{"id":230,"date":"2010-08-12T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-12T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beliefbeat\/2010\/08\/ramadan-begins-with-fasting-creative-writing.html"},"modified":"2010-08-12T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-12T18:00:00","slug":"ramadan-begins-with-fasting-creative-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beliefbeat\/2010\/08\/ramadan-begins-with-fasting-creative-writing.html","title":{"rendered":"Ramadan Begins With Fasting, Reflection, Creative Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of reflection and daytime fasting,<\/a> started yesterday. (This was not acknowledged during my Fox & Friends <\/em>debate about the “Ground Zero Mosque” — perhaps I should have snuck in a cheerful “Ramadan Kareem” greeting <\/a>to any Muslim viewers, instead of just raising my eyebrows in astonishment, after Pamela Geller’s attempt to equate Islam with the KKK!<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The Muslim calendar shifts a bit earlier every year, and I always feel sorry for Muslims whenever this holiday falls during summer’s longer daylight hours <\/a>— NPR reports that Egypt is actually turning its clock back an hour to help, this year<\/a>. Then again, having it come during winter was no picnic for one of my college roommates, who had to fast during some important exams… as Stephen Prothero reports over at CNN’s Belief Blog, thirsty was the hardest part<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As with any annual holiday, it’s a challenge for religion reporters to come up with fresh angles to cover each year. One of my old colleagues, Aman Ali, has even made himself part of the story, trying to attend 30 mosques in 30 states in 30 days<\/a> this year. (Last year he went to 30 mosques in 30 days, just around New York City.<\/a>) <\/p>\n

Here’s some examples of interesting features I’ve seen so far:<\/p>\n