Islam_in_Focus_text

solve but transfuses. It does not disintegrate but bridges and
redeems.
5. Even the timetabie of the Islamic Fasting is a striking
phenomenorL In other cases the time of Fasting is fixed at a
certain time of the year in a most inflexible way. But in Is-
lam the time comes with the month of Ramadan, the ninth
month of the year. The Islamic calendar is a lunar one, and
months go according to the various positions of the moon.
This means that over a period of a limited number of years
the Islamic Fasting covers the four major seasons of the year
and circulates back and forth between the summer and the
winter through the fail and the spring in a rotating manner.
The nature of the lunar calendar is such that the month of
Ramadan falls in January, for example, in one year and in
December in another year, and at any time in between dur-
ing the succeeding years. In a spiritual sense this means that
the Muslim enjoys the moral experienee of Fasting on vari-
ous levels, and tastes its spiritual flavors at variant seasons
of variant climates. sometimes in the winter of short and
cold days, sometimes in the summer of long and hot days,
sometimes in between. But this variety of experience re-
mains at ali times an impressive feature of the liveliness of
the Islamic institution. It also stands as an unfailing expres-
sion of readiness, dynamism and adaptability on the part of
the Muslim believer. This is certainiy a healthy, remarkable
component of the teachings of Islam.