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p  Muslims in India wait to break their fast at sunset during the month of Ramadan.

n The Islamic Calendar Islam uses a lunar calendar, based on the cycles of the Moon. Because the Moon goes through a complete cycle in 29 or 30 days, lunar months do not match up with the months of the Western Gregorian calendar. A lunar year has 354 days, instead of the 365 or 366 of the Gregorian calendar. Ramadan, or Ramzan, is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Each year, Ramadan starts 11 or 12 days earlier than it did the previous year. It takes about 33 Islamic years for the month to return to the same place in the Gregorian calendar. Muslims throughout the world believe Ramadan is the holiest month of the year, a time to renew their spiritual commitment to their religion. Ramadan is sacred because Muslims believe that this was the month during which Allah revealed the Quran, the sacred book of Islam, to the prophet Muhammad. Muslims fast, which means they do not eat or drink during daylight hours, and they pray many times every day. They also try to give money to the poor. Though Ramadan can be serious and somber, it is also a time of festivities. Every night people eat great feasts to make up for not eating during the day. At the end of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr.

Ramadan

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