All over the world today, people follow two calendar systems — the solar and the lunar calendar. While the solar calendar is proving to be very popular especially among Christians, Muslims follow the lunar calendar for different reasons and often because of faith and its relevance to religious practices.
One primary difference between the solar and lunar calendar is the predictability of the season. For the solar calendar, every year, months fall in the same season for different places. As an example, in Europe, December to March is often the winter season while summer is from June to August.
It is notable that for Islamic holidays and dates, they constantly change every year this is because the lunar calendar coincides with the moon cycle. The phase cycle of the moon is equal to 29.5 days from the new moon to the next and overall, the 12 months of the lunar calendar only totals 354 days versus the solar calendar’s 365.25 days — 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar.
Why Muslims follow the lunar calendar?
An online forum explains it best which said, “If Muslims followed the Gregorian calendar, then Ramadan would be set to one month around the world. This means that, for example, if Ramadan occurs in the summer in the northern hemisphere, it would occur in the winter in the southern hemisphere, which puts the Muslims in the northern hemisphere at a disadvantage because they have to fast for a longer amount of time compared to other Muslims around the world.”
So where is the best spot to view the moon changes in Oman?
Local outdoor lovers will be able to recommend many places but one on the top spot will always be Jabal Akhdar. With minimal light pollution, star and moongazing is best experience here.
Photo by Sachin Chengara
Instagram/sachiiiiin
Location: jabal akhdar
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