When Is Ramdhan 2010

by **Noor'e Sahar** Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:08 pm

When Is Ramdhan 2010?

Answer:
Ramadan is expected to begin on or around August 11, 2010 and
will finish on or around September 10, 2010.

Note:
<blockquote>The exact dates
of Islamic holidays cannot be determined in advance, due to the nature
of the Islamic lunar calendar. Estimates are based on expected
visibility of the hilal (waxing crescent moon following a new
moon) and may vary according to location.</blockquote>

Following are the description of The Islamic Lunar Calendar and
Moon-Sighting at Ramadan (Hilal)

The Islamic Lunar Calendar

Muslims do not traditionally "celebrate" the beginning of a new year,
but we do acknowledge the passing of time, and take time to reflect on
our own mortality.

Muslims measure the passage of time using the Islamic (Hijrah)
calendar. This calendar has twelve lunar months, the beginnings and
endings of which are determined by the sighting of the crescent moon.
Years are counted since the Hijrah, which is when the Prophet Muhammad
migrated from Mecca to Madinah (approximately July 622 A.D.).

The Islamic calendar was first introduced by the
close companion of the Prophet, 'Umar ibn Al-Khattab. During his
leadership of the Muslim community, in approximately 638 A.D., he
consulted with his advisors in order to come to a decision regarding the
various dating systems used at that time. It was agreed that the most
appropriate reference point for the Islamic calendar was the Hijrah,
since it was an important turning point for the Muslim community. After
the emigration to Madinah (formerly known as Yathrib), the Muslims were
able to organize and establish the first real Muslim "community," with
social, political, and economic independence. Life in Madinah allowed
the Muslim community to mature and strengthen, and the people developed
an entire society based on Islamic principles.

The Islamic calendar is the official calendar in many Muslim
countries, especially Saudi Arabia. Other Muslim countries use the
Gregorian calendar for civil purposes and only turn to the Islamic
calendar for religious purposes.

The Islamic year has twelve months that are based on a lunar cycle.
Allah says in the Qur'an:
"The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a
year) - so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the
earth...." (9:36).

"It is He Who made the sun to be a shining glory, and the
moon to be a light of beauty, and measured out stages for it, that you
might know the number of years and the count of time. Allah did not
create this except in truth and righteousness. And He explains His signs
in detail, for those who understand" (10:5).

And in his final sermon before his death, the Prophet Muhammad said,
among other things, "With Allah the months are twelve; four of
them are holy; three of these are successive and one occurs singly
between the months of Jumaada and Sha'ban."

Islamic months begin at sunset of the first day, the day when the
lunar crescent is visually sighted. The lunar year is approximately 354
days long, so the months rotate backward through the seasons and are not
fixed to the Gregorian calendar. The months of the Islamic year are:

1. Muharram ("Forbidden" - it is one of the four months during which
it is forbidden to wage war or fight)
2. Safar ("Empty" or "Yellow")
3. Rabia Awal ("First spring")
4. Rabia Thani ("Second spring")
5. Jumaada Awal ("First freeze")
6. Jumaada Thani ("Second freeze")
7. Rajab ("To respect" - this is another holy month when fighting is
prohibited)
8. Sha'ban ("To spread and distribute")
9. Ramadan ("Parched thirst" - this is the month of daytime fasting)
10. Shawwal ("To be light and vigorous")
11. Dhul-Qi'dah ("The month of rest" - another month when no warfare or
fighting is allowed)
12. Dhul-Hijjah ("The month of Hajj" - this is the month of the annual
pilgrimage to Mecca, again when no warfare or fighting is allowed)

Moon-Sighting at Ramadan (Hilal)

There is a debate among the Muslim community on just how to calculate
the beginning of the month of Ramadan (or indeed any month, but Ramadan
takes on special importance). The traditional method, mentioned in the
Qur'an and followed by the Prophet Muhammad, is to look to the sky and
visibly sight the slight crescent moon (hilal) that marks the
beginning of the month. If one sees the hilal at night, the next day is
the first day of Ramadan and thus the first day of fasting. At the end
of the month, when the community sights the hilal'Eid al-Fitr) begins. again, the
Festival of Fast-Breaking (

Questions and debates have
arisen around the following questions:
<blockquote>What if people in one area sight the moon, but
those in another area don't? Is it okay for them to start and end the
fast on different days?
Should we follow the moon-sighting in Saudi Arabia (or any
other area of the world), or should we in our local community sight it
ourselves?
What if our location is overcast and cloudy, and the moon is
not visible to us?
Why do we even bother looking for the moon,
when we can astronomically calculate when the new moon is born, and
thus when the crescent should be visible? That eliminates human error,
right?</blockquote>

Over the years, various scholars and communities have answered this
question in different ways. The prevailing opinion is that one should
commit to a local moon-sighting, i.e. begin and end Ramadan based on the
sighting of the moon in your local vicinity. Astronomical calculations
can help us predict when the moon should be visible, but Muslims still
tend to follow the traditional method of looking at the sky themselves
and physically "sighting" the moon. Thus, the exact day of the beginning
of Ramadan is not generally known until the night before the fast
begins, when the moon is actually sighted and confirmed.