Note: Muhammad is the name for the church.

Ahmed refers to the Holy Spirit.

The Prophet's name was Qasim (termed Muhammad)

Judaism, Islam and Christianity

The Bible lays down clear rules for the calendar, which are followed by none of the major religions, neither Judaism, nor Christianity, nor Islam.

In the text God's Calendar (No. 156) it is explained how the pagan calendar in the east, which became the civil calendar, also differed from the “sacred” calendar, which begins in the month of Abib, or spring, and is determined by the equinox. Judaism follows the pagan traditions by beginning the calendar in the Seventh month, contrary to God’s instructions and strangely enough is in agreement with the original pagan influences on Islam before the Islamic calendar was cut completely adrift.

The Islamic calendar was severed from the original sacred system laid down by God to Moses and as practised in the Temple. Currently the Islamic sacred days and months and the biblical holy days, fall during significantly different times. Further, the Islamic calendar currently is of 354 or 355 days, falling behind 10 to 12 days every solar year. However, at the beginning of Islam, the Prophet called “Mohammed” and his followers had the sacred months at the same time as the biblical feast days, following the original Bible calendar.

On page 83, Studies on the Jewish Background of the New Testament, M. De Jonge, J. Van Goudoever, the book states:

"The starting-point for a comparison between the Islamic and the Jewish (Christian) Calendar is the optional fast-day Ashura, the tenth day of Muharram, which is an Islamic continuation of the Day of Atonement. (Source: Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. Ashura). If Muharram is comparable with Tishri, then the month of Ramadhan is comparable to the Jewish month of Sivan, the month of the Jewish Feast of Weeks. Islamic tradition lays down that that it was on the nights of Ramadhan, the so-called lailat al-kadr that Muhammed received the revelation of the Koran. …there is a clear parallel between the circumstances in which Moses received the Torah and those in which Muhammed received the Kur'an (Reference in the foot note- G. Widengren, The Ascension of the Apostle and the Heavenly Book, King and Saviour III", Uppsala Univ.)

In the Islamic calendar, Muharram is the first month and so is Tishri the first month of the political calendar in ancient Judaism. The New Year as Rosh Hashanah entered Judaism in the third century of the Current Era. Thus, the influence that the Jewish aristocracy in the Middle East held over the Arabs before Islam, and the pagan and mystical influences over both, caused the political new-year in the Seventh month to be an influence on both nations. Muharram is a holy month in Islam precisely because it was a holy month in the Bible and is the Seventh month of the Sacred Year and of God’s Calendar. It literally means the month of the House of God- Harram. Thus Islam was aligned with the Bible, but has been corrupted by Jewish practice, which used the political calendar. The Jewish calendar by the time of Islam ca 632 CE had cut itself adrift from the Bible system and followed the false system introduced from Babylon under Rabbi Hillel II in 358 CE. Thus this calendar, beginning in Tishri, also derived its origins from ancient Babylon and the pagan system.

The fact is that the calendar used by the Arab Christians and the Prophet was different from both as we shall see below.

Ashura was established in Islam because the Jews in Medina kept the Day of Atonement (which is the tenth of Tishri). Therefore, the tenth of Muharram was clearly aligned with the tenth of Tishri or the Seventh month. The Hijri and Jewish calendars in the early period of Islam are outlined below:

Jewish Calendar	Falls during	Islamic Month
Tishri	Sept/Oct	Muharram
(Beginning of civil Jewish new year)
Heshvan	Oct/Nov	Al Safar
Chislev	Nov/Dec	Rabi'ul Awwal
Tevet	Dec/Jan	Rabi'u-Thani
Shevat	Jan/Feb	Jamadi'ul Awwal
Adar	Feb/Mar	Jamadi'u-Thani
Nisan/A'bib	Mar/Apr	Rajab
(beginning of the religious/sacred Hebrew year)
Zif/I'yar	Apr/May	Sha'ban
Sivan	May/Jun	Ramadhan
Tammuz	Jun/Jul	Shawwal
Av/Ab	Jul/Aug	Dhul-Qadah
Elul	Aug/Sep	Dhul-Hijjah

Muharram (House of Worship) is the Holy month synchronized with Tishri wherein we have the Day of Trumpets, Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day.

Rajab is another Holy month synchronized with Nisan when we have the Feasts of Passover (Pesach), and Unleavened Bread (Hag-ha Ma'Atzos).

Ramadhan is synchronized with Iyar and Sivan when most of the Torah and the Koran were given as Scriptures. Muslims fast and worship in this period and the Jews have the counting of the Omer up to Shavvot (Pentecost), which they have corrupted to a Sivan 6 fixed date. The true Christian Churches of God observe these periods and Pentecost on the correct ancient day of the Temple system, which was the first day of the week now called Sunday.

The calculation of the Jewish year is complicated by the four sets of rules, which determine postponements. These rules are explained in the paper The Calendar and the Moon: Postponements or Festivals? (No. 195). The postponement system was introduced well after the temple period and the rules have nothing to do with the ancient Temple calendar.

The method for calculating the intercalary month, which occurs seven times every nineteen years, is fairly straightforward. The system has been used without difficulty for thousands of years, but for some reason the Arabs abandoned it through error or ignorance. Perhaps it was to distance themselves from the formalised Hillel system, which they knew to be a late and false system. Perhaps it was confusing to the Arabs who seem to have conveniently dropped the intercalary month several years after the establishment of Islam. In the process, the two calendars went out of alignment (see also below).

Months like Rabi-awal (first spring) and Rabi-thani (second spring) indicate the definite season – “spring” – referring to the growth of the cereal crops in the Middle East (in Chislev and Tevet as “First and Second Spring”), as opposed to the spring proper in the month of Rajab in Islam and the month of Abib or Spring, which is the First month of the Bible, and the Barley Harvest in Israel. These months cannot rotate over the years, falling behind about 10 days each year. Yet Islam has allowed them to slide around the year rotating wildly for years until they realign, and then only once every 33 years.

Thus we see from the above information and tables that the children of Israel and Ishmael initially observed the holy days on the same or similar days, at the beginning of Islam. Also, as shown in the articles of the Christian Churches of God, the Arabian Prophet and the first Caliphs kept the Sabbath (see also Introduction to the Commentary on the Koran (No. Q001)).

Thus Islam and the Churches of God kept the “true calendar” as a matter of faith. The errors came into the Church through paganism and Jewish mysticism, forcing the month to begin on the crescent instead of the conjunction, which is how it was calculated in the Bible period. Thus Judaism and Islam both fell from the faith, worshipping pagan idols through their systems of worship and mysticism.

However, Islamic websites often refer to the Koran Chapter 9, which refers to twelve (12) months only. This is actually a reference to and refutation of the “postponement system” introduced to Judaism under Hillel II in 358 CE. This is the first attempt at making the calendar appear distinct from the Hebrew calendar. Indeed it is with the giving of this Surah that the Hadith begins its separation of the Islamic calendar from the true calendar of God as practised by the Hebrews, the Church, and early Islam under the Prophet.

