Still another historian, Ibn al-Juzi, described the Harranian fasting during this month. Harranian fasting is also similar to that of Ramadan in Islam in the fact that they fast from before the sun rises until the sunset, just as the Muslims do during the days of Ramadan. We know that Muslims also pray five times a day. Another historian, Ibn Abi Zinad also speaks about the Harranians, saying that they fast for thirty days, they look toward Yemen when they fast, and they pray five times a day. Al-Nadim described the feasts they celebrated and the sacrifices they presented to the moon. He says in the month in which the Harranians fasted for thirty days, they honored the god Sin, which is the moon. Ibn al-Nadim wrote in his book, al-Fahrisit, about various religious sects in the Middle East. Arabic historians, such as Ibn Hazm, identify this fast with Ramadan. It began the eighth of March and usually finished the eighth of April. Their main deity was the moon, and in the worship of the moon, they conducted a major fast which lasted thirty days. Harran was a city on the border between Syria and Iraq, very close to Asia Minor which, today, is Turkey. Similarities Between the Ramadan of Harran and the Islamic Ramadan.Īlthough the fasting of Ramadan was practiced in pre-Islamic times by the pagans of Jahiliyah, it was introduced to Arabia by the Harranians. Ramadan was Originally an Annual Ritual Performed at the City of Harran. From the writings of Abu Zanad, an Arabic writer from Iraq who lived around 747 A.D., we conclude that at least one Mandaean community located in northern Iraq observed Ramadan. Ramadan was a pagan ceremony practiced by the Sabians, whether they were Harranians or Sabians. In the Qur'an, Mohammed called the Sabians “people of the book” like the Jews and Christians. Later, when Mohammed claimed to be a prophet, he was called a Sabian by the inhabitants of Mecca because they saw him performing many Sabian rites which included praying five times a day performing several movements in prayer that were identical with the Mandaeans and the Harranians and making ablution, or ceremonial washing, before each prayer. In Mecca, the Ahnaf were called Sabians because of the doctrines they embraced. They also went to the city of Harran in the al-Jazirah district in northern Syria on the border between Syria, Iraq and Asia Minor. Ahnaf sought knowledge by going to Northern Iraq, where there were many communities of Mandaeans. The Sabians were in contact with Ahnaf, an Arabian group which Mohammed joined before claiming to be a prophet. They worshipped Sin, the moon, as their main deity, but they also worshipped planets and other deities. The other group, considered as Sabians, were the Harranians. They summoned deities who, in turn, created “second life” deities, and so forth. As they continue to do today, they worshipped multiple gods, or “light personalities.” Their gods were classified under four categories: “first life,” “second life,” “third life” and “fourth life.” Old gods belong to the “first life” category. The Mandaeans lived in Iraq during the 2 nd century A.D. The Sabians, who were pagans in the Middle East, were identified with two groups, the Mandaeans and the Harranians. Both Ibn al-Nadim and the Shahrastani tell us about al-Jandrikinieh, an Indian sect which began to fast when the moon disappeared and ended the fast with a great feast when the crescent reappeared. The observance of fasting to honor the moon, and ending the fast when the moon ’s crescent appears, was practiced with the rituals of the Eastern worshippers of the moon. Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and the rigid observance of thirty days of fasting during the daylight hours, has pagan roots developed in India and the Middle East.
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