EU-DIGEST

Dutch take Islamic Ramadan festival as their own - by Paolo Gallini

According to a new poll, the Dutch have adopted the Sugar Feast, which marks the end of the Islamic fasting month Ramadan, as one of their favorite cultural traditions.The choice of the festival followed a poll by the Dutch Center for Folk Culture. It came 14th in the list of 100 top traditions. The center (Nederlands Centrum voor Volkscultuur, NCV) asked several thousand people to name traditions that they considered important for themselves or for the Netherlands as a whole. No shortlist of options was drawn up in advance. Queen Beatrix in Hilversum unveiled the top 100 at the opening of the Year of the Traditions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the top choice in the poll was the feast of Sinterklaas. This Dutch precursor of Santa Claus, celebrated each year on December 5, is followed on the list by the decoration of a Christmas Tree. In third place is Queen's Day on April 30.

Labels: EU, Netherlands, Ramadan

Ramadan: Memorizing the Quran part of Muslim holiday of Ramadan -- by James D. Davis

Ramadan is the time, believers say, when God revealed the holy book to Muhammad 14 centuries ago. In observance of the event, Muslims pray and fast during daylight hours, and attend special prayer services nightly. At the services, known as Tarawih, a portion of the Quran is recited each night, so that the congregation has heard the whole book by the end of the month. The duty of leading that recital usually falls to a hafiz, who can recite the text by heart. "Ramadan is the season of the Quran," says Imam Rashid Ahmed, who teaches the class. "Even Prophet Muhammad recited it all the time. And it's a special time for a hafiz." A hafiz 14 and older may lead the nightly prayer. Many mosques hire a professional who is trained in precise, dramatic recitation; the Sunrise mosque in Fort Lauderdale Florida plans to bring in a specialist from Pakistan. Sheikh says he'll lead the prayers at the Islamic Movement of Florida in Hollywood.

Labels: Ramadan