On Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:14:22 -0700, Michael Sylvester, Ph.D. wrote: > HAPPY HOLY RAMADAN
I admit to being somewhat puzzled when I hear people saying things like "Happy Ramadan" (Dr. Sylvester just being a convenient example) because it is as peculiar as wishing Christians "Happy Lent". One description of Ramadan is provided by Wikipedia (standard disclaimer apply): |Ramadan (Arabic: رمضان) (also written Ramazan, Ramzan, |Ramadhan, Ramdan, Ramadaan) is the ninth month of the |Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which |participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, |and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from |dawn until dusk [1] Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, |modesty and spirituality. Ramaḍān is a time to fast for the sake |of Allah, and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramaḍān, |Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and |help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves |through self-restraint and good deeds. As compared to solar |calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving forward about |ten days each year. Ramadhan was the month in which the first |verses of the Qur'an were revealed[Qur'an 2:185] to the Prophet Muhammad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan As the Wikipedia entry notes, this fasting has similarities to activities in other religions: |God proclaims that "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) |upon you, as it was upon those before you". According to the |earliest hadith, this refers to the Jewish practice of fasting on |Yom Kippur.[3][4] Saying "Happy Ramadan" would be as strange as saying "Happy Yom Kippur" given that Yom Kippur involves the following: |General observances | |Leviticus 23:27 decrees that Yom Kippur is a strict day of rest |and of fasting. | |Five additional prohibitions are traditionally observed, as detailed |in the Jewish oral tradition (Mishnah tractate Yoma 8:1): | |Eating and drinking |Wearing leather shoes |Bathing/washing |Anointing oneself with perfumes or lotions |Sexual relations | |Total abstention from food and drink usually begins 30 minutes |before sundown (called tosefet Yom Kippur, lit. "Addition to |Yom Kippur"), and ends after nightfall the following day. Although |the fast is required of all healthy adults, it is waived in the case of |certain medical conditions. Virtually all Jewish holidays involve a |ritual feast, but since Yom Kippur involves fasting, Jewish law |requires one to eat a large and festive meal on the afternoon before |Yom Kippur, after the Mincha afternoon prayer. Wearing white |clothing is traditional to symbolize one’s purity on this day. Many |Orthodox men immerse themselves in a mikvah on the day before |Yom Kippur. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur (SDA) The Christian equivalent, as claimed in the Wikipedia entry, is: |In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Fast Day of the Exaltation |of the Holy Cross is observed on September 14 in the Julian Calendar, |roughly coinciding with Yom Kippur (which oscillates with respect |to the Julian and Gregorian Calendars). One Orthodox priest—Rev. |Patrick Reardon—argues that it is obviously derived from Yom Kippur, |and that everyone realizes this.[33] | |However, Yom Kippur is most comparable to the Christian holy |day of Good Friday. As Yom Kippur is seen as the day for atonement |of sins, so is Good Friday depicted as the event which Christ granted |humanity atonement through his death and resurrection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur And, of course, Good Friday, can be described in the following terms: |Good Friday, also called Holy Friday, Black Friday, or Great Friday, |is a holiday observed primarily by adherents to Christianity commemorating |the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed |during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding |Easter Sunday, and often coincides with the Jewish observance of Passover. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday Good Friday occurs in the context of Lent which: |Lent, in Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year |leading up to Easter. | |The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through |prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration |during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the |events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration |of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent So, if one finds the acts of prayer, penitence, almsgiving, and self-denial to be joyous events instead of opportunities to engage in submission to a higher authority, a time for reflection on whether our behavior corresponds to a code that we claim to publicly proclaim (but probably observe more in its violation) then I think that "Happy Ramadan", "Happy Yom Kippur", and "Happy Good Friday/Lent/Passion of Christ/etc" may seem to be reasonable things to say, especially given the U.S. culture's need to put a positive optimistic spin on everything instead of trying to understand the nature of, say, suffering. Remember: when you got lemons, make lemonade and don't focus on the fact that a lemon is sour, its taste in unsweentened form may be unpleasant, and that you ultimately have to accept the sour with the sweet. So, "Happy Blue Monday!" everyone! (For non-Vonnegutians, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_of_Champions and/or http://books.google.com/books?lr=&num=100&id=9DYwDTiicg0C&dq=%22breakfast+of+champions%22+vonnegut&q=%22blue+monday%22#search_anchor For relevance to Tips and to tie it in to the SciAm 60 Second thread, see: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=good-bye-blue-monday-2007-04-13 and http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=6F57551A-2B35-221B-6E09B54DCB672782&sc=I100322 though the later requires a subscription or having David G. Myers as a friend ;-) Busy, busy, busy, or nice, nice, very nice, so many different people in the same device. Welcome to the karass. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
