Russian Muslims celebrate Ramadan
Published 02 September, 2008, 04:32
The holy month of Ramadan is being celebrated by Muslims all over the world. Russia's 20 million Muslims will join the month of fasting and religious rituals as a way of making family ties stronger. For practising Muslims, Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is intended to teach self-control and discipline.
One of the main ways this is achieved is through fasting, which is broken only with dates or water when daylight is over.
“Ramadan is a very good month for us because it teaches us patience. We observe fasting from dawn till sunset. All Muslims fast at this time, and that unites us, because we all do it for the God and nobody else,” says believer Guzel Yakupova.
The Yakupov family are among an estimated 2 million Muslims living in Moscow. Their population has significantly increased throughout the whole of Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as has the number of mosques – from 300 in 1991 to over 8,000 today.
The main mosque in Moscow will greet thousands of worshipers over the next 30 days.
“Here, people have to make real efforts in order not to lose the sense of goodness. In the Arab world people feed on this from everywhere around them, while in Russia we have to make more effort,” says Ildar Alyautdinov, the First Imam of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque.
Ramadan isn't just a personal undertaking; it's a time to slow down, forget the pressures of the outside world and become closer as a family.
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