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  4. Shahr/month in the light of the quran

Shahr/month in the light of the quran

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Questions/Comments on the Quran
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  • U Offline
    U Offline
    unknownuser
    wrote on last edited by
    #113

    Peace be upon you Ayman,

    At this stage, I think that the etymology of the word "ramadhan" suggests that it is the time when the sun is at its highest point of the year (scorching/smallest shadow) and the days are longest and this happens on the summer solstice. Hence, the first full-moon after the summer solstice would be the full-moon of "ramadhan". There are other signs that talk about the relationship between the sun and the shadow as one of "guide". As for the "scorcher/bright/penetrating", it could describe many things other than Sirius.

    Yes, I agree that it is summer solstice, I only mention sirius because I was under the assumption that Sirius comes just before the summer solstice.

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    • U Offline
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      unknownuser
      wrote on last edited by
      #114

      Peace be upon you Mozmahe,

      Prove that the change is not drastic for the southern hemisphere, then you have a point. One cannot equate salaat times with that because a fundamental change is the hot season in the northern hemisphere corresponds to winter from where I am i.e. the southern tropics. I am not buying your arguments for the time being.

      Please elaborate on the drastic change, I am not sure what you mean. Are you saying that it is not so because it is not hot everywhere at the same time? I am not following, please clarify so I can try to answer.

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        shuaib
        wrote on last edited by
        #115

        salams,

        i think we're getting carried away here with the meaning of ramadan. the meaning of the word indicates severe heat, and here we are talking about solstices and sirius.

        You would think that if such were the case, there would be some other detail in the Quran. Some mention of the sun or something other than the word ramadan that from every source I have seen, was the name of a calendrical month BEFORE Islam.

        SPLITTING THE UMMAH
        As far as the solstice goes... why on earth would the Muslim unified ummah be split up in such a way? With half fasting one part of the year, the other half fasting the other part of the year (as the solstice is different in the different hemispheres). Not only that, but god forbid you end up at the equator cuz then you're screwed.

        LEXICONS?
        Now if you look at the lexicons where you found the meaning severe heat... you'll also find that ramadan was the name of a month even BEFORE Islam. And in fact there was another older name for that month, but all the months were renamed at one point... It was named ramadan because in those days the month occurred when there was severe heat. This is evident in some other names of the month, such as rabee' awwal and thaani (spring).

        So as far as the case for the "summer solstice" goes, it is definitely not clear cut and definitely not the ONLY way to interpret the verses. And since it would entail splitting the ummah into 2 for fasting, I say it's also unfavorable.

        SUMMER SOLSTICE=SCORCHING HEAT?
        Not only that, but ramadan's root is severe heat, but who says severe heat MUST mean the summer solstice? Is there evidence that the Arabs followed the summer solstice? And as far as the connection between summer solstice and heat

        "For those of us living in latitudes north of 45 degrees, it is natural to consider the Summer Solstice as the start of summer weather as well because the three warmest months of the year are usually June, July and August. The lag in air temperature behind the solar intensity peak is due to the use of much of the Spring solar energy to melt snow and ice, heat land surfaces and warm waters from their winter chill. In continental areas such as the Canadian Prairie Provinces and American Plains States, annual temperature cycle peaks from late July to early August, whereas in the Pacific Northwest, the warmest stretch of days annually occurs from late August to early September. That extra month is required to heat the cold Pacific waters offshore."

        Why longest days aren't the hottest days

        Each year on June 20 or 21, the sun reaches its highest point in the Northern Hemisphere sky ? the summer solstice. Days around the time of the summer solstice are the year's longest. Even with the year's longest days, however, the hottest weather arrives about a month later for most places. The graphic here uses Chicago as an example of how the hottest weather lags the longest days of the year. This happens because even as the days grow shorter, the amount of solar heat arriving at the ground is greater than the amount of heat leaving the earth. The days continue growing hotter as heat accumulates. Weather begins cooling when the balance shifts to more heat leaving than arriving. Temperature figures here are 30-year averages."

        http//www.usatoday.com/weather/walm2.htm

        wassalam

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        • WakasW Offline
          WakasW Offline
          Wakas
          wrote on last edited by
          #116

          peace brother shuaib,

          There has been some interesting discussions on Sirius in the past. Click "search" at the top and type in "sirius" and the relevant threads should appear, if you're interested.

