The meaning of Ramadan and how Muslims celebrate the holy month of fasting was explained to Salford police and community officers, according to Asian News.
Shaikh Esam, who sits on the Shari’a advisory board of a number of banks and financial institutions in Bahrain, explained what Ramadan means for Muslims, according to TimesOut.
Ramadan is the name of the ninth lunar month on the Islamic Calendar. It is about worship and the ritual of fasting. And to understand fasting, Shaikh Esam suggests first of all, people should understand what Islam means, Islam is an Arabic word that means to submit willingly to the commandments of God.
Islam is based on five important pillars of which the fourth pillar is about fasting. Muslims surrender to God by surrendering to his laws and people measure the acceptance or rejection of this submission with these five pillars.
These five pillars are: Shahadah, Salah, Zakah, Sawm, Hajj.
Asian News continues by saying that Eccles and Salford Islamic Society hosted the awareness day at Eccles Mosque on Liverpool Road for officers from the Saford South Neighbourhood Policing Team.
The event welcomes members from all communities and it gave them the opportunity to meet a member of the mosque, and their local policing officers, and informally discuss Ramadan, the meaning for Muslims living in this country, in Salford, and how the period will policed.
Back to TimeOut, the first pillar “Shahadah” means to declare with conviction and acceptance that there is no one worthy of worship other than Alla. The second part of this pillar is to declare that Mohammed is his messenger.
The second pillar “Salah” establishes the five daily prayers in their set forms and their special times which correlate to the position of the sun – sunrise, sunset. Muslims pray five times a day.
Zakah means anyone who owns a minimum threshold amounts and retains this minimum threshold for one lunar year is obliged to pay out 2.5 per cent (the rule thumb) of this threshold, for charitable purposes.
Sawm is the fourth pillar of the whole process, it is to fast for the complete days of Ramadan, to abstain absolutely from any intake of food and drink between the break of dawn and sunset.
Fasting has two dimensions, the abstinence from natural acts and the uplifting, cleansing and purifying spiritually.
Last pillar “Hajj” to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca during the season of the pilgrimage, once in someone’s lifetime, if the person is physically and financially able.
The Asian News concludes that the officers were also on hand to talk to residents about the issues that affect them on a daily basis and discuss ways that can help improve their quality of life.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to learn about anther culture as well as meeting a member of the Salford South Neighbourhood Policing Team,” said a member of the public.
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