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Ramadan…and a better human being project – Hossam Badrawi

“Ramadan…and a better human being project”
Written by Hossam Badrawi
The holy month of Ramadan has begun, and I wondered: How can we, while we are in the twenty-first century, wait for the eye to see the crescent of the moon in order to determine the beginning of the month, when science allows us to determine it for the next thousands of years, by the minute and the second. How can a person today not know when the month begins and when it ends, and organize his work, travel and vacation times while waiting for the eye to see the crescent????
Is it not time for us to use our minds and be aware that what took place 1,400 years ago was related to his time, and that it is time to respect accuracy and comprehend science?
Why do not many Muslims work during Ramadan, and are lazy under the pretext of fasting?! Or they go to work late and leave early, and they argue in the crowds, and why do they fight over food and sweets, in this particular month, and what is the relationship of fasting and worship to all of that?!!!!
A young dreamer asked me: Doctor, don’t you see with me that fasting has sometimes become an excuse for not performing one’s duty?
I said: I agree with you.
He said: If fasting will prevent an employee from performing his work in the service of citizens, is it not right for the state to punish him because his job is to facilitate the fulfillment of their needs?
I said: I agree with you.
He said: What is this nonsense about strange and trivial questions and surprising answers, and trends in social media that indicate superficiality, such as does entering water into the anus break the fast when rinsing? Is this not absurd that dwarfs religion and distorts fatwas?
I said: I agree with you and wonder.
An educated girl and a reader said: I have read the verses about fasting, and I wonder about those who were prescribed to fast before Islam. Were the Arabs on the island fasting in the same month?
I said: Yes, the Arabs before Islam used to fast and make the pilgrimage to the Kaaba. Because fasting is not only an Islamic custom, but most nations used to fast for different reasons and different methods. In the Arabian Peninsula, according to the sources of Arab history, the Sabeans used to fast for thirty days, starting the month with the appearance of the crescent, and ending it with the appearance of the crescent of the new month. .
Likewise, the Jews used to fast several days of the year, and the days in which they fasted were considered mourning, and an expiation for sins, in addition to the fact that they believed that fasting protects them from the occurrence of calamities.
The Christians also had specific and separate days in the year that they were keen to fast, and the Christians today have their fast as is the case with the ancient Egyptians who used to fast and set specific days for that.
The young woman said: Who are the Sabeans, I have not heard of them before??
I said: Because you do not focus on reading, as the Sabeans were mentioned independently in the Holy Qur’an in Surat Al-Baqara and in Surat Al-Ma’idah..As for who they are?, They are a group of those who left idolatry and claim that they follow the religion of Noah, Abraham and Adam, and they have their customs that are close to Islam and still are. They still exist.
The important thing is that fasting existed in different forms before the advent of Islam, and God says in His Book in Surat Al-Baqarah: “O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become righteous.” .
The first young man said: I am afraid to say, Doctor, that completing the verses of fasting according to my understanding may give a person the right to break the fast if he wants me to feed a poor person, as the verse says:
A numbered days, and whoever of you is sick or on a journey, a number of other days, and those who are able to bear it must pay a ransom of food. poor person. So whoever voluntarily volunteers good, it is better for him. And that you fast is better for you. If you only knew.
I said: I am also baffled by the interpretation of this verse, because it gives a person the right to choose, but it motivates him by saying that it is better for him to fast, but I tend not to argue about the interpretation because fasting is better in all circumstances.
Between myself and myself, I thought about what I read of philosophy and the sciences of physics, then I thought about controversial issues about the date of Ramadan astronomically, since the lunar year with an accuracy of calculation is 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, and 34 seconds, meaning that there is a difference between the solar year and the lunar year of about 10 days, 16 hours, 10 minutes and 12 seconds, and it is known that the topography and climate change, on the basis of which the months are named, is linked to the movement of the earth around the sun..Scientists have made adjustments in the solar calendar “correction”.
