Thursday, 28 June 2012

Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Islam uses a lunar calendar-that is, each month begins with the sighting of the new moon. Because the lunar calendar is about 11 days shorter than the solar calendar used elsewhere, Islamic holidays "move" each year. In 2012, Ramadan begins at sundown on July 19th.

For more than a billion Muslims around the world-including some 8 million in North America-Ramadan is a "month of blessing" marked by prayer, fasting, and charity. This year Ramadan precedesChristmas and Hanukkah. But while in many places these holidays have become widely commercialized, Ramadan retains its focus on self-sacrifice and devotion to Allah (God).

Why this Month?

Muslims believe that during the month of Ramadan, Allah revealed the first verses of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. Around 610 A.D., a caravan trader named Muhammad took to wandering the desert near Mecca (in today's Saudi Arabia) while thinking about his faith. One night a voice called to him from the night sky. It was the angel Gabriel, who told Muhammad he had been chosen to receive the word of Allah. In the days that followed, Muhammad found himself speaking the verses that would be transcribed as the Qur'an.

At many mosques during Ramadan, about one thirtieth of the Qur'an is recited each night in prayers known as tarawih. In this way, by the end of the month the complete scripture will have been recited.

Fasting

Muslims practice sawm, or fasting, for the entire month of Ramadan. This means that they may eat or drink nothing, including water, while the sun shines. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars(duties) of Islam. As with other Islamic duties, all able Muslims take part in sawm from about age twelve.

During Ramadan in the Muslim world, most restaurants are closed during the daylight hours. Families get up early for suhoor, a meal eaten before the sun rises. After the sun sets, the fast is broken with a meal known as iftar. Iftar usually begins with dates and sweet drinks that provide a quick energy boost.

Fasting serves many purposes. While they are hungry and thirsty, Muslims are reminded of the suffering of the poor. Fasting is also an opportunity to practice self-control and to cleanse the body and mind. And in this most sacred month, fasting helps Muslims feel the peace that comes from spiritual devotion as well as kinship with fellow believers.

Eid al-Fitr

Ramadan ends with the festival of Eid al-Fitr, which in 2012 occurs on Aug. 19. Literally the "Festival of Breaking the Fast," Eid al-Fitr is one of the two most important Islamic celebrations (the other occurs after the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca). At Eid al-Fitr people dress in their finest clothes, adorn their homes with lights and decorations, give treats to children, and enjoy visits with friends and family.

A sense of generosity and gratitude colors these festivities. Although charity and good deeds are always important in Islam, they have special significance at the end of Ramadan. As the month draws to a close, Muslims are obligated to share their blessings by feeding the poor and making contributions to mosques.

2013 Ramdan

Ramadan - the holy month of fasting for Muslims around the world will begin on or around July 10, 2013.

Eid Mubarak

When is Ramadan in 2013 - Ramadan is a special time for Muslims across the world. Falling in the tenth month of Shawwal, the Islamic calendar, it was at this time of the year when the Angel Gibril revealed to the Prophet Mohammed Allah’s will and so were written the very first verses of the Holy Qur'an. The month of Ramadan is spent fasting from dawn to dusk everyday - it is a time to introspect, reflect and reinforce the bond between the Almighty and the faithful.

Ramadan culminates in the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr - when the period of restraint ends in an extravagant explosion of joie de vivre, festivities and feasting. The devout gather together to offer Eid prayers and greet each other in a rejuvenated spirit of camaraderie. Eid is a day of thanksgiving, of peace, of remembrance, of charity and of forgiveness, celebrated amidst great jubilation once the delicate silver sliver of the crescent moon has been sighted. The festival of Eid-ul-Fitr forges fraternal and communal love, self-discipline and commitment to Allah.

Islamic Ramdan Grettings Cards & Facebook Timelines About Ramdan

Being a Muslim its your duty to greet your Muslim brother a very happy, soothing and successful Ramazan Kareem. The dates of Ramadan according to Islamic calendar moves backward every year about ten days depending on the moon. Ramadan is actually the ninth month of Islamic calendar written as Arabic: رمضان‎ Ramaḍān, Arabic pronunciation: [rɑmɑdˤɑːn]) also - Ramazan, Ramzan, Ramadhan, Ramdan, Ramadaan. Ramadan was the only month in which the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). It has been estimated that Ramadan Kareem is going to be started in 2012 from the 20th of July. Your single sentence or a single wish can bring smile on some one's face To make them more happy and make your wish/ greeting more beautiful its better to send any of these cards to your relative, family, friend and facebook fans. We collected beautiful and best Ramazan Kareem cards and wishes for you from Google's wide list of cards.

