Ramadan Karim!

We have revealed this [Qur'an] 0n the Night of Power.
And what will explain to you what is the Night of Power?
The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
Therein come down the Angels and the spirit
By God's permission, on every errand:
Peace! This until the rise of morn!

— Qur'an, Sura 97 (Al-Qadr)
A. Yusuf Ali translation

God's Apostle said, "When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained."

— Hadith of the Prophet, Sahih Bukhari

I began early in this blog to wish all my readers of various faiths and traditions greetings on all the major holidays of the major religions of the Middle East, as well as secular and cultural holidays when I am aware of them. For Muslims, there is no celebration more central to their faith than Ramadan, which, in the United States and most countries in the Muslim world, will begin at sundown tonight, with the fast beginning at sunrise Saturday morning. A few countries will probably have declared that the waxing crescent has been sighted last night (the first night it was astronomically possible), and so will have begun the fast today. Let me wish all my Muslim readers Ramadan Karim, whether you have begun it already or will begin the prayers this evening and the fast tomorrow.

When MEI asked me to start blogging (I'd been pushing for an MEI blog for a while, and violating the traditional "never volunteer" rule, I ended up as the blogger), we agreed that part of our role is to explain the Middle East to the West, as well as vice versa, that while there's a commentary and entertainment element involved here, there's also a surreptitious effort at education without making the reader feel like he/she is in school. I suspect most of my readers already know a lot about Ramadan, but perhaps not all.

During Ramadan I plan to talk occasionally about the traditions of the month, but suffice it to say that just as, for Muslims, the central miracle of the faith is the Qur'an, Ramadan is, as much as anything, a celebration of the Qur'an. The book is read in segments each night, completing a full reading in the course of the month; it was in Ramadan that the Qur'an was first revealed, on the laylat al-qadr, the "night of power," traditionally held to be one of the last 10 nights of Ramadan and an odd-numbered one (the 23rd is popular but not dogmatic), the night referred to in the Sura quoted above. (And yes, "night of power," though familiar, may be a little misleading. Qadr has many powerful meanings and resonances, and "night of destiny" might be more accurate. Or even something like "fate.")

And, while the other Muslim holidays I have noted, and the Christian and Jewish and secular and traditional holidays I have marked, are all important, there is no ritual or celebration that brings as many people together, throughout the Muslim world in the Middle East and beyond, as Ramadan. Not even the other great Muslim ‘id marking the hajj, though that is traditionally the other great annual feast of Islam.

And the Ramadan fast has some aspects that may surprise those familiar with other fasting traditions. In Christianity, Catholic Lent and the far more rigorous Orthodox Lent still retain traditions of fairly strict fasting (especially among the Orthodox), but these are penitential seasons leading up to the triumph of Easter. Ramadan is somewhat different, at least insofar as I, as a non-Muslim, understand it. It really is a celebration, though one marked by deprivation and fasting. It is a celebration of the revelation of the Qur'an, and the sacrifices of the day are balanced by the joys of the night, when one not only may eat but partake of special dishes specific to Ramadan, while reciting the Qur'an.

So: Ramadan Karim, and I'll discuss other aspects of Ramadan as the month goes on.