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Contact: Farhan
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fyounus@ciogc.org, 630-926-5566]
PRESS
RELEASE
Chicago - Thursday, October 23, 2003
MUSLIM FAST OF RAMADAN BEGINS OCTOBER
27, 2003
Fast offers opportunity to learn more
about Islam and Muslims
The Council of Islamic
Organizations of Greater Chicago (a federation
representing over 400,000 area Muslims), announces that on
October 26, 2003* the Muslim community in Chicagoland,
across America and around the world will begin the
month-long fast of Ramadan (rom-a-don). Ramadan is the
month on the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims
abstain from food, drink and other sensual pleasures from
break of dawn to sunset.
The fast is performed to learn
discipline, self-restraint and generosity, while obeying
God's commandments. Fasting (along with the declaration of
faith, daily prayers, charity, and pilgrimage to Mecca) is
one of the "five pillars" of Islam. Because
Ramadan is a lunar month, it begins about eleven days
earlier each year. The end of Ramadan will be marked by
communal prayers called "Eid ul-Fitr," or Feast
of the Fast-Breaking, on November 25, 2003.*
"The holy month of Ramadan
is a time for Muslims to engage in spiritual renewal and
reinforce our commitment to peace and justice for all. It
is also an opportunity for people to learn more about
Islam and about the Islamic community in Chicago,"
said Kareem Irfan, Chairman of the Council of Islamic
Organizations of Greater Chicago.
The Quran, Islam's revealed text,
states:
"O ye who believe!
Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those
before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint...Ramadan
is the (month) in which was sent down the Quran, as a
guide to mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and
judgment (between right and wrong). So every one of you
who is present (at his home) during that month should
spend it in fasting..." (Chapter 2, verses 183
and 185)
Demographers say Islam is one of
the fastest growing religions in this country and around
the world. There are an estimated 7 million Muslims in
America and some 1.2 billion worldwide.
-END-
* Because the beginning
of Islamic lunar months depends on the actual sighting of
the new moon, the start and end dates for Ramadan may
vary.
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