As discussed below, Ramadan is the Muslim holy month of fasting and Eid is the celebration marking the end of the fasting period. Sounds straight-forward, right?
BUT, what happens when you follow a lunar calendar, and must read that calendar from a specific point in the desert, and thus cannot pin down exactly when Eid is supposed to take place?
Let me explain.
A few days ago, a cryptic message appeared in the paper: "Government employees will have five days off for Eid, and private-sector will have two days. If Eid is on Friday, government employees will go back to work on Tuesday, but if it is on Saturday, then they will go back on Wednesday. " Whhhhaaaat?
Harry and I puzzled over this. He thinks that the end of fasting, or Eid, is marked by the first glimpse of the moon on or after the 40th day of fasting. That sounds reasonable, so why the uncertainty? WELL. If it is the middle of a lunar cycle, than no problem--you are guaranteed a glimpse of some kind, at some point on Friday night. Thus Eid will be on Friday. But, what if it is new moon? so there is no moon to be glimpsed on Friday? Then you have to wait until Saturday for your glimpse, and thus Eid will be on Saturday. When it comes to determining exactly when a new moon is, I guess it is difficult to be precise about whether it will be before or after midnight (since new moon is essentially no moon) so you can't say in advance if Eid is on Friday or Saturday, you must let nature unfold as she will. (in my completely untrained version of astronomy and the lunar cycle).
Now for the practical application:
I have been going to Jazzercise at the fitness center across the freeway for fun, company, and counter-delicious-food purposes. Classes are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (uh-oh). So this morning, the inevitable question is raised--do we have class on Saturday? The teacher says, uhhh, here is the deal. If Eid is on Saturday, then the fitness center will be closed and we can't get in so we won't have class. But if Eid is on Friday, then the fitness center will be open on Saturday, so we can get in and we can have class. So, basically, check your paper to see when Eid is and then you will know when class is. Clear as mud right?
PS: At the time of this posting (3PM Thursday) Harry still does not know when the "workplace" place will be closed, so maybe he will have Sunday off (Sunday is Monday here) or maybe not. So much for planning a weekend holiday getaway!!!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
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4 comments:
It's actually 30 and not 40 days of fasting!
Welcome to the classical dilemma in the muslim community!!! Yea....that moonsighting issue has been the cause of distress loool. Since you live in a muslim city they're probably all united on one day to celebrate eid. In the US however different groups of people want to follow different rules. There's the people that say you have to physically sight the moon and there's a group that says you can go by scientific calculation of when the new moon is supposed to be present regardless of sighting and there' speople who just go by whatever their ancestral country is doing thus we all end up celebrating on different days and we still don't know what we're doing in advance LOOOOL.
Trying explaining to your boss why you're not sure if you're going to need wednesday or thursday off!
Yes, clear as mud.
Quit exercising - your pregnant friend down here in Big D wants to hear about FOOD.
Tell me - what's good, are there any swanky sushi places, Irish pubs, desserts, etc.
what about pics???? WE WANT PICS!!!
Just send me pics of food. Just kidding. Glad to hear you are staying busy - miss you!
Nelly
Thanks for the correction Asoom! I think I got mixed up with the 40 days in the desert for Jesus (or something--don't test my grasp of Christian history either! As a note, on Friday morning the paper specified that Eid "in the UAE" was Friday. :-)
This is very interesting. I think that is really cool that nature still gets to define some things!
so how are the english and irish pubs?
Love you!
Renee
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