Russian people usually contrast post fasting. We say: "Not all the cat is Pancake week, there will be Lent." The physical content of the Orthodox fast is self-restraint. As for Ramadan, it combines abstinence and satiety. This is a post, and a kind of "Shrovetide" during one Ramadan day. The day begins and ends with saturation. In general, in the words of the Arabian Bedouin, "at night - eat like a camel, in the afternoon - endure just like him."
The well-fed nights of the “month of forgiveness, mercy and charity” are devoted to communication with Allah, joyful meetings with relatives, neighbors and friends at the conversation table. In the daylight, Muslims do not drink, do not eat, do not smoke, do not please the flesh. Hugs and kisses are allowed only after the night has covered the day with a blanket of his gentle coolness, from “Iftar” to “Sukhur” (from conversation to the last meal at dawn).
Believers, convinced that during the ramadan the gates of paradise open, good deeds, charity, prayers, reading of the Koran are prescribed during fasting. The lifestyle of cities and villages in the days of Ramadan is completely subordinate to the fulfillment of the rite and its commandments.
It is believed that during ramadan angels descend from heaven. They intercede with Allah for forgiveness of sins to fasting believers.
It doesn’t matter whether it is so or not, but the people themselves strive to become angels, whom religion calls to be especially kind, generous, tolerant, and benevolent this month. Society is seized by a single outburst of goodness and piety.
Everyone from small to large is involved in the holiday post - the whole society and all government departments. Children in Ramadan receive gifts, their parents receive cash rewards from the companies or government agencies in which they work. The working day is reduced to 6 hours officially, but if the state official reduces it by another hour, the bosses will not be exacted from him.
In stores and markets, there is a sale of clothes, fabrics, furniture, children's toys, women's gold jewelry and expensive watches. Many families change cars that are getting cheaper due to seasonal Ramadan discounts. Wealthy Muslims are called upon to assist the poor during the entire fast. In the squares near the mosques carpets are laid for joint meals, held in an atmosphere of worship and humility, with the participation of the poor, travelers and the poor, all comers. As for the poor, they come to the country from around the world in the hope of large fees.
Ramadan collectors here are called "sullen millionaires." They say that one day of fasting feeds beaver for a year, since no one has been collecting bread crusts here for a long time. Beggars collect only money. Even offenders get a good ramadan share: thousands of prisoners receive amnesty.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar year, the "month of the Qur'an." On Ramadan nights, the archangel Jabrail (Gabriel) met with the prophet Muhammad, to whom the first divine revelations were sent over. The name of the month comes from the Arabic root "ramida" (to be hot, red-hot). It is his pronunciation in the form of "ramadan" that seems to be the most correct, since the Arabs, because of the emphatic, very firm, very special sound "d" that is included in this word, are even called the sons of "dada" by the name of the sound. At the same time, the tradition of calling the month “Ramadan”, established in a number of countries, has objective explanations and reasons. Not all Arabs pronounce this sound the same way. In Iraq, for example, the pronunciation of “dada” approaches the emphatic, tense sound of “z.”
"Hot" in pre-Islamic times coincided with the period of the most intense heat. The name makes it clear why daytime died out this month, which received the definition of “deaf” from the Arabs, since the ringing of weapons was not heard in its hot days. Fading during the hell of a day, life was reborn only at night. Now ramadan does not coincide with the summer heat. He moves and stays in all seasons.
The names of other months of the lunar year also ceased to correspond to the seasons. The fifth and sixth months of the Meccan calendar, which occurred in January-February, are “Jumad the first” and “Jumad the last,” the names of which, according to Arabic commentators, come from the root of “Jamad” (freeze, freeze), can now coincide with any month of the Gregorian calendar and this year were in May and June.
In pre-Islamic times and in the first years after the proclamation of Islam, Arabs lived according to the lunar calendar, but corrected it in accordance with the solar calendar in the interests of coinciding the annual seasons and performing religious rituals at the same time of the year.
Correction of the days of the lunar year in relation to the solar was carried out during the month of "Rajab".
Rajab, which only separates shaaban from ramadan for one month, marks the beginning of preparation for ramadan. The root from which the name of this month comes that came on the 4th of July in the current year means to support or strengthen something. Arabs from pre-Islamic times worshiped rajab. This middle month of the year was sacred even then. Its position in Arabic history is similar to the Day of Ivan Kupala, which our ancestors celebrated before the adoption of Christianity more than a millennium ago, they remember and still celebrate in some places. Only Rajab does not carry the erotic content inherent in the pagan Slavic holiday. In his days, sacrifices were made for idols and some ritual pilgrimages were performed.
The Prophet Muhammad did not forbid the sacrifice during the rajab, but annulled the peculiarity of this act. According to his testament, sacrifices to Allah can be made in any month. Rajab is also not distinguished by Islam from other months in matters of fasting or the fulfillment of a small pilgrimage - "Omra." According to the testimony of the beloved wife of the prophet Aisha, the Messenger of Allah did not commit Omru during the Rajab. Therefore, Rajab is inferior to Ramadan, the performance of Omra during which is equated with Hajj.
