1. Why is Ramadan called Ramadan?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and lasts either 29 or 30 days, depending on when the new crescent moon is, or should be, visible.

The Arabic term Ramadan connotes intense heat. It seems that in pre-Islamic Arabia, Ramadan was the name of a scorching hot summer month. In the Islamic calendar, however, the timing of Ramadan varies from year to year. This year Ramadan will begin at sunset on March 11, give or take a day depending on when the new moon is sighted. An Islamic year is roughly 11 days shorter than a Gregorian year.

2. What is the significance of Ramadan?

Ramadan is a period of fasting and spiritual growth and is one of the five “pillars of Islam” – the others being the declaration of faith, daily prayer, alms-giving and the pilgrimage to Mecca. Able-bodied Muslims are expected to abstain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from dawn to sunset each day of the month. Many practicing Muslims also perform additional prayers, especially at night, and attempt to recite the entire Quran. The prevailing belief among Muslims is that it was in the final 10 nights of Ramadan that the Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

3. What is the connection between soul and body that the observance of Ramadan seeks to explain?

The Quran states that fasting was prescribed for believers so that they may be conscious of God. By abstaining from things that people tend to take for granted (such as water), it is believed, one may be moved to reflect on the purpose of life and grow closer to the creator and sustainer of all existence. As such, engaging in wrongdoing effectively undermines the fast. Many Muslims also maintain that fasting allows them to get a feeling of poverty and this may foster feelings of empathy.

4. Can Muslims skip fasting under certain conditions? If so, do they make up missed days?

All those who are physically limited (for example, because of an illness or old age) are exempt from the obligation to fast; the same is true for anyone who is traveling. Those who are able to do so are expected to make up the missed days at a later time. One could potentially make up all of the missed days in the month immediately following Ramadan, the month of Shawwal. Those unable to fast at all, if they are financially able, are expected to provide meals to the needy as an alternative course of action.

5. What is the significance of 29 or 30 days of fasting?

By fasting over an extended period of time, practicing Muslims aim to foster certain attitudes and values that they would be able to cultivate over the course of an entire year. Ramadan is often likened to a spiritual training camp.

Besides experiencing feelings of hunger and thirst, believers often have to deal with fatigue because of late-night prayers and pre-dawn meals. This is especially true during the final 10 nights of the month. In addition to being the period in which the Quran was believed to have been first revealed, this is a time when divine rewards are believed to be multiplied. Many Muslims will offer additional prayers during this period.

6. Do Muslims celebrate the completion of Ramadan?

The end of Ramadan marks the beginning of one of two major Islamic holidays Eid al-Fitr, the “festival of the breaking of the fast.” On this day, many Muslims attend a religious service, visit relatives and friends and exchange gifts.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on May 22, 2017.

This article was published by the The Conversation.

The Ramadan for 2024 will start on Tuesday, March 12 and go for about 30 days. It is then followed by the three-day celebration of Eid.

Significance of Ramadan in Islamic history

Prior to becoming a messenger of God, Muhammad used to withdraw to the Hira mountain top cave. He would meditate in solitude, away from the polytheistic culture of tribal Mecca for the whole month of Ramadan. We are not sure if this retreat involved fasting at the time.

In 610, when he was 40, he again went to the same mountain top to meditate. Several weeks into the retreat, he experienced an angelic form appearing before him, commanding him to read. He replied he did not know how to read. The angelic form squeezed him tight and repeated the command to read. This continued three times, after which the first five verses of the holy Qur’an was revealed:

Read in the name of your Lord who created humans from a piece of flesh. Read, for your Lord is Most Generous. Who taught humans with the pen. Who taught humans what they do not know.

Muhammad still was not able to read in a conventional way, but he understood that he was being asked to read the book of the universe and learn from it, and also understand that it points to its creator.

This incident marked the beginning of Islam, revelation of the Qur’an and the prophetic mission of Prophet Muhammad.

In 624, when Muslims migrated to Medina to escape persecution, the month of Ramadan was declared holy by virtue of the start of the mission of the Prophet and revelation of the Qur’an. Fasting was instituted in this month as one of the five pillars of Islam as a way for believers to show their thanks to God and reflect on the teachings of the Qur’an and its importance for believers.

