COLOMBO – With the sighting of the crescent moon on Monday (11) night, Muslims in Sri Lanka commenced their month-long Ramadan fast at dawn on Tuesday (12), joining millions of Muslima globally in observing one of the five pillars of Islam. The other pillars are the profession of faith, prayer five times a day, zakat – a form of charity, and making the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca once in their lifetime.
Ramadan is considered one of the holiest months in the Islamic calendar, during which the first verses of the Quran – Islam’s holy book – were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago.
Fasting entails abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual relations during daylight hours to achieve greater consciousness of God. They also give to charity, show kindness and patience and place extra emphasis on reciting the Qur’an. Fasting during Ramadan is meant to encourage spiritual reflection.
Muslims start the fast with a pre-dawn meal, known as suhoor or sehri, and break the fast with dates, water and an evening meal at sunset in what is known as iftar or fitoor.
Featured here are snapshots of Muslims breaking their first fast (Iftar) at the Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque (Red Mosque) in Colombo, captured by our photographer J. Sujeewa Kumar on Tuesday.
-ENCL
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