Tourism & Hospitality | Saturday 13 June, 2015 3:53 am |

Imams in mosques across the Kingdom, including those in Makkah and Madinah, used Friday's sermons to welcome the holy month of Ramadan with an immense sense of piety and requested their respective congregations to strictly follow the teachings of the Holy Qur'an during the fasting month.

Ramadan is expected to begin Thursday, depending on the visibility of the crescent. Next week, the Supreme Court in Riyadh will make a call on all Muslims in the Kingdom to sight the crescent of the month of Ramadan to determine the beginning of the month.

In his sermon at a mosque in Malaz in Riyadh, an Imam described Ramadan as the month of charity and requested Muslims to help alleviate poverty from society. “Helping the less fortunate is a must during the holy month,” he stressed.

He urged the members of the congregation to cultivate the habit of fasting among their children during the holy month. He added that such habits will go a long way in the children's life since they are the future generation of the Kingdom.

An imam in another mosque said that Islam allows the sick to abstain from fasting but he stressed that they have to feed the poor in compensation for their loss of fasting days.
Pregnant and feeding mothers can refrain from fasting but they have to cover up the lost days during their healthy period. "The month is an ideal opportunity for people to relinquish their bad habits and cultivate healthy behavioral patterns", the imam said.

Quoting a well-known Islamic saying, an imam at a mosque in Nasseriyah said: "A day of fasting during this holy month will keep a Muslim away from hell for 70 years."
"You must mentally prepare yourselves to perform meritorious work during the holy month of Ramadan which comes once a year," the imam said.

Last week, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, approved the emergency plan of General Directorate of Civil Defense for Ramadan in Makkah and Madinah, which aims to strengthen preventive measures related to the works of civil defense and maintain the safety of Umrah performers throughout the holy month.