Ramadan mubarak glittering cards

Hope you will do good deeds in this month of Ramadan

Blessed friend hugging in ramadan card

Blinking ramadan mubarak card with good health wishes

Ramadan kareem wishes with a bucket full of fruits

Nice prayers and wishes for the month ramadan on this card

Masjid are bright and full in Ramadan karim card

Ramadan is coming shaitan is leaving..

Facebook logo ramadan kareem cards

Beautiful mosque on ramadan kareem wallpaper

Hd Ramadan karim cards with a holy book

kulle aam wa antum bikhair (Ramadan)

May God accept our deeds in ramadan and in our coming life

Best prayer to read as much as you can in Ramadan

Collection of mix Ramadan cards

Ramadan mubarak facebook cover photos

Ramadan kareem cover photos for facebook timeline

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Beauty Parlors and Islam

Now a days Business of beauty parlors is full of dangers. In these parlours generally music is being played which has been prohibited by Allah swt and His Prophet SAW. In many of these parlours plucking of eye brows is being done which has been strictly prohibited by Rasool Allah SAW.

Many of these parlours don't maintain the commands related to Hijab between members of same genders. Most of these parlours don't take care of the command of Rasool salal laho aliehi wasalam that women can use make up but cannot use perfumes when they are outside their homes.

Many parlours also don't take care of the commands of Rasool salal laho aliehi wasalam that men and women who copy members of other genders are cursed people.Many of these are also using artificial hair for beautification which is prohibited in Islam

There are many other things where there is violation of commands of Allah and His Rasool salal laho aliehi wasalam so it is better to avoid this business so that a person does not fall into haram without having bad intention.

Any one who wants to do this business should be well aware of the commands of Allah swt and His Rasool salal laho aliehi wasalam related to beautification of women and he/she must not violate these commands otherwise he will have to face burden of sins of many other people besides his/her own sins. May Allah guide us all to do Halal Businesses.

Choosing Between Halal and Haram

Allah SWT has declared some things Halal for us and other Haram and that is done for our own benefit. Allah SWT creator of everything knows what is good for us and what is bad for us that is why he has told us the difference between Halal and Haram. For Example Here is a list of Halal and Haram Things.

Lets think which option is better for us Halal or Haram?

1 Tauheed or Shirk
2 Sunnah or innovation
3 Recitation or Music
4 Nikah or Zina
5 Excercise or Dance
6 Milk or wine
7 Wife or Girlfriend
8 Umrah or Waste of Money
9 Dog or Cat
7 Goat or pig
8 Sacrifice or Greed
9 Dedication or Carelessness
10 Hijab or Nudity
11 Truth or Lie
12 Peace or Fight
13 Zakat Or Interest

We can clearly see that Halal things are good for us while the Haram things are harmful. Lets make doing Halal things our routine and stay away from Haram.

Monday, 18 June 2012

Article - An examination of important Islamic dates fixed by the Saudi Arabian Authorities

I. Introduction

As is well known, for any given place, the new Islamic month begins when the young crescent moon is visible in the evening sky. Traditionally, the sighting is approved by the community if it is reported by two reliable witnesses.

What is true in general is of course true for the holy city of Makkah. The calendar of Makkah is particularly important because of the annual pilgrimage of Hajj, centred on this town. This pilgrimage draws millions of people from almost every country in the world. Thus it is particularly incumbent on the Saudi Arabian authorities to fix an accurate date each year for Hajj. Because of the place Makkah occupies in the conscience of every pious Muslim, it is equally important to fix accurately the two other major feast days of Islam: the beginning and end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

In our project of establishing an accurate scientific islamic calendar for Makkah based on the calculated and predicted visibility of the new moon, we have enlarged upon the notion of visibility in Makkah around the sunset that follows the birth of the new moon. Invisible at conjunction, the crescent cannot be seen until at least ten hours after this recurrent monthly event. However, instead of trying to spot the crescent in Makkah around sunset, it is perfectly legitimate to allow oneself more time and take into consideration the whole interval of time between sunset and the early morning prayer (fajr) on the following day.

