When is Eid al-Adha?
In our followup-on-the-news item today, we consider this story on the day of the Islamic feast Eid al-Adha. This feast is determined in the manner of other religious events by the lunar cycle. Except the Muslims have gone one better. They don’t rely on astronomers (didn’t Arabs invent astronomy?) but require a physical siting of the moon’s crescent before they begin their year. Thus, they are not only subject to the vagaries of the moon in its orbit, but also to the uncertainties introduced by human observations. To be honest, I like the idea of using a moon crescent siting as the beginning of the year. True, the scientist in me wants to be precise about what constitutes a solar year, but the romantic in me is attracted to the ritual of physically spotting the heavenly sign that the season has begun, just as our ancient ancestors did. It reminds me of our family trips where I kept you guys interested in looking out the car windows by offering recognition (if not an outright prize) to t
