laylat-al-Qadr, which is in the last third of Ramadan. Many people of Islamic faith give money for various charitable causes, such as providing food and new clothes for those in need.

The sun rises and sets at different times around the world so many people use applications, including time calculators, electronic reminders and printed calendars, to remind them of when the Ramadan fast starts (when the sun rises) and pauses (when the sun sets) in their time zone.

Timeanddate.com’s Sunrise and Sunset Calculator helps people find out when the sun rises and sets in their area. All times are adjusted for local time zones and daylight saving time. The calculator also provides a local time for dusk, dawn and twilight, as well as the sun’s distance, altitude, and day length.
Background

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, which consists of 12 months and lasts for about 354 days. The word “Ramadan” is derived from an Arabic word for intense heat, scorched ground and shortness of food and drink. The month of Ramadan traditionally begins with a new moon sighting, marking the start of the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. Many Muslims (except children, the sick and the elderly) abstain from food, drink, and certain other activities during daylight hours in Ramadan. Gossiping and fighting are also prohibited in this period.

Ramadan is considered as the holiest season in the Islamic year and commemorates the time when the Qu’ran (Islamic holy book) is said to have been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. This occurred on Laylat Al-Qadr, one of the last 10 nights of the month. Ramadan ends when the first crescent of the new moon is sighted again, marking the new lunar month’s start. Eid-al-Fitr is the Islamic holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.

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Ramadan Begins On Same Day For Most World Muslims         

More than 1.5 billion Muslims around the world mark the start of Ramadan on June 17, a month of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts.

Muslims follow a lunar calendar and a moon-sighting methodology that can lead to different countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two apart.

However, this year religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, and most other parts of the world announced based on their sightings of the moon that daily fasting would begin on the same day.

In Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Ramadan starts on June 18, a day before the rest of the country.

During Ramadan, observant Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, and sex from sunrise to sunset for the entire month.

A single sip of water or a puff of a cigarette is considered enough to invalidate the fast.

The fast is intended to bring the faithful closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate.

Muslims often give to charities during the month, and mosques and aid organizations organize free meals for the public every night.
Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal and RFE/RL