          Wakas

          All information is correct to the best of my knowledge only and thus should not be taken as a fact. One should always seek knowledge and verify for themselves when possible: 17:36, 20:114, 35:28, 49:6, 58:11.

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          • ? Offline
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            A Former User
            wrote on last edited by
            #117

            Peace,

            What I am implying is very simple. Assumptions Ramadhan was the month in which the reading was revealed and Jibril brings those revelations and Jibril is an unseen being. Let us take this simple scenario During the times of the messenger, it is Ramadhan and he is receiving the revelation and for some reason he was able to go to the southern hemisphere the next day, Are you implying then that he should wait a few months to receive the revelations again. Or Jibril can only accede to the northern hemisphere at certain times and not the other. This will also mean that the night of "destiny" is not fixed.

            Regards

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            • U Offline
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              unknownuser
              wrote on last edited by
              #118

              Peace be upon you all,

              I am not sure what the issue is regarding timing. Please consider again that everyone in the world establishes thier "salaat" at dawn. The Entire world does not have dawn at the same time, so why is there a problem with abstaining being a different time?

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              • S Offline
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                shuaib
                wrote on last edited by
                #119

                salam br idolfree,

                salat is not at the same EXACT time because obviously that would be very inconvenient for some people to wake up 3 times during their sleep to pray and then go the whole day without praying. Obviously DAILY schedules cannot coincide precisely...

                but even despite this... an amazing fact is that the aathaan goes around the world. Ever thought about that? When it is time for salat and athaan is given in one location, earth continues to rotate, each zone calls its athaan until it goes around the world. I think that's amazing. A unified Muslim ummah with an athaan that can be heard around the world like a domino effect. Same goes for breaking fast (iftaar). The iftaar that goes around the world! )

                Compare that to the bizarre notion of everyone above the equator fast one part of the year, everyone below fast another part. That IS splitting the ummah CLEARLY in half. That is an unacceptable policy. AND, in my opinion, it has little or no support from the Quran either.

                wassalam

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                • G Offline
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                  Grourself
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #120

                  Peace,

                  Which Adan is that? Not the Allahu Akbar perversion of God's divine attributes? Say it ain't so. cry

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                  • S Offline
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                    shuaib
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #121

                    grourself,

                    enlighten us, is there more than one thing we call aathaan?

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                    • U Offline
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                      unknownuser
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #122

                      Peace be upon you Shuiab,

                      That sounded very fancy, but the TRUTH is that salaat times ARE NOT the same, likewise, the timing for abstaining does not need to be the same either. The "dominoe effect" excuse you gave just does not work. Further, there is no ritualistic call to salaat, calling to salaat is simpy telling others to maintain thier salaat, not posing for the cameras and singing.

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                        shuaib
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #123

                        salam idolfree,

                        so you dont believe in the physical aspect of salat? That is another discussion... i'm not going to follow your little red herrings you like to plant in every conversation.

                        the point is that you dont want to physically establish salat, and you want to split the ummah in half for fasting... i dont.

                        ANYONE, who purports ideas that split the ummah is damaging the ummah. Pure and simple.

                        1. And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you That ye may be guided.

                        As I have pointed out, there is overwhelming evidence and reasons AGAINST using the summer solstice for ramadan... just ONE of them is the fact that ummah would be split into 2 for fasting (there are OTHER reasons too). There IS meaning to doing things together... physical salat (which you dont believe in) and fasting.

                        If you are going to be so narrow-minded that you can't understand why someone across the globe won't wake up 3 times at night to pray... then what else can i tell you. i am sure my points are well taken by those who are actually looking for the answer and not just sticking to their guns.

                        wassalam

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                        • U Offline
                          U Offline
                          unknownuser
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #124

                          Peace be upon you Shuiab,

                          so you dont believe in the physical aspect of salat?

                          If you mean PHYSICALLY opening the book that has been called "Quran", and PHYSICALLY moving my eyes across the page, then yes, it is physical. But if you mean Physically getting on the ground, then no, that is not supported by this reading(quran).

                          That is another discussion... i'm not going to follow your little red herrings you like to plant in every conversation.

                          Let me know when you are ready to discuss it. Please let the red herring comments rest, they distract from the debate.

