DUBAI, Aug 10, (Agencies): Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, will start the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on Wednesday along with most other Gulf states, regional media reported on Tuesday.
Senior religious councils in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates said the new moon had been sighted on Tuesday, signalling the start of Ramadan on the following day.
In Yemen, the month will also begin on Wednesday, while Oman will mark Thursday as the first day of Ramadan, state media said.
Muslims scan the sky at night in search of the new moon to determine the start of Ramadan, the holiest month for the world’s more than one billion Muslims, during which observant believers fast from dawn to dusk.
Businesses and offices reduce opening hours during the day and often re-open in the evenings.
Pregnant and menstruating women, the sick, travellers and prepubescent children are exempt from the fast, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.
Ramadan begins amid scorching temperatures in the Middle East and elsewhere, with the first six months of 2010 being the warmest ever recorded.
Egypt, the largest Arab country whose 80 million population is mostly Muslim, will switch to winter time for the month.
In Dubai, a cleric told workmen they are religiously allowed to break their fast if the heat got the better of them.
Most fasting Muslims go about their business as usual, if skimping an hour or two from work. Sleeping well into the day, although not technically a fast breaker, is considering cheating by some clerics.
Pieties increase, with additional optional prayers in the evening. Often, so does the evening and nighttime revelry for those able to peel themselves away from the special Ramadan television series in the evenings.
The month is marked by family visits and invitations to sumptuous iftars — the meal that breaks the fast.
Festivities can last into the early morning, to the consternation of traditional clerics who stress the ascetic nature of the month, in which Muslims believe God revealed the Quran to the Prophet Mohammed.
Egypt, which depends on tourism, is offering rich Arab holidaymakers fireworks, concerts, folkloric shows and displays by whirling dervishes.
But given the family-centred traditions of the month, enticing people to leave their countries is a tough sell.