False Sense of Maturity

Even though it just started, I hope everyone is having a remarkable Ramadan so far. I always like to spend some time during Ramadan to reflect and be thankful that I’m not Muslim. If I were Muslim, I would have to spend the entire month fasting during daylight hours, which doesn’t make it sound like one of the more festive holidays. But I’ll give credit where it’s due, and admit that Muslims show great discipline this time of year.

This Ramadan promises to be one of the most confusing ones for people in some areas of the Middle East, because there are all sorts of time zone changes:

The start of the holy month of Ramadan . . . is causing clock confusion in the Middle East. Egypt and the Palestinians are falling back an hour far earlier than usual, trying to reduce daylight hours for Muslims fasting until sunset in sweltering summer temperatures.

Politics is also adding a twist. The Palestinian militant group Hamas is ending daylight-saving time at midnight Thursday in the Gaza Strip, which it controls — while the West Bank, run by the rival Fatah faction, is waiting until midnight Sunday.