
Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayers and sharing for Muslims, began on Monday in France, the Grand Mosque of Paris (GMP) announced on Sunday March 10 in a press release. “We pray to our Lord that this blessed month brings an immediate ceasefire and just and lasting peace to Gaza”declared its rector, Chems-eddine Hafiz, quoted in the press release.
“After consulting astronomical data and observations of the Moon, the religious commission of the Grand Mosque of Paris determined the first day of the blessed month of Ramadan. (…) in France on Monday March 11 »writes the GMP.
During Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam, believers are invited to abstain from drinking, eating, smoking and having sexual relations, from dawn (as soon as one can “distinguish a white wire from a black wire” says the Quran) until sunset.
Ramadan is the period when large donations are made to mosques and prayer rooms (of which there are around 2,500 in France). Muslims are invited to pay alms for the poor, zakat al-fitr.
Second religion in the country
In a separate statement, several French Muslim federations (Musulmans de France, Foi et Pratique, the National Council of Imams, etc.) declared that the “The blessed month of Ramadan will be entirely dedicated to the precious Palestinian people, with prayers and collections carried out in their favor”.
“We pray to God (…) for an immediate ceasefire and a just and lasting peace in Gaza and to relieve the suffering and pain of civilian populations victims of bombings and famine”specify the Muslim federations, meeting at the Paris mosque on Sunday.
France has between five and six million practicing and non-practicing Muslims, according to several studies on the subject (Pew Research Center, Institut Montaigne, Insee, INED), which makes Islam the second religion in the country and the French Muslim community, the first in Europe.
Ramadan will end with Eid-el-Fitr, the celebration of breaking the fast, around April 9.