RELIGION-RAMADAN/NEPAL Kathmandu's mosques quiet during Ramadan after deadly quakes

Record ID: 151770

  • Title: RELIGION-RAMADAN/NEPAL Kathmandu's mosques quiet during Ramadan after deadly quakes
  • Date: 19th June 2015
  • Summary: KATHMANDU, NEPAL (JUNE 19, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF KATHMANDU'S JAME MASJID JAME MASJID ENTRANCE GATE MEN GATHERED AROUND POND, MEN PERFORMING "WUDU" (PURIFYING THEMSELVES) MEN GATHERING INSIDE JAME MASJID MEN PERFORMING "WUDU" (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) MAN ATTENDING MOSQUE, ABDUL REHMAN MIYA, SAYING: "We consider this one month as a holy month. We continue fasting, give don
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nepal
  • Country: Nepal
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAYAUVILXN3XSS4RPJAHA3TL74
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Many mosques in Nepal's capital have seen fewer people attending during the holy month of Ramadan, though numbers are gradually increasing, after two devastating earthquakes shook the country less than two months ago.
    At Kathmandu's Jame Masjid on Friday (June 19), many gathered to perform prayers, as the month of Ramadan began.
    "We consider this one month as a holy month. We continue fasting, give donations to poor people - this is the way we spend this month. We pray five times a day by chanting Namaz (a Muslim prayer) and giving donations to the poor people," said Abdul Rehman Miya who attended the mosque.
    Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim (lunar) calendar, when the Quran was first revealed to Muhammed, according to Islamic doctrine. The month is calculated to begin this year on June 18 in most countries.
    Muslims around the world observe Ramadan by fasting from dawn until sunset.
    Following the natural disaster, a large number of people have left the city, resulting in fewer people joining the prayers in the mosques.
    "How long should one live in fear (because of April 25 Quake)? Considering the fact, the people have to work," said Shamim Ansari, the Chairman of the National Muslim Struggling Group.
    A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, killing thousands and demolishing more than half a million homes, most of them in rural areas cut off from emergency medical care.
    A second major quake struck on May 12, 76 kilometers (47 miles) east of the capital Kathmandu, just as Nepalis were beginning to recover from the previous earthquake.
    The number of people killed in Nepal by the two major earthquakes has surpassed 8,500, making the disaster the deadliest to hit the Himalayan country on record.
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