Shall we talk Ramadan? It’s been a while. So Ramadan is split into 3 parts. The first 10 fasts are called the days of mercy. The next ten are days of forgiveness and we now enter the last ten which are the days of seeking refuge. The last ten extra special due to the ‘odd nights’

Muslims believe ‘Laylatul Qadr’ or the Night of Power occurs during the odd nights in the last ten days of Ramadan. We don’t know the exact date so the 21/23/25/27/29th are equally important. Laylatul Qadr was when the Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

The first word revealed was ‘Ikrah’ which means Read! So during the odd nights Muslims offer special prayers, read the Quran and seek forgiveness from God. It’s a stay awake all night kind of job (we’ll stay awake until Suhoor which is when your fast starts!)

During the last 10 days, some Muslims choose to observe ‘Itikaaf’ this is where you (usually) stay in the mosque all day/night during the 10 days. Women can do this at home, men traditionally at mosque & you devote yourself to prayers and staying away from ‘worldly affairs’

This year of course will be different because the men are unable to stay in the mosque! Women, however, can crack on! My nan is observing it this year and she’s confined herself to a bedroom upstairs as is my cousin for the very first time!

I wish I could observe but there’s many factors that impact this so not this year but hopefully one day! And that’s all for today’s Islam 101: ramadan edition! As always, questions welcome!