Ramadan Question

[Mrs. Forgetful 2]

Does Ramandan start tomorrow or Sunday? Is it going by Mekkah or by Saudia? I am so confused how to tell when it starts too! Can someone exlpain please?

Edited September 22, 2006 by Mrs. Forgetful

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Only God knows! ISNA says tomorrow, although some say we won't be able to see the moon until tomorrow night, making the first day Sunday.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, fun fun fun!

Ok, here's the explanation -

There is no consensus on how we decide when Ramadan starts. Traditionally, it is done by the siting of the moon in a certain locality. When we got to have the modern nation state, muslim majority nations would site the moon for their entire country (ie all Egypt starts on the same day, all Morocco starts on the same day), but the start date still differed from country to country.

Here in the US (and in the UK), we have a unique problem. Some people follow when Ramadan starts back home. Some follow when the moon is sited anywhere in the US. Some people follow when the moon is sited in their locality (state/city, etc). And now ISNA has decided to use calculations instead of actually seeing the moon, so it adds another perspective into the mess. Some people follow Saudi Arabia out of pure frustration at the mess, and just needing some place to be centered on.

So yeah, in conclusion, if you're in the US, we have no idea when Ramadan will start

I'm leaning towards starting tomorrow however, since our state jurisprudence council and ISNA have declared for tomorrow.

Edited September 22, 2006 by rahma

[Mrs. Forgetful 2]

What's the site you can get all the ramadan prayer times?

[UmmSqueakster 54]

You can get prayer times all year round by putting your zip code in Islamic Finder. It's very slow right now, probably because all 6 million american muslism are online trying to find out if we fast tomorrow Otherwise, you can check the Islamicity prayer times thingy or this website. Or you can download the Athan 2.0 from Islamicfinder and have the prayer times programed on your computer.

[Mrs. Forgetful 2]

I can't even get Islamic finder to load

[UmmSqueakster 54]

I can't even get Islamic finder to load

Me either. However, the Islamicity site seems to be working just fine. ISNA has finally gotten wise and put a no graphics frontpage up. This is the first time I've gotten ISNA to load in the days prior to Ramadan in the last several years.

[Mrs. Forgetful 2]

IslamicFinder says Philadelphia Sunday, but IslamiCity says tomorrow! Now I am confused! I guess I am going to have to wait and see.

[UmmSqueakster 54]

I believe IslamicFinder and Islamicity use calculations, just to give a general outlook on time. They map out the whole year based on calculations with the muslim calendar. These can get off by a day or 2, as they don't really fine tune them based on the actual moon siting.

Might I recommend either following ISNA, who have very precise calcuations, as opposed to the general ones on the previous 2 sites, or following the local community in Philly?

[Mrs. Forgetful 2]

Ok. I'll have to call my friend to see when it's starting here in Philly. I haven't been to the mosque in quite sometime. She'll be able to tell me. Have a wonderful Ramadan Rahma!

Oh and thanks for your help!

Edited September 22, 2006 by Mrs. Forgetful

[Veiled Princess 1]

The moon was sighted after salatul Maghib tonight in Saudia so I'll start my fast tomorrow inshallah.

[jordanianprincess 0]

I have a question, how do you ladies manage keep your weight down during ramadan? I would think fasting all day and then eating at night can't be good for your waist line or am I wrong? I mean I seriously gain 5 lbs every Thanksgiving and thats just 2 days. Is it hard to do?

[Veiled Princess 1]

I have a question, how do you ladies manage keep your weight down during ramadan? I would think fasting all day and then eating at night can't be good for your waist line or am I wrong? I mean I seriously gain 5 lbs every Thanksgiving and thats just 2 days. Is it hard to do?

I don't eat a whole lot at night. We're not really supposed to stuff ourselves after fasting all day. I do have a big breakfast though.

[jordanianprincess 0]

I have a question, how do you ladies manage keep your weight down during ramadan? I would think fasting all day and then eating at night can't be good for your waist line or am I wrong? I mean I seriously gain 5 lbs every Thanksgiving and thats just 2 days. Is it hard to do?

I don't eat a whole lot at night. We're not really supposed to stuff ourselves after fasting all day. I do have a big breakfast though.

I mean I guess in theory you are not supposed to, but all the good food during Ramadan in Jordan (or other places) lol how can you resist?????

[UmmSqueakster 54]

We'll be fasting Sunday with the moon sighting here in the US inshaAllah.

So last year, from July through September, I ran 3 times a week and did workout videos on the days I didn't run. I didn't lose a pound. Then, during Ramadan, I made sure I didn't stuff myself, even with community iftars and I lost 7 pounds without exercising at all

[~Jackie~ 30]

Just like every year, I don't know when it will start. Wish there like a toll-free number to call to find out.

Jackie