Ramadan
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As salamu alaykum wr wb.
Respectfully.I thought we already agreed that Ramadan means The Hottest Month and must be performed during the summer ..... did i miss something?
I would really love to hear comeback to this.
Thank you and God Bless us all.As salamu alaykum wr wb.
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Wa Alaykum Salam
You agreed we didn't ;D
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Peace sister Latifah,
This is only my second time ever fasting for Ramadan and I really think it has helped me in many ways. I have experienced so many things I never would have without fasting and Im so glad that im doing it. I feel that it has helped me to learn empathy for others who may be forced to fast their entire life due to being poor, it has helped me feel more grateful for the things I do have and take for granted, and it has helped me to instill discipline in myself which is one thing I always needed to work on.
Last year when I first converted and fasted I thought that I cant do this, it was very hard at first, I would get sick feeling and dizzy sometimes, but it started getting easier, (like God says in the Quran, "truely after hardship comes ease". ) Now I am very excited about fasting again for Ramadan, i really believe that God proscribed fasting for us and who am I to guess his reasons why, Im sure he knows why he wants us to and what benefits it will bring, I for my part will do it as best that I can, and God willing i will recieve the benefits God intended. To me its a pain better than any pleasure.
Hope your Ramadan is going well Latifah and all others who are fasting.
Kurt
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Peace Kurt,
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I recognize most experiences and the teacheable moments that you also had.
I have written about my experiences on my blog and it basically are the same experiences as what you had. The only difference is that I also see the month Ramadan as a way of teaching ourselves to suppress our desires. The two very ruling desires in a humanbeing is the desire for food and the desire for love. That's why I think God asks us to restrain ourselves from food and sex from sunrise till sunset.
I think fasting is more then only learning to suppress our desires, but also to learn (like you already said) to not take food and sex (basically your partner) for granted. It are two very important factors in our life that mostly feed our desires. We should see them as great gifts to humankind and therefore not take them for granted, but appreciate them.Fasting is therefore not only a lesson about suppressing the desires, but also to learn to appreciate the (spiritual and physical) provisions of God. Provisions that others don't have, but pray for God to provide them with it. It gives me a very special feeling and makes me want to show more gratitude to our Creator, the Supreme Being. My passionate love for Him grows from day to day, basically because I got to know Him much better and still are learning a lot about Him. He's truely amazing. Ramadan is just a way of our Master Himself to teach us a very valuable lesson.
Good luck and good health to all the fasting members.
peace
Latifah
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Hello,
Each ramadan i decide to bring more meaning to my spirituality and so i decide to learn something new. This ramadan i decided to read more hadiths and learn what "ahl-e-hadees" actually means (i come from a sunni family).
As i read more and more, i'm troubled by some of the things mentioned in Bukhari. And so i pray to God to give me more patience, guidance and wisdom as i learn more. I'm a married guy, and so many of the things i read about women in hadiths makes very little spiritual sense to me.
So i seek more information on the net. That's how i found this site too. Not all hadiths in Bukhari actually are my points of critical thought, but in combination it is painting quite a different picture of our prophet than from what i want to believe. And hence, this ramadan, my feelings are one of asking Allah to forgive me in questioning the wisdom, but i'm a human and i'm hoping that i can find somewhere in my spirit that light of guidance.
I have decided that it is not right of me to not question those things which are troubling so many muslims around the world. There's a better way of approaching those aspects of the religion which are causing anguish to millions of muslims, and is giving nonmuslims a certain impression about Islam. Hence, i hope to learn more from this site, and somewhere in there will be that gem of wisdom which will let my spirit soar.
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Salaam Latifah,
Salam,
Just curious to know what you guys are experiencing at this time while fasting. Could you tell me something about your experiences? The spiritual and physical ones.
peace
Latifah
First of all, this is my first fasting since I came to God Alone.
My spiritual experience => Honestly, I was much more motivated in my sunni days because there are so many hadiths which mention the virtues during Ramadan. In my sunni days, I tried to do my best not to miss any taraweeh. In addition to that, I am used to perform tasbeeh prayer at least once in Ramadan. However, it doesn't mean that my fasting this time is just like "normal" days. In general, I always feel happier when fasting. sun
My physical experience => I feel the quality of my sleep is better. I also feel my erection is stronger. I am sorry if the latter is considered too vulgar (if it is, then please moderators can simply edit my post).
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salaam, everyone,
i love ramadhan! i have been fasting(in ramadhan off-course) since i was eight! ramadhan helps me concentrate more on schoolwork.
one of the bad experience i have had is that after the evening meal i feel nausious/dizzzy. annyone knows why?
peace, rifat
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For me, the main benefits I get from fasting during ramadhan are that I get to lose some weight and I also get to experience how it feels to be starving. However, I often feel uneasy when it is time for me to break my fasting because just like what Bro Ironsky said there are people who have been fasting throughout their lives due to poverty and they haven't been able to 'break' their fasting just yet.