This month was also called the "Rajab of Mudar" by the name of the founder of the northern Arabs, "Mudar." It was the northern Arabs, called "mudars" for their white-skinnedness, in contrast to the southern tribes who did not correct the lunar months due to rajab. Due to the erosion of the start and end dates of the month of war, they could continue on forbidden days, and days allowed for military operations were declared forbidden.
The Prophet settled on the tradition of northerners-Mudarites. He legitimized it in Islam, and therefore Sharia worships Rajab. According to tradition, established among the Mudar tribes, the prophet opposed calendar adjustments, called them "the multiplication of unbelief" and forbade it. In the Quranic surah “Yunus” it is explicitly stated that the month should be used for counting time. It notes that Allah "made the sun a radiance, and the month a light, and distributed it in the parking lots so that you know the number of years and the numbering." As a result of the cancellation of adjustments, the months of the lunar year, which is shorter than the sun by 10-11 days, began to shift year by year and ceased to coincide with the seasons whose nature they determined.
When I first came to work in Abu Dhabi, Ramadan came in May. Over the past almost 20 years, he has shifted to the Christian calendar for more than six months. The time of cool ramadans has passed. "Red-hot" returns to its historical parking in time - to summer hell.
Islamic theologians believe that the time of arrival of the "dear guest", as Muslims call their post-holiday, cannot be calculated. The onset of the holy month is determined visually. According to the tradition prevailing in the Arabian countries, any observer who testified in the nearest Sharia court that he saw with the naked eye or using optical instruments the sickle of the month appearing in the night sky no later than 16 minutes after sunset can announce the beginning of the post.
For Arabs, the day is considered the time from sunrise to sunset. From sunset - it's already night. It continues until sunrise. Each hour of the day or night has its own special name. A month is the revolution of the moon when it passes through all its positions in a crescent state, full moon and moon at damage. The lunar year consists of 12 months. “The number of months with Allah is twelve ... Of these, four are forbidden,” the Koran says “Repentance”. By “forbidden” we mean months in which it is not allowed to fight. These include three consecutive months ending the lunar year: zu-l-ka'da and zu-l-hija, and the month of Muharram, which opens the new year. The fourth forbidden is the 7th month of the lunar calendar "rajab."
"Do not do harm to them yourself," the Sura repentance says. In the forbidden months, spears and arrows equipped with iron tips were laid aside, no ringing of weapons was heard. In these months, it was impossible to start a war, but the ongoing could continue. Sins committed contrary to prohibitions were intensified due to the sanctity of time.
The Emirates, having conducted rajab in piety, together with Muslims from other countries, noted the “Night of Creation” two weeks before the Ramadan. It is celebrated with the advent of the 15th sha'ban - the eighth month of the Meccan lunar calendar, welcoming the approach of fasting.
In the pre-Islamic period, and perhaps even from the time when the Arabs worshiped the sun, they celebrated the beginning of the New Year this month, since it was the day of the summer solstice. According to the ancient Arab tradition, it is customary to commemorate the departed on this holiday. Particular attention in the "night of creation" is given to those who open up the vastness of life - to children. They buy new outfits, give sweets and nuts. Dressed up children, decorating the palms of their hands and feet with henna, go around the neighbors, sing songs and collect gifts in bags specially made for this occasion.
There is a belief that on the "night of creation", called here "true night", the tree of life shakes, on the leaves of which are written the names of all people on earth. Someone's leaves fall that night, noting the expiration of earthly destinies drawn on them before the next shaaban. The contemporaries of the Prophet Muhammad testified that the messenger of Allah spent this night in prayers, and the day in fasting. His modern followers add charity to these two beneficial occupations.
One of the most notable Ramadan nights is the "Night of Predestination," which most Muslims spend in temples. On this 27th night, Ramadan Allah, according to Islamic belief, decides on the fate of believers, taking into account their piety and requests expressed in prayers. Angels descend from heaven to do good deeds. In Islam, it is believed that piety under the cover of this night, when, in the words of the Qur'an, "the things are assessed, the dates are set and food is appointed," is equal to a righteous life for a thousand months.
"The Night of Predestination" heralds the imminent end of the month of fasting. In Arabian countries, special committees are being set up whose task is to find in the night sky the "silver sickle" of the next Muslim month of shawval. On its first day, the Muslim community of the world meets called “the day of reward” by the Prophet Muhammad for the long day of fasting, the feast of conversation - Eid al-Fitr. On this holiday, all people are happy, and the poor are rich.
In the Arabian countries, where millions of foreign workers of various religions work, Gentiles are called upon to respect the traditions and feelings of Muslims, and to abide by the rules prescribed by the holy fast.