Indeed, the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (ERE), (Hastings ed), Vol. 3, Article “Calendar” (Muslim) p. 126, says that the Muslim calendar was not established until the year 10 AH when the Prophet made his last pilgrimage to Mecca (hijjat al wada 631 CE). This sermon (hutba) he gave, the essence of which is contained in the Surah below, provides twelve months to the year. This aspect is then taken to mean that there is to be no intercalation, which is absurd. It has never been that way since Noah, Abraham, Moses and the prophets. Why would the Prophet ordain such a calendar and then name two months “First Spring” and “Second Spring” if it was the intention that the calendar should rotate wildly making such distinction impossible? He was not an idiot and he was not speaking against a calendar that had been in existence for millennia and which he himself followed. Yet modern Islam and the Hadith would make him out to be precisely such an imbecile, and they themselves refer to months that occur in winter, autumn and summer, as spring months as though the term had no meaning.

The Jews themselves refer to the intercalary month by the name of the twelfth month and it is a second twelfth month as “We Adar” or “And Adar.” This regulation of the calendar has been carried out for millennia by true Islam, which comes from the Patriarchs and is the covenant they made with God.

The true date of the establishment of the false calendar is later, after the death of the Prophet.

Different translation of the Sura at-Taubah 9: 36 and 37, which is specifically dealing with the manipulation of the true calendar by the Jewish system by postponements according to the words of the Surah themselves, are given below:

[at-Taubah 9:36] Lo! the number of the months with Allah is twelve months by Allah's ordinance in the day that He created the heavens and the earth. Four of them are sacred: that is the right religion. So wrong not yourselves in them. And wage war on all of the idolaters as they are waging war on all of you. And know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him).

[at-Taubah 9:37] Postponement (of a sacred month) is only an excess of disbelief whereby those who disbelieve are misled; they allow it one year and forbid it (another) year, that they may make up the number of the months which Allah hath hallowed, so that they allow that which Allah hath forbidden. The evil of their deeds is made fairseeming unto them. Allah guideth not the disbelieving folk.

[at-Taubah 9:36] Surely the number of months with Allah is twelve months in Allah's ordinance since the day when He created the heavens and the earth, of these four being sacred; that is the right reckoning; therefore be not unjust to yourselves regarding them, and fight the polytheists all together as they fight you all together; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil).

[at-Taubah 9:37] Postponing (of the sacred month) is only an addition in unbelief, wherewith those who disbelieve are led astray, violating it one year and keeping it sacred another, that they may agree in the number (of months) that Allah has made sacred, and thus violate what Allah has made sacred; the evil of their doings is made fair-seeming to them; and Allah does not guide the unbelieving people.

It is the postponements that are being attacked here, not the fact of the necessity of determining the intercalary month of the year. This is where Islam has gone wrong and the demons have been able to pervert the faith of Islam with their heresy. Even the scholars of the ERE completely misapprehend the intent of the Surah, despite its wording, perhaps because they themselves do not comprehend the introduction of the postponements to post- Temple Judaism and its calendar due to rabbinical propaganda. The four sacred months where war was not to be waged were corrupted long before Islam by the Arab pagan tribes away from the sacred months of the Torah and that is examined below.

Doing away with the Nasi

As explained above the month Muharram equates with the Seventh month of the biblical year. In the ancient Semitic system the month of the New Year was based on the feasts of the New Year. The month of Tishri was adopted by the corrupted Jews of the Middle East under influence from Babylon in the third century CE as the New Year beginning from Rosh Hashanah. The festival coincided with the Day of Trumpets on the First of the Seventh month but is a different festival. The intercalation of the semitic Chaldean system also resulted in a thirteenth intercalary month being declared by the Prince or Nasi. It thus came to be termed the Nasi which is also a Hebrew term meaning “prince” and in modern Hebrew means any elected head of state. The Arabs, like later rabbinical Judaism, began their year in the autumn and always celebrated spring and autumn festivals (Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, (ERE) Vol. 3, p. 126, Article ‘Calendar’ (Muslim)). The last month of the year is the time of pilgrimage (Dhul-l-hijja)

In Israel the Nasi declared the intercalary month and it was always declared as Adar II or WeAdar, and had no special name. It was always at the spring equinox and thus the temptation is to declare that the Arabs intercalated at the same spring equinox and thus the First month of the year was the Nasi rather than the last intercalary month and the second was Muharram. That however is incorrect. The month Rajab was always the month of the Passover sacrifice and is equivalent to Pesach and preceded Islam among the Arabs (ERE, ibid.).

The Roman provinces in the Middle East followed the Babylonian calendar which began in the civil New Year, which coincided with the Seventh biblical month. This system was extensive throughout the Middle East. This practice was adopted by the Jews in the third century because that system had become corrupted by the paganised tribes around them. This festival was termed Rosh Hashanah as adapted by Judaism.

Intercalation was carried on by the Arabs for some time before Islam and was the responsibility of the Fuqaim a tribe of the Qinana (or Kinana) (ERE, ibid., p. 127). They reportedly announced which month was to be intercalated and so some variation may have been introduced in their calculations. The time of the introduction of the intercalations among the Arabs follows on from the introduction of the postponement system of the Jews. It may be that while the Temple stood and the calendar was correct they all followed that system, but from 358 CE they found themselves in conflict with Judaism and had to introduce their own intercalation as the years to be intercalated differed much of the time.

The practice of declaring the Thirteenth month as the Nasi was abolished in Islam allegedly by the second Caliph Omar who allegedly did away with intercalation entirely, thus throwing the year out of relationship with the seasons that the names of the months indicated. This act came from a misconstruction of the declaration in the Qur’an at Surah IX:36ff. That Surah was allegedly made in 631 CE based on a tradition of the last pilgrimage to Mecca of the Arabian Prophet. However, the text and these actions attributed to Omar were much later.

There seems to be no doubt that the Arabian Prophet kept the Feasts of the Bible but did not accord with the Jewish postponement system. He is recorded in Sunni texts as finding the Jews fasting on the 10^th of Muharram, which was Yom Kippur. He allegedly adopted the practice from them but that is not correct (cf. Sahih Bukhari Vol. 3, Bk. 31, No. 222 Mishkatul- Masabih, Delhi ed. 1307 A.H. p. 172). The Prophet is recorded by the Hadith (al Sahih of Al Bukhari) as ordering the fast on the 10^th of Muharram, which the Prophet had declared as the Ashura. It is written as though it was a practice he then adopted, but from the text of the Qur’an that cannot be correct. He seemingly found people not fasting and ordered them to fast and those who were fasting to continue fasting. There is no doubt that he kept the Day of Atonement.

He did not keep the postponements and is recorded as passing by Jews fasting on 10 Muharram, but he was not fasting. The only explanation is that he was keeping a different but related calendar. He had actually fasted the day before they had in that year.