By adding a day in the month of February every 4 years, so that the months coincide with the climate, and the Egyptians did it before them in the months of the Coptic year for the same reason, as the names of the months have no value if they do not fit with the weather, and the Arabs used to do the same thing with the lunar year until the year was set and the month of Rabi’ remained in The spring and Ramadan are in September and the pilgrimage is in December, but our Arab ancestors, after the death of the Messenger, retracted from making the necessary arithmetic adjustments in them, which made the lunar months incompatible with the movement of the seasons, so the month of spring came in the winter sometimes and in the summer at other times, and the date of the month of Ramadan and the dates of the pilgrimage And others change every year without regard to its main place in the seasons, and for this precise and clear detail, the Muslims agreed to neglect its calculation, so the lunar months became irregular, and the Hijri calendar became in which religious rituals do not correlate with the reality of its time cycle and its life benefit to man is negated.
My friend, who attends my conversations with the youth, said:
You’re right, it should have taken into account the somewhat hot weather
With fixing the lunar Arab months to correspond with the weather, especially (Ramadan), which means intense heat
However, it can be answered that the weather is variable between the countries of the hemisphere north and south of the equator
It can also be said that the current system makes Ramadan come in all months of the Gregorian calendar year, respectively, to facilitate the fasts, so they do not fast (Ramadan) every year in (Ramadha). Likewise, it may be said that the current system increases the blessing of all those months when
The blessings of Ramadan and its virtues alternate with it, and God knows best
Then I said to myself, This is not the time for polemical discussions or shaking habits that have settled in the minds. It is better for me to advise young people from the Qur’an with some life wisdom, and we talk about the values and skills that must be applied in order for each of us to be a better human being in this month. So I went back to my research and told them:
Ramadan is a generous month regardless of astronomy studies, and it is an opportunity for all of us. It is a month in which souls are prepared to draw closer to God, and we gather in it with loved ones, relatives and friends. Let us take from the Qur’an its advice for us in the practice of life and make this month the beginning of a better human project for each one of us.
They said how and what do you mean?
I said, with the logic of education in explanation and simplification, I will make it ten commandments, which make each one of us a better human being, all of which are taken from the verses of the Noble Qur’an:
First: Moderation in eating and drinking, as it is the month of fasting
“And eat and drink, and do not be extravagant. Indeed, He does not like the extravagant.”
Second: Moderation in spending and life in general
“And do not make your hand shackled to your neck, nor spread it out fully, so that you become blamed and destitute.”
Third: The manner of our speaking and the loudness of our voices.
“And be careful when you walk, and lower your voice. The loudest of all sounds is the voice of a donkey.”
Rather, the Holy Qur’an has set for us the method of this walking, whether it was a form or a metaphor, and it said, “And do not walk on the earth for joy.
Fourth: parental care.
“And be kind to your parents, either one or both of them reach old age with you, so do not say a ‘f’ to them, and do not rebuke them, but say no.” They are generous words.
Fifth: Controlling suspicions and striving for the truth
He said, “O you who have believed, avoid much suspicion, for some suspicion is sinful.”
Sixth: honesty and avoiding lying
“God does not guide one who is extravagant and a liar.”
“And avoid false speech”
“O you who have believed, fear God and be with the truthful.”
Seventh: To say the best words to others
“And say good to people”
“So tell them an easy word”
Eighth: The Qur’an teaches us to control our gatherings together or our dealings in social media, which came more than a thousand years after it, saying, then the Almighty says:
“And do not backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother, because you hated him? And fear God. Indeed, God is merciful father
Ninth: Let us use our minds and the wisdom God has given us
“And whoever is given wisdom has been given much good, and only those with understanding will remember.”
Say: Are those who know and those who do not know equal?
” But they fear Allah scientists”
Tenth: Let us read, educate and learn
Read the name of your Lord who created. He created man from a clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Gracious. Who taught with the pen. Anthropology did not know what
And I added, saying that fasting Ramadan is an opportunity for self-strife
Who exalts rank and magnifies the reward for any other jihad, if you only knew.
These are my advice to you from the entrance to the Holy Qur’an and the words of God Almighty. Let us take the initiative in Ramadan to start or confirm what we are of good morals.