Severity in Deen

My doctor advises me to drink 8 to 12 glasses of water a day, more during the scorching months of May, June and July. Whereas my religion forbids me to drink even a sip of it from dawn to dusk during Ramzan even when it falls in the severest of the summers.

There is something amiss somewhere.  On the one hand we believe Islam to be the most scientific religion and that there is no severity in Deen (easy to practice).  On the other hand how could a 15/16 hour long Roza in the dry hot summers of Libyan desert be called as ‘not sever’ for a labourer toiling there?! 

Could it be that the Ramadan during the life of Holy Prophet (SAWAW) used to always fall around the Spring Equinox (23 March) as Sun-e-Ibrahimi was in practice then and it was a Luni-Solar calendar. It allowed a Leap Year or Intercalary year in which a 13th lunar month was  added seven times in a 19 year cycle to the twelve lunar months to keep its calendar year from drifting through the seasons. This practice of adding the  13th additional month after every three years or so is still followed by the Jews and many other nations practicing luni-solar calendar resulting in their all important religious days falling on or around the same time of the year always. 

As a matter of fact the Hebrew, Buddhist, Hindu , Burmese, and Tibetancalendars, as well as the traditional Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, and Koreancalendars, plus the ancient Hellenic, Coligny, and Babylonian calendarsare all lunisolar like the pre-Islamiccalendars in South Arabia, and they all add the 13th month in their Leap or Intercalary year every three year or so. in these calendars all specific days fall exactly at the same time of the year – Christmas, Yom-Kapur, Nauroz, Besakhi, Lohri, Holi etc. etc., except the days of the Hijri calendar that rotate through the years -  Hajj, Muharram, Ramzan, Eid-Milad un Nabi (SAWAW) etc.!

Obviously fasting would pose no severity of any kind if Ramadan was observed from say 21st February to 21st March (of course on sighting of the moon, that would be the closest to these dates) each year at any part of the world.  Also, we would all be fasting in the month and the season that our loving Holy Prophet (SAWAW) observed Ramazan  throughout his life.

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)