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<\/p>\nSharing the spiritual experience of Ramadan fasting, Turkey non-Muslims are celebrating the holy month\u2019s customs with their Muslim counterparts like one family.<\/p>\n
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Non-Muslim Turks Share Ramadan Spirits<\/p>\n
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – “Ramadan, to me, is a time of celebration like American Thanksgiving, for 30 days in a row,\u201d Roberta Olson Ozgunduz, an American married to a Turk who has been living in Istanbul since the 1980s, told SETimes on Thursday, July 26.<\/p>\n
Ramadan is the holiest month in Islamic calendar.<\/p>\n
In Ramadan, adult Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.<\/p>\n
The sick and those traveling are exempt from fasting especially if it poses health risks.<\/p>\n
After sunset, a special atmosphere colors Istanbul with illuminated mosques and crowded restaurants offering special Ramadan menus.<\/p>\n
Sharing Muslims iftars, non-Muslims find such customs colorful, with delicious dishes specific to Ramadan.<\/p>\n
“It is always a nice feeling because when breaking the fast with Muslim friends even when I don’t fast is still very special, and it makes everybody feel a part of the same family,\u201d said Ozgunduz.<\/p>\n
“So, it is one of my favorite times in Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fasting is meant to teach Muslims patience, self-control and spirituality, and time during the holy month is dedicated for getting closer to Allah though prayers, reading the Noble Qur\u2019an and good deeds.<\/p>\n
During Ramadan, Muslims dedicate their time during the holy month to become closer to Allah through prayer, self-restraint and good deeds.<\/p>\n
It is customary for Muslims to spend part of the days during Ramadan studying the Noble Qur’an.<\/p>\n
Turkey celebrated the start of the holy fasting month on Friday, July 20.<\/p>\n
Socializing<\/p>\n
Capitalizing on the holy fasting month’s spirit of sharing, Ramadan offered non-Muslims a better opportunity to foster relations with their Muslim neighbors.<\/p>\n
“Ramadan is for us to socialize, blend with other religions of the society, and to understand them,\u201d Ceki Baruh, a Jewish resident of Istanbul, said.<\/p>\n
For Baruh, sharing iftar with her Muslim friends is always a celebrated event.<\/p>\n
“One of my favorite activities is to share Iftar with my Muslim friends and live that enthusiasm,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
“And if I can, I try not to eat during those days in order to bring a value to my activity.<\/p>\n
“We should also emphasize that during Ramadan, the representatives of different religions in Istanbul organize joint dinners to celebrate the holy spirit of that month.\u201d<\/p>\n
Muslims make up approximately 99 percent of Turkey’s population, but the country is also home to several ancient Christian communities and Jews.<\/p>\n
They include nearly 70,000 Armenians, 20,000 Greek Orthodox — mostly based in Istanbul — and 20,000 Syriac Christians, who speak a form of Aramaic, the language of Jesus.<\/p>\n
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via Non-Muslim Turks Share Ramadan Spirits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sharing the spiritual experience of Ramadan fasting, Turkey non-Muslims are celebrating the holy month\u2019s customs with their Muslim counterparts like one family. Non-Muslim Turks Share Ramadan Spirits (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – “Ramadan, to me, is a time of celebration like American Thanksgiving, for 30 days in a row,\u201d Roberta Olson Ozgunduz, an American married […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":54788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[2164],"class_list":["post-54786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkey","tag-ramadan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}