From: Michael M. Butler (mmb@spies.com)
Date: Tue Jan 07 2003 - 05:14:17 MST
spike66 wrote:
> I was viewing a program about Islam. They mentioned
> that true Muslims fast while the sun is up during
> the month of Ramadan. Then they said the month is
> not a specific time of year, but is based on a lunar
> month. I reason that the month of fasting must work
> its way around the calendar, so that sometimes
> Ramadan is in the winter and a few years later in
> the summer. Right?
Go like this [makes circle with thumb and forefinger] and say "Wrong!"
Google on
ramadan calendar calculation . Find
http://www.submission.org/calendar.html .
it says it's a lunar-solar calendar, not purely lunar.
So Ramadan wanders around, but not across year boundaries. At least on Earth.
From that site:
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THE ISLAMIC CALENDAR (HIJRA CALENDAR):
The Islamic Calendar began at the day and year (July 16, 622, by the Gregorian calendar) when the Prophet Muhammed emigrated from Mecca to Medina. There are 12 lunar months of alternate 30 and 29 days, making the year 354 days long. The months are Muharram, Safar, Rabi I, Rabi II, Jumada I, Jumada II, Rajab, Shaban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Zulkadah, and Zulhijjah.
The Islamic calendar divides times into cycles 30 years long. During each cycle, 19 years have the regular 354 days, and 11 years have an extra day each.
(notice that number 19 is mentioned in verse 30 in the Quran in Sura 74 (7+4=11), so 19, 30, 74 (7+4= 11) are all there in the solar system designed by the same God who put number 19 in verse 30 of sura 74.) It is also interesting to know that the sun, the moon and the earth all align in the same relative position once every 19 years.
The Islamic day as we can now appreciate is the same day used by the oldest civilization, the same as the Hebrew day. It begins at sunset and ends at the next sunset. In the Story of Creation, in the Bible, it says :
"And there was evening and there was morning one day."
Evening marked the beginning of the new day.
In the Quran, God always mentions the night before the day.
"And He is the One who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; each floating in its own orbit. " 21"33
When God ordered us to fast Ramadan, He ordered us to eat and drink first until dawn then fast to the night. A great sign that Ramadan (and every lunar month) starts at night (sunset) and ends at night.
[al-Baqarah 2:187] ........... You may eat and drink until the white thread of light becomes distinguishable from the dark thread of night at dawn. Then, you shall fast until sunset. ..........
HOW TO CALCULATE THE NEW ISLAMIC MONTH :
To calculate when a new lunar month begins we need to know two facts, the first is the exact time of the birth of the new moon, and the second fact is the exact time of the sunset of the same day. The new lunar month begins theoretically at the birth of the new moon, but begins practically at the first sunset to follow the birth of the new moon. God already gave us enough knowledge to calculate the beginning of the first day of Ramadan for the next hundreds of years. Sighting of the moon, to determine the new Islamic month, is an invention by the scholars that they took after the Jewish Rabbis who insist on sighting of the moon for their Jewish Lunar months. Sighting of the moon is not in the Quran, but was a way of recognizing the beginning of the lunar month for those who lived in the desert and have no other means to recognize the beginning of the new month. God in the Quran reminds us that the phases of the moon are only a tool to calculate the calendar and the time for
pilgrimage
(Hajj), see 2:189. God never said in the Quran that sighting of the crescent moon is a requirement to determine the beginning of the new lunar month.
God is all Omniscient, Knower of everything, He knows that different generations will have different means of calculating the time of the birth of the new moon. God left it open, not because He forgot, God does not forget, (19:64), but He left it open, out of His mercy so we do it our way in our time. Now, with all the knowledge we have, we cannot sit still knowing that the month has already started and wait for a scholar to go look for the crescent moon that may or may not be visible because of many factors, the most common of them is the weather condition. It is time to believe God in His own book and realize that God meant it when He said that His book, the Quran, is complete, perfect and fully detailed. And that it has the details and explanations of everything we need for our salvation.
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