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Peace all,
Yes, a good remembrance is that many people never eat a full meal and many kids have to go to bed still hungry.
We in the rich world have to humble ourselves more and be thankful for the gifts of our Lord grants us.
I do also fast because I missed the other fasting date in the hottest time.
Peace sis Maria
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salaamoon alaykoom, i remember hearing or reading a story about the times of muhammad, that upon hearing the revelation from The god concerning wine or khamar, the streets of the city flowed with the wine that these beleivers desposed of, as in "we hear and we obey.Therefore, if it is clear that the month of Ramadhan has passed us by then why the pretense that this is still Ramadhan?Following traditions or the crowds is still just that, shirk. So follow the Quran and common sense and just "do the damn thing"
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Peace Mekaeel7
You're assuming that a new theory is automatically the truth and just because something is old that it's "following traditions and crowds". That's a serious assumption and one that can be very wrong. I don't buy that the quran is a hidden secret code that is waiting to be unlocked by someone on the internet 1400 yrs later. I don't believe that it's a root word jigsaw puzzle. I believe understanding words is crucial to understanding the book, but it must be clearly understood to the people without jumping to crazy conclusions. You can definitely follow what you believe to be right but please don't be as extreme as some sunnis and shias and throw around the word shirk, kafir and other heavily-charged words that sound ridiculous coming from a person. Only God can judge. I and a billion others like me are doing absolutely nothing remotely similar to shirk because we fast now in October rather than July. If you feel the need to make the quran into a mysterious codified book that nobody can understand or fast until the 2006 revelation that happened on a website forum, then PEACE.
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As salamu alaykum wr wb.
Respectfully.I thought we already agreed that Ramadan means The Hottest Month and must be performed during the summer ..... did i miss something?
I would really love to hear comeback to this.
Thank you and God Bless us all.As salamu alaykum wr wb.
Salam Alen,
When I looked up the root in Hans Wehr's Arabic English Dictionary and Lane's Arabic English Lexicon I came up with the following meanings (Please note this is just a brief description. For the complete definitions please refer to the dictionaries).
To be consumed by grief and sorrow; parchedness, scorchedness (esp. of the ground due to excessive heat)I would say that at this point I am of the opinion that fasting is to be done in the hottest month. Especially since one should keep in mind that the months were named after Muhammad's death and that the calender was first introduced in 638 CE by the companions of the Prophet, Umar ibnul Khattab (592-644 CE). So the months were "named" then. And one month just happened to be named "Ramadan" however in a lunar calendar the month named "Ramadan" does not always fall in the hottest month. The question one should ask one's self is "Do I follow the arabic quran word which roughly translates to "the month of scorchedness of ground" or do I follow a month named Ramadan which is devoid of its true meaning as it does not always fall in "the month of scorchedness of ground"?
Another way to look at it is that the root word can also mean extreme grief and sorrow. Which is maybe what it means when we are told that fasting is written for us as it was to those before us. Since we know that in the injeel fasting is spoken of by Jesus.
And traditionally people fasted when they were in mourning or distraught.Just some thoughts )
Salam -
Salam Arnab,
Very good thought I must admit )
I agree that we shall not jump into conclusions and we still are here to learn and ponder.
Peace Majidah Maria
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i also think too many assumptions are being made with regards to when ramadan is and how many days we should fast. where did this extra month every however many years come from. why are we using the dictionary to figure out that the english "a few" means 3 to 10 days... and then assuming it's 10 days? is ramadan the time the first sura was revealed? if so, how can it be in january in the northern hemisphere and july in the southern hemisphere? sura iqra was revealed once, so it should be at the same time, no?
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Peace bluerose,
is ramadan the time the first sura was revealed? if so, how can it be in january in the northern hemisphere and july in the southern hemisphere? sura iqra was revealed once, so it should be at the same time, no?
There is a logical fallacy in your question above and I hope I can bring it to your attention and clarify and resolve it.
Firstly you seem to have reversed the times the hottest time is june/july in northern hemisphere and january in southern hemisphere, not the other way around !
