Ramadan Affected by End of Daylight Time

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins this week. In commemoration of the revelation of the Koran to Mohamed, peace be upon him, observant Muslims will fast during the daylight hours, taking no food or water. However, some Muslims might have it a bit easier than others. Some jurisdictions are changing their clocks to give people a break in the heat.

Of course, changing the clocks has no effect on the motion of the sun. It will shine just as long each day. By moving the time back, the sun will rise and set “earlier.” People will more likely sleep a bit “later” into the first hours of light, thereby shortening the amount of time they are awake and required to fast.

Traditionally, the Palestinians have moved their clocks at a time different from Israel, to show their independence. Now, Hamas and Fatah are changing the clock to score points against each other. MSNBC noted, “The Palestinian militant group Hamas is ending daylight-saving time at midnight Thursday in the Gaza Strip, which it controls — while the West Bank, run by the rival Fatah faction, is waiting until midnight Sunday.“ It added, “'Hamas just wants to show they're different from the Palestinian government, to pretend that they are the real government here,' said Jamal Zakout, a spokesman for the prime minister of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. He said the PA chose midnight Sunday because Ramadan is expected to begin Monday.”

Egypt moves its clocks back when Hamas does. Jordan and Lebanon wait until October. Syria will move its clocks back at the end of September, during Ramadan. Saudi Arabia and Iraq-Nam don't bother with daylight time, so their clocks are unchanged. Israel goes off daylight-saving time on October 5, just before the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur. Arab Muslims in Israel will probably follow that, but many may not.

There is some inherent confusion regarding the month. Ramadan begins with the sighting of the new moon, which as any astronomy student knows varies with longitude. In the Gulf, Ramadan started on Sunday, but in Indonesia, it is today. Moreover, the Muslim calendar is shorter than the Gregorian, meaning that it moves about 11 days a year thought the solar year. That means that it's set for September-ish this year, when it's still 90 Farenheit in many places in the Middle East. That's a tough situation in which to fast.

The clock confusion aside, this journals wishes all Muslims an easy fast.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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