Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

How Ramadan and Eid became sacred Muslim rituals

By Muhammad Hussain - posted Wednesday, 24 September 2008


The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims observe a dawn-to-dusk fast by abstaining from all kind of food, drink and even smoking, is coming to close. It will culminate in the celebration of Eid, the greatest Muslim festival of feasting and fun. This is an opportune time for the curious readers to find out the origin and significance of these two major Muslim rituals.

Muhammad's childhood

Muhammad, the noble Prophet and founder of Islam, was born in the Arabian city of Mecca in 570CE in the clan of Quraysh. Mecca housed the most sacred temple of Arabia, the Ka'ba, which housed 360 idols and was the centre for worship and pilgrimage for people of many beliefs in the entire Arabian Peninsula.

The Prophet lost both his parents by the age of five and was raised by his grandfather and later his uncle, Abu Taleb. Like all people of the city, Muhammad, until his marriage, followed the idolatrous religious customs.

Advertisement

Marriage and prophetic mission

Muhammad, aged 25, married a 40-year-old wealthy merchant lady, Khadija. Khadija had exposure to Judeo-Christian messages through her cousin Nofal, who had converted to Judaism and later to a Christianity. He had translated a few chapters of the Bible into Arabic.

After his marriage, Muhammad stopped idol-worship, showed more interest in monotheism and started meditating in cave in the mount of Hira in the month of Ramadan, a tradition common amongst hanifs, a monotheistic sect of Mecca. Sometimes his wife and Nofal accompanied him.

After 15 years, at the age of 40 (c. 609CE), Muhammad claimed to have received revelations from God. His claim was readily affirmed by Khadija and Nofal. Yet Nofal never converted to Islam and died a Christian.

Muhammad started preaching his new religion, initially among close relatives, family members and friends. Then he came out publicly, preaching his messages from Allah. After about five years, he could muster only a few dozen converts. Frustrated, his messages became hostile, denigrating Meccan customs and the religion of idol-worship.

He called himself and followers of his creed the righteous: those who rejected it were liars, wrong-doers, inventors of falsehoods and he consigned them to the eternal fire of hell.

Despite such hostile messages, the idolaters of Mecca never protested or molested him. Those who wanted to converted to his religion freely.

Advertisement

Meccan opposition and sanctions on Muhammad

After those first five years he had about four to five dozen converts. They never faced any persecution from their family and other citizens, with the exception of a few slaves, belonging to pagan masters, who had converted.

Muhammad's messages became increasingly hateful, insulting and demeaning towards the religion, customs and ancestors of the Meccans, and they became annoyed. Islamic scholar and historian Baihaki, in his book, Proof of Prophecy, records a testimony of a disciple of Muhammad on the growing annoyance among Meccans:

“I was once present when the chief among the idolaters assembled at the Ka'ba. They were discussing about Allah's apostles (Muhammad) and said: ‘Nether have we had to tolerate from anyone what we have had to from this man. He slanders our fathers, criticises our religion, divides our people, and blasphemes our gods. Such grievous things have we tolerated from this man.’”

By about 615, the Meccans started showing opposition to his mission. They started torturing some of the slave-converts. The families of some of the converts tried to convince them to give up the hostile creed. Other converts were locked up, to prevent them from joining Muhammad’s congregations. Yet, Muhammad’s hostility did not cease. These led the Meccans to impose sanctions against him and his community, socially excommunicating them, in 617. This period brought hardship to Muhammad and his supporters. The sanction was withdrawn after two years in 619.

Muslims go to Medina

Even with the sanctions removed, preaching for Muhammad became almost impossible. His mission stagnanted as the Meccans steadfastly rejected his faith. Seeing no hope for success in Mecca, he unsuccessfully tried to relocate to Taif in 619. Next year, he attempted to preach his creed to a group of citizens from Medina, who had come to Mecca for the pilgrimage. A few converted. He wanted to move to Medina with them, but these new converts persuaded him to postpone the plan because of an ongoing blood-feud in Medina. The converts returned to Medina without Muhammad and were able to draw a few more people to Islam.

