Happy Ramadan!
World's Muslims began Ramadan fasting month

NICOSIA, Dec 10, 1999 (AFP) - Millions of Muslims around the world began the sacred fasting month of Ramadan Thursday, refraining from food and drink during the day but sometimes risking criticism by over-indulging after sundown.

Smoking tobacco and sexual activity during daylight is also forbidden.

Meanwhile governments use the occasion to make spectacular gestures and statements.

Ramadan is intended to commemorate through fast and prayer the revelation of the Koran to the prophet Mohammad, and should be a season of blessing and harmony.

The fasting tend to conserve their energies in the daytime, cutting down business and staying indoors, so the streets are almost deserted until evening time.

In the Middle East, especially, the "iftar" or breaking of the fast after sunset sees whole families gather under specially-erected tents to eat, play cards, watch entertainment and smoke shishas, or water-pipes.

Kuwait, however, has decided that enough is enough. The government has banned any music or singing in the Ramadan tents and might even close the tents all together.

Islamist MPs and pressure groups had urged a ban on the entertainment tents, claiming that Ramadan is "about praying and staying away from everything that may distract Muslims from worshipping God."

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), singers are also banned, while only traditional instruments are allowed to be played in the tents.

The official Al-Ittihad newspaper called for Emirati women to be banned from smoking shishas during Ramadan.

In Baghdad, though, President Saddam Hussein has invited hundreds of Iraqis to his palaces for dinner, an official newpaper reported.

Al-Jumhuriya said the invitation to the evening meal was for those who staged sit-ins at Saddam's palaces last year to protect them from US or British attack.

The offer "goes to prove that the palaces are for the people," it said, countering US charges that sanctions-hit Baghdad was squandering its resources on building palaces.

In Iran President Mohammad Khatami, who is also chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), congratulated all Muslim leaders at the beginning of Ramadan.

The annual fasting season in Iran is marked by a more active social life, with friends and families taking turns to prepare the evening feasts and invite each other.

But police in a statement published in newspapers Thursday warned against the consequences of any violation of the bans on eating, drinking and smoking in public during daylight.

The government has banned all entertainment programs and "inappropriate" celebrations.

On the political front, Asian Muslims, notably in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated country, called for unity and an end to sectarian and separatist violence which has flared throughout the region in recent months.

In Pakistan, security has been stiffened to avert violence and sectarian sabotage, officials said.

Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said they would not attack opposition forces during Ramadan.

Some 450 prisoners were also freed in Afghanistan, while in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, the country's most prominent political prisoner, Moussa Ahmed Idriss, two of his friends and 250 other detainees were released.

In Algeria, however, there were fears that Ramadan would see the upsurge in political and religious violence that has marked the month in previous years.

In Turkey, which is officially secular but overwhelmingly Muslim, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit urged Russia to reconsider its decision to intensify its military crackdown on Muslim Chechnya.

"Such acts, especially during the month of Ramadan, could upset the entire Muslim world," he warned.

Turkey has not yet recovered from two devastating earthquakes which hit the northwest in October and November, and religious authorities urged preachers to stress the need for charity in their sermons.

Muslim minorities in non-Muslim states, such as Germany, Britain and France, use the occasion to reaffirm their identity.

The head of an ethnic study centre in Essen, Cigdem Akkaya, said more and more young Turks and Kurds were observing Ramadan "because they are seeking their identity in the face of racism."

In France, however, there has been a rush on satellite dishes to enable people to watch North African and Middle Eastern television at their nightly parties.

In Britain the thoughts of the Muslim population were turned towards Chechnya, a community leader said. Protest demonstrations are planned at the Russian embassy and the prime minister's residence.

=============================

For a detailed listing of Afghan news, visit: www.afghanradio.com email: azadi@afghanradio.com phone: 703.790.6977 - USA