Mubarak Mosque in Phum Xoai Hamlet, Chau Phong Commune (Tan Chau Town, An Giang Province) is the largest mosque of the Cham community in An Giang. During Ramadan, all believers come to the mosque to pray. (Photo: Phuong Nghi)

For the Cham people of An Giang, Ramadan is a very important and sacred month for the whole community. This year, Ramadan 2024 (1445 in the Islamic calendar) takes place from March 11 to April 9. Head of the Islamic Community Representative Board of An Giang Province, Haji Jacky, said: “Ramadan (also known as the Month of Love) is the most important holiday for Muslims. During Ramadan, all adult Muslims must fast during the day to cultivate their minds and character, to measure and assess their hunger and thirst, from which they will have sympathy, love and share, help each other in life, people regardless of rich or poor will get closer to each other. During Ramadan, charity work is very important, because this is one of the five pillars of Islam. After a month of self-imposed confinement according to religious law, believers are allowed to return to normal life as soon as it gets dark.” Since the beginning of Ramadan, many charitable activities have been organized by the Representative Board to give gifts to people in difficult circumstances in the localities. According to Ms. Sity Hara, Deputy Head of the Social Charity Board, the Representative Board of the Muslim Community of An Giang Province, for Muslims, Ramadan is a month of sharing with the poor, so that Muslims can know the hardship and misery, which is the reason to learn and share. Therefore, from the beginning of March 2024 until now, the Representative Board is very pleased to receive support from domestic and foreign organizations to have a total of nearly 1,000 gifts to give to people in difficult circumstances, hoping that people will have a full and prosperous Ramadan.

Gifts from the sharing of the entire Cham Islam community in An Giang and philanthropists, with the wish that everyone can celebrate the holy month of Ramadan to the fullest. (Photo: Phuong Nghi)

During the month of Ramadan, all Muslims must strictly follow the rule of not eating, not drinking, not smoking, but only during the day (from sunrise to sunset). Cham people still work normally, women still weave brocade, still sew, men still go to the river to cast nets, go to the fields to take care of rice. Exactly 30 days later, when the new moon appears in the West, people eat and drink normally again. On the last day of Ramadan, the Cham community in An Giang happily enters the festival of "Rona Pittak" (fasting end), everyone holds a party, eating and drinking together comfortably. The party is quite sumptuous, usually with traditional cakes such as nam-prang, ha-pum, pay-kgah, cha-doll, pay-nung, especially din-pa-gon cake made from sticky rice with coconut milk, stuffed into fresh bamboo tubes, burned until cooked, very fatty, delicious. As for savory dishes, curry, eggplant, or tung lo mo are indispensable...

During Ramadan, Cham people still work as usual, and women still weave brocade. (Photo: Phuong Nghi)

Ramadan, for the Cham people in An Giang, has a very important meaning, is one of the biggest festivals of the year, showing the spirit of sharing with each other in the community, between the rich and the poor to help each other develop, build the Cham village to become increasingly rich and strong.

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