Easter and Ramadan
It’s interesting to notice, that christians would have the same problems in finding easter. I just read an article about easter calculation and at some point i thought i know the whole problem of having to supply dates for events based on natural (mostly lunar) calendar in a world dominated by a rather artificial calendar.
The FAQ Site explains the date-choosing for easter like this:
The calculation of Easter is complicated because it is linked to (an inaccurate version of) the Hebrew calendar.
Jesus was crucified immediately before the Jewish Passover, which is a celebration of the Exodus from Egypt under Moses. Celebration of Passover started on the 15th day of the (spring) month of Nisan. Jewish months start when the moon is new, therefore the 15th day of the month must be immediately after a full moon.
It was therefore decided to make Easter Sunday the first Sunday after the first full moon after vernal equinox. Or more precisely: Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the “official” full moon on or after the “official” vernal equinox.
The official vernal equinox is always 21 March.
The official full moon may differ from the real full moon by one or two days.
(Note, however, that historically, some countries have used the real (astronomical) full moon instead of the official one when calculating Easter. This was the case, for example, of the German Protestant states, which used the astronomical full moon in the years 1700-1776. A similar practice was used in Sweden in the years 1740-1844 and in Denmark in the 1700s.)
For muslims, the same applies when searching for a date for Ramadan beginning and end. Many muslims would never dream of calculating these dates based on an “official” full moon1. Others think it’s high time to adopt a practical solution that would enable one to plan his vacation times.. Some predominantly muslim countries already adopted the calculated calendar, while others are rather flexible in their official vacations.
- actually they would have to be based on the newmoon rather than the full moon..[↩]
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Tags: Mathematik, Ostern, Ramadan, Wissenschaft
Bildung, Wissenschaft, maths | 
Omar | 23. März 2008
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By David, 24. März 2008 @ 12:27
Yes, this year it was especially difficult, since Easter came so early, and St. Patrick’s day - a day of drunken revelry - fell in Holy Week. Still, the pubs were just as full, as far as I could tell…