Islamic worship is associated with the lunar calendar. The most prominent example of this is the obligation of fasting in the month of Ramadan. A lunar month is thirty or twenty-nine days long and begins with the sighting of the new moon (crescent). In our country, unfortunately, the sighting of the moon has become a topic of dispute and controversy. In the midst of this dispute, we lose sight of the real reason behind basing this worship on the lunar calendar.
The first and most important feature of the lunar months is that they fall in different seasons unlike the solar months. That is, it is always hot in July as per the solar calendar, but the lunar month of Ramadan falls in all seasons, summer, winter, autumn and spring. This cycle is completed in approximately in thirty two solar years. This means that if this year Ramadan falls in July, then this has happened thirty-two or thirty-three years ago as well, in 1980. While in the year 1996, Ramadan was in the winter of January, in the year 1988 in spring, and in the year 2005 in autumn.
The wisdom of keeping fasting worship in different seasons through the lunar months is that people go through different situations while fasting. The hunger and cold of harsh winter, the thirst and long fasts in harsh summer, the throat-parching dry air of autumn and the pleasant weather of spring keeps reminding them that in life there will be winters, summers, springs and autumns of good and bad circumstances, but the believer has to disregard all, and live a life of servitude and obedience.
Apart from the difference of seasons, another significant feature of the lunar month is its symbolic representation of life in this world. The lunar month is divided into three parts according to the moon phases. The first part begins with the new moon and lasts for ten nights during which the moon gradually grows. But during these ten days, the darkness of the night dominates the moon. The next ten days are like the days of the moon’s rule, in which the bright moon becomes perfect and illuminates the nights with its luminous presence for ten days. The next ten or nine days are the waning of the moon, in which the moon gradually begins to wane. By the end of the month, the moon loses its existence and descends into the valley of nothingness, leaving behind the darkness of the moonless night. Then a dark shadow of uncertainty looms over. It is not known whether the new moon will rise from this veil of darkness after twenty-nine days or thirty.
If we reflect, this is a complete representation of life. Human life is also divided into three parts like the life of the moon. The first part is that of evolution, which goes through birth, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. The second part consists of early-youth, youth and mature age, representing peak of strength, enthusiasm and ability. While the third part is marked by decline, consisting of late adulthood, old age and advanced years, which are the peak of weakness and apathy. Then, just as the twenty-ninth or thirtieth of the month is uncertain, in the same way, when the door of the grave opens from the threshold of old age is also an uncertain matter.
If we truly absorb this spirit of the lunar month, surely there is no better reminder than fasting of how life slips imperceptibly through our hands every day. If we understand this, instead of counting the days of fasting in Ramadan, we will count whether we have spent the first part of our lives, the second, or are we living through the last stage. Then we will realize that just as the remaining days of Ramadan pass quickly, soon the remaining days of my life will also pass. Then one day, on the twenty-ninth or thirtieth, the moon of the life of Hereafter will rise, which will never end. Thus, instead of celebrating the passing of days of Ramadan, we will do accountability of the past days of our lives.
If this mindset becomes prevalent, the mindset of quarreling over the new moon of Ramadan and Eid will end. The important thing then would be self-accountability as Ramadan begins. In the first ten days we will see if we have wasted our childhood and adolescence in futile entertainment. In the second ten days, we will examine whether the strength & grit of youth were dedicated to lust for pleasure and possessions. In the last ten days, we will review if our old age was spent in matters of wealth, children and status. We will then try to improve our affairs in whatever part of life we are in. We will make the Hereafter our goal instead of this world. So that when the new moon of the hereafter rises, we see the bright nights of heaven. And the moonless nights of hell do not become our destiny.
Translated by Ali Zafar