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A well-known historical figure who became dictator of what was previously the Roman Republic after its civil war. Among other things, he established the Julian Calendar.
Asia
A celebration beginning with a giving of alms called Zakat-Al-Fitr followed by an Eid prayer that closely resembles the Muslim Friday congregational prayer. After this prayer, the rest of the day and the two following, the Muslim community enjoys a time of exchanging gifts between family and friends. It is one of two religious celebrations for Muslims.
It is one of two religious celebrations for Muslims. It takes place after the completion of the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. We also associate it with commemorating the willingness of the well-known Prophet Abraham to sacrifice one of his sons in obedience to his Creator.
An initial greeting given by Muslims during the time if one of the two major celebrations for Muslims.
In the New York City area, it may start either the night of April 12th or 13th. More than likely the night of the 13th.
The Gregorian and Islamic Calendars
One of the benefits of the Ramadan 2021 conversation is it gives us a chance to talk about calendars in general. We can start with the Gregorian Calendar we currently use here in the United States.
The Gregorian Calendar is the product of calendar reforms to the Julian Calendar established by Julius Caesar. Caesar is the well-known historical figure who became dictator of what was previously the Roman Republic after its civil war.
These reforms, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, were meant to correct the slight inaccuracy in the previous calculation of the solar year of 365.25 days. At that time, a calculation of 365.2422 days was determined to be a more accurate value. As a result, a correction was made to the calendar for previous days that were lost and future century years would not be counted as leap years if they were divisible by 400.
The Gregorian Calendar is a solar calendar, while what we call the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. A lunar calendar is based on what is called synodic months which are marked by moon phases.
Ramadan 2021 is Approaching
Ready or not, Ramadan 2021 is fast approaching. Fasting during Ramadan, the ninth month on the Islamic Calendar, is considered one of the 5 pillars of Al-Islam. This month is a lunar month, so there are 29 or 30 days of Ramadan followed by a three-day celebration called Eid-Al-Fitr.
This celebration begins with a giving of alms called Zakat-Al-Fitr followed by an Eid prayer that closely resembles the Friday congregational prayer. After this prayer, the rest of the day and the two following, the Muslim community enjoys a time of exchanging gifts between family and friends.
Eid-Al-Fitr is one of two religious celebrations for Muslims. The other is Eid-Al-Adha that takes place after the completion of the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. We also associate Eid-Al-Adha with commemorating the willingness of the well-known Prophet Abraham to sacrifice one of his sons in obedience to his Creator, so in some ways, it is a festival of sacrifice. Everyone celebrates the Eids — not just those who participated in the fast or the pilgrimage.
Digging Deeper
The ‘29 or 30 day’ thing can be confusing to some– even Muslims. The closest comparison I can think of is the leap years and leap days on the Gregorian Calendar. Gregorian Calendar years do not always have 365 days and February does not always have 28 days.
Following similar logic, lunar months do not always have 30 days. Sometimes they have 29, again, depending on the sighting of the moon. Further, if you do a little math you can determine the date of Ramadan is about 10-11 days earlier on the Solar Calendar each year. Taking your curiosity further, you may wonder how many years would it take to have Ramadan fall on roughly the same day again. The answer there is 33 years.
Let us all make our intentions to have a blessed Ramadan. I look forward to saying Eid Mubarak (Blessed Eid) to you all at the end of this transformational time.
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References
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Gregorian calendar”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Sep. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gregorian-calendar. Accessed 9 April 2021.
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Julian calendar”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Jul. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/science/Julian-calendar. Accessed 9 April 2021.
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Roman Republic”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Feb. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/place/Roman-Republic. Accessed 9 April 2021.
- Ramadan 2021: Islamic Traditions, obligatory fasting rules for Muslims in Ramzan. https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/festivals/ramadan-2021-islamic-traditions-obligatory-fasting-rules-for-muslims-in-ramzan-101618024003665.html . Accessed 11 April 2021.Ramadan
- 2021: Fasting hours around the world. Accessed 11 April 2021. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/7/ramadan-2021-fasting-hours-around-the-world . Accessed 11 April 2021.
