![]() Muslims in the United States celebrate the event, also spelled as Laylat al-Qadr or Shab-e-Qadr. Ramadan, Islams holiest month, began for most Muslim communities at sundown on Wednesday. It commemorates when Koran (Qur’an) was revealed to the prophet Muhammad (also known as Mohammad). Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, marked by fasting, reflection, charity and prayer. Besides Christmas, there are no public religious holidays, but there has been a push in recent years for public school systems to recognize Muslim holidays as they would with Catholic or Jewish holidays 8. Laylat al Qadr is also known as the Night of Power or the Night of Destiny. The significance of each holy day varies between individuals, families, and communities 8. There is two official, major holidays and a few other holy days 7. Muslims celebrate Islamic holidays in the US in the same way as they are observed throughout the world 6. For the most part, Muslims remain a small yet important group in the US 5. However, the terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001 by Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda has caused a shift in the political landscape with special attention toward Muslim groups 5. For the most part, they are fully integrated, middle-class citizens 5. Because of the large amounts of immigration from around the world, there are many various Muslim communities from different countries and schools of thought 4. The US includes one of the most diverse Islamic populations worldwide 4. This accounts for only 1% of the population 3. While it is largely unclear when Islam first arrived in the country, there are approximately 3.3 million Muslims currently living in the United States 2. Practitioners strive to follow the five pillars established in the Qur'an 1. It contains 12 months that are based on the motion of the moon, and because 12 synodic months is only 12 x 29.53354.36 days, the Islamic calendar is consistently shorter than a tropical year, and therefore it shifts with respect to the Christian calendar. Islam is a religion founded in the 7th century by Muhammad 1. The Islamic calendar (or Hijri calendar) is a purely lunar calendar.
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