In practice, since each point on the terrestrial globe (except the north and south poles which are singularities) describes a circle of 360° in 24 hours around the axis of rotation of the earth, it is very easy to convert the interval of time between sunset in Makkah and the prayer of next day fajrinto an interval of longitude to the west of Makkah. We have called this limiting longitude of observation of the crescent the limiting horizon. We postulate that any sighting of the crescent up to the limiting horizon will be considered as sighting in Makkah itself, since it occurs before fajr in this town. All the more reason if the sighting takes place before the limiting horizon, at some intermediate horizon.

For each new moon, if no sighting is possible in Makkah itself, we predict the sighting to the west of this locality on the basis of calculated and plotted visibility curves. These curves have been established by Syed Khalid Shaukat. The reader will find examples of these curves on Mr. Shaukat’s site www.moonsighting.com or on our site Makkah Islamic Calendar. On the basis of the predicted visibility of the crescent we have commissioned photographs from reliable observatories or individual astronomers in the USA, Canada, Argentina and so on. A remarkable series of young crescent photographs exists in the photo gallery of our site. These photographs are a clear proof of the accuracy of our visibility curves.

The reader will find an extensive development of what is said above in the introduction to our site as well as in its FAQ section. The more technically minded reader will find in the Announcements section of our site the reference to an Islamic Calendar Article recently published in a well known international scientific journal called Selenology Today.

II. The official calendar used by the Saudi Arabian Authorities [The Umm al-Qura calendar]

Known as the Umm al-Qura calendar the Saudi Arabian Authorities uses the following criteria for determining the beginning of the Islamic month. These criteria apply since the Islamic year 1423 :
If on the 29th day of the lunar month the following two conditions are satisfied, then the next day is the first day of the new lunar month:
1. The geocentric conjunction occurs before sunset
2. The moon sets after the sun
Otherwise, the current month will last 30 days.
It is obvious that the actual sighting of the young crescent is not taken into account. Many discrepancies have been reported about the beginning of the lunar month under these circumstances. Even if the conjunction is shortly before sunset, with no possibility of viewing the crescent on that particular evening, the month will be declared as over, contrary to Islamic law.

III. The Hajj pilgrimage and the feast days as fixed by the Saudi Arabian authorities

Intrigued and worried about the accuracy of the major Islamic dates fixed by the Saudi Arabian authorities, we asked Syed Khalid Shaukat to carry out an expertise. Acting upon our request, he was kind enough to prepare three tables covering the span of 32 Hegirian years from 1400 to 1431. These tables concern:
   1. The beginning of Dhu’l Hijja (the 9^th of this month is the date of Wukuf Arafat and the 10^th is the date of Hajj)
   2. The beginning of Ramadan
   3. Eid Al Fitr (1^st of Shawwal)
Each table provides the following information:
   1. First column: the Hegirian year
   2. Second column: the Gregorian date fixed by Saudi Arabia
   3. Third column: Date of birth of the new moon in Makkah
   4. Fourth column: Time of birth of the new moon in local Makkah time
   5. Fifth and sixth columns: the status of the visibility of the moon according to calculated visibility curves (green or blue visibility zones only) on       the day before the official date fixed by Saudi Arabia. The fifth column gives the status of visibility in Makkah itself, whereas the sixth column       gives the status of visibility to the west of Makkah either at the limiting horizon or before it at an intermediate horizon. Following are the tables prepared by Syed Khalid Shaukat.

1^st Of Dhul-Hijjah

Hegirian
Year

Greogorian date fixed
by Saudi Arabia
dd/mm/yyyy (DDD)

Date of Birth
Of
New Moon [Makkah]

New Moon
Birth
Time [Makkah]

Status of Moon visibility according to the
Visibility Curves for day before this date

Green or Blue in Makkah

Green or Blue West of Makkah

1400

10-Oct-1980 (Fri)

9-Oct-1980 (Thu)