                          the point is that you dont want to physically establish salat, and you want to split the ummah in half for fasting... i dont.

                          Nonsense. Fisrt, PROVE the traditional salaat before you start slinging accusations.

                          ANYONE, who purports ideas that split the ummah is damaging the ummah. Pure and simple.

                          You act like the UMMAH is what the sunnis do!! It is THEY who devised the sect, and we are all trying to escape it, yet you want us to remain in that sect. So keep doing what your fathers did, that is up to you, I know better and can prove it.

                          1. And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you That ye may be guided.

                          As I have pointed out, there is overwhelming evidence and reasons AGAINST using the summer solstice for ramadan... just ONE of them is the fact that ummah would be split into 2 for fasting (there are OTHER reasons too). There IS meaning to doing things together... physical salat (which you dont believe in) and fasting.

                          So is salaat split in 5? You need to have patience and do more studying and less "just believing".

                          If you are going to be so narrow-minded that you can't understand why someone across the globe won't wake up 3 times at night to pray... then what else can i tell you. i am sure my points are well taken by those who are actually looking for the answer and not just sticking to their guns.

                          Yes, it is only a matter of time before the insults come You will ALWAYS have doubt when you thinnk about how salaat times are different around tthe world, but you want abstaining to be the same.

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                            shuaib
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #125

                            salam idolfree,

                            there is no more to say to you. the points are crystal clear for those who wish to understand.

                            by the way, why dont you wake up tonight and eat your lunch and dinner during the night.

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                            • A Offline
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                              ayman
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #126

                              Peace brother Shuaib, all,

                              ANYONE, who purports ideas that split the ummah is damaging the ummah. Pure and simple.

                              1. And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you That ye may be guided.

                              As I have pointed out, there is overwhelming evidence and reasons AGAINST using the summer solstice for ramadan... just ONE of them is the fact that ummah would be split into 2 for fasting (there are OTHER reasons too). There IS meaning to doing things together... physical salat (which you dont believe in) and fasting.

                              There is no doubt that we should not divide ourselves (for example into sects). However, unity is a natural outcome of holding to the rope of Allah NOT of holding to the fantasies and falsehoods of sectarians.

                              Despite abstaining in the same time every year, we see that the so-called "ummah" (whatever that means) that you refer to is FAR from united and hence abstaining on the same time didn't help anything. Similarly, sectarians can be seen bowing and putting their forehead on the floor at the same time and yet they are far from united and even if they stand on their head or do any other acrobatics at the same time, I doubt that it will unite them.

                              Therefore the only thing you prove by appealing to the unity of the so-called "ummah" is that you have been listening to such empty slogans for a long time and you are simply blindly repeating them.

                              The ONLY way to unity is to hold to the rope of The God, the Truth wherever that leads us and NOT by holding to sectrian false traditions.

                              Salam,

                              Ayman

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                              • S Offline
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                                shuaib
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #127

                                salam br ayman,

                                nice to hear from you again. however, i'm going to have to dispel some incorrect notions you have about what i am saying, as well as perhaps some faulty logic.

                                it is true that the ummah is far from united. but you cannot simply conclude that since the ummah is not united, therefore anything they do is wrong.

                                If a clock is dismantled and each of the pieces is laid on the table... well damn, the clock is not going to work but that does not mean that each of the pieces is flawed... it's just that the pieces aren't put together in a way that will produce the desired results.

                                the rituals performed by muslims today are unfortunately just that, rituals and nothing more. they have a purpose, but the purpose is lost and only the acts now remain. But do not condemn each of the acts because it is not in a working system... army drills are important in strengthening the army and preparing them for challenges... but when the army is disbanded and disunited, do not condemn the drills... there's nothing wrong with the drills, it's something wrong with the army.

                                hopefully i have demonstrated to you what i mean, and that i am not just calling for empty slogans and "blindly" repeating them.

                                Ramadan, salat, and other aspects of islam are parts of the system that unfortunately are laid on the table.. separate pieces, with their functions lost since the clock itself is dismantled... army drills that are performed by individuals instead of an army, without a sense of what the drill is for or how it will be applied.

                                Our unity will inshallah, develop through adhering to the message of the Quran... and the message of the Quran is NOT a message that should create factions in the ummah... it should eradicate them. Any interpretations which lead to factions cannot be right.

