The muslim community celebrates from this Tuesday the month of Ramadan, the second that takes place in the context of a pandemic and that will be conditioned by the precautionary measures adopted in each autonomous community or mosque to avoid the risk of contagion.
The Ramadan 2021 will be held from April 13 to May 12, coinciding with the ninth lunar month and with the appearance of the crescent moon on the last day of the eighth month of your calendar. For this reason, its duration is not always exact and ranges between 29 and 30 days. This is why each year falls on a different date on the Western calendar.
What does Ramadan commemorate?
During these days the revelation of the first verses of the Qur’an by Allah to Muhammad. For the Islamic religion and its practitioners, it is a time of recollection, a closer approach to God and purification of the soul through self-discipline and self-sacrifice. Among the rules to comply with during this month: abstain from drinking, eating, smoking and having sex during the daytime.
On Spain, just over two million people profess the Islamic religion (42% are Spanish, 38% Moroccan and 20% of another nationality) and are called to commemorate this holiday. If last year the Muslims lived this holy month with the mosques closed, this time the faithful will be able to go to them to pray and celebrate, but with important limitations.
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Avoid crowds and respect the curfew
The Islamic Commission of Spain (CIE) has called on the entire Muslim community to avoid the crowds and mass gatherings, and has recommended to the faithful to reduce as much as possible the time they stay in the place of worship.
In this sense, it has advised against performing the iftar -the night meal with which the fast is broken- in the mosque, in order to avoid crowds and risks of contagion. Also, remember the need to keep safe distances and use masks.
In Spain, just over two million people profess the Islamic religion.
As for the ‘tarawih‘, a nightly prayer that includes extensive recitations of the Koran and is traditionally performed in a group in the mosque, the CIE gives a clear indication: it is better to do it at home and, if you go to the mosque, remember that it will be necessary check the curfew in each autonomous community or city.
If there is no time to pray and return home before curfew, “we must perform the ‘tarawih’ as a family at home, and not in the mosque or authorized place,” they have indicated.