Islam Eclipse Now? - Ramadan 2003 and Muslim Prophecy

October 28th, 2003 | Collected by Sabertooth, others

[Sabertooth]

Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, a few of us Freepers became aware that Ramadan 2003 had special prophetic significance to certain Islamic sects.

They are awaiting a spiritual avatar known as the Twelfth Mahdi, who will lead Muslims to great victories in war over the infidels.

It's believed that this Mahdi will appear during a Ramadan with both a Solar and a Lunar Eclipse. This double Ramadan eclipse will occur this year, for the first time since 1786, and won't occur again until 2155.

For those Muslims who place any credence in this prophecy, this year's Ramadan is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Therefore, acts of mega-terrorism might be more likely during this time. The Lunar Eclipse of November 9th and the Solar Eclipse of November 23rd may indicate days where particular vigilance is warranted.

Below is a table of Ramadan double eclipses compiled by David McNaughton. I'll also provide some links to articles archived at Free Republic with more information on the Mahdi (link to FR keyword).

 
Eclipses during Ramadan
by David L. McNaughton
In "Hamdard Islamicus" (Karachi, Pakistan), vol. XIX no. 1 (Spring 1996): pp. 81-86.

Double Eclipses during Ramadan

Sometimes a Ramadan will contain a solar and a lunar eclipse. That inevitably provokes comment, because of traditions that such a "double-eclipse" is a portent for some unusual event. Ithna'asheri Shi'ites, for example, believe that their Twelfth Imam will reappear after a Ramadan double-eclipse (although those two phenomena will supposedly take place in reverse order, with the solar one occurring in mid-month (5); that will require the moon to suddenly double its speed of movement after the onset of the Holy Month!)

In March/April 1894 (Ramadan 1311), Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (founder of the Ahmadiyya or Qadiani movement in Pakistan) interpreted a double-eclipse as a sign that he was a genuine modern-day prophet (6). The lunar eclipse during that particular month was only partial, although the solar one two weeks later was total in a few places in eastern Asia (7). However, there was nothing at all extraordinary about those two eclipses: every 22 or 23 Islamic years there is at least one Ramadan featuring a pair of eclipses two weeks apart (8) - one of which is usually partial; see Table 1.

Very much rarer is a Ramadan containing two total eclipses.

Table 2 lists all such occasions since AH 1, as well as during the next 200 years (9); (its solar eclipses are all central, with annular ones also included).

It will be interesting to see whether the two total eclipses scheduled to occur during Ramadan 1424 (AD November 2003) - are cited to support a claim similar to that made by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, or as proof of thesignificance of some extraordinary event.

< -snip- >

Table 2

Ramadans with two central eclipses

LUNAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOLAR

AH . . AD . . . . . . . . . . Date . . . Where visible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Date . . .Where visible

.283 . .896 . . . . . . . ..29 Oct . . .Pacific & adjacent . . . . . . . . . . 12 Nov . Canada; Alaska;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(25 Oct) . . landmasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(8 Nov) . NE Pacific

.305 . .918 . . . . . . . . .5 Mar . . Eurasia; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Mar . .Antarctic; south
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (28 Feb) .NE Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (15 Mar) . .Indian Ocean

.462 . 1070 . . . . . . . . .2 Jul . . .Pacific & adjacent . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Jul . . .Arctic; Siberia
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(26 Jun) . .landmasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(10 Jul)

.529 . 1135 . . . . . . . . . 4 Jul . . .America; Pacific; . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Jul . . .Antarctic; far
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (27 Jun) . New Zealand . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(12 Jul) . . .south Pacific

.596 . 1200 . . . . . . . . . 5 Jul . . . Pacific & adjacent . . . . . . . . . . *19 Jul . Siberia; Arctic;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (28 Jun) . .landmasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (12 Jul) . . NW Atlantic

1200 . 1786 . . . . . . . . .11 Jul . . . Pacific & adjacent . . . . . . . . . . 25 Jul . . South Africa &
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . landmasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . adjacent oceans

1424 .2003. . . . . . . . .9 Nov. . .Europe; SW Asia; . . . . . . . . . .23 Nov . Antarctic; south
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Africa; America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Indian Ocean

1580 . 2155 . . . . . . . . .9 Mar . . Europe; Africa; . . . . . . . . . . . . .*2 Apr . .China; Russia;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kashmir; Mongolia;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .Afghanistan

Notes for Table 2

Central lunar eclipses are always total.

*The central solar eclipses listed above are total unless asterisked - in which case they are annular.

Dates apply to the instant of maximum eclipse.

Extrapolated Gregorian dates are given even on occasions when the old Julian calendar was in operation;
the corresponding Julian date is then shown below in brackets.

A Google search on ramadan mahdi eclipse yielded 243 results.

A Google search on ramadan mehdi eclipse (alternate "mahdi" spelling) yielded 83 results.

[Victoria Delsoul]

LOL!

[Senator Pardek]

That's why they keep me here.

[Sabertooth]

Not true - my one good quality is a nice posterior.

Bragging about where all those doors hit you, again?

[Victoria Delsoul]

That's why they keep me here.

As opposed to there?

[Centurion2000]

Good research Sabertooh ... can you add me to your bump list ?

[jonathonandjennifer]

Thanks for the post. It's getting late, but I'll definitly continue reading this post tommorow.

[RaceBannon]

What do you guys know about this?

[auboy]

Thanks, Sabertooth!

[American in Israel]

According to all I have found on the Mahdi, the prophecied lunar eclipse must happen on the first day of Ramadaan, something that did not happen. Not that Islamics follow their own teachings...

[Sabertooth]

According to all I have found on the Mahdi, the prophecied lunar eclipse must happen on the first day of Ramadaan, something that did not happen. Not that Islamics follow their own teachings...

It's actually something that can't happen. The Muslims use a lunar calendar, and Ramadan begins after a New Moon, which makes a lunar eclipse at the beginning of Ramadan impossible.

Muslims that believe in the double eclipse prophecy seem to believe that some scribe made an error somewhere, and reversed the order of the eclipses.

[DManA]

Here seems to be the exact prophesy:

there will be an eclipse of the sun in the middle of the month of Ramadan; there will be an eclipse of the moon at the end of that month in contrast to ordinary happenings;

This would seem to require a miraculous speeding up of the moon.

[Looking4Truth]

Leeloo?

H-h-heilp mmee?

Rrrrrarrrrr!

[leadpencil1]

Blast~Nov 8

[humblegunner]

I make prophesy:
Moon will bend to will of jihadi tonight, goat and sheep make your time.

[michigander]

Try searching for "Kaaba".

[Ichneumon]

Try searching for "Kaaba".

Also "Kabba" and "Kaba" (as well as a number of variations with apostrophes in them...)

Like many Arabic words, there are several different accepted transliterations into the English alphabet, and no one "correct" one.

Here's a decent page about what's inside: http://www.soundvision.com/info/hajj/kaba.asp.

[PGalt]

Thanks very much Sabertooth.

[txhurl]

yep bump back up

[American in Israel]

Here is new bit I just learned, That the real danger time is a celebration called eede at the end of Ramadan. It is ten days of goat sacrifice where goat body parts are hung all over town and at the end of eede, is the call to rise up and slaughter the infidel. Moslem towns get a bit rank that time of year.

That means if heck is going to break loose, it will break loose ten days from next thursday. That is the Sixth of December or so depending on where you are on the earth.