Since last Monday, Irish Muslims have been celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, a period of abstaining from food, water, and bad behavior for thirty days.
Ramadan is a test, set by Allah, and "an opportunity to go nearer to God and praise him," Khurrum Khan of Co. Meath told the Irish Times.
“There are hundreds of benefits to fasting in this month,” he said.
“It is not just about the fast. I am more spiritual and am doing more good deeds during this time than other months.”
He said he wakes up at around 3:15 am for a small predawn meal called sohour and then fasts for 18 hours, from dawn to dusk. He won't eat again until around 9:20 pm, when the fast is broken with a meal known as Iftar, which often begins with a glass of milk and some dates.
Mia-manan Hameed, who runs a popular restaurant, a food-importing business and a mosque in Dublin city center, said that when he was a boy at school in Dublin, he was teased for fasting. His children are having a very different experience in a country which now has a 45,000-strong Muslim population.
“It’s great to see how things have changed and how this country has become more diverse. My children’s generation are more accepting of different traditions. One Catholic friend of my daughter wanted to try it just to see what it was like, but I don’t think her mother was very keen."
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.shandy | Jul 07, 2012, 11:15 PM EDT
reply to davedublin .... what about those christians who living in Muslim countries like in pakistan there are 2,800,000 christian . who have equal rites . you just crying with 40,000 ... they don`t need your equality , just don`t be racist .
davedublin | Aug 23, 2011, 10:12 PM EDT
Muslims want domination not equality in Ireland. They will never integrate with the Irish Poputation and have no place in Irish society.
jacersagain | Aug 13, 2011, 10:18 PM EDT
timbo, I think you made a great point! However, I never see anyone laughing at the ones who go to Mass everyday or even just on Sundays. So I think no one should feel embarrassed to be seen praying any time. Just as Muslims pray several times a day, deeply true lay Catholics do too – morning prayers, 12pm, 6pm and night (bedtime) prayers. And then there’s all the times they pass a church, blessing themselves w/ a wee prayer (“To the King of all ages may all honour and glory be, forever and ever. Amen.”), and when they see a hearse pass along the road (“May that person rest in peace with You, Oh Lord) and - always, always - when they hear or see an ambulance passing by - blessing themselves and saying a prayer for the person(s) the ambulance is on the way to collect or actually carrying – praying for a stranger they do not know. And then there are all those little prayers before meals and bars of chocolate and ice cream (“Bless us Oh Lord and these gifts which we are about to receive through Christ our Lord. Amen”) and after meals (“We give thanks to Almighty God for all the graces and benefits we have received through Christ, our Lord. Amen. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen”). Irish Catholics are just absolutely wonderful people; aren’t we all lucky to have them praying... God never closes His ears to them.
timbobdennehy | Aug 12, 2011, 08:14 PM EDT
i wonder what the bad behaviour is,how it is worked out or recognised to them that is. my forefathers fought for my country,i will too. i knew and worked with a black muslim who always got time off to pray towards the east,i obviously considered him a dosser,yet if i said i had to get holy communion,confession or mass,i would surely of been laughed at and fired,plus you would,nt believe me if i seriously was a practicing catholic,i think we are all practicing,its just none of us are any good at it,we need more practice but if we do ,we get laughed at and fired and not taken seriously.equality my dhoin.
jacersagain | Aug 08, 2011, 07:31 PM EDT
A BTW for Townie – I’ve managed to visit all the known tombs of the original Apostles (9 of them) as well as Mary Magdalene’s cave and skull in France and St. Paul’s tomb where it was long held to be (saw his casket, recently discovered thru’ exploratory excavations; yu can see a piece of his robe hanging outside the casket in the Cathedral of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome). Having visited these tombs over the past few years, I then planned visiting Jerusalem and Damascus this year but hadta put it off due to the Arab uprisings. Next year... pls God!
jacersagain | Aug 08, 2011, 07:22 PM EDT
@artimusofluna – diversity of opinion and of culture is good; ideas exchanged lead to many good things but diversity of religion leads to much woe. Having lived with Muslims for many years, I am acutely aware of the falseness of Islam. It is not good for people. Mohammed saw what a good thing Christianity was as it spread through Arabia and chose to found his religion based on the tenets of Christianity and Judaism. He adapted them to suit his own agenda, introducing ideas of his own to suit his selfishness and forcing them on Arabian people by wars. Islam is not a religion of peace. We don’t want it Ireland but our stupid European laws allow it to be practiced. There’s some glimmer of hope – some European countries are banning Muslim women wearing their hideous cover-up garb. Do you know what they call the square in Riyadh where executions are publicly held? Chop-chop Square. Do you want to see NYC’s Times Sq or London’s Trafalgar Sq or Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Sq re-named Chop-chop Square? It will happen if we do not wake up to the evil of Islam. No thanks but I don't and cannot accept your idea of diversity as applied to Muslims in my country.
