Every year Muslims around the world celebrate the Islamic tradition of Ramadan. Though there are 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide who are followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, many people are not aware when their Muslim co-workers or fellow Islamic students are celebrating the holiest month of Islamic tradition.

Ramadan takes place in the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. This year Ramadan began after sunset on Aug. 10 and will continue until sunrise on Sept. 10, lasting around 30 days.

“Ramadan commemorates the period when Muhammad is said to have received the first recitations of the Quran from Allah via the angel Gabriel,” said Boston University scholar Stephen Prothero, in a CNN report.

Cal State Fullerton student Asra Amiwala, 21 years old and a senior liberal studies major, describes the basics of Ramadan. “It is a holy month where Muslims avoid things such as food, smoking, sex, alcohol, etc. It teaches you patience and helps you understand the pain that those who are less fortunate may have to endure.”

Amiwala attends her mosque in Corona on a daily basis.

“You also should try to avoid watching TV, listening to music and such, just to keep yourself focused on God,” Amiwala said.

Ramadan is a time to dispel all evil thoughts, actions and words. Avoiding gossip and negative energy is also a must.

Nonprofit radio did a special report and interview about Ramadan on Aug. 10, 2010. Vali Nasr, a professor at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, answered questions on Ramadan and gave a basic background information on the holiday.

“Ramadan is a period dedicated to God. It’s a period of spiritual reflection,” Nasr said. “It’s a period of imposing discipline on ones desire, most basic desires and wants, which is hunger and thirst. And it’s an important part of the Muslim religious calendar.”

Muslims are active every day during Ramadan. The experience is rewarding but it can also be very exhausting, which is why Muslim children start practicing the rituals of prayer and Ramadan completely only when they are of age.

“Muslims pray five times throughout the day beginning with the dawn prayer, two afternoon prayers, a sunset prayer and an evening prayer, prayers are completed in about 3 to 5 minutes” said Annan Aboul-Nasr, Executive Assistant at the Islamic Institute of Orange County.”

“During Ramadan additional evening prayers are made as Muslims seek to increase their good deeds and earn forgiveness from their Lord,” Aboul-Nasr said. “By the time Ramadan is over the whole Qu’ran will have been recited.”

Aboul-Nasr has been working for the Anaheim mosque for about one year.

“We always pray facing northeast, because that is the direction of Mecca, where the first house of prayer was built by Abraham and Ishmael,” Aboul-Nasr said.

Ramadan is also a time where families and friends come together at night to break fast and talk about their experiences thus far.

“Muslims fast during the day, but they also break the fast usually in large events. They get together with family, with friends. It’s often a feast,” Nasr said. “They invite people to their homes, and they also go out a lot after the fast breaks and spend differently than they do the rest of the year.”

The last ten days of Ramadan are usually the most intense. Many Muslims take time off work or time off from school in order to spend as many hours as they can in prayer. Sometimes people will even spend all night in their mosques in order to finish the month strong.

Though she is happy to be celebrating Ramadan with more people than ever, she is also very aware of the negative energy currently surrounding the Islamic faith.

Recent reports about a pastor in Florida who intends to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11 has created much controversy in the media and in the Muslim community as well.

“It all stems from ignorance. The Quran is a holy book,” Aboul-Nasr said. “Muslims believe Angel Gabriel is the same angel that revealed the Bible to Prophet Jesus and the Torah to Prophet Moses is the same angel that revealed the Quran to Prophet Muhammad. There is a whole chapter titled Mary, which recognizes the Prophethood of Jesus. Burning the Quran is like burning a shared tradition it is burning God’s name and his word.”

The Imam, or religious director, at the mosque in Anaheim also commented on the controversy surrounding the Florida pastor wanting to burn the Quran.

“Symbolically speaking it is a terrible thing that could trigger a wave of actions and reactions that are extremely negative,” Imam Mohammed Faqih said.

But Imam Faqih has hope.

“These actions further confirm the need for more education and eradication of ignorance, since ignorance leads to actions like these,” Imam Faqih said.

Aboul-Nasr also said that the Quran is a collection of prayers that signify respect, tolerance for others and peace.

“Many people in our congregation are trying to raise awareness about our faith,” Aboul-Nasr said. “Instead of reacting in the ways people expect us to (in regards to the pastor in Florida.), with anger and outrage, we just ask people ‘why would you ever want to burn the Quran?’ What are you getting out of it?”

As for whether or not the Muslim community feels oppressed by these sudden outbursts of negative activity towards Islam, Imam Faqih said, “You can’t burn the Quran out of their hearts.”

Ramadan comes to an end with the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr, which signifies the end of fasting and a time to commemorate everything that the individual accomplished. It is usually celebrated with family and friends in a joyous way. Sometimes the holiday can last up to three days.