Tomorrow is the start of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. By what I read, Ramadan is meant to teach self-control, and focus on spiritual matters. (More on that here or in Wikipedia.) From sun-up to sun-down one does not eat, drink, or smoke between dawn and sundown. I'll write more about my Ramadan observations in a week or so.
As with other Muslim holidays, the actual date of holiday is never clear until the day itself. Coming from a country where we move holidays around in order to suit our long weekends, and holidays are planned months in advance, this seemed somewhat haphazard to me. But I did a little asking around, and now it makes sense. Islam is governed by the lunar calendar, not the calendar we use. So, for example, Ramadan is set to start on the first day of the ninth month of the lunar year. The first day is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon. On Saturday night, nobody saw the crescent moon, so Ramadan did not start on Sunday. Given its absence last night, tonight scholars are sure to see the moon, so Ramadan will start tomorrow.
It's also interesting to note that the Lunar calendar is much shorter than our calendar, so the seasons and holidays are not in sync. Last year Ramadan was in August and September. This year it aligns almost perfectly with the month of August. Next year it will take place in July and August. So in comparison to our calendar, the lunar calendar makes a cycle every 33 years or so. For us it's as if Christmas happened some years in December, some years in March, and so forth.
According to the local paper, the use of modern technology to pre-determine the start of holidays is a matter of some controversy. While the technology exists, the holy Qur'an specifies the sighting of the moon with the naked eye. On the other hand, modern technology has been accepted for the practices of determining the direction of Mecca for prayers, as well as the exact timing of prayers during the day. My uneducated guess is that eventually technology will take over holiday start determination as well, but for now it's interesting to wake up in the morning and check the web to see if the office has holiday or regular hours.