In the month leading up to Ramadan this year, Twitter recorded 17 million tweets about the holy month, a 70 per cent increase in the conversation since last year.
People came together on the social media site to discuss much about the month – from faith to food and entertainment.
The countries generating the most Twitter conversation about Ramadan are Saudi Arabia and Egypt, followed by Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and then Oman.
Using Twitter during the holy month
Twitter has also released an interesting insight into the way people are conversing about Ramadan in their tweets.
The most popular Ramadan-related hashtags globally are رمضان# (Ramadan), #oruç (the Turkish for fast) and #ramadan.
While the symbol featuring the words "peace be upon him" (ﷺ) was tweeted almost 4 million times in countries across the world, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United States of America and Egypt.
Ramadan emojis
Naturally, people have also been using emojis to express their faith online, with the most popular being a crescent moon 🌙, praying hands 🙏 and palms held up together 🤲.
Twitter has also introduced three emojis that are automatically generated when particular Ramadan-related hashtags are used in English, Arabic, Malay, Thai, Indonesian, Hindi and Spanish.
The following Arabic and English hashtags will unlock a crescent moon:
- رمضان#
- رمضان_كريم#
- رمضان_مبارك#
- #Ramadan
- #RamadanKareem
- #RamadanMubarak
The second emoji, a lantern, will be unlocked with the below hashtags:
- #فانوس
- #فانوس_رمضان
- #فوانيس_رمضان
- #فوانيس
- #RamadanLanterns
- #RamadanLantern
And the following hashtags will unlock a bowl of dates and glass of laban:
- #افطار_رمضان
- #افطار
- #إفطاراً_شهياً
- #إفطار_رمضان
- #إفطار
- #فطور_رمضان
- #فطور
- #سحور
- #سحور_رمضان
- #IftarRamadan
- #Iftar
- #Suhur
- #SuhurRamadan
- #Suhoor
- #Sahur
- #Suhour
What have people tweeted about?
According to Twitter, Egyptian preacher Mustafa Hosny (@mustafahosny) was the most mentioned public figure in Arabic language conversations.
Meanwhile in entertainment, Algerian actress and singer, Amel Bouchoucha (@amelbouchoucha) was the most mentioned personality. She stars in new Ramadan TV series Al Nahaat (The Sculptor).
Food has also been a popular topic.
In Arabic, the most popular dishes to have been mentioned are حلا (dessert), معجنات (pastries), سلطات (salads), شوربات (soups), صواني (trays/platters) and موالح (mixed nuts).
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Where to donate in the UAE
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
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