STOCKHOLM, October 10 (IslamOnline.net) - Muslims in Sweden are gearing up for a busy schedule during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

"Muslim families are rearranging their work and study hours to be able to come together for Iftar (fast breaking meals)," Sheikh Hassan Moussa, Stockholm grand mosque imam and chairman of the Swedish imams council, told IslamOnline.net.

As the holy month approaches, mosques across Sweden began familiarizing worshipers with the intensive program they prepared for Ramadan.

It will begin with performing the Fajr (dawn) Prayer that will be followed by a daily sermon.

From the Zhuhr (noon) Prayer until the Maghrib (sunset) Prayer, scholars and imams will be on hand to answer questions about fasting, Islamic jurisprudence and others issues of interest.

The Ramadan day in mosques will end with the Tarawih prayer.

Sheikh Moussa said that many Islamic associations in Sweden would be inviting Muslim scholars from different countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to lead religious sermons during the holy month.

Fast-breaking banquets are a usual scene inside mosques in Ramadan, where Swedish Muslims try to stick to traditional Ramadan festivities in their original countries.

Sheikh Moussa also noted that many Muslims in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries prefer to perform `Umrah during Ramadan.

Islam has become the second official religion in Sweden, after Christianity.

The Stockholm imam said Swedish Muslims find it difficult to determine the start of Ramadan through sighting the crescent because of the country’s foggy weather at this time of the year.

He said the Islamic council in Sweden usually enlists the assistance of the Swedish royal observatory and takes into consideration the beginning of Ramadan in several Muslim countries.

"After consultations, the council decides the beginning of the holy month and announces it through the Swedish mass media."

Mahmoud Al-Dabae, deputy chairman of the Islamic Council in Sweden, told IOL the problem has been settled by the European council for Fatwa and Research.

The Ireland-based council issued on October 6 a statement announcing that the first day of Ramadan would fall on Friday, October 15, according to astronomical calculations.

Al-Dabae expected most of the Islamic institutions to follow the council’s recommendation, except for few Muslims who insist on following the start of Ramadan in their motherland.

He added that the Islamic Council in Sweden would issue a statement on the beginning of Ramadan and send it to all Islamic societies as well as the media.

While one group of scholars sees that Muslims in other regions and countries should follow crescent sighting as long as these countries share one part of the night, another states that Muslims everywhere should abide by the lunar calendar of Saudi Arabia.

A third, however, disputes both views, arguing that Islam is against division and disunity, since Muslims, for instance, are not allowed to hold two congregational prayers in one mosque at the same time.