It’s nearly time for Ramadan, meaning all across the country Muslims won’t eat or drink during the hours of daylight.
Ramadan honours the month the Qur’an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad and falls on the ninth month in the Islamic Calendar.
The exact dates of Ramadan change each year because Islam uses a lunar calendar.
So just when will Ramadan 2021 start and how is it going to be observed during lockdown?
When is Ramadan 2021?
In the UK, Ramadan will begin in the evening of Monday, April 12 and will end on Tuesday, May 11.
Ramadan is typically celebrated with most Muslims fasting between dawn and sunset.
It’s common to have one meal – the suhoor – just before sunrise and another – the iftar – directly after sunset.
Under normal circumstances, communal prayer, reading of the Qur’an and friends and family coming together would also be hugely common.
Ramadan ends with a huge feast called Eid al-Fitr, where Muslims will dress in their best clothes, give gifts to one another and give to charity.
How to celebrate Ramadan 2021
Though the rule of six has been reinstated and people can meet outdoors, many Ramadan celebrations will still remain smaller in scale.
To help build a sense of community during Ramadan 2021, apps including Diaspo are doing live classes and more for people to join.
One of the Diaspo teachers, Tasniya, has said of another Ramadan in lockdown: ‘Lockdown and the pandemic actually gave us Muslims the much-needed time we cherish in Ramadan: extra time to practice our prayers on time (normally we’d have to skip those because of going to work), and family bonding time as we are all eating and preparing food together.
‘I am grateful for this additional time we get.’
Tasniya will be teaching a Ramadan family platter which includes chickpea bhuna, lentil fritters and potato and chilli pakoras – perfect to give the iftar more variety.
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