Ramadan a chance to connect

This Friday marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. This year, Ramadan lasts from May 26 until June 24. Malik Muradov, executive director of the Intercultural Dialogue Institute in Calgary, spoke with about Ramadan.

So what exactly is Ramadan?

Muslims start fasting just before the sunrise and fast until the sunset. This fasting means no eating, no drinking and no intimacy.

The Muslim calendar is a lunar calendar and it moves 10 days every year.

This means it travels from winter to summer and summer to winter.

This is the longest time, the summer, it has very long days so it is a challenge.

The idea is to feel what the person who cannot afford to buy a meal or to buy clean water feels.

That’s the purpose of fasting during Ramadan, to give that sense of how it feels to not have food, to not have clean water to drink. That gives people the opportunity to experience that hunger and thirst.

Are there any exceptions to who can fast?

Sick people, mothers who are breastfeeding and travellers are not obligated to fast and they can make it up later on. If you cannot fast, but wanted to, they could donate one meal per day per person, so if they are sick and they cannot fast they can donate $15 for one meal for one person.

Is there a certain age demographic of who is fasting?

People who are adults fast during Ramadan, children are not obligated but they usually want to practice until lunch time. There will be people who are 18 and don’t want to fast or cannot fast. It depends on the person if they want to practice or not.

What happens at the end of Ramadan?

There are three days of celebration and we will be celebrating the end of Ramadan and then gathering with people and kids will have lots of activities as well to celebrate this tradition and being able to fast for 30 days, it’s a big accomplishment.

Why is Ramadan important to you?

It is a very spiritual time, it gives me the opportunity to be thankful for the whole year and it’s a holy month.

It’s the most holy time of the year and it connects me back to thankfulness and to the community and to people who are less fortunate. Ramadan is also a time for giving charity.

Whatever I want to give to charity during the year, I decide during Ramadan and I start giving, donating money.

The Intercultural Dialogue Institute invites all Calgarians to join in on Iftar, a fast-breaking dinner, for free, at Olympic Plaza between June 4 and 9 starting at 8:30 p.m. Anyone can join and it will be a way to share this tradition with others to share and create a dialogue between people of all faiths and backgrounds.

Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.