03-12-2006, 09:35 AM
Hi Arclight...
The muslim calendar is based on 12 lunar months which is 11 days short of the xian calendar. Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) mentioned this in the Quran several years before the muslim calendar came into being, dated from the Prophet's migration (hijarah) to Madina;
<b>18:25 Some say they stayed in their cave three hundred years and some add another nine.</b>
When I first converted to Islam I thought the same as you...nil by mouth from dawn til dusk...<i>impossible!</i>
My first Ramadan was months away so I attempted the sunnah fasts of Mondays and Thursdays for practice. In the beginning I used to vomit before noon...without fail and my last "practice" I managed to survive until 4pm before I gave up. So I entered my first Ramadan with a scoresheet of <i>zero</i> fullfilled fasts. A 100% failure rating.
Then there it was...Ramadan. The nights before I prayed to Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) to make it easy for me.
Alhamdulillah...30 days of Ramadan went like a breeze. No thirst, no hunger. And it's been the same every Ramadan since and insha allah (God willing) in the future too.
An extreme view...No!!!! It's compulsory. And easy.
<i><b>The very best time of the year.</b> </i>