My name is Marcedes, I have been looking for a place where I can asked questions and recieve answers to many of my inquiries pertaining to Islam. I am looking forward to this discussion forum. My first question is Did Ramadan start today or does id start tomorrow? 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?
hey. welcome to the forums and i hope you have a beneficial stay here with us.
regarding your first question - some people started fasting today whereas in other countries people will start tomorrow etc. the reasons for this is because the knowledge about the starting and the ending time of fasting has been to physically sight (ru'eyah), the new crescent moon (hilal) of Ramadan. Thus, when the birth of the new moon, of the month of Ramadan is ascertained, the fast begins. this naturally will differ in different countries and this is why in one country the muslims may start fasting a day or even two days before another country.
we know this due to one of the sayings of our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon hims) disciples who reported:
Ibn Umar (raa) reported, "During the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the companions went looking for the new crescent. So I told the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) that I saw it. So he fasted and told the companions to fast." (Abu Dahud / Hakim)
regarding your second question, it is permissible for you to fast but this is only due to your own wishes, so (please dont take my word for it because i'm not a scholar) you may fast to gain the feeling of how some people feel (eg. hunger etc.).. but the real reason in islam to fast is to gain taqwa (awareness of Allah - god) and every single action we do - we should make sure that it is to please Allah almighty.
this involves not backbiting, slandering others, swearing, eating, refraining from sex till after the fast.. anything which could harm anyone else and yourself because a muslim who has strong taqwa (consciousness of Allah almighty) will refrain from that because he/she will know they are being watched.
so the answer to your question is that you may fast but it doesn't necessarily mean you will get the reward/spiritual devotions for it - the reason is if one doesn't believe in Allah the most merciful.. then what is the reason for the fast? because the main aim is not to cut down on food but to gain more taqwa (god consciessnes) and to avoid forbidden things. please dont take this the wrong way/offensively.. but that is one of the main aims when muslims fast.
please dont take my word for it completely - as i'm not a scholar of any sort. it would be alot better when some of the brothers or sisters who have more knowledge to put their points forward.
Thank you for the clarification and consideration: I know that fasting for the month of Ramadan is deeper than feeling starvation as some people experience throughout the world. That is a valid aspect of Ramadan and I do not look upon that as invalid, but I want to reap the benefits of being closer to God. I will not give my whole biography, but my purpose in joing this forum is to gain undertanding and explanations to so many question I have versus doing on becoming apart of anything blindly as I have in the past, based on family beliefs. So it is a little deeper to me then feeling the feel of starvation. I thought that possibly participating in the fasting for the month of Ramadan, would bring me closer and assist me in having a better understanding to what it is I am searching for. And I do believe in Allah (God) and that there is only one God.
(please bear with me because i dont know the direct answers to your questions and later on when the more knowledgable brothers and sisters come on - they will explain more in depth to you insha Allah (god willing)) because i dont want to give you the wrong answer without any knowledge.
i'll get some verses from the holy qur'an which are regarding fasting:
002.183 O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard (against evil).
002.184 For a certain number of days; but whoever among you is sick or on a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; and those who are not able to do it may effect a redemption by feeding a poor man; so whoever does good spontaneously it is better for him; and that you fast is better for you if you know.
002.185 The month of Ramazan is that in which the Quran was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the distinction; therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty, and (He desires) that you should complete the number and that you should exalt the greatness of Allah for His having guided you and that you may give thanks.
002.186 And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way.
sis sana. is it ok if you ask these questions in the ramadhan section in another thread? lets keep this thread to focus on marcedes questions. is that ok? jazak Allah khayr and barak Allah u feeki.
Thank you for those versus from the holy quran, which are clear and direct. Which brings me to another question, which Quran should I read from for the clearest explanations, the Holy Quran or the Noble Quran?
thats good. to be honest - you can read any version because they all have similar translations and not even one letter has been changed of the qur'an ever since it was first revealed.. therefore all the translations will be really similar. would you like to read the qur'an off the internet on webpages etc.? you could also listen to the recitations so you can listen to the qur'an being recited in arabic..
i'll give you some advice though - try reading from chapter 114 (the last chapter) and work your way up that way.. this is because the chapters are smaller near the end so you might find it alot easier this way. hope it helps insha Allah. plz dont be afraid to ask if your unsure of anything.
Do you know if this is true?
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'm not really sure.. i cant say. do you know of any source to this? the reason i dont know about this is because the muslims only authentic sources are - the qur'an and the hadith (sayings and actions) of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his beloved family.) and i've never read of or heard of that from the qur'an or the hadith of anything regarding this matter.
keep in mind that muslims do believe in the torah, the bible aswell - we also believe in moses (peace be upon him) and jesus (peace be upon him) and we believe they were really good prophets - but muslims believe the torah and the bible got changed and were edited by humans after the prophets had passed away, therefore God's word had been altered by humans. but the qur'an will never get altered and never has and still hasnt 1426 years later..
therefore we only rely on the qur'an and the hadith. even though we believe in the torah and the bible - we dont take no advice from it because it has been altered by humans. therefore i cant give you a reliable answer sorry..
I am ingrossed in the book, because it makes so much since, it is unbelievable and scary at the same time. Thank you for the links to the Quran, I appreciate your time.
thats really good! thankyou. i have to go now for today but i will be back tomorrow - in the time being you can read and try to understand the qur'an and at the same time listen to the recitations in arabic. if you need any more help please ask and i'll try my best with Allah the most mercifuls help to answer your questions tomorrow.
la ilaha ill Allah muhammadun rasul Allah
"i testify that there is no god but Allah and i testify that muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the messenger of Allah."
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 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
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.
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warahmatulahi wabarakatuh.
Thank you for your questions, which I will do my best to answer.
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