                                wassalam

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                                • A Offline
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                                  ayman
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #128

                                  Salam brother Shuaib,

                                  it is true that the ummah is far from united. but you cannot simply conclude that since the ummah is not united, therefore anything they do is wrong.

                                  You are the one who said that people must abstain on the same time to be "united". I simply demonstrated that what you are saying is false because people who do abstain on the same time are NOT united. Hence, abstaining or not abstaining on the same time is irrelevant to unity.

                                  If a clock is dismantled and each of the pieces is laid on the table... well damn, the clock is not going to work but that does not mean that each of the pieces is flawed... it's just that the pieces aren't put together in a way that will produce the desired results.

                                  Your clock is not only broken but even when assembled, it gives the wrong time. Hence, it is totally useless like all sectarian rituals.

                                  the rituals performed by muslims today are unfortunately just that, rituals and nothing more.

                                  Rituals are "rituals". What a momentous discovery

                                  they have a purpose, but the purpose is lost and only the acts now remain.

                                  If they have a purpose then they stop being a ritual and they become a process. A proces has input, output, and a purpose. For example, the "salat"/learning process has input (the great reading), output (hearing and obeying), and purpose (rememberance of The God).

                                  On the other hand, as you made the discovery above, a ritual is just a ritual. It is not connected to purpose. Hence, rituals do not change in order for example to better achieve the purpose. On the other hand, a process is connected to purpose and hence must be continuously improved to better achieve the purpose.

                                  But do not condemn each of the acts because it is not in a working system... army drills are important in strengthening the army and preparing them for challenges... but when the army is disbanded and disunited, do not condemn the drills... there's nothing wrong with the drills, it's something wrong with the army.

                                  If the drills are just making 2, 4, 4, 3, 4 daily movements with a sword then the drills are indeed wrong and useless. That is why modern armies change their drills every year and now involve learning information technology, remote sensing technology, etc.

                                  hopefully i have demonstrated to you what i mean, and that i am not just calling for empty slogans and "blindly" repeating them.

                                  Besides demonstrating that you would not make a good army general, you have confirmed that you have been deceived by those empty slogans of unity. You have also demonstrated that you don't know that unity is an effect and not a cause or an end in itself. It is an effect of holding on to the rope of The God, the Truth. Holding to the rope of The God is the ONLY thing we should strive to. After that, unity will naturally result amongst those who have faith.

                                  Ramadan, salat, and other aspects of islam are parts of the system that unfortunately are laid on the table.. separate pieces, with their functions lost since the clock itself is dismantled... army drills that are performed by individuals instead of an army, without a sense of what the drill is for or how it will be applied.

                                  If you know what those terms "ramadan" and "salat" mean then please translate them.

                                  Our unity will inshallah, develop through adhering to the message of the Quran... and the message of the Quran is NOT a message that should create factions in the ummah... it should eradicate them. Any interpretations which lead to factions cannot be right.

                                  I hear sectarians all the time saying that we should "adhere to the message of the Quran" but this is nothing more than an empty slogan because they in fact adhere to the so-called "ummah". Your logic demonstrates how the concept of "ijma3"/popular concensus came about. You assume that an interpretation that would fall in line with the majority is the correct one. The fact is that what you are proposing is the well-known logical fallacy of "appeal to popularity". I am sorry but no reasonable person should base anything on a logical fallacy, no matter how popular.

                                  Peace on who followed the guidance,

                                  Ayman

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                                  • S Offline
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                                    shuaib
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #129

                                    salams ayman,

                                    i dont know what i've done to you that you feel compelled to try and prove me wrong even if it means purposely misunderstanding what i am trying to say. are we playing the game of lawyers here or are we trying to be constructive?

                                    I mentioned rituals, but i think you know perfectly well what my intention was. Waking up in the morning and brushing your teeth can be described as a ritual, since it is a routine action done in the similar way each day...but it has a purpose too. When I said that the rituals have become just rituals, perhaps i was being vague but the meaning should have been clear to you... but if you want to play the game of lawyers then i will just be more careful how i phrase things. What I meant was that the rituals at one time had purpose and were part of a working system... but the meaning was lost and now they are purposeless rituals.

                                    You are the one who said that people must abstain on the same time to be "united".

                                    Bro, again are you playing the game of a lawyer? It is perfectly clear what I intended... and my intention was not to say that fasting at the same time MAGICALLY results in perfect harmony.

