Ramadan

3 Ramadan Traditions at Risk of Extinction

Published

July 26, 2012

Ramadan2012 Posts

Over the course of the last 1400 years, Muslims have developed various traditions for the month of Ramaḍān. With the march of technology, some of these traditions are at risk of going extinct without us even realizing it. Here are just a few:

3. Giving the adhān at Ifṭār time

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Ibn Umar narrated that the Prophet said, “The muezzin will receive forgiveness to the extent the voice of his adhān reaches; every living and non-living thing that hears his voice will supplicate for his forgiveness.” [Musnad Ahmed]

Now, having just read that ḥadīth, the logical thing to do is to make sure that you’re the one giving the adhān at every single opportunity. I mean, who wants to miss out on the chance of even inanimate objects asking for your forgiveness simply because they were within earshot of your adhān? But despite the sweet rewards, Muslims seem to be delegating this aspect of our faith to alarm clocks, TV stations and even smartphone apps.

Here in the UK, many Muslim families sit down to ifṭār with the radio or TV set to a Muslim station and await the adhān. As time goes on, the only live adhān many of us (and our children) end up hearing is the one given at Friday prayers and many times that is only if we manage to get to the mosque on time.

2. The suḥūr alarm

Hard as it is to believe, alarm clocks are a relatively new invention. For centuries before they came along, Muslims have been woken up for suḥūr by pious beggars who march through the street banging on drums or something of the like. Where I’m from, they would go through the narrow alleys proclaiming “Suḥūr, Suḥūr. May Allah forgive you.” It’s almost as if they knew that the initial reaction (of some) was to mutter a few less than-holy responses, therefore they threw in the forgiveness part.

The Muslims would wake up and have their suḥūr and offer some to the beggar if they were able to. At the end of the month, each family may give some money to these beggars who were providing a social service as well as earning their daily bread.

Also, the pious beggar would wake everyone up – even those who weren’t planning on waking up for suḥūr or fasting. There was an element of social and peer pressure – a nightly reminder to do good and do it on time. Today, we prefer to have the annoying beep of a digital clock and a snooze button that we can hit repeatedly.

Ummmm – where’s the snooze button on this guy?
[Photo from Todays Zaman website]

1. Sighting the moon

Without a doubt, the Ramaḍān tradition most at threat of extinction is the actual sighting of the moon. When was the last time you went out of your home and tried to physically see the moon for yourself rather than trawling through your twitter feed to see whether #Eid was trending?

Mabrook! The #Eid hashtag has been sighted on Twitter!
[Photo Mohammad Zubair AP]

The Prophet

himself would look for the new moon and supplicate when he sighted it. It was an honour for any Muslim to sight the moon and even to this day, in a couple of Muslim countries, the first person to physically sight the new moon and officially verify it is given new robes and a small gift. This can only be confirmed if the person is a known trustworthy Muslim who is well known to his local Imam as someone who attends prayers. Also, the person has to have good eyesight – as was hilariously demonstrated by the occasion when an elderly bedouin turned up to Caliph Umar

claiming to have sighted the moon, only for the Caliph to realise that the “moon” in question was actually an overgrown eyelash in the Bedouins field of vision.

Today, we scan TV channels, wait for text messages, and trawl through Internet sites and Facebook status updates. From the comfort of our home, we debate whether or not the moon has actually been sighted without once taking the opportunity to go out and look for ourselves. We even miss out on the chance to organise a field trip with our children and other young Muslims to scan the horizon with telescopes and learn more about our faith. It was our love of looking at the heavens, of finding the age of the moon and the direction of Makkah that propelled us to become masters of astronomy. Today, we neglect these duties and others race to land on it, circle it and study it.

Keeping the sunnah of physical moonsighting alive – and looking like a don
[Photo by Muhammad Sabri AFP Getty Images]

Lesson from history?

This Ramaḍān, think about relying on technology a little less and your senses a little more. Islam isn’t against technological innovation, but they are supposed to aid the human experience – not replace it.

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Dr Muhammad Wajid Akhter

Dr. Muhammad Wajid Akhter - National Council Member, Muslim Council of Britain | mcb.org.uk - Lead, National Muslim Covid Response Group | covid@mcb.org.uk - Council Member, British Islamic Medical Association | britishima.org - Founder, Charity Week for Orphans and children in need | charityweek.com - Co-Founder, Islamic History Channel | islamichistorychannel.org - International Director, FIMA Lifesavers

9 Comments

Mezba

July 26, 2012 at 11:11 AM

The advent of the “Calculators” (as I call them) has really caused a sharp division in the Muslim ummah. Usually the difference would be in cities (as to the start/end of the month). Now people in the same cities celebrate different dates because of the Fiqh Council of North America.

Reply
Junaid Farooqi

July 27, 2012 at 5:00 PM

The only one I agree with is the Adhaan part. The rest just sounds like Nostalgia. Prophet (SAS) sighted the moon because that was the only way to know back then. Now we know exactly when the new moon will be … It’s called technology and knowledge of the Cosmos. Just because people back in the day used to pray fajr and isha in the dark doesn’t mean that is a tradition that needs to be revived.

Reply
- aafreen
  
  July 29, 2012 at 7:44 AM
  
  What was available at the tym of our prophet peace be on him, was the best given to him by Allah in His Wisdom. If Allah wanted to, all the latest “technology” wud have been available to our prophet peace be on him. Do not go about proclaiming abt technology and knowledge of cosmos as if this generation is somewhat better off than those of our pious predecessors.
  
  Reply
Tiger

July 27, 2012 at 5:37 PM

What about covering the head? Is that also at risk of extinction?

Reply
AnonyMouse Al-Majnoonah

July 27, 2012 at 7:36 PM

Definitely agree with this – just because clocks and calculations have made life “easier” for us, it doesn’t mean that we need to abandon our roots (especially not those practices which have ajr attached to them!).

Despite living in a Muslim country, I find it extremely annoying that many families choose to switch on the TV to wait for the adhaan rather than listening for the one right outside their windows.

Reply
Kamran

July 29, 2012 at 7:48 PM

I do agree with the nostalgic part of this article and even though we have advanced technology and means to predict the moon rising and time changing, still in USA, people do follow the Farmers Almanac, or rather use it as a backup!

I miss the most is moon sighting, its an important tradition as well as an essential aspect of proclamation of the new month.

Good article Wajid !!

Reply
Habeebullah

July 30, 2012 at 2:40 PM

Yeah dude, it’s called being more modern. I don’t get your logic here. Rasulullah (SAW) regularly traveled on dromedaries, as the automobile had not yet been invented. I do not see you lamenting on the tragedy of this trajectory from our roots as well. Technology ain’t bad, son.

Reply
- WAJiD
  
  July 30, 2012 at 7:26 PM
  
  Walaikum asalaam,
  
  Clearly there’s a difference between technological innovation and how we use it.
  
  An example: At the time of the Prophet (SAW) there were no tape recorders. Now that we are technologically advanced enough to have them, is it fine to just set one up in a non-Muslim butchers playing the bismillah looped and thereby making all the meat halaal?
  
  Or how about now that we have very accurate pregnancy tests and ultrasound scans, can we just scrap the whole iddah period after a divorce when a woman should not remarry?
  
  How different is that to tapping into a calculator and saying that there will be no way to see the moon on such and such day, when Allah controls the heavens and the earth and we can barely calculate the weather with any accuracy 2 days in advance?
  
  Like I said. Technology in itself isn’t bad, but maybe we need to think about how we use it when it comes to Islam.
  
  Reply
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