He did not keep the current Islamic calendar either as the Hadith assumes. If he had done that he would not have arrived on the 10^th of Muharram, as in the year 622 CE in which he arrived the modern Islamic calendar would place 10 Tishri on 10 Rabi-al-awal (cf. ibid). So it is impossible for him to have been keeping that calendar. He was keeping the nineteen year lunar-solar calendar according to the conjunction and as we see above it was free of the postponements of Judaism.

K. Vollers considers that the festival at the last month of the Arab calendar, called Eid-ul-Adha, has a solar significance of pagan origin (ERE, op. cit.). However, it is also likely that it was a leftover from the abolition of the intercalation and became a casualty in being relocated to the Twelfth month instead of Muharram of the civil New Year. This was the Atonement and the sequence to Tabernacles as is evident from the part the Shaitan plays in it. Originally, Shaitan meant, “the heat of the Sur” (from Shyt). Vollers considered it to be pagan originally but that in Islam it became associated with Satan (ERE, ibid.). The fact of the matter is that in Judaism, and in the Church, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) was always associated with the putting aside of Satan and the Jews cast the Azazel goat into the wilderness. The church at that time observed the festivals but did not sacrifice other than to take meat to the Feasts. The tradition of the stoning of Satan practised at Eid-ul-Adha is a development by Judaism that crept into the casting of the Azazel goat into the wilderness. That goat was originally not stoned but in later Judaism began to be stoned and the symbolic practice has carried over into a corrupted Islam. Many people die in the hysteria at this festival almost yearly in Mecca.

The festival carries on from the tenth day of the month on up to the beginning of the fifteenth day. That period is a reminder of the period from Atonement up to Tabernacles which is what should be observed in Islam instead of this misplaced stump of a festival that has become a caricature of the Bible commands.

Islam carries on the days of the week derived from its biblical Christian roots. Friday is the gathering of the congregation and Saturday is the Sabbath (as Sabt). There is no doubt that the Arabs before Islam observed the Hebrew calendar week, and from their Judeo-Christian roots they followed the festivals. The Prophet appealed to a large base of popular support on which to build this religious system and it was already in place when the mission was commenced.

The condemnation of the Qur’an refers to the incorrect application to the postponements and the month Nasi in the autumn or other season instead of the Bible system beginning in Abib or Nisan as the First month. Those who followed him misinterpreted the instructions, (perhaps deliberately) with disastrous results. After the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs the Arabs added one disaster after another in order to reintroduce their customs and traditions.

History of the Hijri (Islamic) Calendar

The Prophet did not make any changes to the calendar and followed the biblical calendar in use at the time. It was also used by the Jews who had changed the methods of calculation by adopting the recommendations of the Babylonian rabbis in 344 CE. The Church in the East, however, used the conjunctions and followed the luni/solar calendar as they had done for centuries. The family of the Prophet used that calendar being Sabbath-keeping Christians.

The Islamic calendar, which is based purely on lunar cycles, was allegedly first introduced in 638 CE by the close companion of the Prophet and the second Caliph, `Umar ibn Al-Khattab (586-644 CE). He did it in an attempt to rationalize the various, at times conflicting dating systems used during his time. The conflict occurred between the Jews and Christians. `Umar probably wished to sever any perceived ties with Judaism and as a result created an unholy mess. `Umar (Omar) consulted with his advisors on the starting date of the new Muslim chronology. It was finally agreed that the most appropriate reference point for the Islamic calendar was the Hijra (Hijrah, Hegira). The actual starting date for the calendar "Epoch" was chosen (on the basis of purely lunar years counting backwards), to be the first day of the first month "1st of Muharram" of the year of the Hijra. The Islamic (Hijri) calendar – with dates that fall within the Muslim Era – is usually abbreviated AH in western languages, from the Latinised Anno Hejirae "In the year of the Hijra". 1st of Muharram AH 1 allegedly corresponds to Friday July 16th, 622 CE in the Julian calendar. This is actually the Holy Day of Trumpets of the Bible text, being the first day of the Seventh month, but the quasi-pagan and later Jewish Rosh Hashanah became the New Year, which was obviously influencing Islam at this early stage.

The Hijra, which chronicles the flight of the Prophet, from Mecca (Makkah) to Medina (Madinah) in September 622 CE is the central historical event of early Islam. It led to the foundation of the first Muslim city-state, a turning point in Islamic and world history.

It is argued that, to Muslims, the Hijri calendar is not just a sentimental system of time reckoning and dating important religious events, e.g., Siyaam (fasting) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). It has a much deeper religious and historical significance.

Muhammad Ilyes [Ilyes84] quotes Nadvi who wrote:

“It (the advent of the 15th century) is indeed, a unique occasion to ponder that the Islamic Era did not start with the victories of Islamic wars, nor with the birth or death of the Prophet (PBUH), nor with the Revelation itself. It starts with Hijra or the sacrifice for the cause of Truth and for the preservation of the Revelation. It was a divinely inspired selection. God wanted to teach man that struggle between Truth and Evil is eternal. The Islamic year reminds Muslims every year not of the pomp and glory of Islam but of its sacrifice and prepares them to do the same.''

From an historical angle, Ilyes quotes Samiullah who writes:

“All the events of Islamic history, especially those which took place during the life of the Holy Prophet and afterwards are quoted in the Hijra calendar era. But our calculations in the Gregorian calendar keep us away from those events and happenings, which are pregnant of admonitory lessons and guiding instructions.

...And this chronological study is possible only by adopting the Hijri calendar to indicate the year and the lunar month in line with our cherished traditions (emphasis added).''

The Islamic (Hijri) year consists of twelve (purely lunar) months. They are: (1) Muharram; (2) Safar; (3) Raby` al-awal; (4) Raby` al-Than; (5) Jumaada al-awal; (6) Jumaada al-Thaany; (7) Rajab; (8) Sha`baan; (9) Ramadhaan; (10) Shawwal; (11) Thw al-Qi`dah; and (12) Thw al-Hijjah.

Thus the later so-called Islamic calendar is contrary to the will of God as expressed in the Law. It follows Jewish and pagan practice in commencing the year in the Seventh month, and in spite of the commandments of the Koran, dislocates the calendar and allows it to drift around the year for 33 years, contrary to the Laws of God.

The most important dates in the Islamic (Hijri) year are: 1 Muharram (Islamic new year); 27 Rajab (Isra & Miraj); 1 Ramadhan (first day of fasting); 17 Ramadhan (Nuzul Al-Qur'an); Last 10 days of Ramadhan which include Laylatu al-Qadar; 1 Shawwal (`iyd (or Eid) al-fitr); 8-10 Thw al-Hijjah (the Hajj to Mecca); and 10 Thw al-Hijjah (`iyd al-'adhhaa').

