Eid Around the World
1. According to the article, how many Muslims are there around the world?
1.8 billion
2. What are the names for the Ramadan meal before dawn? What are the names for the
meal after sunset?
sehri and suhoor. iftar and ftoor
3. What particular issue do Icelandic Muslims have in Ramadan and how is it solved?
Muslims in Iceland sometimes find Ramadan falls in their summer, when the sun is
up for 22 hours per day. This would mean only two hours daily when these devotees are able
to eat. Luckily for them, Islamic leaders decided that they can follow the sunrise and sunset
times in Saudi Arabia to make the Ramadan fast more achievable.
4. How do people perform the ritual of padusan in the present day?
These days people go to local swimming pools, lakes, or perform the ritual in
their own homes.
5. What is the difference between the nafars in Morocco and the seheriwalas of Delhi?
In Morocco, no-one misses the suhoor. A sort of town crier (called the nafar) in traditional Moroccan
dress walks the streets blowing a melodic horn
A similar service is performed by the seheriwalas of Delhi who inhabit the streets in the wee small
hours chanting the name of Allah and the Prophet and wielding sticks and canes to knock on
doors and walls to make sure sleeping Muslims wake for suhoor.
6. How did the tradition of firing cannons at sundown start in Lebanon?
Lebanon celebrates the end of the day’s fast by firing cannons. This tradition is said to
have started by accident when, two centuries ago, the Ottoman Sultan Khosh Qadam was
checking out a new cannon and unintentionally fired it.
7. What celestial event signals that Eid al-Fitr can begin?
The end of the month-long fast is indicated by
the appearance of the new moon
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Eid Around the World
8. What does Chaand Raat mean?
(Night of the Moon)
9. Give three ways that Muslims in the US celebrate Eid.
In the US, festivities last three days and, after gathering in parks and mosques to pray in the
morning, American Muslims often celebrate by visiting amusement parks, ice rinks, the cinema
or gathering at friends and relatives’ houses to eat, laugh, exchange gifts and enjoy each
other’s company.
10. Explain how the coronavirus pandemic has affected Eid celebrations around the world.
For both 2020 and 2021, Eid celebrations have had to adapt to the global
coronavirus crisis. Ramadan’s iftar is normally a very social affair where friends
and families meet to break their fast, but this has not always been possible
in the last two years because of local restrictions in place.
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