In an exceptionally hot month of fasting, perhaps it is most appropriate to remember that an alternative meaning of the Arabic word ‘Ramad’, the root of ‘Ramadan’, is ‘scorchedness of the earth due to excessive heat’. Ramadan, or Ramzan, as the month of fasting is more commonly known, was declared in mid-May, and a little unusually, the date of commencement was uniformly observed on the same day by Muslims globally. To Muslims fasting from dawn to dusk in the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar, Ramzan is an opportunity not just for voluntary abstention from the appetites that drive their existence but also a reminder of how close nature is to their life.
The Muslim population of the world sets its dates according to the Hijri calendar. This starts in the Islamic New Year of AD 622 when the Prophet Muhammad and his followers migrated from Makkah (Mecca) to Yathrib (now known as Madina) and established the first Muslim community or Ummah. The Hijri calendar has 12 months, in a year of 354 or 355 days. With the calendar moving back by 11 days each year compared with the more universally used Gregorian (solar) calendar, the first day of Ramzan tends to change accordingly. Fasting was made compulsory in the second year after the migration.
Even though the sun and the moon have always been a part of what we call day and night, a ritual like fasting becomes almost totally focused on the movement of these celestial bodies. The new moon (‘Hilal’ in Arabic) assumes added importance during Ramzan, because it has to be sighted with the naked eye in order for the month to commence and end, roughly a period of 29 to 30 days.