From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Tue Jan 07 2003 - 10:23:05 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?
Wrong. The Islamic lunar calendar is similar to the Jewish lunar calendar.
Ramadan does't migrate around the year any more than Hanukkah. The years
are based on the solar year with the sun traversing a complete circuit
around the zodiac. The months are based on the moon phases where the moon
waxes and wanes through a whole cycle. There are usually 12 months per
year, but sometimes there is a thirteen month in a year, acting like a
leap-year to keep the calendar positioned with the seasons.
-- Harvey Newstrom, CISSP <http://HarveyNewstrom.com>
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