10:13, 15 May 2018

Muftiate of Dagestan re-schedules start of Ramadan for May 17

A believer is reading the Quran. Photo by Aziz Karimov for the "Caucasian Knot"

In Dagestan, according to the decision of the Council of Alims of the republic, the fasting in honour of the holy month of Ramadan will begin on May 17. In that matter, the Muftiate of Dagestan disagrees with the Council of Muftis for Russia, which declared the holy month of Ramadan to be started on May 16.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2016, in Dagestan, Ramadan started on June 7, a day later than in other Russian regions. The Alims of the republic made such a decision, since, according to them, the crescent moon marking the beginning of the holy month could be seen later in Dagestan than in other regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD).

Ramadan (Ramazan) is named after the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. According to the story, in that month, Angel Jabrail passed to the Prophet Muhammad the first divine revelation, which became the basis for the Koran, the holy book of Muslims.

It should be noted that earlier, the Council of Muftis of Russia has reported that the first day of fasting for Russian Muslims falls on Wednesday, May 16.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.