Hello Marcedes!
Welcome to our forum. :) Thank you for your questions, which I will do my best to answer.
Your write:
My first question is Did Ramadan start today or does id start tomorrow?
I believe akhee answered this already, but just to be sure, the difference of opinion regarding when Ramadan starts is due to the moon-sighting. Thus, for some Muslims, they began their Ramadan on Tuesday, and for others, their Ramadan begins on Wednesday.
And I know that it is obilgatory for all muslims, but can a non muslim fast during the month of Ramadan with the same intentions of gaining spiritual devotions as a muslim?
This is an interesting question. As for the part, "can a non-muslim fast during the month of Ramadan", then the answer is of course you are a free person and may do as you desire. However, the next part of the question "gaining spiritual devotions" is interesting because it appears to me as though you agree with the Islamic practice of fasting and would like to benefit from it yourself. My advice to you would be, if you appreciate one Islamic practice, why don't you study Islam and discover the many other beautiful practices that await, all of which bring creation closer to their Merciful Creator.
Fasting is not just about sympathizing with the poor and needy, although that plays a part. Fasting is about increasing one's control over their desires and training oneself to focus less on the material world and more on coming closer to the Creator. For more information on fasting, I suggest you read the following article:
http://www.islamtoday.net/english/sh...sub_cat_id=713
Your desire to draw closer to your Lord through fasting is admirable, but it seems reasonable that one first ensure that they have understood and accepted their Lord's message. Which brings me to your question about the Qur'an:
which Quran should I read from for the clearest explanations, the Holy Quran or the Noble Quran?
As mentioned early, there is only one Qur'an. There are no multiple versions of the Qur'an. The Qur'an that was revealed by Allah is in the arabic language and its meanings have been translated by human beings. The only differences amongst the translations is just in choosing different words, but they all have the same meaning.
The best translation I can suggest is:
Al-Qur'an : Guidance for Mankind
This is probably the latest translation available, done by Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam, and it takes a new approach by translating the meanings of the Qur'an rather than going by a more literal translation.
http://islamicbookstore.com/b6848.html
http://islamicbookstore.com/b5897.html
http://islamicbookstore.com/b8488.html
The two translations you mentioned, The Holy Qur'an translated by Yusuf Ali and The Noble Qur'an translated by Dr. Hilali and Dr. Muhsin Khan, are both good translations but Yusuf Ali's has many grammatical mistakes, and Hilali-Khan's is very difficult to read. For a discussion regarding the various translations, one may refer to the following thread:
http://www.islamicboard.com/showthre...4&page=2&pp=40
You may also find the following thread useful:
http://www.islamicboard.com/showthread.php?t=4189
I was told that fasting today and fasting of previous people dicphered in the amount of time b/c the high priests added more days than were perscribed for them, which became difficult and they could not do it, so they moved the date to spring until they neglected it altogether. : Christians use to fast one month. So when a man fell ill amongst them, they vowed that is Allah cured him, they would increase ten more days to their fasting, he was cured , and the fast became forty days. Then another man ate meat; and his mouth was hurting and they vowed to Allah again that if he was cured they would add seven more days, which increased the fasting to forty-seven days, and increased all the way to fifty days.....Do you know if their is any truthfullness behind this?
...I guess that is an important part, he said in a hadith reprted by Daghfal Iman Hanzalah (raa) that the Messenger of Allah (saas) said
The Ahadith are the narrations from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and they form the secondary source of legislation in Islam, after the Qur'an. I am not sure if the hadith you have quoted is authentic. Was it mentioned if this was found in either Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Malik's Muwatta, Musnad Ahmad, Nasaa'i, Baghawi, Ibn Maajah, or Daarimi ?
All of the above are collections of ahadith, with Bukhari and Muslim being the most authentic collections.
What does raa and saas mean?
'raa' is an acronym for an arabic phrase meaning, "May Allah be pleased with him/her", used after mentioning the name of one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
'saas' (alternatively written as 'saws') is an acronym for the arabic phrase meaning, "May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him", used after mentioning the name of the Prophet Muhammad saas. Some people use the english acronym 'pbuh' (peace be upon him).
I know that muslims believe in Moses and Jesus, I am currently reading a book titled "What Did Jesus Really Say? by Misha'al ibn Abdullah Al-Kadhi
Good book. If there's anything in it that you'd like to discuss, please feel free to initiate a discussion in the Comparative Religion section.
For an excellent site containing comparative religion information, please refer to:
http://voiceforislam.com/OnlineBooks.html
The following website is also very useful:
http://beconvinced.com/en/main.php
I hope this information helps you and I would love to continue discussing with you. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions. :brother:
Thank you once again for your posts!
Warm Regards