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Ramadan is over, and it's time for holiday fun
Ramadan, the monthlong Muslim holy month marked by daily fasting, ended on Saturday with the feast of Eid al-Fitr for the 12 million Muslims in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
The ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which requires fasting from dawn to sunset, started on June 18. Muslims' five daily prayers can be made at home or mosques, but Muslims in Xinjiang generally pray in mosques during Ramadan.
"Our mosque receives about 1,200 Muslims each day before and after Ramadan. But during Ramadan, more than 3,000 come for prayer each day. The most people we had in a day reached 10,000," said Abdu Rahman, an assistant imam, or prayer leader.
Abdi Ghufur, the muezzin, who calls people to prayer, at Baida Mosque in the regional capital Urumqi, said adult Muslims must fast and pray, but pregnant women, the elderly, children and the sick or injured are not required to participate.
There are more than 24,000 mosques in the region, said Ma Pinyan, a researcher at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences.
Muslims make donations at their mosques when they come to pray. Baida Mosque, like others in Urumqi, hires cooks to prepare food. Alimu, a chef at Hualian Hotel, volunteers to help at the mosque every day after work.
"I help cook food here for four hours, just to do something good," he said.
In Kashgar prefecture, in southern Xinjiang, Muslims spend the days of Ramadan as they do for the rest of the year. Huseyin Sidik, an owner of a hat-making workshop with six workers near downtown Kashgar, said his workshop makes about 50,000 hats a year to earn about 150,000 yuan ($24,190).
The workers always fast and pray each day during this period. "At other times of the year, all workers go back to work after lunch. Ramadan means they don't have any food during the daytime. They take a rest for two or three more hours in the afternoon than usual and then make hats again," Sidik said.
Ramadan moves forward 10 days in the Gregorian calendar each year, and rotates every 36 Gregorian years.
huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn
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Performers play traditional musical instruments for visitors in Kashgar, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Tuesday. Hu Yongqi / China Daily |
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Muslims prepare to break their fast with an evening meal, or iftar, in Weizhou, Tongxin county, the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, on July 3. Wang Peng / Xinhua |
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A Muslim reads the Quran at a mosque that was built in 1411 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) on Dapiyuan Street in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on the eve of Ramadan, June 17. Liu Xiao / Xinhua |
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Imam Ma Jun (fourth from left) and other Muslims recite the Quran at Xinguan Mosque in Lanzhou, Gansu province, on July 10. Ma, a graduate of an Islamic university in Saudi Arabia, has attracted many young Muslims with his preaching in Mandarin. Xiao Zhengqiang / Xinhua |
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A wrestling contest is held to celebrate Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan in Hami, Xinjiang, on Sunday. The competition took place in front of a cultural center built by the government to protect the folk art of the Uygur people. Li Hua / For China Daily |
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A Uygur woman prepares food in her kitchen last week for Eid al-Fitr in Yutian county, Xinjiang. Wang Zhuangfei / China Daily |
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Rooster fighting is held to celebrate Eid al-Fitr in Hami, Xinjiang, on Sunday. Li Hua / For China Daily |