It is incorrectly considered a divine command to use a (Hijra) calendar with 12 (purely) lunar months without intercalation [Ilyes84]. This is based on a misunderstanding of the texts from the following verses of the Qur'an (Trans: A. Yusuf Ali):

They ask thee

the New Moons

Say: They are but signs

To mark fixed periods of time

In (the affairs of) men

And for Pilgrimage. (II:189)

The number of months

In the sight of Allah

Is twelve (in a year)

So ordained by Him

The day He created

The heavens and the earth;

Of them four are sacred;

That is the straight usage

So wrong not yourselves

Therein, and fight the Pagans. (IX: 36)

Verily the transposing

(Of a prohibited month)

Is an addition to Unbelief:

The Unbelievers are led

To wrong thereby: for they make

it lawful one year,

And forbidden another year,

Of months forbidden by Allah

And make such forbidden ones

Lawful. The evil of their course

Seems pleasing to them.

But Allah guideth not

Those who reject Faith. (IX: 37)

As we have observed, the Islamic calendar of the Hadith is purely lunar, as opposed to solar or luni-solar, the Muslim (Hijri) year is shorter than the Gregorian year by about 11 days, and months in the Islamic (Hijri) year are not related to seasons, which are fundamentally determined by the solar cycle. This means that important Muslim festivals, which always fall in the same Hijri month, may occur in different seasons. For example, the Hajj and Ramadhan can take place in the summer as well as the winter. It is only over a 33-year cycle that lunar months take a complete turn and fall during the same season.

For religious reasons in modern Islam, the beginning of a Hijri month is marked not by the start of a new moon, but by a physical (i.e., an actual human) sighting of the crescent moon at a given locale. From the Fiqhi standpoint, one may begin the fast in Ramadhan, for example, based on "local" sighting (ikhtilaf al matale') or based on sighting anywhere in the Muslim World (ittehad al matale'). Although different, both of these positions are valid Fiqhi positions.

Astronomically, some data are definitive and conclusive (i.e. the time of the so-called BIRTH of a new moon). However, determining the VISIBILITY of the crescent is not as definitive or conclusive; rather it is dependent upon several factors, mostly optical in nature. This makes it difficult to produce (in advance) Islamic calendars that are reliable (in the sense that they are consistent with actual crescent visibility).

Efforts for obtaining an astronomical criterion for predicting the time of first lunar visibility go back to the Babylonian era, with significant improvements and work done later by Muslim and other scientists. These efforts have resulted in the development in a number of criteria for predicting first possible sighting of a crescent. However, there remains a measure of uncertainty associated with all criteria developed thus far. Moreover, there has been little work in the area of estimating crescent visibility on global (as opposed to local) scale. Until this happens, no Hijri calendar software can be 100% reliable, and actual crescent sighting remains essential, especially for fixing important dates, such as the beginning of Ramadhan and the two `iyds.

Vikramāditya's Rule Over the Arabian Peninsula

The text of Vikramaditya inscription, found on page 315 of a volume known as ‘Sayar-ul-Okul’ treasured in the Makhtab-e-Sultania library in Istanbul, Turkey. Rendered in free English the inscription says: "Fortunate are those who were born (and lived) during king Vikram’s reign. He was a noble, generous dutiful ruler, devoted to the welfare of his subjects. But at that time we Arabs, oblivious of God, were lost in sensual pleasures. Plotting and torture were rampant. The darkness of ignorance had enveloped our country. Like the lamb struggling for her life in the cruel paws of a wolf we Arabs were caught up in ignorance. The entire country was enveloped in a darkness so intense as on a new moon night. But the present dawn and pleasant sunshine of education is the result of the favour of the noble king Vikramaditya whose benevolent supervision did not lose sight of us- foreigners as we were. He spread his sacred religion amongst us and sent scholars whose brilliance shone like that of the sun from his country to ours. These scholars and preceptors through whose benevolence we were once again made cognisant of the presence of God, introduced to His sacred existence and put on the road of Truth, had come to our country to preach their religion and impart education at king Vikramaditya’s behest."

http://bharatnirman.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/kaaba-a-hindu-temple/

The slight differences in printed Islamic calendars, worldwide, can therefore be traced to two primary factors: (1) the absence of a global criterion for first visibility; and (2) the use of different visibility criterion (or method of calculation). Weather conditions and differences in the observer's location also explain why there are sometimes differences in the observances of Islamic dates, worldwide.

Readers interested in further information should consult Mohammad Ilyas' book, A Modern Guide to Astronomical Calculations of Islamic Calendar, Times & Qibla, Berita Publishing, 1984, (ISBN: 967-969-009-1). The book contains a thorough discussion of the Islamic calendrical system and related historical and scientific developments. It also presents an interesting proposal for a universal Islamic calendar based on a global visibility criterion and the concept of a Lunar Day (or International Lunar Date Line).

But is that what God commanded and is He the author of confusion? Most certainly not!

The calendar was predicted accurately for years in advance, for millennia, until the crescent was introduced from paganism and the Babylonian system.

God commanded the month of Abib, or spring, to be the beginning of months to us. This is not the month of First Spring in Islam. It is the month of Rajab. It was always calculated by the conjunction and never the crescent in the Temple period from Moses and Aaron down to Christ and the Church. Islam is bound to follow their precedent and cannot use the crescent and is in condemnation for doing so, the crescent being the symbol of the goddess Ashirat, Ashtoreth or Ishtar. One principle that can never vary is that First Spring is always the month of spring as it relates to the grain planting. The month Abib, or “spring proper”, on the other hand is the First month of the spring barley harvest and is determined by the equinox and always has been from time immemorial. It determines all other months in sequence. Islam has made a farce out of God’s Calendar by misusing the words of the prophecy and dislocating the calendar from the seasons and the harvests of the Bible narrative. Thus, the plan of salvation is made obscure to the Arabs who claim to follow God and the faith of Islam as revealed to Abraham, Moses, Aaron, the prophets, Christ and the Church, which is the true Muhammad of the texts.

It is fallacious to believe that the First of Muharram in 622 CE was in July. It was in Medina that the Prophet saw the Jews observe Yom Kippur, which is the day of fasting by the Jews on the tenth of Muharram. This day always fell sometime in September-October. Hence on that day on Ashura, he ordered the Muslims to fast and afflict themselves. It is an ordinance forever in Islam based on the Bible text. It is not an optional fast as the Muslim clerics falsely claim today and is the only absolutely mandatory fast of the year. The other important fast is 7 Abib (see the paper Sanctification of the Simple and Erroneous (No. 291)). The fasts of Ramadhan are subordinate to these fasts, which go to the preparation for Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks.

