Local Muslims Celebrate Ramadan

Many of the approximately 500,000 Muslims in Greater Los Angeles and millions of others around the world will begin fasting tomorrow for Ramadan, the holy month commemorating the first revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad, which begins with prayer at sundown today.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslim adults fast from dawn until dusk, unless they are ill, pregnant, diabetic, breastfeeding or traveling.

“Ramadan is the name of a month in the Islamic calendar, just like January, February, et cetera, is the name of the month,” said Omar Ricci, spokesperson for the Islamic Center of Southern California.

“It’s in this month that Muslims worldwide practice fasting from sunrise to sunset, which means abstaining from food and drink and food and water,” Ricci said.

“Maybe more importantly is the practice of higher levels of worship, devotion to God and practicing patience and compassion and charity during this month in an elevated way. For many Muslims, it’s the holiest time of the year for us,” he said. “And it’s also the month in which Muslims believe the Qur’an first was revealed. It’s in the last 10 days of the month that it’s reported that that’s when the prophet Muhammad received his first revelation from God.”

According to Ricci, during Ramadan there are extra prayers, or Taraweeh, which can last anywhere from an hour to all night in prayer. Ramadan is also a time where people get together to break the fast.

“If it wasn’t for the period of COVID you would certainly be having Muslim friends and community members gather either at their homes or at the mosque, and really enjoying each other’s company and sort of celebrating that we’re all fasting together and breaking the fast together really renewing the bond of community,” Ricci said.

“Unfortunately, that’s likely not going to be the case, certainly at the mosque level. There may be individual families or friends or whatever that do that if they’re vaccinated. We would not encourage people to get together if they’re not vaccinated. So it’s going to be a bit modified this year and hopefully we’ll be back to normal next year,” he said.

Fasting is one of the “five pillars” of Islam, along with the declaration of faith, daily prayers, charity and pilgrimage to Mecca.

“The fast is performed to increase spirituality, discipline, self-restraint and generosity while obeying God’s commandments,” said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-LA, Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization.

The end of Ramadan will be marked by communal prayers called Eid ul-Fitr, the Feast of the Fast-Breaking, on May 13.

With the capacity of mosques limited because of coronavirus-related restrictions, CAIR-LA and other Southern California Muslim organizations will conduct a series of webinars during Ramadan, Ayloush said.

“As we are seeing more people vaccinated and restrictions on places of worship being able to meet in person eased, I pray for this month to bring with it lots of blessings,” Ayloush said.