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.

[Travis McGee]

It's not a question of what WE believe.

It's a question of what THEY believe.

[Travis McGee]

I wonder if Osama Bin Laden ("tan, rested and ready") has been waiting for this period to make his triumphal re-appearance?

[Dajjal]

HAPPY RAMADAN!!!

[Barnacle]

Thanks for the ping Mr. Tooth. Does anyone know for a fact that those chat rooms can be viewed anominously?

(You have great links at the top of this thread too.)

[Dajjal]

this imam thinks the eclipses must occur in the same area, or "belt."
http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/mahdi.htm

I am glad for any imam who preaches that these are not yet the End Times. May Muslims listen to him, and be persuaded away from Millennialist Terrorism.

[FITZ]

You mean you don't have to give them Mountain Dew?

[Quix]

I think there's going to be some interesting hellishness in this ball park, too.

[Quix]

Your post reminded me of the recent prophetic message regarding the USA being attacked in a very significant way along with 28 other countries. I don't recall if it was supposedly going to occur during Ramadan or in the OCT/NOV time frame roughly.

The same message spoke of Bush being vindicated.

Could still get interesting!

[Quix]

Thanks. I believe we'll be hearing more of this issue.

[Quix]

practicing for . . . ???

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . .

The virgins?

[Salvation]

NYer, is this the thread you were talking about?

[nuconvert]

You talkin' t'me? 5 million?

Hmm. They're not good enough on the piano yet?

How come there are over 1/2 million Dr's in the U.S., and they're still practicing? Don't they already have a license? Don't they know what they're doing? What are THEY practicing for?

[Victoria Delsoul]

Good post, Saber.

Your thread is almost number 1 on Google. Hmmm, you're becoming famous. ;-)

http://www.google.com/search?q=ramadan+eclipse&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&edition=us&tab=nw

[Sabertooth]

Your thread is almost number 1 on Google. Hmmm, you're becoming famous. ;-)

No, Pardek's famous.

[Victoria Delsoul]

I know. He's cute, too.

[Senator Pardek]

I know. He's cute, too.

Only during an eclipse - there's no light to show my mug.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Sabertooth]

Only during an eclipse - there's no light to show my mug.

It's probably best that your moon be shadowed as well.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Only during an eclipse - there's no light to show my mug.

LOL, are you sure about that? Depends what the meaning of "mug" is.

[Senator Pardek]

It's probably best that your moon be shadowed as well.

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