Last night began Ramadan, the holiest month for the world’s 1.3 billion. Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world, and most of its followers are not in the Middle East.
Here are some resources for covering Ramadan in the next month:
- To get background on how to cover the religion see this primer for ReligionLink, produced by the Religion Newswriters Foundation housed at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
- Beliefnet, an independent site reporting on religion, has a guide to explain Ramadan.
- CNN has published a helpful etiquette guide from CNN on what to do and not to do.
- The Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, is an educational and social justice group which can provide many resources for journalists. One of its key goals is to challenge stereotypes of Muslims and Islam.
Story leads:
- An explainer on Islam
- A live shot from an evening gathering when Muslims are breaking their fast
- How public schools accommodate students who are fasting
- Profile of an athlete who fasts
- Works of charity that the Muslim community is doing this month as part of its commitment during Ramadan
- A morning live shot with an imam or president of a mosque to answer common questions about Islam.