Secondly, al-qur'aan was descended at a certain point in space and time i.e. in a certain "shahr ramadhan" in a certain hemisphere (northern) many many centuries ago. The subsequent "shahr ramadhan" are just reminders of that event, NOT THE ACTUAL TIME of the descent of al-qur'aan. Thus there is no contradiction with translating "shahr ramadhan" as "full moon of scorching heat" and the time of descent of al-qur'aan. If it is july in northern hemisphere or january in southern hemisphere in 2006, there is still no contradiction as al-qur'aan was not descended in either of those times in 2006, but was descended centuries ago ! The cosmic phenomenon being referred to in al-qur'aan to act as marker for the start of fasting is just a reminder of the descent of al-qur'aan, and could be at different times in the two hemispheres. As you yourself state, al-qur'aan was descended once, not every year for the last 1500 years ! In addition to that when al-qur'aan was being descended in full moon of scorching heat in northern hemisphere, it must have been cold in the southern hemisphere and also on the surface of the moon, but still does not mean that al-qur'aan was not descended in the full moon of scorching heat ! Also there was no month of Ramadhan on the moon or on mars at that time either !
How can one "witness" a month or even a year ? One can only witness things perceived by our senses. I have never witnessed a "month" or a "year" ever. The calendar of a particular culture tells me what month or year it is or people tell me but I never WITNESS them, as the months and the years in different cultures are all man made and arbitrary, determined by an arbitrarily chosen starting time. When al-qur'aan asks us to witness "shahr ramadhan" it can only mean "full moon of scorching heat" as a full moon in scorching hot time CAN be witnessed. If it is translated as a month of Ramadhan then it becomes meaningless as all months are man made and arbitrary and cannot be witnessed and Ramadhan as a name of a month is a meaningless label. In addition to that, there is ZERO evidence of existence of a month by the name of Ramadhan in pre-qur'aanic time or peri-qur'aanic time. The so called lunar islamic calendar with a month by the name of Ramadhan was invented many years after the revelation of al-qur'aan.
where did this extra month every however many years come from. why are we using the dictionary to figure out that the english "a few" means 3 to 10 days... and then assuming it's 10 days?
The answers to these questions have been given in detail in the following article
http//www.free-minds.org/articles/science/timing.htm
Also please look up the following past discussion on the forum which comprehensively answers your questions too
http//www.free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=2757.0
Hope that helps,
Peace
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Peace
Since the quran mentions a 10 month calendar, how do you reconcile that fact with the 12 month solar calendar you use to determine when Ramadan is?
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Peace Boost,
Firstly, the man-made months have nothing to do with determining the start of fasting, whether lunar or solar. The start is determined by a cosmic phenomenon independent of solar or lunar man-made calendars. That cosmic phenomenon is the full moon of the scorching heat which is easily witnessed and occurs around the summer solstice when the earth is closest to the sun (in man-made terminology around july 22 of the solar calendar, but again one does not need that man-made terminology to determine the full moon of scorching heat, it could have been qwerty 54, who cares !).
Secondly, can you please provide the qur'aanic reference where it mentions a ten month calendar ? In my understanding, the qur'aanic system for counting time would be to have years determined by solar phenomenon (earth's revolution around the sun) and the months determined by lunar phenomenon (moon's revolution around the earth). Thus the year would be solar with months determined by the full moons in that solar year, and the full moons in a solar year would vary between 12 or 13. Usually there are 12 full moons in a solar year but sometimes there are 13, hence the extra full moon in a solar year, which is not to be counted when it occurs, thereby synchronizing the lunar months with the seasons. This classification does not need any man made and arbitrarily determined months or years.
Peace
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Peace,
If you live in a tropic region then I'm sure you have a season where it is hotter than other seasons. If it is the the same all year long then just pick one month out of the year to fast in.
Peace,
I used to disagree with the extreme heat idea. But now I do agree with it. However, there had to be some reconciliation with grammatical features. The only way it works is if shah-ru ramadaana is read s shahru-rramadaana and understood as shah-run ramadaanan, which would equal shah-run saifan, and the alladhee has to refer to the Quran, and the hi in feehi to God/ in it(referring to the month). Therefore shahruramadaana (A month of during heat (literally heat-wise) alladhee unzila feehi al-quraanu (what was revealed in it, was this reading (the Quran).
So definitely I agree that we should fast for 30 days during our summer (extremely/consistently hot) seasons. And if we have to suffer through this to complete this task then we can make it up by feeding someone in need for each day of fasting we miss.
As for a month being 30 days I've discussed this in other posts and shown how the Quran consistenly relates a month (shahrun) to 30 days.
The one case where it would seem it doesn't is not equalling the daily fasting to it's compensation but mentioning compensation for another act (being when separate from out wives out of enmity and animosity, even violently)For a site with this info you can go to
www.quranists.com and go to the link "Times for hajj and Ramadan"Godbless,
AnwarP.S. Shahru ramadaana is not possesive. Seconly shahrun does not mean full moon. This is not a definition of the word to be found in any dictionary. Lastly 1 full moon to another full moon is not a shahr if shahr just means full moon, which it doesn't. The only way to understand sharu ramadaan is as a pronunciation of shahrun ramadanan which would equal shah-run saifan. or A month in summer (time of constant or extreme heat).