Ramadan

Definition: Ramadan

Ramadan

Noun

1. The ninth month of the Moslem calendar.

Date "Ramadan" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1851. (references)

Specialty Definitions: Ramadan

Domain	Definitions
History & Folklore	The 9th month of the Mohammadan year, observed as a sacred month on each day of which strict fasting is practiced from dawn to sunset. Source: European Union. (references)
Literature	Ramadan The ninth month of the Mahometan year, and the Mussulman's Lent or Holy Month. "November is the financial Ramadan of the Sublime Porte."- The Times. That is, when the Turkish Government promises all kinds of financial reforms and curtailments of national expenses. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Ramadan

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Ramadan or Ramadhan is the ninth month in the Islamic year. Siyam or Saum is the fourth of the Five Pillars of Islam and involves fasting during Ramadan.

Timing

The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, and months begin when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. While many Muslim sects insist on the physical sighting of the moon, there is no such requirement in the Quran, and some Muslims allow that the start of the month can be determined by astronomical calculations. Because the Islamic calendar has no correction for the fact that the lunar year is 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year, Ramadan migrates throughout the seasons.

Observance

Siyam or Saum is the name for the fourth pillar of Islam and places a number of restrictions on the activities of Muslims during Ramadan.

Who observes Ramadan?

There are a number of groups of people who do not need to observe Ramadan, though they may if they wish:

Children before the onset of puberty
Soldiers on the battlefield
Travellers in the desert
Weak or elderly people
Pregnant women, if they feel it might endanger their child
Menstruating women
non-Muslims, in particular people of the Book such as Jews and Christians

Sick people, travellers, and menstruating women are expected to make up any days they miss during another period of the same year.

What is Prohibited?

The prohibitions only extend during daylight hours. Traditionally this begins in the morning from the moment a white thread can be distinguished from a black thread. The night consequently is a time of pleasure and indulgence.

The following things are forbidden during daylight hours:

Eating and drinking. There is a dispute as to whether the swallowing of saliva is forbidden.
Sexual intercourse and some schools say touching your spouse is forbidden, however, Malik's Muwatta contains Hadith that allow for kissing during fasting. Even this though is balanced by further Hadith of the companions that suggest restraint is preferred.
Playing games of chance
Smoking

What is Encouraged?

The usual practice is to have a pre-fast meal (suhoor) before dawn and a post-fast meal (iftar) after sunset.

During the month, Muslims try to read as much of the Qur'an as they can. Some spend part of their day listening to the recitation of the Quran in a mosque or meeting for Quranic studies or for congregational prayers. Believers are admonished not to swear or utter vulgarities during the month of Ramadhan.

The last ten days of Ramadan are a time of even greater devotion; some Muslims spend the entire time in a mosque. The night on which the Quran was revealed to the Prophet, known as the Night of Power (Lailat ul-Qadr), is generally taken to be the 27th night of the month. Many Muslims spend that entire night in prayer.

The celebration of Eid ul-Fitr, the feast at the end of the month to break the fast, is a traditional practice rather than a religious one.

What is the purpose?

The Siyam is intended to teach the believers patience and self-control, and to remind them of the less fortunate in the world. The fast is also seen as a debt owed by the believer to God. Faithful observance of the Siyam is believed to atone for personal faults and misdeeds, at least in part, and to help earn a place in paradise. It is also believed to be beneficial for personal conduct, that is, to help control passions and temper. The fast is also meant to provide time for meditation and to strengthen one's faith.

Military Operations

Non-Muslims are sometimes sensitive about not giving offence during Ramadan -- for example, by conducting military operations. Numerous examples indicate that this sensitivity is unnecessary: Muhammad himself fought during Ramadan in 624. In 1973, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel during Ramadan, which happened that year to coincide with the Jewish Yom Kippur. In 1982, Iran launched an attack on Iraq that they explicitly called "Operation Ramadan." Muslims have rarely shown any reluctance to wage war during Ramadan.

In other religions

The Christian Lent is also a time of fasting.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Ramadan."

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Synonyms within Context: Ramadan

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Fasting	Fast, jour maigre; fast day, banyan day; Lent, quadragesima; Ramadan, Ramazan; spare diet, meager diet; lenten diet, lenten entertainment; soupe maigre, short commons, Barmecide feast; short rations.
Rite	Ramadan, Ramazan; Bairam
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Ramadan

English words defined with "Ramadan": avoid ♦ Bairam ♦ keep off ♦ Rhamadan. (references)

Non-English Usage: "Ramadan" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.

Dutch (Ramadan), French (Ramadan), Italian (Ramadan).

