The holy month of Ramadan — alternately Ramzan — will officially begin for Muslims in India from Sunday, May 28, it has been decided. The decision came after Khalid Firangi Mahali of the Markazi Chand Committee — the panel which decides on the Ramadan dates in India — failed to spot the moon on Friday evening.
Both the Shia and Sunni committees have therefore decided that the first roza — or mandatory fasting — of Ramadan 2017 will take place on sunday itself, and the rest of the dates will be adjusted accordingly.
The Islamic calendar is a lunar one, and this every event depends on the moon being seen or not. That is the case with Ramadan, the holy Islamic month when Muslims across the world keep a fast during daytime and feast at sundown till dawn the next day.
Muslims across the world see the month of Ramadan the holiest of the year. Over the course of the month, healthy individuals observe mandatory fasting — called roza — as one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith, and also perform other religious activities such as praying, giving to charity, reciting the holy book of Quran and helping the poor.
At the end of the month, Muslims who dedicated themselves to the way of Islam are believed to be rewarded handsomely by Allah. Muslims mark the end of the month of Ramadan with grand celebrations in the form of Eid ul-Fitr.