The Placement of Ramadan

The beginning of the New Moon of the Second month equating with the Bible calendar is the month of Iyar of the Judaic calendar. This month begins the month of fasting. Ramadhan is the name applied to the Third month but the major element of fasting and dedication is not meant to be undertaken in this month. Rather, it is to be completed in this month. Iyar actually forms the majority of the true fasting month, being the Omer count and the preparation for the Law and the Testimony, which was issued at Pentecost, which is the Wheat Harvest. This harvest was sealed at Pentecost in the Third month which is the end of the period of Ramadhan in Eid el Fitr, or the Feast of Weeks and from which Ramadhan derives its name. The Third month, or the month of Ramadhan, signals the end of the fast from the New Moon and the beginning of the month culminating in Pentecost. That is the true Ramadhan, a fact of which the whole world is ignorant. This is also a part of the time when the counting of the Omer continues from the time of the Wave Sheaf offering (Omer) until Pentecost when the Holy Spirit is renewed. It is during this time that the Qur'an (Surah 2:185) and the Torah were revealed and hence it is seen as one of the important periods in God's Calendar. The last 7 to 10 days, especially its nights in Islam, are very important and are named Lailatul Qaider. It is likely that during that time, which can be seen as the last 10 days as stated in Acts 1, that the disciples stayed in Jerusalem where they spent their time in prayer and supplication before they received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

The fast to Ramadhan covers the period of the Hebrew month "Iyar" (brightness) and the period to the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. Ramadhan ends normally before Pentecost begins on the Sabbath. Eid El Fitr lasts for the period synchronizing with the Feast of Pentecost. The Jews had fixed this at 6 Sivan as a result of the deliberations after the dispersion. Hence, the temptation is to view the week to 6 Sivan as Eid el Fitr. The actuality is that Pentecost occurs on the Sunday in the first half of Sivan. It is the period of the Feast of Weeks that is meant with the period from the New Moon of Sivan, which is a feast in its own right. It commences the festivities to the Feast of Pentecost, which is the first day of the week or “Sunday” following the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the forty-ninth day and seventh perfect Sabbath counted from the Wave Sheaf offering on the first day of the week in the middle of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Pentecost is the fiftieth day from that Sunday of the Wave Sheaf.

The fast leading up to the giving of the testimony in Ramadhan represents the fast of Moses of forty days, and also the fast of Messiah for forty days in the judgment of Satan.

The fact was that Moses went on to the Mountain for another forty days after the rebellion, for another set of the Law, but the entire period is spiritually bound up in the Omer count to Pentecost.

The fifty days of the counting of Omer up to Pentecost signifies the freedom of the Jubilee and the receipt of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Paying the Zakhat to the poor also signifies the same. This is what the Prophet has said on the subject:

"O People! Whoso provides a meal to a faithful, at the time of breaking the fast, earns the recompense of setting an enslaved human being free."

During the forty days of the Omer count, after his presentation as the Wave Sheaf and acceptance by God, the resurrected Jesus Christ made ten appearances to his disciples transforming their faith. The 40-day period signifies transformation. Moses and Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights. A mother delivering a newborn male child is said to be unclean until her 40-days of purification are over. Mariam (Maryam), the mother of Jesus, observed this 40-day period also. See the paper Purification and Circumcision (No. 251).

Here is an extract about the observation of Ramadhan and its spiritual significance, which is well known in Islam.

To describe the objective and subjective merits of the month of Ramadhan, which justify its higher rank over other months, it is more suitable to refer to the words of the Almighty Allah, and His Last Prophet.

The Qur’an says:
O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard (against evil).

For a certain number of days; but whoever among you is sick or on a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; and those who are not able to do it may effect a redemption by feeding a poor man; so whoever does good spontaneously it is better for him; and that you fast is better for you if you know.

The month of [Ramadan] is that in which the Qur’an was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the distinction; therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty, and (He desires) that you should complete the number and that you should exalt the greatness of Allah for His having guided you and that you may give thanks. (AL BAQARAH: 183 to 185)

It is made lawful to you to go into your wives on the night of the fast; they are an apparel for you and you are an apparel for them; Allah knew that you acted unfaithfully to yourselves, so He has turned to you (mercifully) and removed from you (this burden); so now be in contact with them and seek what Allah has ordained for you, and eat and drink until the whiteness of the day becomes distinct from the blackness of the night at dawn, then complete the fast till night, and have not contact with them while you keep to the mosques; these are the limits of Allah, so do not go near them. Thus does Allah make clear His communications for men that they may guard (against evil). (AL BAQARAH: 187)

And men who fast and women who fast…Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward. (AL AH’ZAAB: 35)

The Hadith itself holds,

The Holy Qur’an was revealed to the Holy Prophet (S.A.) in the month of Ramaz’aan [Ramadhan].

Fasting throughout the month has been made obligatory.

Fasting is one of the "Waajib" (obligatory) rules of conduct laid down by Islam.

Shayk Suddooq (R.A.) quotes Imam Ali bin Moosa Ar Riza (A.S.) that he received from his Holy ancestors, on the authority of Imam Ali ibna Abi Taalib (A.S.), the text of the speech the Holy Prophet used to deliver at the advent of the blessed month of Ramaz’an:

The Holy Prophet (S.A.) said:

"O men and women! Draws near unto you the blessed month, overflowing with advantages, merciful, ready to put up your sins of omission and commission to Allah for obtaining His forgiveness. Its days, nights and hours, in the estimation of Allah, are more select, refined and important than the days, nights and hours of other months. It surpasses all months in merits and favors".

In this month you are the guests of Allah, enjoying His hospitality, you are from among His favorites, your breathing is "praise of Allah", your sleep is His worship, your prayers receive His approval, your invocations are sanctioned. So, sincerely, free from evil and sinful thoughts and actions, with clear conscience, pray and request that He may give your heart and confidence to observe fast and recite the Holy Qur’an and dua’as throughout this month.

He who does not receive mercy and forgiveness in this month is really an ill-fated unfortunate, condemned to everlasting unhappiness and deprivation.

Thirst and hunger you undergo, feel and live through, her and now, bring to your memory the severity and sharpness of the drought and starvation that will be the order of the day on the Day of Judgement.

Give alms to the poor and the destitute.
Treat your parents and elders with respect.
Be kind and loving to your children and juniors.
Take care of and look after your kith and kin.
Keep from giving tongue to that which should not even be whispered.
Shut your eyes to that which is indecent to have an eye for.
Turn a deaf ear to that which is too slanderous to be all ears.
Be compassionate, gentle and benign unto orphans so that after you,
your children, if need be, receive the same treatment from others.
Turn repentant to Allah and seek His nearness.

After every prayer recite dua’s to invoke His mercy and forgiveness because the most suitable time to get fulfillment of desires is when you have prayed a salat, the Almighty gives answer to His servants who call Him in these moments.

O People! In truth and fact your bodies and souls are held in pledge, strike a bargain to set them free by asking forgiveness of Allah. Your backs are burdened with a hard to endure load of sins, prostrate yourselves in adoration of Allah, a great deal, to make the drag less heavy, because the Lord of the Worlds has given His word, in the Name of His Might and Honor, not to take to task those who pray and prostrate in this month, the flames of the fire will not frighten them.

O People! Whoso provides a meal to a faithful, at the time of breaking the fast, earns the recompense of setting an enslaved human being free.

