Food and Drink

Muslims have strict rules on the food that they eat, especially thinking about meat. They do not eat anything that is from a pig. Pork, bacon and sausages are out as is anything made from lard like ice-cream or biscuits. Any meat that they do eat has to be prepared in a special way. This is called halal. Very often favourite Muslim meals are curries, kebabs and rice.

Muslims wash and pray before meals. The eldest person present always eats first.

Drinking alcohol is strictly forbidden. They do not provide it for non-muslim guests and they are not allowed to sell it for a profit.

Clothes

Muslims have several rules about clothes. Men must cover their bodies between the waist and knees, even when swimming or showering. A women must cover herself from head to toe with the exception of her hands and face. Ladies often wear long tunics over loose trousers. The clothes should neither be transparent nor show up the shape of the woman's body. In this country a few Muslim women wear western dress but they still dress very modestly. It is quite common to see women and girls here wearing trousers and blouses with the traditional head shawl.

Language and Dates

The natural language of Islam is Arabic as spoken by the Arabs in Arabia. Even if people live here and speak English they still learn the Qur'an in Arabic.

The calendar is lunar (according to moon months). Each month starts when the new moon appears so their months are shorter than ours but they still have twelve months in the year which makes their year shorter than ours. Our calendar started from the time Jesus Christ was born, Muslims date their calendar from when Muhammad (PBUH) left Makkah to go to Medina.
The Islamic months are: 1. Muhar-Ram, 2. Safar, 3. Rabi-ul-Awwal, 4.Rabi-ul-Akhir, 5. Jumada Al-Ula, 6. Jumada Al-Akhirah, 7. Rajab, 8. Sha'baan, 9. Ramadan, 10. Shawwal, 11. Dhul-Qu'dah, 12. Dhul-Hijjah.