Ramzan or Ramdan? Debate over  the use of ‘d’ and ‘z’ continues to rage on Indian social media; What’s the difference?

New Delhi: Ramadan or Ramzan is observed every year in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. During this period Muslims across the world practice self-restraint as they observe 30-day fasting period from dawn to dusk.

The debate over  the use of ‘d’ as in Ramadan or ‘z’ as in Ramzan continues to rage on Indian social media.

According to some social media users, some described it as a reflection of the Muslim elite’s desire to shun the Indian culture and replace it with the Saudi brand of Islam.

But the question is which one is correct- Ramzan or Ramadan?

So to make one thing clear, the only difference between both the word is that ‘Ramzan’ is a Parsi word while ‘Ramadan’ has Arab roots and comes from the word ‘ramad’, meaning-an object intensely heated by the sun.

However, Ramzan is mostly used in India but now trends are changing and people are making us of ‘Ramdan’ more than ‘Ramzan.’

For example, the words like “Allah” and “Khuda”. Allah is an Arabic word, which descibes God and Khuda is a Persian word which is used to describe God.

What is ‘Ramadan Mubarak’ and ‘Ramadan Kareem’?

After Ramzan and Ramdan, there is a slight dereference between ‘Ramadan Mubarak’ and ‘Ramadan Kareem’. ‘Ramadan Mubarak’, means ‘have a blessed Ramadan’ while ‘Ramadan Kareem’ means ‘may Ramadan be generous to you’.

However, there are a set of Muslims who are divided over the usage of the second form of greeting i.e ‘Ramadan Kareem’ owing to a belief that Ramadan goes against the teachings of Islam.