Overcomplicating fasting
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People go on and on trying to find the exact way of "fasting in Ramadan" or "fasting in the ramadan full moon" and so on. Layth's winter solstice theory came from no solid evidence at all and I think he jumped the gun in his article going from the history of Mary to night of decree to Ramadan and so on. Some have brought forth interesting ideas about fasting after the full moon following the summer solstice or after the one following the autumn equinox. These two theories seemed intersting and a plausible alternative to ?the arbitrary calendar of traditional Islam. However, just from the verses dealing with fasting, there is not a very certain way to tell. Moreover, it does not say "fast in/during shahr ramadan." Rather, it says "whosoever witnesses the shahr shall fast it/in it. Which shahr? Any shahr. Correct me if I'm wrong but "al" can be used to signify "any" for singular nouns, right? It is certainly true for plural nouns that "al xyz" can mean "all xyz." In either case it does not say "fast in/during shahr ramadan."
The point where people overcomplicate the most is in trying to figure out how many days to fast. They try to cross-reference other verses go on far-fetched conclusions. They claim "ayyaman maadoodatin" means a few days i.e. 10 days or 3-10 days. Some say it means "fixed days" by which they mean all of the month they call Ramadan. First of all, I checked the dictionary and it does not signify "a few" - it simply means days numbered, days counted, certain count/amount of days, etc.
Secondsly, do you not realize that God was very specific about how many days to fast for not providing food during hajj or killing a believer unintentionally? Why would God not mention how many days He wants believers to fast if he wanted us to fast 10 days, for instance? Why does it says "ayyaman maadoodatin" instead of the number that most claim it is? What good does it do to have only one month to feed the poor for missing a fast? It is even better for the poor to have it every month - they would get more food beyong the regular charity that believers are asked to give on the day of harvest. Does God give a percentage for that? No, because it is left for us to decide. That way, whoever does more, can benefit more from it and whoever does less, benefits less. The same goes for fasting.
The overarching charateristic is that people want conformity and they want specifics. If God wants to give specifics, he does, and in general we are given guidelines within which we are to decide what is best. There are no specifics given, which is why people feel the need to really reach for conclusions because it just isn't in the verses that deal with fasting. Guidelines are given for sexually approaching women, what to do if you are traveling, etc. So why would God not just says "fast 10 days after this or that month which can be found looking at this or that?"
It is also interesting that God says to fast and says "ayyaman maadoodatin" before mentioning "shahr ramadan."
Furthermore, I think using "shahr ramadan" as the first month of the restriction period is arbitrary. Did God say that it is so? No. There are no specifics/no information given concerning that. So we shouldn't force conclusions and make things up that aren't there.
Using this flexible approach it gives ease and benefits to all the poor, those living in areas in which the sun does not set during certain or all times, for those who find it hard to fast 30 days at a time, or find hard to fasting 10 days at a time or simply fasting summer days.