O People! In this month, whoso makes better his or her morals will cross the "Bridge of Siraat" with ease and finesse, where people, at every step, would stumble and fall; whoso gives leisure and respite to his or her employees will receive equivalent leniency on the Day of Reckoning; whoso takes care of and looks after the orphans and relatives will be treated mercifully on the Day of Judgement; whoso prays optional salats will get the immunity from Hellfire, and praying of obligatory salats, in prime time, multiply the good in leaps and bounds; whoso recites even one verse of the Holy Qur’an, obtains the reward of a full recital of the whole Book in the other months.

O People! In this month, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the doors of the everlasting bliss and happiness are thrown open, so beseech Allah not ever to shut them off to our face; and the traps of the eternal curse are unhinged, so make a request to Allah to remove them from your path for ever; the devils are held in chains, so pray to Allah not to set them free for leading you astray.

The month of Rama’zan is very dear to Allah. It is the most august of all months, pure, generous and merciful. Do not let its nights go [to] waste in slumber, its days in careless omission or loss of remembrance of Allah.

The “true” calendar is kept according to the Laws of God and when the calendar of Islam is reconciled, the sequence is clear and the purpose is also clear. The period of the Omer count is the sequence of prayer and preparation for receipt of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which is the Feast of Weeks or Eid el Fitr. This feast system begins with the New Moon of the Third month, Sivan, which is a feast of the Lord. These months begin with the conjunction and not an observed crescent.

The name Ramadhan itself suggests heat and refers to the coming of the summer months with Pentecost in Sivan.

In 30 CE Christ was resurrected at the end of the Sabbath day and he ascended into heaven at 9 AM on Sunday as the Wave Sheaf offering. This was at the time of the Temple service for the Waving of the Sheaf, which was the firstfruits of the harvests of Israel.

This ascension on the Sunday began the Omer count to Pentecost. The period of the count was for fifty days ending at the Sunday in Sivan, or the Third month. From the accounts in the Gospels and Acts, it is deduced that Christ spent forty days on earth after his return from the throne of God and of Grace, after his acceptance as our sacrifice. Those forty days he spent in preparing the Church, of which he is head, for the receipt of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The forty days commenced from the evening of his return at the end of the first day of the week. In that year of 30 CE it was on 18 Abib. There were 11 days remaining in Abib and twenty-nine days in Iyar. This was forty days. Thus his ascension took place at the beginning of the New Moon of the Third month, which was Sivan in Judah, or Ramadhan in Ishmael. Thus, the beginning of the New Moon of the Third month marked the final ascension of Jesus Christ. This left the apostles to pray and fast for this period during the Third month for the receipt of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost nine days later on Sunday.

This period is the basis of the celebration of the Church, and forms, at the end, the celebration of the giving of the Law at Pentecost. The fast of Moses was for forty days and forty nights. However, the end of the first period of his obligations was during the Omer count and he was not on the mountain for the period up until the New Moon of Sivan, on the Third month. The end of this period of his obligations, which was by mixed fasting, was with the return of Moses with the tablets of God. His first forty-day period began from the New Moon of Iyar or Zif or Sha’aban, the Second month, and proceeded to the day of Pentecost. This is the basis of the fast of Ramadhan in Islam. The fast derives its name from the fact of Moses’ fast and the emulation of the behaviour of Christ prior to his ascent. It is not a full fast in Islam, as eating is undertaken each evening after dark and before dawn. The Church of God has persons who fast for full days and nights over this period and who do not fast at all on other days. Both practices are, and have always been, acceptable. Partial fasts are not acceptable for the two fasts of the Day of Atonement or on and 7 Abib. (Atonement specifically is stated to be a twenty-four hour fast from twilight until twilight (Lev. 16:29; 23:32).

The period of prayer and dedication is over the Omer count from the feast of Unleavened Bread. It is numbered from the Wave Sheaf, but not begun until the period after 21 Abib or Nisan in Judah, or Rajab in Ishmael. Moses began the Omer count from Unleavened Bread in Abib, but the forty days would end on Pentecost with the law, and this must be counted from the New Moon of Iyar, the first day of the Second month. He was not on the Mountain of God. He had to take Israel and the mixed multitude, which was to extend under Christ to include the elect of the Gentiles, out of Egypt and through the wilderness, to the Mountain of God and the Law.

The nation on the last day moved only a very short distance arriving at the place of the Law on 1 Sivan, being already in location at the foot of the mountain. In the steps to Pentecost (see Pentecost at Sinai (No. 115)), the Advance Guard would have arrived at Sinai long before the Rear Guard, and even the Main Body, would have left the previous camp. Moses must have been in place in Sinai while the parties were moving, and he must have been fasting long before that and even to the crossing of the Red Sea, for him to fast for the full period. The confusion lies in the number of ascents he made and when the forty days occurred. He went on to the mountain for the full forty days at the end of Sivan or Ramadhan. The timing is probably from the 20^th of Sivan with the seven days of fire and smoke after the elders had eaten with elohim, who was Yahovah, who spoke for Yahovah of Hosts. The law was given at Pentecost but the tablets were not received for the first time until the New Moon of Ab when they were broken on Moses’ return. The month of Tammuz is named for the worship of the god Tammuz or Dumuzi, in the month when they fell into false worship and made the “calf”. Moses went up again for another period to receive a second set of tablets. These events are explained in the paper The Ascents of Moses (No. 070).

This whole exercise was to teach us about the sacrifice and dedication required to attain the Kingdom of God. The period of the Omer count was observed in Israel. Jesus Christ and the Church also observed this period. Christ gave his own life that we might have eternal life in God. The Church prepared for and received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Now, it is a matter of fact, that we cannot, in this day and age, in the weakened physical and spiritual condition we are in, fast for forty days and forty nights without food or water. Nor indeed could the vast majority of people do it at the time of Christ and later. That is why during the fasts of the Omer count, people never fasted for the entire period. It became a matter of each person’s spiritual dedication as to how long and how often they fasted. The practice also developed in Judah and in Ishmael, of fasting during the day and eating at night. This is the basis of the comment re fasting twice a week mentioned in the gospels (Lk. 18:12). This practice became widespread in the Church. The Omer count of Pentecost and the fast of Moses were counterfeited by the pagans, becoming the Lenten fasts. These fasts, which were held a month earlier, were most often partial fasts dedicated to other gods and culminated in the pagan Easter festival (see the paper The Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235)).

People decided on what days they would fast and prepare for Pentecost, which was the harvest of the Church. This practice spread to Ishmael and the Church in Arabia. Thus, people could and did decide what part of the forty-odd days they were in fast or devotions. The Koran says that what parts of your determined days of fast are not done you must fulfil later.

Remember that the period of the Feast ended after the Omer count and so no fasting was undertaken, either at Unleavened Bread, until 22 Abib (or 22 Rajab in Ishmael) or during Pentecost, which was the Feast of Weeks and never a fast by God’s Law (except for the leaven in bread). The general view was to emulate Moses and proceed from the New Moon of Iyar and end at Pentecost, which was the Feast of Weeks in Israel, or Eid el Fitr in Ishmael. The fasts of the Seven Sabbaths of the Omer count long preceded the Hejira of 622 CE. The Hejira is the flight of the party of the Prophet from Becca/Petra to Medina.