The next year, they returned for the pilgrimage and 12 people, including previous six, made a pledge to Muhammad’s creed. Muhammad sent a disciple, Abu Musab, to Medina to teach these new converts in Islam. During next pilgrimage (622), Musab returned with 73 converts.

Muhammad was now ready. He urged his converts to ensure his safety. This promise was given and Muhammad sent his disciples from Mecca to Medina in small batches over the next two months before he himself went with his closest friend Abu Bakr arriving in Medina in June 622.

Muhammad adopts Jewish rituals, including fasting

During the first 13 years of Islam in Mecca, neither Allah nor Muhammad prescribed fasting for Muslims. At Medina, Jews were the dominant, wealthy community, which brought Muhammad in close contact with a monotheistic creed.

Noticing the Jews fasting, Muhammad enquired about the reason. They replied: “it was in memory of Prophet Moses' escape from the hands of the Pharaoh and latter's destruction in the Red sea." Muhammad said to his converts: “We have greater rights in Moses than they (Jews).” Thus, fasting entered the Muslim creed.

He adopted a number of Jewish rituals, including fasting of Ashor, circumcision and praying towards Jerusalem.

Muhammad tried to convince the Jews to embrace his new religion. Allah revealed many verses affirming the Jewish and Christian scriptures and demanded that the Jews accept Muhammad as their new Prophet, who was predicted to come in the Torah (Old Testament).

But the Jews found many inconsistencies in Muhammad’s revelations. With a few exceptions, they stubbornly stayed away from Islam. But the idolaters of Medina embraced Islam in greater numbers.

Instead of accepting Islam, the Jews started pointing out various inconsistencies, inaccuracies and logical fallacies in Islamic revelations which badly angered the merciful Prophet. Seeing no hope of drawing the Jews and Christians to Islam, Allah decided to part ways with them, revealing:

"And the Jews will not be pleased with you, nor the Christians until you follow their religion. Say: Surely Allah's guidance that is the (true) guidance. And if you follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, you shall have no guardian from Allah, nor any helper" (Quran 2:120).

The first Ramadan and Eid

In late 623, angry Muhammad started denouncing many of the Jewish customs he had adopted and ordered assassinations of those critics and poets who mocked his creed.

The fasting of Ashor was replaced with the month-long fasting in Ramadan, a custom of the monotheistic hanifs of Mecca. This is how Ramadan fasting became part of Islam.

Meanwhile, Muhammad took about six months to build an abode for his community. Once he was firmly footed in Medina with many converts, it was time to take revenge against the Meccans for their rejection of his faith. He planned to attack Meccan trade-caravans passing through nearby routes to Syria, the major routes for their life-sustaining trades.

Many of Muhammad’s followers were unwilling to support his violent mission. Allah quickly came to his support revealing a series of verses (Quran 2:190-194, 2:216), commanding Muslims to fight even if they do not like it:

"Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not". (Quran 2.216)

With fighting divinely sanctioned, in February 623, Muhammad started sending Muslim brigands to attack Meccan caravans. After several failed attempts, because of poor intelligence, the first success came in November - December 623 at Nakhla. Muhammad sent a band of Muslim raiders, under the command of Abdullah ibn Jahash, instructing them: “proceed until you reach Nakhla between Mecca and Al-Ta'if. Lie in wait there for the Quraysh (caravan) …” (Ibn Ishaq, Karachi, p287).

It was the period of Orma (lesser pilgrimage) to the Ka'ba; and not to alarm the approaching caravan, the raiders shaved their heads to give an impression they were pilgrims and were not hostile. Once the caravan came within reach they attacked. The raiders returned to Medina with booty and prisoners.

However, it was the last day of Rajab, a sacred month in Arabic tradition, during which, fighting and violence were prohibited. This breach of a sacred custom created great dissatisfaction among the citizens of Medina, including some Muslims.

Muhammad initially tried to distance himself from the blood-bath. Abdullah and his co-raiders were heartbroken at this. Allah quickly came to Muhammad’s rescue revealing a verse (Quran 2:217) to justify the prohibited bloodshed. Fighting, killing and plundering booty by Muslims, thus, found an unrestrained divine sanction.

