TIRANA, May 25 – Muslims in Albania mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan this weekend.
Ramadan serves as time of religious contemplation and fasting from sunrise to sundown for many practicing Muslims, including those that live in Albania.
The country’s grand mufti, the head of the official Muslim Community of Albania organisation, Skender Brucaj, sent a public message reminding believers that the month is not just about fasting, but also a time to help those in need, including the poor and people with disabilities.
“Ramadan is the month of peace, solidarity, and divine mercy. Ramadan is the month of universal human values: Generosity, kindness, love, respect for one another, values that symbolise high social morality,” Brucaj said in his message.
During the next 30 days, practicing Muslims in Albania and elsewhere will observe fasting during some of the year’s longest, making abstinence from food and water a particularly hard test.
Unlike most other Muslim-majority countries, most of Albania’s Muslim population does not fully observe all of Ramadan’s fasting requirements, but a portion of the Muslim population does fast for all or part of the month. Charity givings also increase during the month, religious experts say.
There are no statistics as to how many Albanians fast for Ramadan, but only 10 percent of the population said religion played a very important part of their lives, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, the lowest in the region.
Muslims make up about 59 percent of Albania’s population, including the Bektashi Sufi order, according to the 2011 census. Albania has a long history of harmony among its Muslim, Christian and nonreligious communities.
At the end of the month, June 25, Albanians will celebrate Eid al-Fitr, or Barjam i Madh, as the holiday is known locally. Bajram is an official holiday, but otherwise Albania’s secular state has no official provisions or regulations regarding Ramadan or similar religious practices of other faiths.
