The first day of the Ramaḍān fast occurred last week on Saturday, March 1st. For Muslims, Ramaḍān is the month during which the Holy Qurʾān was first revealed to the Prophet Muḥammad. For Coptic Orthodox Christians, the 55-day period before Easter known as the Great Fast, began on Monday, Feburary 24th. The fast broadly corresponds to the season of Lent which extends for forty days before Easter and begins for many Western Christians tomorrow on Ash Wednesday.

The Orthodox Great Fast involves abstaining from all food and often water for some hours every day and from foods derived from animals or animal products for the whole duration. For many Coptic Orthodox Christians, their fasting practices will become more intensive as Easter draws near.

Beyond the practice of abstaining from food and water from sunrise to sunset, other common practices during the month of Ramaḍān include additional Qurʾān reading, prayers, almsgiving, and suḥūr meals, which take place at night before the next day of fasting begins.

(An otherwise busy intersection in Cairo is virtually empty as Egyptian Muslims gather for the iftar meal around 6 p.m. on Sunday evening, March 6th).

In other news, CAWU staff and interns attended a program on Thursday, February 28th, for the 1700th anniversay of the Council of Nicaea (325 CE) hosted by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina's Center for Coptic Studies. It was encouraging to find a large number of Christians and Muslims in Egypt present to understand more about one of the most important doctrinal councils in Christian history. On Saturday, some of us were able to attend sessions from the33rd Annual Conference for Friends of the Arabic Christian Heritage hosted by the Franciscan Cultural Centre in downtown Cairo. The theme this year focused on legal writings in the history of Arabic Christianity.

(A panel on Arabic Christian family law from the Middle Ages until modern times at the conference on Saturday.)

As these rich spiritual seasons unfold for millions in Egypt and across the Middle East, we remember in prayer the fragile ceasefire that holds for now in Israel/Palestine. The region continues to reel from the desperation, loss, grief, and rage that has characterized the last 18 months. It was an admittedly small but still meaningful flicker of hope when the film, No Other Land, won an Academy Award on Sunday night in Los Angeles for best documentary, not simply because of the powerful story it tells but the fact that it was produced by both Palestinians and Israelis together.

Matthew Anderson

Director - Center for Arab-West Understanding

Executive Editor - Dialogue Across Borders (Brill)

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March 4, 2025