Eid Mubarak 2020: What do the Ramadan greetings mean?

AS we finish the month of Ramadan, you may be hearing “Ramadan Kareem” and “Ramadan Mubarak” a lot.

The phrases have different meanings and are used at different times.

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Ramadan preparations in GazaCredit: EPAWhat are the greetings in Arabic and English?

Happy Ramadan can be translated to Ramadan Mubarak, which also means “blessed Ramadan”.

Ramadan Kareem means “may Ramadan be generous to you” but there is some debate as to if it should be used during Ramadan.

The greetings are different as Ramadan Mubarak offers a blessed or happy Ramadan to the person it is exchanged with.

Whereas Ramadan Kareem has debate around its use as it asks Ramadan to be generous to the other person.

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During Ramadan there is an increased amount of prayer activityCredit: Alamy

Saudi Arabian scholar Sheikh Al-Uthaymeen told the Express: “It should be said ‘Ramadan Mubarak’, or whatever is similar to it, because it is not Ramadan itself that gives so that it can be kareem (generous), in fact it is Allah who placed the grace in it, and made it a special month, and a time to perform one of the pillars of Islam.”

Ramadan Mubarak is the most commonly used of the two as it was originally used by the prophet Muhammad.

However, others believe using Ramadan Kareem is fine because they say the phrase represents the blessings that Allah gives his followers during the month.

Both greetings can be used throughout the whole month of Ramadan but Ramadan Mubarak tends to be the more commonly used of the two.

What do you say at the start and end of Ramadan?

Typically, the start of the month is welcomed with greetings such as Ramadan Mubarak.

On the last day of Ramadan, which is Eid-al-fitr, the greeting changes to Eid Mubarak.

The last day of Ramadan in 2020 was May 23.

When is Eid 2020?

Traditionally, Ramadan begins with the sighting of the crescent moon, which usually appears one night after the new moon, meaning the start date can’t be predicted.

Eid al-Fitr works in exactly the same way.

The sighting of the new crescent moon brings the end of Ramadan and the onset of the month of Shawwal, the tenth of the Islamic Hijri calendar.

There is debate as to whether the idea of a moon sighting should refer to you physically witnessing the moon where you are, which could be dictated by factors such as the weather, or whether to defer to sightings in Saudi Arabia or other regions.

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What is Ramadan?

Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, is a period of fasting observed by Muslims across the globe to celebrate “the best of times”.

It celebrates the first time the Koran was revealed to Muhammad, according to Islamic belief.

Fasting is only obligatory for healthy adult Muslims, anyone who is suffering from an illness, travelling, elderly, pregnant, breastfeeding, diabetic, chronically ill or menstruating are exempt from the practice.

The fasting period, during which Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink, is from dawn to sunset and Muslims engage in increased prayer activity.

Muslims often try and practice an increased self-discipline during the month of Ramadan.

In 2020 Ramadan started on the evening of Thursday, April 23 and ends in the evening of Saturday, May 23.