Cultural awareness of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is growing in coastal communities, Muslim families have said.

Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, which this year began on Wednesday 22 March involves fasting during daylight hours.

The fast-breaking evening meals of Iftar in Haverfordwest mosque see Muslims and non-Muslims eat together.

Schools in Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire have been holding assemblies on Ramadan, with advice on how pupils can help their friends who are fasting.

During the month, Muslims fast – which involves abstaining from eating and drinking during daylight hours – as well as focus on self-improvement, self-reflection and giving to the less fortunate.

Sajida Madni, 43, from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, said cultural awareness of Ramadan had increased in her local community over the last year following the opening of the first mosque in the town last Ramadan.

Mrs Madni said: « In this area there is generally less exposure to other cultures, so there were concerns when we first started up about what we would be doing at the mosque.

« So we invited all of the neighbours for Iftar to show them that we are regular people sharing food and coming together.

« We are part of a wider community, part and parcel of British society, and we should celebrate that. »

The mosque runs a youth club with a range of activities for the community which is attended by Muslim and non-Muslim people alike, and many people bring their friends to share in the evening Iftar meals during the month.

Mustafa Yunis, a trustee at Haverfordwest Central Mosque, said: « A mosque is meant to be a hub, a community centre where everyone is there and it’s brilliant to have representatives from our local community coming to eat together with us.

« We want people to feel that they are part of our community as well. »

Overcoming barriers

Mrs Madni also highlighted the level of support offered by her children’s school.

Mrs Madni’s daughter, Aayah Yunis, and two children who she is a guardian for – Aziza and Mariam Akhtar – are the only Muslims at their secondary school, but she says the school has been incredibly supportive with helping them celebrate the holy month.

Castle School in Pembrokeshire has held an assembly on Ramadan, giving tips to students about how they can help their school friends who are fasting, as well as provided the three children with a prayer room.

The assembly also helped break down barriers and open up conversations about the Muslim faith.

« So many of her friends were able to ask her questions after that assembly that they felt they couldn’t ask beforehand, » Mrs Madni said.

Describing the impact on her, Aayah said: ‘It’s really nice to teach people about it because it helps people learn new things and helps me express my Islamic identity. »

Castle School said that programmes that allowed pupils to interact with different cultures was « further enriching their learning experiences and broadening their horizons ».

‘A positive shift’

Sara Ahmed, 40, from Ceredigion said she had noticed a « positive shift » in her children’s school’s approach to Ramadan, which also proactively held an assembly on the tradition.

« Prior to this year I’ve usually had to call into school and explain that the kids will be fasting, and that they will not be having food or water during the day and that they may need breaks during PE. The school has always been fine and positive about this.

« It wasn’t anything that parents spurred on either – this was the first time in my experience that that has happened and I really appreciated that, » she said.

She said one of her son’s friends even contacted him and said she wanted to try and fast a day with him.

« In the kids’ school, there’s probably less than 10 Muslim pupils. But compared to other schools in the area that’s quite a high number, » she said.

« There aren’t that many Muslims in the community here and you can sometimes feel you stick out a bit. So it’s really great to see people taking an interest and embrace our culture. »

By Sanjana Idnani – BBC News

L’article Ramadan: Coastal communities help Muslims celebrate est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Le nouvel outil de la messagerie instantanée permet aux utilisateurs de gérer plusieurs groupes en les rassemblant sous une même structure.

La plateforme de messagerie instantanée WhatsApp a annoncé jeudi le déploiement de Communities, une fonctionnalité permettant aux utilisateurs de gérer facilement plusieurs groupes. L’entreprise californienne s’est inspirée de Discord pour déployer cette nouveauté. Elle permet de créer de larges groupes d’utilisateurs à l’échelle d’une association, d’un quartier ou d’une entreprise. Dans ces communautés, les administrateurs peuvent créer plusieurs canaux, pour chaque thème de discussion. Cela évite les flux de messages anarchiques. Par exemple, une entreprise peut créer un canal et le diviser en différents sous-groupes, un pour la gestion des plannings, un pour les partenariats, etc.

Ces constellations de groupes sont dotées d’options spécifiques. Les administrateurs peuvent adresser des messages à l’ensemble des membres de la communauté sous forme d’annonce ou à des groupes définis. Ils sont également les seuls à savoir qui quitte la discussion.

Concurrencer Teams ou Slack

Avec Communities, l’objectif pour le réseau de Mark Zuckerberg est clair :concurrencer des plateformes comme Microsoft Teams ou Slack et attirer les entreprises sur son service. Dans un communiqué, la messagerie aux 2 millions d’utilisateurs promet un « niveau de confidentialité et de sécurité inégalé ». « Les alternatives disponibles aujourd’hui nécessitent de faire confiance à des applications ou éditeurs de logiciels qui conservent une copie de vos messages. Nous avons choisi de protéger vos messages de la façon la plus sûre qui soit avec le chiffrement de bout en bout. »

D’autres outils sont disponibles pour les groupes individuels comme les communautés. Les sondages font leur apparition, les appels vidéo passent à 32 personnes et la capacité des groupes double en passant à 1024 utilisateurs. Ces fonctionnalités s’accompagnent d’un partage de fichier plus volumineux (jusqu’à 2 Go par fichier).

World Opinions – Le Figaro

L’article WhatsApp lance Communities, une fonction pour faciliter la gestion des groupes est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.