HAPPY RAMADAN

Source: neezaneedles.com 


Well, today I decided to talking about Ramadan, not exactly talking about that, I don't know anything about Islam, but I simply decided to homage my friends Muslims, readers from Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Gaza's Strip, Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco  Singapore, India, etc.

This is the official Muslim Calendar Ramadan in 2011 will start on Monday, the 1st of August and will continue for 30 days until Tuesday, the 30th of August.

Note that in the Muslim calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Muslims will celebrate Ramadan on the sunset of Sunday, the 31st of July.

Although Ramadan is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Ramadan moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Ramadan may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not.

The dates provided here are based on the dates adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America for the celebration of Ramadan. Note that these dates are based on astronomical calculations to affirm each date, and not on the actual sighting of the moon with the naked eyes. This approach is accepted by many, but is still being hotly debated. 




According to Wikipedia this is the meaning of Ramadan

The word Ramadan is derived from an Arabic root rmḍ, as in words like "ramiḍa" or "ar-ramaḍ" denoting intense heat,^[2] scorched ground and shortness of rations. Ramadan, as a name for the month, is of Islamic origin. Prior to Islam and the exclusion of intercalary days from the Islamic calendar, the name of the month was Natiq and the month fell in the warm season.^[3] The word was thus chosen as it well represented the original climate of the month and the physiological conditions precipitated from fasting. In the Qur'an, God proclaims that "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) upon you, as it was upon those before you". According to a hadith, it might refer to the Jewish practice of fasting on Yom Kippur .

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan#Origins_of_Ramadan and http://www.when-is.com/ramadan-2011.asp

In conclusion, I'm not Muslim, I'm Catholic but I respect my friends and honestly, I'm falling in love by the way of life, culture and diversity of Muslims, in conclusion, teachers, students, readers, thank you so much for giving me support. Carlos, from Brazil.