When the faith was under attack by both the Trinitarians and the Jews in Arabia, the Prophet was raised up in Arabia from the Unitarian Christians there, to deal with the false doctrines attacking the Oneness of God and the false practices the Trinitarians introduced regarding infant baptism. He produced doctrinal explanation of the Bible providing leadership to the desert tribes. The insistence on the fasting month was a reference to the process of the Omer count. Ramadhan does not begin the devotion; it ends the process in Pentecost called Eid el Fitr.

This understanding has been lost in Islam along with the calendar. The true understanding of the faith in Islam is hidden like gems in a mine and has to be searched for with great care.

Even the names have meanings, which are lost. For example Muhammad is not the name of the Prophet. The name of the individual behind the Islamic Prophet figure might appear to be Ahmed, but that is also a problem and, meaning either “Advocate” or “Most Praised”, refers to the Holy Spirit of which Jesus was Herald. Muhammad refers to the Church and its leaders as “the enlightened one” or “Muhammad”. The name and the Church and its place in Islam are explained in the paper Introduction to the Commentary on the Koran (No. Q001).

The calendar was tied to the faith until 638 CE under the Caliph Omar. The clerics were like all those who followed, without understanding. They decided (with the help of Satan or Iblis) that the reference to 12 months meant that the intercalation of the second twelfth month of “We Adar” or “and Adar” had to be abandoned. The term postponement, the dehiyyot, was not understood. Thus the Islamic calendar was cut adrift from the Bible and the Plan of God in 638 and afterwards. The Hadith claims that it was that early, but that is to be properly tested. What is certain is that the calendar was severed from the Bible and the Harvest system as laid down in the plan of God, so that never again was Islam able to keep any feast correctly and what was kept was corrupted.

The Four Sacred months of the Faith, which were Abib, Iyar and Sivan as the first three months, and Tishri as the Seventh month according to the Bible, were restated in the Koran, but their names were not given so the Hadith wrecked that nexus as well. The Hadith did to Islam what the Talmud did to Judaism. The Four Sacred Months in Islam are Rajab, Sha’aban, Ramadhan, and Muharram. They were originally the same four months as found in Judaism and in the Bible and Ancient Israel. The sacred months were later tied to the warring Arab tribes and so moved to months that were considered more suitable to refrain from war and long preceded the birth of the Prophet let alone the Koran. The summer months were too hot for operations and thus linked to the four months replacing the true calendar. The severing of the Islamic calendar from the Bible and seeing it rotate wildly through the seasons made even this change irrelevant and saw it lose all meaning either to the Bible believers and the Faith on the true months, or to the pagan Arabs who instigated the change from those months for military purposes.

The second fast of Moses, which was the forty days of Moses after he returned at Pentecost, was undertaken from Sivan at Pentecost on into the Fourth month of the year. Following the timetable of the year Christ was sacrificed, for example, the end of the forty days on the mountain and the giving of the tablets of the law would have occurred at the end of the Fourth month called by the name of the god Tammuz, or the Chaldean Dumuzi.

The timing of the ascents of Moses is important in seeing how God intervened in the affairs of Israel. On the fifteenth day of the Second month, which is the Second Passover, God again intervened. The children of Israel had left Elim and had entered the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the Second month. On this day the whole congregation of Israel had murmured against Moses and Aaron (Ex. 16:1-3). As a result God gave them manna to eat and the manna lasted for forty years from that time.

In the evening, the Lord sent quail of such quantity that in their greed the people gorged themselves on the meat. However, in his anger the Lord sent a great plague against the people and many died (cf. Num. 11:31-33). The next morning on the sixteenth day they began eating manna, and had bread to eat, and they knew that their Lord Yahovah, He was God (Ex. 16:13-16).

The 22^nd day of the Second month, called Zif or Iyar, in the year of the Exodus, was a Sabbath. On the 21^st day of the month of the Second Passover twice as much manna was gathered so that the Sabbath was kept holy and the manna did not go bad. The quail had fallen on the evening after the Sabbath and the manna began on Sunday morning. Thus the Second Passover was also a period of preparation and setting aside to the Lord.

From this point, on the first day of the week, which is the 23rd day of the Second month, they moved to Rephidim and they had no water and again they murmured against Moses. Moses was told to stand there before the Rock in Horeb and they were fed with water from the Rock. They all ate of the spiritual food and drank of the Rock which was Christ.

They were attacked by Amalek from the 23^rd day after they had been given water at Rephidim. After a fierce battle they won and Moses erected the altar of Yahovah-Nissi, for Yaho had sworn that the war between He and Amalek would continue from generation to generation (Ex. 17:15-16).

At Horeb, before the Mountain of God, the Judgment was established in Israel and the elders were set aside from the placing at the Rock of Horeb to be judges in Israel. Jethro, priest of Midian and father-in-law to Moses, sacrificed for them and set them aside to eat bread with Moses before God (Ex. 18:11-12).

In the last week of the Second month the captains of the tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands of the host were set aside, and the leadership in Israel was established. Moses heard the cases that were too hard for them all. And Jethro departed into Midian (Ex. 18:24-27).

Then on the Third month, on the same day they left Egypt, they arrived in the Wilderness of Sinai (Ex. 19:1-2). They had departed from Rephidim and had entered the desert of Sinai. They pitched in the wilderness. There, Israel pitched before the Mountain of God. In all this period they were being taken out of Egypt, and over fifty days they were taken from Rameses to the Mountain of God to receive the Law.

Moses had been preparing himself over this period of the Omer count. The manna was given during this period in the measure of one Omer per man each day. This was the measure of Heavenly food that was given to Israel in preparation for the occupation of the Promised Land.

On the year of the Exodus, the Day of Pentecost fell on Sunday 6 Sivan. The period between 1 and 6 Sivan was spent in preparing Israel to receive the Law of God. Moses ascended the Mountain of God six times.

The ascents and descents were from the Book of Exodus:

Ascent Number Descent

19:3-6 First 19:7-8

19:8-13 Second 19:14-19

19:20-24 Third 19:25

24:9-32:14 Fourth 32:15-30

32:31-33 Fifth 32:34-34:3

34:4-28 Sixth 34:29-35

The two sets of three ascents are marked off by the two great events, which are the Giving of the Law and the Setting up of the Tabernacle. Bullinger has notes on these aspects listed in his notes to Exodus 19:3 (Companion Bible). The sequence of the Giving of the Law and the establishment of the Tabernacle was to herald the giving of the Holy Spirit through the activities of Christ and the final building of the Temple of God from Pentecost 30 CE, which Temple we are.

In this sequence God set Israel aside as a possession reserved for Himself. This was the sense of the wording of a peculiar treasure used in the text in Exodus 19:3. The nation of Israel was to become the first of the nations to be brought into the Plan of Salvation. Ultimately, the entire world would be given salvation as the prophecies foretell, and since Pentecost 30 CE this has been happening on a progressive basis.