                                    My point was that BREAKING up the fast into 2 sections for various people DAMAGES unity.


                                    Your clock is not only broken but even when assembled, it gives the wrong time. Hence, it is totally useless like all sectarian rituals.

                                    Do you ever just get the point? Did you even understand the analogy I was giving? Or are you just going to play games with the analogy i presented in order to clarify my points.


                                    If the drills are just making 2, 4, 4, 3, 4 daily movements with a sword then the drills are indeed wrong and useless. That is why modern armies change their drills every year and now involve learning information technology, remote sensing technology, etc.

                                    Again, playing the game of a lawyer. By drill OBVIOUSLY i meant a drill that prepares for battle, WHATEVER that may be. The whole point was that these things you want to dismiss, they are just that... important drills, but there have been factions already created based on OTHER things... so even though the fast is kept, because there already are factions, it will not result in the appropriate results OR its results will be greatly diminished.

                                    Anyway, you can respond when you calm down and decide to have a constructive discussion. You ended your email that I was appealing to popularity etc etc, a ridiculous claim.

                                    All I said was that you cannot throw away all the pieces of the clock just because it's not working. Just because the clock is stopped, it is not a license to condemn every part of it for being faulty.

                                    IN OTHER WORDS, if you are going to claim that any particular ritual is seriously flawed... you cannot use our present DISUNITY as an EXCUSE to do it... because that can be a manifestation based on many other serious problems, like leaving the Quran and adhering more to hadith and not using their minds and closing off ijtihaad and making bid'a forbidden and scholar worship and peer-worship etc etc etc there are SO many reasons for disunity... and to make the argument that since we are disunited clearly the way we fast is incorrect, is a totally fallacious illogical argument. It might be a true statement, but you're arriving at that statement through a fallacious illogical argument. THAT was my point, my lawyer friend. (you didn't explicitly make this claim, but that is exactly what you are implying with your tirade on rituals). THAT was the point of the analogy.

                                    Find a better argument (i.e. one that is logical), that's the bottom line.

                                    wassalam

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                                    • A Offline
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                                      ayman
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #130

                                      Salam brother Shuaib,

                                      i dont know what i've done to you that you feel compelled to try and prove me wrong even if it means purposely misunderstanding what i am trying to say. are we playing the game of lawyers here or are we trying to be constructive?

                                      I don't know you and I can only understand you by what you say here. It is not my problem that what you say is illogical. If you take demanding logical arguments and exposing illogical arguments as "playing a game of lawyer" then please tell the readers of this forum what you would like them to do. Should I simply agree to your illogical arguments for the sake of "unity"? Of course not, and I wouldn't want you to agree to any illogical arguments of mine either. Appeal to unity and popularity are NOT logical arguments and that is a fact. It is not my problem that you take things personally and feel offended when I point this fact out to you.

                                      I mentioned rituals, but i think you know perfectly well what my intention was. Waking up in the morning and brushing your teeth can be described as a ritual, since it is a routine action done in the similar way each day...but it has a purpose too.

                                      No it is not a ritual. It is a tooth cleaning process. Hence, it is not the same as 100 years ago. People now use electric toothbrushes and Fluoride toothpaste. In the future, the way people brush their teeth will be totally different.

                                      When I said that the rituals have become just rituals, perhaps i was being vague but the meaning should have been clear to you... but if you want to play the game of lawyers then i will just be more careful how i phrase things. What I meant was that the rituals at one time had purpose and were part of a working system... but the meaning was lost and now they are purposeless rituals.

                                      Rituals don't have a purpose. A process has a purpose. Hence, rituals are static and mechanical while a process is dynamic and involves understanding.

                                      Bro, again are you playing the game of a lawyer? It is perfectly clear what I intended... and my intention was not to say that fasting at the same time MAGICALLY results in perfect harmony.

                                      My point was that BREAKING up the fast into 2 sections for various people DAMAGES unity.

                                      Your point is baseless. The only thing that can result in unity is holding on to the rope of The God and the only thing that can break unity is not holding on to the rope of The God, the Truth.

                                      You were unable to show any evidence from the great reading that the abstinence must be done at the same time and hence you resort to empty slogans, appeal to unity and appeal to popularity.

