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The Umma, which is the Arabic word for the worldwide community of 2 billion Muslims, will celebrate the sacred month of Ramadan beginning at sunset on Wednesday, Feb. 18. Coincidentally that day is also Ash Wednesday for Christians and the beginning of the Chinese lunar new year (this is the year of the horse). So, this is a good time to reflect on the purpose of holidays in the world’s religions and how Ramadan fits in.

Holidays celebrate sacred times. Sacred times are the moments when some event in ordinary time is so spiritually important that it jumps into sacred time. Sacred times are the moments when God intervenes in human history and reveals a new way to understand God’s plan for humanity. The sacred time of Passover reveals a new understanding of freedom. The sacred time of Easter reveals a new understanding of sin and atonement, and the sacred time of Ramadan reveals a new understanding of submission to God.

Ramadan’s revelation is based upon the belief that it was at this time in the 7th century that the angel Gabriel revealed the holy book of the Quran to the prophet Mohammad in 624 of the common era during the ninth month of the lunar year. This night of the first revelation to Mohammad is called Laylat al-Qadr, one of five odd-numbered nights during the last 10 days of Ramadan.

Holidays reinforce the central beliefs of a religion. In the case of Ramadan, this holy month and its rituals are one of the five central pillars of Islam.

Fasting during Ramadan (called sawm) is the first of the five pillars. This is a very serious fast. It lasts from dawn to sundown every day of the month. No food or drink is consumed during the day and so to fortify themselves Muslims rise before dawn to eat a meal called suhoor and then gather after sundown to eat the evening meal called iftar. It is a great honor to be invited to an iftar meal. The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a large and joyous feast called the Eid al-Fitr. Holidays in every faith provide a time for fasting as a sign of gratitude to God. Fasting is a natural response to God. We sacrifice our food in order to focus on our gifts from God. The Lenten fast for Christians, the Passover fast of leavened bread are all responses of human need to sacrifice to God, however, the Ramadan fast is by far the most challenging of all the fasts from all the world’s faiths.

Another pillar of Islam and a fundamental Islamic profession of faith is called the Shahadah. It is a simple but powerful creed and saying it and believing it enters one into Islam, "I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God." The shahadah is part of the call to prayer five times a day (arkan).

Another pillar of Islam is Charity (Zakat). Giving to those in need is always a high religious principle of Islam but charitable contributions made during the month of Ramadan are considered to be particularly holy. It is common practice for those wealthy individuals to provide lamb for the Eid meal to those of modest means so that they too can celebrate the greatest feast of the Muslim year.

Muslims pray five times a day and one of the pillars of Islam is prayer (Salah). Special prayers are added for the month of Ramadan and although they are not compulsory, they do provide a deeper spiritual climate for pious Muslims during Ramadan.

Finally, holidays re-enforce the importance of sacred places. The pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). The Hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca during five or six days of the last month of the Muslim lunar calendar which both re-enacts Muhammad’s journey and also atones for sins. Words fail in describing the vast community of Muslims concluding their pilgrimage at the Kaba stone in Mecca by walking around it seven times while dressed in a single unstitched white cloth. Such religious drama is rare here on planet earth and the Haj preserves it to the fullest measure.

So, with all the broken parts of the world’s faiths on view, I joyously raise my voice in admiration to Islam and the spiritual power of this transcendent month.

Ramadan mubarak!

Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

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