July 20 marked the start of Ramadan for millions of Muslims, and a new Twitter project from Kyrgyzstan aims to help them keep to the rules of the month of strict fasting, EurasiaNet.org reported.
@RamazanTime is designed for Muslims in Kyrgyzstan who might be new to Ramadan (also known as Ramazan) or who are worried about catching a meal before the fast begins each day. The account, which tweets in Russian, updates about 3-5 times a day with reminders about when you can eat and pray during Ramadan.
The app will also send quotes from the Prophet Mohammed and verses from the Koran on love, loyalty, knowledge and Ramadan, among others.
“We created this service to morally support our compatriots who are planning to keep the fast,” the 22-year-old mastermind behind @RamazanTime told EurasiaNet.org. She and her two friends did not want to reveal their identities because they didn’t want to promote themselves.
In addition to the Twitter account, they’ve also set up a text message mailing list using a service similar to one used by some Kyrgyzstani news outlets. Anyone with a Kyrgyzstani cell phone who wants to sign up for the service can text the words “follow ramazantime” to the number 4040.
The girls hope their project will encourage people just starting out in keeping the fast.
“I knew based on my own experience how important it is for those just starting to fast to have some support and this text-message service would be good motivation both for us and for others during the month of Ramadan,” one of the girls involved said.
The @RamazanTime Twitter account has 95 followers so far, and the girls say that they have about 80-100 people signed up for the text message service, but “the exact number is known only to Allah.”
Photo by Ranoush