pOst card;]

By:Tiffany Dougan…
Fulbright’s class
10-7-08
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ISLAMIC &;MECCA
Religion
Once a year, Muslims gather together in Mecca and stand before the Kaaba praising Allah together. It is a ritual that is designed to the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood by showing that everyone is equal in the eyes of Allah. The Hajj makes Muslims feel real importance of life.
Feast days or holy days
Navanna is the age-old festival of new harvest and takes place in the Bengali month of Agrahayana (Nov-Dec), proverbially known as the month of plenty. The advent of the winter brings welcome relief from the sweltering heat and humidity of the long summer and flooding of the plains. As men bring golden paddy home for thrashing, women get busy making pitha with new rice to be soaked in date-palm juice and milk. As the waterbodies start shrinking, fish in plenty get caught in the nets of the fishermen to the great delight of every home. This is also the start of the season of such popular country sports as kabadi and bull-race. The season is also preferred for playing cricket, badminton and several other outdoor games.
Roles or women participating
Historically, the interpretation of Islam has been largely a male endeavor. Although the first convert to Islam was a woman (Muhammad's first wife, Khadijah), and women played an important role in the transmission of hadith (the sayings and deeds of the prophet Muhammad) and the development of Sufism, women have generally been marginalized from the male centers of Islamic interpretation, including both scripture and law, and leadership roles in public worship. But this has changed in recent times.