My Teenage Life in Egypt

E G Y P T

Egyptian Customs

I slam is the official religion of Egypt. As a result, many of the coun- try’s national holidays are connected to Muslim celebrations. Because the Muslim calendar is based on the lunar cycle , it is 11 days shorter (12 days during leap years) than the one in common use. Muslim holidays therefore don’t have a fixed date, but instead they slowly move through the various seasons. One of themost important of theseMuslimholidays isMawlidan-Nabi. It honors the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Muslims say special prayers, decorate their cities with bright lights, and provide gifts for their children. Egyptians also use the term “mawlid” to honor the birthdays of other important religious figures. Ramadan Another importantMuslimobservance is Ramadan.Muhammad received his first revelations during the month of Ramadan, so during the entire Words to Understand anthropologist  person who studies the origin and development of human societies in different parts of the world henna  a plant whose leaves are ground up and made into dye to color hair and create body paint lunar cycle  the period of time from one new moon to the next, 29.5 days. Calen- dars based on the lunar cycle have 354 days in the year.

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