RAMADAN BEGINS
"Welcome to a celebration of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. Observed by more than one billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a time for spiritual purification achieved through fasting, self-sacrifice and prayers.
Celebrated during the ninth month of Islamic calendar, the fast is observed each day from sunrise to sunset. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five Pillars of Islam. The Islamic belief that requires that Muslims perform five central duties in order to strengthen their faith. While Islam has two major sects, the Sunnis and the Shiites, all Muslims aim to realize these five pillars in their lifetime.
Ramadan concludes with a 3-day festival known as "Eid" or "Eid ul-Fitr," which literally means "the feast of the breaking/to break the fast." The holiday marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and is a culmination of the month-long struggle towards a higher spiritual state.
*Ramadan 2008: The first day of Ramadan (fasting) in North America according to sighting, is expected to be September 02. However, according to Saudi Ummul-Qura calendar, Fiqh Council of North America, and European Council for Fatwa and Research, the first day of Ramadan is on Monday, September 01, 2008.
According to a new Fatawa from Deoband, India, the first day of Ramadan in UK will be September 02, because the moon should be easily seen by naked eye. In Pakistan also, sighting will be easy on September 01, and first day of Ramadan will also be September 02."
