God willing, the fasting of the first day of Ramadan in the
U.S.A begins at Dawn of Tuesday, October 4, 2005.
The Quran is complete (Quran 6:38), perfect (Quran 18:1-2) and
fully detailed (Quran 6:114).
In one of the verse, God states clearly - "We
have given them a scripture that is fully detailed, with (1)
knowledge, (2) guidance, and (3) mercy for the people who
believe." (Quran 7:52)
For example, God gives the details of Ramadan with knowledge,
guidance and mercy for us in the following verses of the Quran
(2:183 - 187):
[2:183] O you believe,
fasting is decreed for you,
as it was decreed for those before you, that you may attain
salvation.
[2:184]
Specific days (are designated for fasting); if one is
ill or traveling, an equal number of other days may be
substituted. Those who can fast, but with great difficulty, may
substitute feeding one poor person for each day of breaking the
fast. If one volunteers (more righteous works), it is better.
But fasting is the best for
you, if you only knew.
[2:185]
Ramadan is the month during which the Quran was revealed,
providing guidance for the people, clear teachings, and the
statute book. Those of you who witness this month
shall fast therein. Those who are ill or traveling may
substitute the same number of the other days.
God wishes for you convenience,
not hardship, that you may fulfill your obligations,
and to glorify God for guiding you, and to express your
appreciation.
[2:186] When My servants ask you about Me,
I am always near. I answer their prayers when they pray to Me.
The people shall respond to Me and believe in Me,
in order to be guided.
[2:187] Permitted for you is sexual
intercourse with your wives during the nights of fasting. They
are the keepers of your secrets, and you are the keepers of
their secrets. God knew that you used to betray your souls, and
He has redeemed you, and has pardoned you. Henceforth, you may
have intercourse with them, seeking what God has permitted for
you. 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. Sexual intercourse is prohibited if you decide
to retreat to the masjid (during the last ten days of Ramadan).
These are God's laws; you shall not transgress them.
God thus clarifies His revelations for the people, that they may
attain salvation.
To witness the month of Ramadan as stated in the Quran 2:185
above, we need to know the time of the birth of new moon of
Ramadan and the time of sunset on the same day. For example,
the following data from
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/
helps us calculate the beginning of the Ramadan in Brooklyn,
New York area:
For Brooklyn, New York (longitude W74.0, latitude N 40.0):
I
I
I
I Tuesday, 3
October 2005
I
I
SUN
I
I
Eastern Daylight Time
I
I Begin civil twilight
6:27 a.m.
I
Sunrise 6:55
a.m.
I Sun
transit 12:45 p.m.
I Sunset
6:34 p.m.
I
I
MOON
I
I Moon
set 6:22 p.m. on
preceding day
I
Moonrise 7:00
a.m.
I Moon
transit 12:56 p.m.
I Moon
set 6:42 p.m.
I
Moonrise 8:05 a.m.
on following day
I New Moon on 3 October 2005 at 6:28
a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
I
From the above data, based on the time of birth of the new moon,
and based on 2:187, the first day of the month of Ramadan starts
by the sunset of October 3rd. According to 2:187, we start our
fasting day by eating and drinking until the white thread of
light becomes distinguishable from the dark thread of night at
dawn of October 4th, then we abstain from eating and drinking
till the sunset of October 4th and so on.
The Night of Destiny (the night of 27th of Ramadan) will be
observed on Saturday, October 29, 2005, God willing, in the
U.S.A.
Click here.
A complete chapter (in Arabic Sura) was revealed in detail
which signifies the night of destiny:
[97:1-5] We
revealed it in the
Night of Destiny. How awesome is the Night of Destiny ! The
Night of Destiny is better than
a thousand months.The angels and the
Spirit descend therein, by their Lord's leave, to carry
out every command. Peaceful it
is until the advent of the dawn.
The Islamic scholars went beyond the Quran, invented religious
rulings of the "sighting of the crescent", "salat al Tarabi",
"forbidding menstruating women from observing fasting and salat
prayers", etc. and attributed them to the prophet !