                                      Do you ever just get the point? Did you even understand the analogy I was giving? Or are you just going to play games with the analogy i presented in order to clarify my points.

                                      Your analogy is valid and I just demonstrated using your analogy that the whole can only be as good as the parts. If the parts are bad then the whole will inevitably be bad. This is a common analogy part vs whole (in this case of a clock). Again, it is not my problem that you don't understand the implications of your own analogy.

                                      Again, playing the game of a lawyer. By drill OBVIOUSLY i meant a drill that prepares for battle, WHATEVER that may be.

                                      Exactly, hence the drill changes and continuously improve to win the battle. You don't just keep doing the same 2,4,4,3,4 mechnical routine. If you disagree then tell us why 2,4,4,3,4 and why not 4,4,2,5,6?

                                      The whole point was that these things you want to dismiss, they are just that... important drills, but there have been factions already created based on OTHER things... so even though the fast is kept, because there already are factions, it will not result in the appropriate results OR its results will be greatly diminished.

                                      If they are so important then why are those who are diligently doing it losing the battle (to use your army drills analogy). Their "drills" doesn't prohibit them from evil. The fact is that the purpose of abstinance is not your fantacized unity.

                                      Anyway, you can respond when you calm down and decide to have a constructive discussion. You ended your email that I was appealing to popularity etc etc, a ridiculous claim.

                                      All I said was that you cannot throw away all the pieces of the clock just because it's not working. Just because the clock is stopped, it is not a license to condemn every part of it for being faulty.

                                      You are the one who brough this analogy. Now you are not happy when I point out the fact that a clock is only as good as its parts.

                                      IN OTHER WORDS, if you are going to claim that any particular ritual is seriously flawed... you cannot use our present DISUNITY as an EXCUSE to do it...

                                      I am not the one who brought the EXCUSE of unity or disunity. My arguments were strictly based on the great reading and physical archeological evidence as confirmed by the great reading. YOU are the one who brought the bogus excuse of unity into the discussion.

                                      because that can be a manifestation based on many other serious problems, like leaving the Quran and adhering more to hadith and not using their minds and closing off ijtihaad and making bid'a forbidden and scholar worship and peer-worship etc etc etc there are SO many reasons for disunity... and to make the argument that since we are disunited clearly the way we fast is incorrect, is a totally fallacious illogical argument. It might be a true statement, but you're arriving at that statement through a fallacious illogical argument. THAT was my point, my lawyer friend. (you didn't explicitly make this claim, but that is exactly what you are implying with your tirade on rituals). THAT was the point of the analogy.

                                      Like those that you criticizee, you too are leaving the great reading, which tells you to abstain during the "shahr" of "ramadan"/extreme heat for the sake of bogus unity.

                                      As for your slogans of unity and clock analogies, you are the one who brought them not me. It is not my problem that those analogies actually refute your argument and hence, you ended up refuting your own argument.

                                      Find a better argument (i.e. one that is logical), that's the bottom line.

                                      My only advice, is find an argument based on the truth from the great reading instead of empty but popular slogans that never guided anyone.

                                      Peace on who followed the guidance,

                                      Ayman

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                                        shuaib
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #131

                                        salams ayman,

                                        just labelling my argument as illogical proves nothing.

                                        No it is not a ritual. It is a tooth cleaning process. Hence, it is not the same as 100 years ago. People now use electric toothbrushes and Fluoride toothpaste. In the future, the way people brush their teeth will be totally different.

                                        Rituals don't have a purpose. A process has a purpose. Hence, rituals are static and mechanical while a process is dynamic and involves understanding.

                                        Ok, so now we are having a debate on the English word ritual. Good grief.

                                        ritual

                                        noun {C or U}

                                        a set of fixed actions and sometimes words performed regularly, especially as part of a ceremony

                                        • Coffee and the newspaper are part of my morning ritual.

                                        • The birds were performing a complex mating ritual.

                                        http//www.freesearch.co.uk/dictionary/ritual

                                        I used ritual in THIS sense. Ok??? Rituals CAN have purpose... it's an English word that can be used to refer to actions with purpose that have become ROUTINE.

                                        Your point is baseless. The only thing that can result in unity is holding on to the rope of The God and the only thing that can break unity is not holding on to the rope of The God, the Truth.