Who observes Ramadan fasting?

The Ramadan fasting involves stopping eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse from dawn to sunset. Practitioners can engage in all these acts once fasting is broken and restart fasting the next dawn. The cycle continues for a whole month.

Ramadan fasting is one of the most observed of all the pillars of Islam, with 70-80% of Muslims practising it. It is obligatory for all Muslims, men and women, from the age of puberty. Parents encourage their children to fast for half a day from the age of ten to condition them to fasting.

There are exemptions. Travellers, elderly, sick, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are exempt from fasting on the condition they make up missing days at a suitable time after Ramadan. The elderly and chronically ill compensate for days not fasted by making a small donation to charity for each day, if they can afford it.

Since fasting is from dawn to sunset, the duration of fasting time changes depending on the season and where a Muslim is located in the world. Near polar regions, fasting can be almost 22 hours in summer or just a few hours in winter.

Spiritual significance and benefits of Ramadan fasting

What may seem to some to be a self-inflicted ordeal has profound meaning for human beings and God, and their reciprocal relationship. God exhibits the perfection of lordship, grace and mercy by making the surface of this Earth a table of blessing, and placing all kinds of sustenance on that table for every creature to enjoy.

In Ramadan, believers show a collective act of worship in the presence of the mighty and universal Mercy as they wait for the divine invitation to the table of blessings at the time of breaking the fast. As the Earth revolves around its axis, the jubilant timeframe is repeated in a continuous manner for the whole month.

Many people forget the fact God is the source of all sustenance. While they readily thank agents of delivery, they forget to remember and thank God as the one who ultimately meets all their needs. God expects the price of thanksgiving for the sustenance he has provided.

True thanksgiving is to know that all sustenance comes directly from God, to acknowledge its value and to feel our own need and dependence on that sustenance.

A fasting person physically feels the value of, and their need for, basic sustenance when they experience the pangs of hunger and thirst. Since a believer fasts for the sake of God, they acknowledge the sustenance, which may be taken for granted, actually comes from God. Therefore, fasting in the Islamic tradition is the best way to show a true and sincere thanksgiving.

Fasting tames the desires. The constant exercise of willpower not to eat, drink or have sexual relations sends a strong message it is the human will, hence the spirit, that is in control.

Fasting is not just about staying hungry or thirsty, it is also to struggle to contain other harmful behaviours. Prophet Muhammad remarked:

Whoever doesn’t give up lying and acting on lies during fasting, then God has no need for him to give up food and drink.

Therefore, the fundamental spiritual benefit of fasting is to exercise the will-power and attain self-control, essential for success in every part of life.

Eid celebrations at the end of Ramadan

Fasting has other personal and social benefits. Through fasting, the rich know what it means to be hungry. Hence, the rich will be more inclined to give charity when they fast. The annual Islamic alms (zakat) are usually paid in Ramadan.

Muslims often invite friends and family members to join in the celebration of the break-fast dinners (iftar). The rich organize dinners for the poor.

In the past few decades, Muslim minorities in western countries have started to invite their non-Muslim friends to iftar dinners. Muslim organizations have annual iftar dinners for their associates and supporters.

In Australia, the NSW premier, for example, has been holding iftar dinners for members of the Muslim community and other faith leaders since 2004. Presidents of the US have also held iftar dinners in the White House.

Ramadan has become a cultural event for everyone.

Ramadan culminates in a three-day celebration (Eid al-Fitr), where Muslims offer a special morning prayer, then visit family and friends. Charity, called fitr, is given to the poor to ensure no one is left out of the celebrations and the joy of success that comes with fasting. – The Conversation/Rappler.com

Mehmet Ozalp is an Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University.

This article was first published in The Conversation.

WATCH: How start of Ramadan is determined through moonsighting

Andrzej Dziuba, a bishop in Lowicz, had not informed law enforcement authorities about the case of a priest from his diocese who abused a 14-year-old boy, according to local media reports, which said Dziuba is facing charges in Poland.

