Ramadan is a special month for Muslims all over the world. It is the month the Holy Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammed in Mecca, an ancient city in current day Saudi Arabia. Ramadan falls on the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, which follows a lunar cycle. It is a period for inner-reflection, restraint, cultivating awareness and compassion to help the needy, charity giving, family time and fasting. Fast takes place from sunrise to sunset during the month. There is no compulsion in Islam; people who are traveling, have medical conditions, are pregnant and elderly are exempt from fasting. The last ten days of Ramadan are given great reverence, as it is believed that on one of those nights, Angel Gabriel first appeared to Prophet Muhammad and revealed the first verse of the Quran. The night is called Laylat-al-Qadr, “Night of Power.”

This year, Ramadan starts on April 12 and ends at sundown on May 12, depending on the first moon sighting. With the end of Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated throughout the Muslim world. The usual greeting at the start of Ramadan is “Happy Ramadan,” or “Have a blessed Ramadan.” A day before or on the day of Eid-ul-Fitr, people will wish “Eid Mubarik,” or “Happy Eid.”

To learn more about Islam and Ramadan, BCLS offers the following resources:

Books, DVD Films, eBooks and Kanopy Films

Adult

• Threading my prayer rug: one woman’s journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim by Sabeeha Rehman
• In the footsteps of the prophet: Lesson’s from the life of Muhammad by Tariq Ramadan
• The Quran translation by Tarif Khalidi
• Seven wonders of the Muslim world [DVD] by PBS
• Living presence: A Sufi way to mindfulness and the essential self by Kabir Edmund Helminski
• No God but God: The origins, evolution, and future of Islam by Reza Aslan
• The hidden art of Islam by PBS – Kanopy
• The complete idiots guide to understanding Islam by Yahiya Emerick
• Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
• The world of Islam: Faith, people, culture Edited by Bernard Lewis
• Islam – A thousand and one nights of cooking – Kanopy
• The Sufis by Idries Shah

YS

• Night of the Moon by Hena Khan
• Islam by Philip Wilkinson. Eyewitness guides
• Celebrating Ramadan by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith
• Camel in the Sun by Griffin Ondaatje
• Islam: DK Eyewitness Books by DK Publishing - ebook

YA

• Bestest Ramadan Ever by Medeia Sharif
• The cat I  never named by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess & Laura L. Sullivan
• Does my head look big in this? By Randa Abdel-Fattah
• All-American Muslim girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney
• Love, hate and other filters by Samira Ahmed - ebook