jacersagain | Aug 08, 2011, 07:18 PM EDT
@Townie – I am not unchristian towards the followers of Islam. I have nothing against Muslims per se – they are largely decent people. The awful huge pity is that they are totally misled by the Mohammed’s Quran and the caliphs who took over from Mohammed. In calling for them to see this lie, I am doing no more than what God commanded – to have no false Gods before Him - and I’m following Christ’s warnings of the false prophets who would follow after Him – people like Mohammed, Joseph Smith, “Rev” Moon, Victor Houteff and his later “prophet” David Koresh etc. It is our Christian responsibility to tell Muslims and others who follow false prophets of the lie in their false religions. It is up to them to decide if they want to listen to us and then to accept or reject our encouragements. As St. Paul said: if they don’t listen, we are to scuff the dust from our sandals, leave them behind and go tell those who would listen to Christ’s Word and gain immense joy from living the Christian way, with Jesus Christ, the living Son of God, in our lives.
jacersagain | Aug 08, 2011, 07:14 PM EDT
(...more) Believe it or not, it was through an alliance with a Jewish tribe that lived in Mecca at the time that he formed his first army against the people of Mecca that cast him out. Indeed, many of Mohammed’s first pronouncements were based on Judaism through his acquaintance with them. My Saudi friend told me that he (the friend) came from a long line of family members who were all but wiped out by Mohammed’s army and forced into subjugation to his new religion. The Muslim community spread through the Middle East through military conquest and though inspired by religion, it was also motivated by greed and politics. Islam is still today bent on world domination. Libya’s Col. Ghadaffi said as much not long ago when he proclaimed that Islam was winning this domination by invading the lands of Western civilisation peacefully, breeding families and earning citizenship of these countries with the ultimate aim of becoming the dominant population. Ireland and other Western countries really need to wake up to this fact.
jacersagain | Aug 08, 2011, 07:10 PM EDT
I worked and lived in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for a number of years. I met and enjoyed the company of Saudi citizens and other Muslims from many other countries, being friends with some. I know what I’m saying is true - that Islam is a false religion, founded by a false prophet. Just as there are western people who don’t believe in Christianity or in a God, there are Saudis too who don’t believe in Mohammed or God. One of them told me that he was a non-believer, that Mohammed only spread his ‘religion’ by violence, first against his own village people (who threw him out of Mecca for his disgusting behaviour to their children and women; he did not leave for his life in a cave of his own accord, as Muslims are lead to believe) and other towns that first gave him refuge (e.g. the Quareishi people?) but which he later waged war on. (More...)
themurphia | Aug 08, 2011, 03:02 PM EDT
Who gives a Shiite...?!
themurphia | Aug 08, 2011, 03:01 PM EDT
Tsk! Tsk!...Now Now...IC commenters...musn't express any negative comments about liberal elite protected species...however true it might be...it's the new fascism...stick to making offensive derogatory comments about women...they don't mind that...!
sirpeter | Aug 08, 2011, 02:27 PM EDT
"This Muslim trash""Muslims will destroy Ireland""Asylum seeking leeches" Fu*kin' Hell! The Schutzstaffel(SS)have arrived on IC in force.Sorry for the swearing I know all the Christian Crusaders find my texting swear words totally...Well Unchristian.
williamite | Aug 08, 2011, 06:11 AM EDT
This Muslim trash should have no place in Ireland north or south, Hopefully soon enough austerity will drive them off
falconflash | Aug 08, 2011, 12:56 AM EDT
How very true, it took the Irish 800 years to get rid of the Brits but now to allow the Muslims in will destroy Ireland soon enough......
Towngate | Aug 07, 2011, 08:42 PM EDT
Jacers! ~ how very Christian and 'catholic'(all embracing) of you! You must be overdoing the cheap altar wine and weevilly white biscuits of late. As for them going back to their own countries to practice their faith ~ will you tell us please, when you are going back to the Middle East to practice yours where it was started!
artemisofluna | Aug 07, 2011, 08:26 PM EDT
You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Diversity is a beautiful thing. Christmas is celebrated all over the Western world, so 'a bit of balance' is exactly what this article is trying to achieve. Learning about other cultures is a wonderful thing. You should all try it sometime. And before you speak about 'asylum seeking leeches' remember that a great deal of the world was taken from the people who belonged there by white people seeking asylum from their own countries. And they were not at all civilised about it.
WoundedKnee | Aug 07, 2011, 03:28 PM EDT
There are now 45,000 Muslims in Ireland. Can anyone tell me--maybe columnist Kelly can--what advantage it is to Ireland to have 45,000 Muslims? And what kind of lunatic immigration policy by successive "Irish" governments has allowed such an influx?
themurphia | Aug 07, 2011, 11:25 AM EDT
jacers:Amen to that...!
jacersagain | Aug 07, 2011, 10:57 AM EDT
I never see IrishCentral reporting on Irish Catholics and other Christians celebrating the birth of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ at Christmas time, or the Lenten fasting period before we celebrate His Resurrection from the dead at Easter... or Whit Sunday or the feast of Corpus Christi. Why highlight Muslims practices? Can we have a bit of balance please? These Muslim foreigners who adhere to a false religion should go back to their own countries and practice their false beliefs there. Or better still, convert to the one and only True Religion of Christianity.
bogsidebunny | Aug 07, 2011, 10:25 AM EDT
45,000 Muslims in Ireland. Most having arrived in the past 10-years when the economy was booming. How many are asylum seeking leeches? 2,000 Jews, almost all are progeny of families who have been in Ireland for generations and most if not all are productive citizens.