“Difficulties in the management of the diocese were identified, in particular negligence in handling sexual abuse cases committed by some clergy against minors,” the Apostolic Nunciature in Poland said in a statement. Dziuba had been asked to resign by the Holy See, it added.

The Lowicz diocese said on its website that Dziuba was retiring, citing the Pope’s decision to accept his resignation without further elaboration. Dziuba did not immediately comment.

His departure comes less than a month after the pope accepted the resignation of a Polish archbishop accused in a 2021 documentary of turning a blind eye to child abuse.

One of Europe’s most devoutly Catholic countries, Poland has seen a string of child abuse scandals, with the church saying two years ago that between July 1, 2018, and December 31, 2020, it received 368 reports regarding abuse of minors.

According to 2021 census data, 71% of the population consider themselves Catholic. – Rappler.com

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As aid and support from the West dwindles, Ukraine is turning to the rest of the world for vital assistance in its existential war against an expansionist Russia. Yes, its government admits, Ukraine has taken a humble position by passing the hat, aiming to shore up whatever little support smaller countries could offer. But it also reminds the rest of the world that Ukraine’s war with Russia is a battle for the rules-based world order, and against the threat from other expansionist countries in other regions, including the Indo-Pacific.

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Rappler’s JC Gotinga reports from Ukraine, upon invitation by the Ukraine Crisis Media Center. – Rappler.com

“I have prepared a speech but as you can see I am unable to read it because of bronchitis. I have asked Monsignor (Filippo) Ciampanelli to read it for me,” a hoarse-sounding pope said.

The speech was for the opening ceremony of the judicial year of the Vatican tribunal.

Afterwards, the pope was able to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during an audience at the Vatican.

Francis, who is 87, has had a number of health issues recently.

On Wednesday, he made a brief trip to a Roman hospital for a check up after he missed reading at his weekly audience, saying he had “a bit of cold”.

He cancelled appointments on Monday and last Saturday due to what the Vatican said was a mild flu, but he gave his regular weekly address to the crowds in Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday.

The pope was forced to cancel a planned trip to a COP28 climate meeting in Dubai at the start of December because of the effects of influenza and lung inflammation.

In January, he was unable to complete a speech owing to “a touch of bronchitis.” Later that month he said he was doing better despite “some aches and pains.”

As a young man in his native Argentina, Francis had part of a lung removed. – Rappler.com

Addressing participants of a two-day conference in the Vatican on the evolving role of men and women according to Christian teachings, Francis said what he called “gender ideology” was a threat because it sought to erase the difference between the sexes.

“I have asked that studies be carried out into this ugly ideology of our times, which cancels out the differences and makes everything the same,” the Pope said.

“Cancelling out the differences means cancelling out humanity.”

Gender theory, often called gender ideology by its detractors, suggests that gender is more complex and fluid than the binary categories of male and female, and depends on more than visible sex characteristics.

The 87-year-old pontiff said he was still suffering from a recent cold and had asked an aide to read his speech, but first wanted to “underline” his feelings on gender ideology.

He said he remembered reading a “prophetic” book called “Lord of the World” – a dystopian novel published in 1907 by a Catholic priest about a world where religion has no place – which warned of the risk of cancelling out differences between people.

“Read it if you have time, because it speaks of these problems of today,” the Pope told his visitors. – Rappler.com

The 87-year-old pontiff had been suffering from influenza and earlier skipped a reading at his Wednesday weekly audience, delegating the task to an aide and telling the faithful he was still not well.

The Pope, who has had a number of health issues recently, had cancelled appointments on Saturday and on Monday due to what the Vatican called a mild flu.

On Sunday, he addressed crowds in St Peter’s Square as normal, to deliver his Angelus message.

“Dear brothers and sisters, I still have a bit of a cold,” Francis said at the audience on Wednesday, announcing that someone else would read his catechesis on envy and vainglory, two of the seven deadly sins.

The reading was about one page long.

The Pope did speak at the end of his audience, his voice sounding hoarse and coughing a bit, to greet some of the faithful and issue calls for peace, as is customary.

