OCCASION OF REVELATION (VERSE NO. 189)

      A group of the Jews asked the prophet about the crescent, and phases of the new moon, and the verse was sent down to answer them, notifying it to be a timer, and measures of time for people and pilgrimage.

      Then new moon in the lunar calander, is an important sign which Muslims eagerly watch for it; because the festivals, the pilgrimage, and in particular, the beginning and the ending of RAMAZAN, which is the important month of FAST and REVELATION, are all fixed by the appearance of the new moon. The pilgrimage also, which lasts for ten days, will commence by the appearance of the crescent.

      People, whether educated or uneducated, in any point on the globe, use the new moon as a natural calander. This is an advantage of the Islamic commandments over all; that they are based upon the natural measures that everyone has access to.

      The verse then points to superstitions that are connected with the new moon, or with the pilgrimage; bidding us to disregard them all. The Pagan Arabs among their superstitions, had one which made them to enter their houses by the backdoors during, or at the end of the pilgrimage! This is strictly forbidden by the verse; for there can be no use in such artificial restrictions: ``And it is no good to enter the houses from their backs. Good is rather to avoid evil, and to come to the houses by their doors.''

      This phrase of the verse; `ENTER THE HOUSES BY THEIR DOORS' has turned to a proverb among Muslims with many shades of meaning, such as: ``Whatever you want to do whether a religious duty, or a non-religious one, you must do it in its proper way and with proper means and all the necessary instruments for it.'' Also the phrase `IT IS NO GOOD' implies that, your question of the crescent, instead of asking important religious or scientific questions, is just like your entering the houses from their backdoors.

THE PROPHET AND VARIOUS QUESTIONS

      In fifteen points and cases, in the holy QURÄN, the phrase: `THEY ASK YOU' is repeated, which indicates that the people were asking the prophet various questions, every now and then. Worthy of note that, the prophet has been reported never to have been annoyed by questions. On the contrary he used to answer all the questions with pleasure and an open face. Some of these questions are answered through the QURÄNIC verses that we take as example.

      It is among the human rights for a person to question his leader. Question is a key for opening and solving the problems - It is a means for transfer of knowledge from one to another, and in every society and among all the nations it is a sign of movement of thoughts and wakefulness of minds. So many questions that were asked in the life time of the prophet, are the evidence of people's revolutionary movement of thought, and progress of minds.