Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 17, 1991 TAG: 9103170004
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: AMMAN, JORDAN LENGTH: Medium
Ramadan, beginning today in most of the Muslim world, is the time in which the Prophet Mohammed is said to have received God's revelations of the Koran, the basis of the Islamic faith.
Characterized by fasting and special devotion to religious matters, Ramadan is of special significance this year.
This is the first Ramadan since Iraq's Aug. 2 invasion of its Islamic neighbor, Kuwait, divided the emirate and its allies from supporters of Saddam Hussein.
"We hope that this holy season will bring us peace and prosperity and will help the Arab and Muslim nation to heal its wounds," Amman restaurant owner Nayef Kawash said Saturday.
Muhammad Samih, a supermarket owner, said Ramadan has always signified Muslim unity and faith.
"I hope this year we will have a single prayer for peace in the Middle East from the millions of Muslims spread all over the world," Samih said. "We need a political prayer heard by God almighty for compassion between human beings in the world."
Ahmad Hilayel, undersecretary of Jordan's Ministry of Islamic Religious Affairs, said Ramadan is a time for Muslims to "reassess our behavior and our souls during the past year and to contemplate the meaning of human life."
"I hope that all the clouds that have prevailed in our Arab and Islamic nation as a result of the Gulf crisis . . . would disappear during this month," Hilayel said.
Saudi Arabia's King Fahd, in a Ramadan address read on state radio and television by Information Minister Ali al-Shaer, said the month began with "victory and justice achieved with the help and power of God in liberating sister Kuwait."
by CNB