In December, the Pope was forced to cancel a planned trip to a COP28 climate meeting in Dubai because of the effects of influenza and lung inflammation.

In January, he was unable to complete a speech owing to “a touch of bronchitis”. Later in the month he said he was doing better despite “some aches and pains”.

As a young man in his native Argentina, Francis had part of a lung removed.

The Pope also has difficulty walking, and regularly uses a wheelchair or a cane. On Wednesday, he arrived at his indoor audience in a wheelchair. – Rappler.com

The 87-year-old pontiff was forced to skip meetings on Saturday, and although he appeared in public on Sunday to deliver his weekly Angelus message, the Vatican said his audiences on Monday had been suspended as a precaution.

“Mild flu-like symptoms persist, with no fever,” a Vatican statement said.

The Pope has suffered repeated health problems in recent months and was forced to cancel a planned trip to a COP28 climate meeting in Dubai in December because of the effects of influenza and lung inflammation.

In January, he was unable to complete a speech owing to “a touch of bronchitis”. Later in the month he said he was doing better despite “some aches and pains”.

As a young man in his native Argentina, Francis had part of a lung removed.

The Pope also has difficulty walking and regularly uses a wheelchair including at a meeting last week with Argentina’s President Javier Milei. – Rappler.com

This, after South Africa asked the World Court on December 29, 2023, for an urgent order declaring Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its crackdown against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

On Monday, February 19, representatives of Palestine presented their arguments on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and the West Bank.

The World Court continues its oral proceedings, on Monday, February 26, hearing the representatives of United Nations member states Fiji, Spain and Maldives its final court session on the matter.

Oral proceedings Monday, February 26

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The World Court will continues its oral proceedings, on Monday, February 26, hearing the representatives of member states Türkiye, Zambia, League of Arab States, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and African Union in its morning session.

Oral proceedings Friday, February 23

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On Friday, February 23, The World Court hears Namibia, Norway, Oman in the first half of its morning session.

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The World Court hears Pakistan, Indonesia and Qatar in the second half of its morning court session on Friday, February 23.

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The afternoon session of the World Court hearing will hear the pleadings of the representatives of Sudan, Slovenia, Switzerland, Syria, and the United Kingdom on Friday, February 23.

Oral proceedings Thursday, February 22

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On Thursday, February 22, The World Court hears the oral pleadings of the representatives of United Nations member states China, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Japan and Jordan.

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Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Luxembourg, Malaysia and Mauritius present their oral pleadings on the afternoon court session on Thursday, February 22.

Oral proceedings Wednesday, February 21

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Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America present their oral pleadings on the morning of Wednesday, February 21.

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The ICJ hears oral pleadings of member states Gambia, France, Guyana, Hungary, Russian Federation in the afternoon session on Wednesday, February 21.

Oral proceedings Tuesday, February 20

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Oral proceedings continued as South Africa, the Netherlands, Algeria, Bangladesh, and Saudi Arabia present arguments in the morning of Tuesday, February 20.

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The ICJ also heard the oral pleadings of Belize, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile on Tuesday afternoon, February 20.

– Rappler.com

“So many victims, wounded, destruction, anguish, and tears in a period that is becoming terribly long and whose end is not in sight. It is a war that not only devastates that region but also unleashes global waves of hate and fear,” Pope Francis said during his weekly Angelus message.

“I plead for that little bit of humanity to be found to create the conditions for a diplomatic solution in search of a just and lasting peace”, he said.

Heads of the Group of Seven major democracies on Saturday pledged to stand by war-weary Ukraine, and Western leaders traveled to Kyiv to show solidarity on the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

Francis said he was also concerned about escalating violence in the east region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Last week, violent clashes escalated between the DRC’s army and Rwandan-backed M23 Tutsi-led rebels in eastern Congo, killing scores and displacing hundreds of thousands.

“I join the bishops in their call to pray for peace, hoping for an end to the clashes and a search for genuine and constructive dialogue,” he said.

Francis reiterated his prayers for Israel, for Palestinians and for “the many war-torn peoples.” – Rappler.com