
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 6, 1995                   TAG: 9504180015
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MUSLIMS PRACTICE ABSTINENCE, INCREASE PRAYER DURING RAMADAN

Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims, sometimes coincides with the Christian Easter or the Jewish Passover, but it fell during February this year.

It is the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar and marks a time of fasting and abstinence.

Muslims believe that during Ramadan the first revelation of the holy book, the Koran, was given to the prophet Muhammad.

In the book are revealed the ``pillars'' [tenets] of Islam. They include reverence for the one God with Muhammad his prophet; the need to help others; the need to fast for the holy month; the need to pray five times daily; and the need to journey to the holy city of Mecca.

During February, members of the Roanoke Valley's Muslim community who gathered on Fridays at 2227 Clifton St. N.W. abstained fully from food, drink, sexual intercourse and smoking from before daybreak until sunset. Doing so, Muslims believe, teaches self-restraint and a dependence on the one God.

Other Ramadan disciplines include the reading of one-thirtieth of the Koran and increased attention to the daily prayers.

by CNB