Ramadan: Steinmeier wishes Muslims a happy sugar festival

Ramadan end
Federal President Steinmeier wishes Muslims a happy sugar festival

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier wished the Muslims in Germany a happy and blessed festival of breaking the fast after the hardship Ramadan desired. “Ramadan and breaking the fast are part of the diverse religious life in Germany,” he wrote in a greeting message in Berlin on Tuesday. “The fact that today, at the end of the fasting month, Muslim communities all over the country are inviting their fellow human beings of other faiths is an important sign of tolerance and respect and of the willingness to work together and exchange ideas.”

The Islamic fasting month of Ramadan ends with the exuberant festival of Eid al-Fitr, also known as the Sugar Festival. It is an important Muslim holiday. The end of the fasting month depends on the sighting of the new moon. At the so-called sugar festival, children in particular receive gifts and sweets. Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, declared this Wednesday to be the start of Eid al-Fitr.

Sugar festival Eid al-Fitr ends the fasting month of Ramadan

During the Muslim month of fasting, which began at the beginning of March this year, devout Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex between sunrise and sunset. Fasting is one of the five basic obligations for Muslims. It is estimated that there are around 1.9 billion Muslims worldwide. Most of them live in Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In the gallery: For four weeks during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, many believers practiced abstinence from morning to night – to honor the month in which, according to Islamic belief, Mohammed received the Koran. All information about Ramadan.

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DPA