Over the first six days of the Third month Moses spent his time ascending and descending the mountain three times. The fourth and the sixth ascents are marked by the giving of the First, and Second, sets of tablets of the Law. Moses spent over forty days and nights in fasting on the Mountain of God, but not for the period before the giving of the first set of tablets, and Moses was not on the mountain exclusively for the Third month called Sivan or Ramadan. Moreover, the Third month was not entirely spent before the Law was actually given. Furthermore, the Second set of the Law was not given in the month of Sivan or Ramadan. Thus the end of the Third month signifies nothing other than the arrival of the New Moon of the Fourth month.

The fourth ascent saw the elders of Israel set aside before God. The law in its structure had been given on the earlier occasions, but the set of Tablets had not been made. Moses ascended with the elders of Israel and the elohim that was the Angel of the Presence of God, appeared to the Elders and Moses. Moses was with the Elders and then left them in charge of Aaron and Hur and Moses and Joshua went to the mountain. For six days the cloud covered the Mountain of God and then God called Moses from out of the cloud. Moses then went forward and was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. Thus we might deduce that the period of forty-six days occurred well after Pentecost.

Bullinger dates the six days and the seventh as the 20^th to the 25^th and the 26^th of Sivan being the Fourth Sabbath of Sivan (cf. fn. to Ex. 24:16-18). Thus the forty days on the mountain began at the end of Sivan and not at the beginning. It certainly could not have begun any earlier than the 13^th day of the Third month. The forty days ended, in the case of the twentieth of Sivan, on the New Moon of the Fifth month Ab after the Fourth month, which was named for the god Tammuz associated with the idolatry of Israel.

Thus the testing of Israel continued on after the first disclosure of the Law, while Moses was waiting to receive the tablets of Stone and the capacity to erect the Tabernacle. He broke the first set of tablets on the descent well after Pentecost, probably at the beginning of the New Moon of Ab. Thus we are tested continually. Moses ascended again and received another set of tablets and another set of instructions. Each time Israel was tested in waiting and obedience. So too are we tested as the Church of God.

All these things were done to serve as examples for us. The Tabernacle was constructed as an example for that which lies in heaven and which will come to us, and which we will join as the City of God.

Thus, one cannot begin and end either or any of the fasts in Ramadhan. It is named for the end of the fasts at Pentecost and the giving of the revelations of God to the elect at Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks.

The Week

Early Islam under the Arabs adopted the week from the Jews and Christians (ERE, ibid., p. 127). Besides archaic names for the days of the week they generally use the designations that are also current in the Christian Church (ibid). The days go from twilight to twilight when colour can no longer be distinguished in thread. This has never changed from ancient times and agrees with ancient Hebrew systems.

The names of the week came from the Jewish and Early Christian practices such as al Jumaah, meaning the meeting or congregation for worship, and the following or seventh day of the week was named as- Sabt, the Sabbath, on which worship was commanded by the God through the prophets and on which the Prophet Qasim himself did double prayers at the mosque and refrained from trade.

To suggest that Ishmael had a different calendar from Israel and later Judah and early Christianity is nonsense. The week is tied to the Sabbath and had to remain and did so remain, being ordained by the Prophet to be kept (see the paper The Sabbath in the Qur'an (No. 274)).

The Intention of the Months

The civil year began in the system with the month of Muharram, or the sacred or harvest month of the Hebrews and other Semites.

It was forbidden to disturb the Four Sacred Months by internecine warfare. It is obvious from the structure and etymology, that the Meccans in particular and the Arabs generally had a perfectly structured luni-solar year. The ERE says “a solar year” but that is incorrect (ibid., p. 126).

Etymologically the names of the months show specific seasons (ERE ibid). The two Jumada months are the real winter months from the New Moon in December/January to the New Moon in February/March. The two Rabi months indicate the “time of grazing” after the autumn rains when the grazing herbage comes up. This period is from late October to late December. The six months is often referred to in three two-month periods.

The month Safar (ca October) is the month of transition from the height of summer to autumn.

The month before it is Muharram, the Sacred Month of the vintage feasts and the Fast of Atonement from pre-Hadithic times.

Instead of Muharram-Safar it is said “the two Safars” (ERE, ibid.). The month Rajab was before Islam and has remained a holy month in Hadithic Islam. It was designated for the springtime and the firstborn and is identified correctly with Pesach or Passover (cf. ERE, ibid.).

Rajab and Sha’ban are also identified and called ar Rajabani.

The last two months of the civil and Muslim year Dhu-l-qu’da and Dhu-l-hijja indicate the time of rest and of pilgrimage. In other words, the last month of the civil year is the Sixth month of the Sacred Year of the Bible, when the pilgrimages to Jerusalem were made arriving in time for the Day of Trumpets at the New Moon of Muharram. The Islamic festival of sacrifices that is tied to the last month of the year is derived from pagan rituals that intruded into the later Hadithic system. It has been later identified with Shaitan or Satan, but originally shaitan meant the heat of the sun (ERE, ibid.).

The names of the months themselves show etymologically that the calendar was originally fixed to seasons and the Bible festivals. The Koran proclaims it and in spite of these known facts, the Imams pervert the system of worship.

The Arabs followed the original system down to the times of the Prophet and only in the later Hadith was it destroyed. The Fuqaim, a clan of the Kinana in pre-Hadithic times carried out intercalation (ERE, ibid., p. 127). They had responsibility for the calendar in Ishmael as the Levites and Issachar had in Israel.

After the Hadith had wrecked the calendar of Islam due to its interpretation of the Surah, the leaders began introducing intercalary days in years of the cycle to correct the error, but to no avail. The procedure was that in the cycle of 30 years the years 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, (15) 18, 21, 24, 26, and 29 add a day to their last month (ERE, ibid.). This was a vain attempt to regulate the calendar so as it met the needs of the people and the seasons, and still managed some semblance of following the absurd interpretation of the Hadith. In this context, reforms were made by leaders such as Fatimid Al Haziz. His reforms lasted from AH 366 to 501. The Abbasid Caliphate under at Ta’i’ (AH 363-381) made reforms that lasted under the Seljuks (to 471) and the Mongol Il Khans. The old Persian calendar was reformed, but the calendar was so unusable that the authorities, down to the present, use the western solar calendars and the Gregorian, and use the Hadithic calendar for religious purposes only (ERE, ibid.).

Thus these clerics, by their error, have made the One True God appear to be the author of confusion, and blaspheme His authority and system.

Hallala, ahalla, (Heb. Hillel) meaning literally to praise (God) is derived from and explained by hilal meaning new moon. For by the New Moon were the months and sequences determined in the praise of the One True God Eloah “the Lah” or Power.

Only by restoring the “true” calendar is Islam able to purge itself of false teachers and return to the true faith and worship of the One True God.

PO Box 369, WODEN ACT 2606, AUSTRALIA

Judaism, Islam and Christianity

Doing away with the Nasi

The Placement of Ramadan

The Week