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During the Muslim season of Ramadan, he Muslim people go
into a season of fasting. During fasting, the Muslims are not allowed to eat or
drink anything but water from sunrise to sunset. In addition, they aren’t
allowed to smoke or engage in sexual intercourse. The season of Ramadan is one
of the Pillars of Islam, so it is one of the major parts of the Muslim culture.
During fasting, the Muslims believe that they are growing closer to the Lord by
putting aside all of their wants and desires. This fasting further shows the
sincerity and input into the religion all the greater. Fasting is also believed
o shield them from sins that they make with their desires and keep them from
going to hell. It also is supposed to keep them from making sins in their
everyday speech and action, such as ignorant and indecent speech, and hateful
and lustful thoughts. The only exceptions made to a person during the fasting
season are if the person is:
- Serious
illness
- If you
are traveling
- Women
who are pregnant or nursing
- Elderly
person who is too weak to fast
If someone breaks these conditions and still excuses him or
herself from fasting, the consequence is fasting for 60 days successfully. -Jabar JH
Muslim
Holidays
Muslim is a religion that has been around for
thousands of years. It is practiced
in
every continent and on all parts of the globe.
Muslims have a few every distinguished in important holiday. The most common is their holy day, which
falls on Friday. But their main
holiday
is known as Ramadan. Ramadan is a month in which most Muslims fast from sun up
to sun down, in order to almost repent for their sins. Eid ul-Fitr is a major celebration at the end of
Ramadan. Eid ul-Adha is
a holiday that falls 70 days
after Ramadan and it is a great party in honnor og the Profet Abbrham. R'as
as-Sana is the Islamic new year, however Islam follows the Arabic
calander. There are many
other minor
holidays just like in most religions.
Ultimatly Islam has a huge cvulture all to itself. -Farzana
TS
Food
Afghanistan is a Muslim country and religion plays a very important roll in the way of life. With their religion comes
honor. When guest are over the best food with in the house is provided along with a seat of their own at a table. Usually
women would retire to the kitchen while men would sip on tea and wait for the food to be prepared. When the food is done the
food would be placed on platters which would be shared commonly; three or four people would share one large platter of rice
and smaller individual side dishes of stew qorma, or vegetables, and home made chutneys. This would all be served with fresh
Naan. -Nisar
TK
One of the traditions of the religion of Islam which is
often considered the most important is prayer. Muslim prayer, otherwise known
as Salah, is practiced by Muslims every day. Salah is one of the Five Pillars
of Islam. The purpose of Salah is to allow Muslims to communicate with their
god Allah. The clothes that are worn to pray should be loose, clean clothing
that covers the skin respectfully. Before the prayer is performed the
individual must go through a cleaning process called ablution in which the
person must use water and wash certain parts of their body such as their hands,
mouth, nose, and others. The prayer is performed in sections or raka’ah. Each
raka’ah consists of a series of positions along with specific verses from the Koran
that are recited or read while in each position. The Fard salah consists of the
five daily prayers that all Muslims who are past puberty must perform.
- Fajr-
performed from dawn to sunrise
- Dhuhr-
performed right at noon
- Asr-
performed in the afternoon before sunrise
- Maghrib-
performed after sunset until dusk
- Isha’a-
performed from dusk to dawn of the next day
These five prayers that Muslims
perform each day are considered the most important
part of the religion of Islam. The salah must be performed
each day at these certain times of the day. Many Muslims practice salah even at
work and at school. -Daoud JK
Fashions
This
year’s fashions are here! This year instead of yellows and oranges, greens and
blues are in! Women’s dresses are shorter this year and a lot of flowery
designs are on them. Instead of geometric designs last year, the flowers are
replaced them. Cotton is in style as well. It was decided that the wool dresses
were just too hot for the rising temperatures. New styles of hijabs are also
something to look forward to this year. Although black is still in fashion,
they too have switched to cotton because of the increasing temperatures Sandals
this yea are gold and silver. Nothing else! Don’t be caught in last year’s
white and black sandals. It would be a total disaster. This summer’s theme is
bright shiny colors. Starting this
weekend, all these new fashions are on sale. Make sure to avoid the yellow and
oranges. You wouldn’t want to be caught on the worst dressed list! -Samira AM
Muslim
Weddings
A Muslim wedding starts with the
lafz, which is a ceremony of “giving word.”
Lafz is the ceremony where the family of the groom asks the family of
bride if their son may take the bride’s hand in marriage. This is usually done
in the form of a small
speech, followed by a response by the bride’s parents. An engagement party called
called the
Shirini-Khori- which translates to “Eating of the Sweets”- is held and then an
engagement period takes place. After the
engagement period, a nika is held where men of the families and the groom and
bride (the only women present) sit around a table while the mullah questions
the witnesses and reads from the Koran.
The bride and groom also say their oaths and sign certificates.
When the wedding ceremony takes
place, the procession walks down the aisle with the bride and groom
together. As they walk, someone holds a
Koran above their heads. When the bride
and groom to be reach the stage, they sit together on a couch. The two then do the
Ayena Masshaf where they
go under a veil and look at each other in a mirror. A party is held after the ceremony
to
celebrate the joining of the couple. -Bazya AS
Muslim
Sights: A Look at World Class Mosques
Friday's Mosque I: The Friday Mosque (Masjed-e
Jome'eh) is one of the oldest Mosques in Esfahan.
The Mosque was probably built during the 11th or the beginning of
the 12th century. Some changes were made, showing the change in
Iranian culture as well. There is a beautiful marble pool in the courtyard, in
the center of the mosque.
Jami'
Mosque I: Although the main construction of this mosque
goes back to
the 12th century, the construction of the two minarets is late 15th century,
while the inscriptions were built under the Safavids in the 16th and 17th
centuries.
Imam
Mosque II: The Muslim architect of the Esfahan Mosque
used space and
stone for mystical purposes. Here, you get a feeling of unusual surroundings, a
feeling of oppression by the closed world, and a reaction to the immensity of
the courtyard.
Lotfollah
Mosque: The richness of this mosque interior is purely
surfaced,
overwhelming by the splendor of the color. The patterns are made of glazed tile
mosaic but are surrounded by unglazed bricks so that the light is broken and
creates an effect in which light and color are totally absorbed. -Muhammad KY
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