Saturday, April 2, 2022

Ramadan begins, a holiday special

I told my readers "I have lots more holiday posts to recognize, but I've run out of spoons for today. Stay tuned for the rest tomorrow." It's tomorrow, so I will continue the retrospective about last year's top holiday posts after recognizing Ramadan for the first time on this blog. I begin with CBS New York reporting Muslim communities in New Jersey observe Ramadan.

Muslim communities are observing the holy month of Ramadan, and because of the pandemic, this year, there is a heightened appreciation for the togetherness and unity that Ramadan brings; CBS2's Dave Carlin reports.
Ramadan Mubarak to you, too, Mayor Sayegh! I'm happy to take you up on your offer to learn more about Ramadan.


On that note, National Day Calendar has more about the holiday.
Every year, Ramadan begins a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community for Muslims around the world. It is the holiest month of the year for those in the Islamic faith.

The date of the observance is during the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar. This is why it changes every year. The holy month begins the morning after the crescent moon is visible to the naked eye. Because visibility of the moon differs throughout the world, Ramadan does not officially begin until religious leaders declare they have seen the crescent moon.

Fasting during Ramadan is considered one of the five pillars of Islam. The other four pillars include:
  • Giving a profession of faith.
  • Praying five times a day while facing Mecca.
  • Donating a fixed portion of their income to community members in need.
  • Taking at least one visit to the holy city of Mecca.
  • Ramadan Traditions
  • During Ramadan, Muslims fast from food and drink (including water) from sunrise to sunset. Muslims are also supposed to abstain from sexual relations, immoral behavior, smoking, and anger. After sunset, Muslims are allowed to eat and drink. It is customary to eat dates, along with fruits, vegetables, nuts, camel milk, and water.
Muslims believe fasting produces self-discipline, self-control, sacrifice, and empathy for the less fortunate. While all Muslims are strongly encouraged to fast during Ramadan, there are a few exceptions. These include women who are menstruating, pregnant, or breastfeeding. Muslims who are traveling during Ramadan or who have a severe illness are also exempt from fasting. Children under the age of 13 don’t have to fast, either.

Ramadan ends with a three-day celebration. This is called Eid al-Fitr, or the Festival of Breaking the Fast. During this time Muslims exchange gifts with one another. This festival is often referred to as the “Muslim version of Christmas.”
I knew most of this, but I didn't learn that Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It's always a good day when I learn something new.

Follow over the jump as I resume my retrospective of the top posts about holidays from the eleventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.


Despite earning 1,391 raw page views by March 20, 2022, Local news coverage of marching bands in the 2021 Macy's Parade for Thanksgiving from November 24, 2021 never made the default top twenty. It still managed to rank twenty-third overall in raw page views and twentieth among entries posted during the eleventh year of this blog. I shared it at the Coffee Party Facebook page on Thanksgiving, but it earned more page views during December 2021, ranking it eighth overall for the month. The post continues to attract readers, as it now has 1,446 total page views, which the graphic above rounds to 1.45K.


On the other hand, 'SNL' celebrates Mother's Day with the cast's and guests' moms from May 9, 2021 did make the default top twenty for the year before falling out. I shared the link at the Coffee Party Facebook page, which helped the entry earn 1,170 raw page views for the blogging year, ranking it twenty-fourth among entries posted last year and twenty-seventh overall. It was the most seen post during May 2021 according to raw page views, but only third for the month according to default page views. By the end of calendar year 2021 it was no longer in the default top twenty, ranking twenty-third among entries posted during 2021 and twenty-fifth overall with 1,148 page views.


After Mother's Day, it's only fitting that a post for Father's Day comes next. Top baby names of 2019 and 2020 for Father's Day weekend from June 17, 2021 earned 1,094 raw page views to end the blogging year that ended last month ranked twenty-seventh among entries posted between March 21, 2021 and March 20, 2022 and thirtieth overall. It gained its page views after Infidel753 shared it at his blog, which helped it become the fifth most read entry of June 2021 according to default page views, ninth overall and eighth according to raw page views among entries posted that month.



Vox explains how 4 companies control the beef industry for a late National Food Day from October 25, 2021, earned 6 comments total, the most comments on any entry posted this blogging year and fifth overall this year, all from sincere if contentious commenters. Despite being shared by Boat Bits in October and me at the Coffee Party Facebook page in November, it didn't earn at least 1,000 raw page views, which all the previous posts passed. I'm glad it got readers to comment!

Three of the top links to my blog that my friend Kevin G. and I tweeted last year featured holiday content. I'll write more about these and other top tweets with links to this blog when I cover the blog's year on Twitter.

Four posts about holidays from the 2021-2022 blogging year had pins saved by other Pinterest users. There were also a lot of pins of holiday posts from the back catalog saved last year, which I'll list when I cover the blog's year on Pinterest.

Stay tuned for another bonus retrospective tomorrow.

Previous posts in this series Previous retrospectives about holidays. Previous retrospectives about comments and likes. Previous retrospectives about Twitter Previous retrospectives about Pinterest
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