Tawhid: 13-Sept-07 ed.

Tawhid is a series on the Middle East, Islamic jurisprudence, and Islamic theology. The word "tawhid" (TAW-heed) roughly translates to "unity" or "oneness".


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The Ramadan Challenge

Sundown 12-Sept begin the Islamic month of Ramadan in 2007. This holy month is believed to be when Muhammad received his first relevation from Gabriel in the year 610 CE. Every year Muslims around the world celebrate this month through fasting and prayer. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar the month of Ramadan starts on a different date each year (vis-a-vis our Roman calendar).

Observant Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan; smoking and sexual relations are also to be avoided during the fasting period. Age, illness, travel, and menustration are acceptable reasons for not observing the fasting period. Travel and menustration usually are treated as temporary stays in fasting, with most observant Muslims "making up" the fasting, prayers, and Qur'anic readings after the end of Ramadan.

Concomitantly, most observant Muslims seek to read the entire Qur'an during Ramadan. The Qur'an is broken in up into chapters and verses (suwar and ayat respectively in Arabic) much like the Judeo-Christian Bible. However, if you read the Qur'an you are not reading the suwar in chronological order - the order in which they were revealed to Muhammad. Instead the Qur'an's layout is by lenth of the surah (the singula form of suwar). The suwar decrease is length as the Qur'an progresses. The only exception is the first surah, - The Opening/Prologue - the Islamic analogue to the Christian Lord's Prayer. This surah is recited during daily prayers and is a statement of the Islamic faith.

In order to facilitate the completion of the Qur'an during the month of Ramadan the Qur'an is read in 1/30 sections called juz' (ajiza (pl)). Juz' do not run surah to surah, as the Qur'an contains 114 suwar.

Last year I tried to fast and keep up with my juz' readings. I failed to complete the process for the entire month, falling about 12 days short. My fast ended because of illness, and my readings failed when the fast ended. This year I intend to again try to keep up with the Ramadan readings and fasting. I will admit now that my fast will end early and that I intend to drink water during the day - thus my fast will not be a true fast - as I am still not 100% healthy. My wedding and honeymoon fall within the month of Ramadan. Travel is the excuse, however I don' t know that I will "make up" my fasting days. However, I intend continue with reading a juz' per day.

I challenge my readers to keep pace with me, thus the tile, "Ramadan Challenge". An online copy of the Qur'an in English can be found here or here. Most Qur'ans have a marker in them to inform the reader where a juz'begins and ends. Given that some English translations and the online translations do not have this marker, a breakdown of the length of each juz' and the corresponding ayat can be found here. The site also has some explanations of the first couple ajiza.

While I have read large portions of the Qur'an, I am yet to read the entire book. I hope to rectify that situation over the next 30 days. I hope some of you take the journey with me.