                                        Here is where you are playing your games. I said that breaking the fast into 2 sections DAMAGES unity. And this is your response?

                                        Let's face it... you just dont want to come out and say it but I will say it for you. What you believe, but for some odd reason are reluctant to just come out and say it clearly... is that if the "ummah" is ALREADY unified, then fasting in 2 groups will not damage the unity and your meaning for ramadan can thus be accepted.

                                        The reason you are not coming out and saying it (i surmise) is because the mere fact of having to state it suggests that it is an action that can damage unity.

                                        But unity is a dynamic concept, not a static one. Each aspect of Islam and it's principles/duties PROMOTE this unity... and there is no reason whatsoever to break up Muslims into 2 groups for fasting. But that is another discussion which has already been beaten to death.

                                        Your analogy is valid and I just demonstrated using your analogy that the whole can only be as good as the parts.

                                        You are the one who brough this analogy. Now you are not happy when I point out the fact that a clock is only as good as its parts.

                                        You missed the entire point of the analogy. The analogy was meant to point out your faulty logic. Have you become THAT fixated that you can't even be expected to understand a simple analogy... you are getting carried away with the analogy and not answering the POINT of the analogy.

                                        The POINT was that your logic is faulty... the logic which states that since the clock isn't working all the parts are garbage. Do you understand that this is a totally fallacious argument?? Can you acknowledge this point before you go about playing games with analogies.

                                        If you disagree then tell us why 2,4,4,3,4 and why not 4,4,2,5,6?

                                        Do you even know what you are saying? You yourself are claiming that Ramadan is timed on the summer solstice, and that the ummah would fast in 2 different groups. How is this all of a sudden dynamic and changing? That is JUST as fixed a principle as Ramadan occuring according to a lunar calendar, except that the ummah would fast in 1 group, not 2.

                                        If they are so important then why are those who are diligently doing it losing the battle (to use your army drills analogy). Their "drills" doesn't prohibit them from evil. The fact is that the purpose of abstinance is not your fantacized unity.

                                        Bro, it's a simple concept really. I dont know why it's so hard to get a simple point across. Doing one thing right, is not going to negate doing 100 things wrong. Fighting and bickering and worshipping ancestors, and then coming together to fast as one... heck it's better than nothing, but it's not going to "win the battle." Is this so hard to understand? NO ONE is saying that fasting as one nation will cure ALL our mistakes.

                                        But you are bent on saying this because it aids your cause... you're desperate to prove that since ramadan/fasting the way I have described does not result in unity, therefore it is wrong. And of course then by DEFAULT, your idea would be considered valid (which you apparently avoid talking about directly since it clearly divides a group into 2). This is a real slick/devious way of talking about straightforward things.

                                        wassalam

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                                          ayman
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #132

                                          Peace brother Shuaib,

                                          Bro, it's a simple concept really. I dont know why it's so hard to get a simple point across. Doing one thing right, is not going to negate doing 100 things wrong. Fighting and bickering and worshipping ancestors, and then coming together to fast as one... heck it's better than nothing, but it's not going to "win the battle." Is this so hard to understand? NO ONE is saying that fasting as one nation will cure ALL our mistakes.

                                          But you are bent on saying this because it aids your cause... you're desperate to prove that since ramadan/fasting the way I have described does not result in unity, therefore it is wrong. And of course then by DEFAULT, your idea would be considered valid (which you apparently avoid talking about directly since it clearly divides a group into 2). This is a real slick/devious way of talking about straightforward things.

                                          Notice how once again you don't heed my advice and hence utterly fail to support your arguments from the great reading. You are in fact ignoring the great reading (see 2185) and the clear Arabic meaning of the word "ramadhan" in favor of following the misguided majority. You seem to think that the most important thing is to unite with the majority hypocrites and idolaters. It is not thus surprising then that like them you forget about what the great reading says and resort to your empty slogans of "unity" and nonsensical analogies.

                                          I have seen many poeple who like you jumped on the Hadith rejection bandwagon as it gained popularity and when it became "cool" to reject nonsensical Hadiths. However, they forgot that the objective is not to reject Hadiths. The objective is to follow the TRUTH, even if that TRUTH is different than what the majority follows. If you truly want real unity, then hold on to the rope of The God, the Truth and not the rope of the majority that you call unity.

                                          Peace on who followed the guidance,

                                          Ayman

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