This sacred raid and bloodbath was very meaningful for Islam. It brought Muslims booty at a time when they were suffering from terrible hardships. Raiding and plundering thereafter became the livelihood of Muhammad and his community. Muhammad kept a fifth as his share, sanctioned by Allah and the remainder was distributed among the raiders (Quran 8:41]. The prisoners were ransomed, generating more money.

About this time, Muhammad disbanded the Jewish-style fasting of Ashor and introduced Ramadan as the fasting month. In January 624, during the first fasting month of Ramadan, Meccan leader Abu Sufian was returning from Syria with a huge caravan. Muhammad sent two spies to gather information; and accordingly, started on a raiding mission with the Muslim army behind him.

The news of Muhammad’s plan reached Abu Sufian, who sent a messenger to Mecca asking for reinforcements. An army of 1,000 Medina men set off to the rescue and to teach Muhammad a lesson for his continued aggression. Abu Sufian meanwhile took a safer route to Mecca, but the rescue army had already left.

Muhammad had taken position at Badr not knowing that the caravan had escaped. The news of the approaching Meccan army reached him. He was delighted, thinking that the caravan was approaching, and took up a position occupying the water-wells.

After a few days' journey through the desert, the Meccan army arrived on the 17th day of Ramadan, tired and thirsty; but all the water-wells were occupied by Muhammad. The battle ensued resulting in the Meccan army retreating after suffering heavy loses. The Muslim army of 305 fighting men lost only 14 fighters while the Meccans lost 49 lives and a similar number were captured.

One particular incidence of bravery in the battlefield of Badr deserves a mention. In the midst of battle, Muhammad was loudly announcing to his soldiers that: “Allah had promised paradise to those who die fighting in His cause.”

Omeir Ibn Hubab, a lad of 16, was wandering around eating dates on the side of the battle. Hearing this exhortation from Muhammad's mouth, he threw away the dates. “Is it these dates,” he cried, “that hold me back from paradise? Verily, I will taste no more of them until I meet my Lord (in paradise)!”

Whereupon, he picked up a sword and rushed on to the enemies only to be slain. Muhammad's biographies endow glowing tribute and praise on his bravery and list him as Islam’s first martyr.

Disputes broke out over the distribution of the booty (horses, camel, weapons and other stuffs left behind by the Meccans). Allah quickly responded by revealing the rules for the distribution of spoils:

"And know that out of all the booty that ye may acquire (in war), a fifth share is assigned to Allah and his Messenger …" (Quran 8.41)

Muhammad took his fifth share of the booty plus the camel and the famous sword, known as Dhu'l-Fikar, of his sworn enemy, Abu Jahl. Muhammad used this sword in all subsequent battles and is preserved today.

Muslims headed back to Medina enriched with booty. In a few days, the holy month of Ramadan ended and Muslims celebrated the first-ever Eid. The booty captured at Badr no doubt added to the festive mood of their first-ever celebration of Eid.

Conclusion

The first Ramadan and Eid were very significant events that shaped the future of the great Islamic faith. Success in this incredible battle against a much larger opposition gave Muslims tremendous confidence and a feeling that God was on their side. Indeed, Muhammad had proclaimed at Badr, to prop up his fighters, that “20 angels of God were fighting the enemy with each Muslim soldier”.

This stunning success and confidence inspired the numerous incredible battles and conquests Muslims fought. Within a couple of decades, great Persian Empire was at Islam’s feet, while Byzantium, the most powerful empire, lost significant territory to Muslims.

The victorious journey of Islam that began in the first holy month of Ramadan enabled them acquire vast tracts of world territory today and it continues (Kosovo for example). A stunning 1.4 billion people on earth are under the banner of Islam.

The Muslim Ummah has not forgotten the blessing of the eventful and glorious first Ramadan and Eid and the success that it gave the glorious religion of Islam. It was in Ramadan that Muslims achieved their greatest victories time and again, including Muhammad’s conquest of Mecca and capture of Ka’ba in 630 CE. They celebrate these great events as steadfastly today as ever before.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

14 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Muhammad Hussain is researcher and freelance writer.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Muhammad Hussain

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 14 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy