BY DARLENE POLACHIC, FOR THE STARPHOENIX JULY 11, 2015
The Ahmadiyya Muslim community is in the midst of observing Ramadan, the holy month of fast which began on June 18 and ends July 17.
The daily Ramadan fast begins an hour before sunrise (about 3:30 a.m.) and ends at sunset (about 9:30 p.m.). During that time, adherents abstain from all food and drink.
The reason for the fast, says Zahid Abid, missionary to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, is to increase a person’s spirituality and gain nearness to God.
“If a person who is fasting commits a sin, the fast has no purpose,” Abid says. “The person is only staying hungry.”
The fast is not for everyone. All males are required to fast unless they are elderly, on a journey, or ill. Healthy females who are not pregnant or nursing will also fast. Children are exempt.
On weekdays, the daily fast is broken at home after sunset, then the family will go to the mosque for prayers.
On Saturdays and Sundays, congregants will gather at the mosque around 8:30 p.m., hear teaching from the Qur’an, and at 9:30 p.m., break the fast together with a prepared meal. The communal gathering is generally attended by 250 to 300 people.
Abid says prayers during Ramadan are the same ones offered throughout the rest of the year, but because Ramadan is considered a sacred time, the number of worshippers increases.
This Ramadan, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Canada launched Fast with a Muslim Friend, a nationwide initiative that invites non-Muslims in vicinity of a mosque to come and participate in the fast. The hope, says Abid, is to break down some of the barriers that exist between Muslims and non-Muslims and create greater harmony between the two.
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Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, Americas, Canada