All at FOS Australia wish all of our Muslim friends, family, and all who celebrate the month of Ramadan a blessed and delightful season. Ramadan is a blessed time of prayer, meditation, spiritual regeneration, fasting, and charitable giving. It is also a month of peace and joy, lights, entertainment, and celebration. Both Christians and secular persons living in Muslim lands usually join in the celebrations and festivities, sampling the delicious foods and seasonal treats like qatayef, awwameh, and maamoul, which are plentiful in this holy month.
While we respect the Holy month, and most of us refrain from eating, drinking, and smoking in public out of respect for our Muslim brothers and sisters who may be fasting, we certainly celebrate with them and often join them for iftar (breaking the fast) at sunset.
We are pleased to see increasing recognition in the United States of Ramadan and its meaning, which is still largely lacking from most of the media and public life. We also are glad that there is greater awareness of the racism and Islamophobia that permeate entire sectors of American life, and we pledge our efforts to see it erased and condemned, as with all other forms of racism and discrimination.
Happy Ramadan to all. Ramadan Kareem.