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Modern Usage: Ramadan

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	So have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah, a Krazy Kwanzaa, a Tip Top Tet, and a solemn, eventful Ramadan. Now, over to my god, our sponsors. (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Ramadan

Domain	Title
Books	Celebrating Ramadan (reference) Magid Fasts for Ramadan (reference) Ramadan (reference) Ramadan (On My Own Holidays,) (reference) Ramadan (Rookie Read-About Holidays) (reference) (more book examples)

Theater & Movies	Ramadan (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Ramadan

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Non-Fiction Usage: Ramadan

Subject	Topic	Quote
Business		In February police dispersed a crowd of women in Yining during the Ramadan Festival. (references)
		Usually, automobile dealers utilize the advent of occasions such as the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, the start of a new school year, and the commencement of the summer holidays to offer special discounted deals. (references)
Civil Liberties	Uganda	Muslim prisoners usually were released from work duties during the month of Ramadan. (references)
	Philippines	The Government also declared the last day of Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr) a national holiday. (references)
	Pakistan	For example, police are authorized to arrest or fine Muslims who eat or smoke in public places during Ramadan. (references)
Economic History	Morocco	Imports of pulses are also expected to be high this year to fulfill the local demand especially during the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (references)
	Egypt	There are investor committees in the large industrial cities of Tenth of Ramadan, Sixth of October, Borg El Arab, and a chamber in Ismailia promoting projects in the Sinai. (references)
	Uae	From late September through May, with the exception of the holy month of Ramadan (mid November - mid December 2001), the UAE hosts an almost continuous and growing series of well attended major trade exhibitions and conferences. (references)
Human Rights	Morocco	Near the end of the year, during Ramadan, the King made an unprecedented prison visit to observe conditions. (references)
	Comoros	Bans on alcohol and immodest dress are enforced sporadically, usually during religious months, such as Ramadan. (references)
	Djibouti	In November 2000, in honor of Ramadan, the Government announced that the President had signed a decree approved by the Council of Ministers, which granted a general amnesty to all prisoners serving sentences of 2 years or less, and reduced the sentences by 6 months of all prisoners serving sentences of more than 2 years. (references)
Political Economy	OMAN	Non-Muslim workers are expected to respect the Ramadan month of daytime fasting by not publicly drinking or eating. (references)
	Sudan	On July 13, authorities arrested Sebit Hassan Ramadan in the western region and took him to Buram, a police location, where they detained him for more than 2 weeks; he was beaten daily and given minimal amounts of food and water. (references)
Travel	Saudi Arabia	Business travel to Saudi Arabia during the holy month of Ramadan is best avoided. (references)
Women	Afghanistan	Women also reportedly were prohibited from appearing on the streets for certain periods during the month of Ramadan. (references)
Worker Rights	Qatar	Employees who work more than 48 hours per week, or 36 hours per week during the Muslim month of Ramadan, are entitled to overtime pay. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Ramadan

"Ramadan" is generally used as a noun (proper) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Ramadan" is used about 52 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (proper)	100%	52	47,145

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Name Usage Frequency: Ramadan

The following table summarizes the usage of "Ramadan" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.

Name	Usage/Gender	Usage per 100 million Persons	Rank in USA
Ramadan	Last name	130	60,949
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expression: Ramadan

Expression using "Ramadan": observe ramadan. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Ramadan

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day
ramadan	334
ramadan 2003	21
tariq ramadan	15
krasniqi ramadan	8
ramadan recipe	5
ramadan calendar	5
ramadan date	5
ramadan taha yassin	4
picture ramadan	4
2004 ramadan	3
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Ramadan

Language		Translations for "Ramadan"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Arabic		‏شهر الصيام عند المسلمين, ‏شهر رمصان. (various references)

Bulgarian		� амазан. (various references)

Chinese		齋月 . (various references)

Dutch		Ramadan (ram-a-dhan, ramazan). (various references)

Esperanto		ramadano. (various references)

Farsi		ماه صیام . (various references)

French		Ramadan (ram-a-dhan, ramazan). (various references)

German		Ramasan (ram-a-dhan, ramazan), Ramadan (ram-a-dhan, ramazan), Fastenmonat. (various references)

Greek		Ραμαζάνι. (various references)

Italian		ramadan (ram-a-dhan, ramazan). (various references)

Pig Latin		amadanray.(various references)

Portuguese		Ramadão (ram-a-dhan, ramazan). (various references)

Romanian		Ramazan. (various references)

Russian		рамадан (ramazan), девятый месяц мусульманского года. (various references)

Spanish		Ramadán (ram-a-dhan, ramazan). (various references)

Swahili		Ramadhani. (various references)

Thai		เ�"ือนถือศีลอ�"ของชาวมุสลิม. (various references)

Turkish		Ramazan. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Misspellings: Ramadan

Misspellings
	"Ramadan" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Damajan, Damavand, Grammanan, Hromada, Rabaan, Raimondin, Ramakant, Ramaya, Ramazan, Ramazani, Ramdac, Ramsdal, Raqabah, Razmara, Romada. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Anagrams: Ramadan

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-a-d-m-n-r"
	-1 letter: amarna, armada.
	-2 letters: adman, daman, damar, drama.
	-3 letters: damn, darn, dram, maar, mana, nada, nard, rand.
	-4 letters: ama, ana, and, arm, dam, mad, man, mar, nam, rad, ram, ran.
	-5 letters: aa, ad, am, an, ar, ma, na.
	Words containing the letters "a-a-a-d-m-n-r"
	+2 letters: mandatary.
	+3 letters: anagrammed, barramunda, calamander, mandragora, salamander.
	+4 letters: barramundas, calamanders, madrigalian, mandarinate, mandataries, mandragoras, salamanders.
	+5 letters: mandarinates, salamandrine.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.