Ramadan 2010

It’s that time of the year again for our Muslim brothers. The Holy month of Ramadan begins today, 11th August 2010. As a non-Muslim living in the Middle East, a Muslim-denominated region, I have to be reminded to respect the traditions of the fasting month of Ramadan. And so, I re-visited my blog article last year which helped me to refresh myself of the Ramadan etiquettes for non-Muslims.


photo credit: tinypic.com

During this fasting month, Non-Muslims should be considerate and sensitive of the traditions. Here in the UAE, every year the dailies remind and highly encourage the people to abstain from eating, drinking and smoking during daylight in public. Violators and offenders will be punished as per UAE laws.

Most food shops at this time of the year will not be opened until sunset or Iftar, there are some though that offer home deliveries. Iftar is the first meal of the day after the fast. The most popular way of breaking the fast is by eating dates or drinking some water. Dates are popular palm tree fruits here in the Middle East and tastes really sweet when ripe.