Ramadan mubarak from EFA’s Friday morning class!
This morning, one of our groups, led by EFA teacher-organiser Dermot, participated in a group-writing activity about Islam and the holy month of Ramadan.
They wanted to share this with our community:
“Ramadan is very important in Islam, because the Quran was given to the Prophet Mohammed in Ramadan. Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims, and this year it started on 11 March and will end on 10 April.
(NOTE: Islam is the religion, and Muslims are the people who belong to the religion.)
Ramadan is a fasting month for Muslims.
Fasting starts at dawn (now at 4.34 a.m.) and we can have breakfast at sunset (now at 6.10 p.m.).
There are five times for prayer during the day, each of which has a different number of prayer movements (rak’ahs), but in Ramadan there is a prayer after the evening prayer, which is called Taraweeh (8 rak’ahs or more).
We pray is the same, we read Surah Al-Fatihah with another surah of the Quran (the Quran contains 114 surahs, each surah has a name).
Young children are not obliged to fast but it is good for them to try. The age of starting fasting is the age of adulthood (the girl have periods and the boy in the adulthood ) – before that you can fast by your choice.
Some children train for half a day, perhaps between dawn and noon or just on weekends. They have no obligation to fast.
We fast to reflect that everyone is the same, rich or poor. Each of us can’t drink or eat. All of us have to be grateful for what we have.
It helps us to put ourselves in the shoes of homeless people and people who have no food. It teaches us to feel what other people feel.
Each country has its own breakfast food, but it is similar in some foods such as dates, soup, samosa, yoghurt, falafel and juices. The food should be healthy and warm.
Indeed, the month of Ramadan is a training ground for the Muslim whereby they are cultivated upon noble characteristics, and upon staying away from sins and misdeeds.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنْ لَمْ يَدَعْ قَوْلَ الزُّورِ وَالْعَمَلَ بِهِ فَلَيْسَ لِلَّهِ حَاجَةٌ فِي أَنْ يَدَعَ طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَهُ
Whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink. [Al-Bukhari 1903]
Ramadan is not only about fasting. We can’t get angry, we have to be patient, and we have to control our emotions. We have to do lots of good acts. We have to help people.
During Ramadan we also carry on with our routine, like school and work.”
English for Action 