But, according to the Quran, all religious rulings belong to
God Almighty and the prophet was clearly forbidden from
uttering any religious rulings other than the Quran. This
concept can be derived easily from various verses of the Quran,
some of which are stated below :
[6:114]
Shall I seek other than God as a source of law, when He has
revealed to you this book fully detailed? Those who
received the scripture recognize that it has been revealed from
your Lord, truthfully.You shall not harbor any doubt.
[31:6] Among the people, there are those
who uphold baseless hadith, and thus divert others from
the path of God without knowledge, and take it in vain. These
have incurred a shameful retribution.
[69:40-50] This (Quran) is the utterance
of an honorable messenger. Not
the utterance of a poet; rarely do you believe.
Nor the utterance of a
soothsayer, rarely do you take heed.
A revelation from the Lord of
the universe. Had he uttered any other teachings We would have
punished him. We would have stopped the revelations to him.
None of you could have helped him. This is a reminder
of the righteous. We know; some
of you are rejectors. It is but sorrow for the
disbelievers.
[10:15] When our revelations are recited
to them, those who do not expect to meet us say, "Bring a Quran
other than this, or change it !" Say, "I cannot possibly change
it on my own. I simply followed
what is revealed to me.
I fear, if I disobey my Lord,
the retribution of an awesome day.
[13:40] Whether we show you what we
promise them, or terminate your life before that,
your sole mission is to deliver
(the Quran). It is us who will call them to account.
[17:73-76] They almost diverted you from
the revelations we have given you. They wanted you to
fabricate something else,
in order to consider you a friend. If it were not that we
strengthened you, you almost leaned towards them just a little
bit. Had you done that, we
would have doubled the retribution for you in this life, and
after death, and you would found no one to help you against us. They
almost banished you from the land to get rid of you,
so they could revert as soon as
you left.
[5:48] Then we revealed to you this
scripture, truthfully, confirming previous scriptures, and
superseding them. You shall
rule among them in accordance with God's revelations.,
and do not follow their wishes if they differ from the truth
that came to you. For each of you, we have decreed laws and
different rites. Had God willed, He could have made you one
congregation. But He thus puts you to the test through the
Revelations He has given to each of you.
You shall compete in
righteousness. To God is your final destiny - all of
you - then He will inform you of everything you had disputed.
The fasting of Ramadan ends on Wednesday, November 2, 2005, God
willing, in the U.S.A.
The religious scholars also invented rulings of "salat al fitr",
"Eid festival", "six days of fasting after Eid", etc. and
attributed them to the prophet!
But these are some of the reminders of the Quran:
[6:70]
You shall disregard those who take their religion in vain, as
if it is a social function, and are totally absorbed
in this worldly life. Remind
with this (Quran), lest a soul may suffer the
consequences of its evil earnings. It
has none beside God as a Lord and Master, nor an intercessor. If
it could offer any kind of ransom, it would not be accepted.
They suffer the consequences of the evil works they earn; they
have incurred hellish drinks, and a painful retribution
because of their disbelief.
[6:112] We have permitted the enemies of
every prophet - human and jinn devils - to inspire in each other
fancy words, in order
to deceive. Had your Lord willed, they would not have done it.
You shall disregard them and
their fabrications.
[6:116]
If you obey the majority of people on earth, they will
divert you from the path of God.
They follow only conjecture;
they only guess.
Quran condemns religious innovations. Any religious ruling not
authorized by God Almighty is an innovation as understood from
this :
[12:40] You do not worship beside Him
except innovations that you have made up, you and your parents.
God has never authorized such idols.
All ruling belongs to God,
and He has ruled that you shall not worship except Him. This is
the perfect religion, but most people do not know.
Last but not least, this is the reminder of the Quran:
[9:32] They want to put out
God's light with their
mouths, but God insists upon
perfecting His light, in spite of the disbelievers.
Peaceful Friday, salaam and God bless you,
M. Irtaza
