Muhammad: Break with the JewsThe Jewish "qibla" (Jerusalem) also served as their place of pilgrimage, and
the change of the Islamic qibla now "sanctified" the heathen pilgrimage to
the Ka`ba. Although some Muslims seem to have had their reservations
about this adaptation, Safa and Marwa were declared holy (Qu^123 r'an
2:153). The Hajj is also spoken of in Qur'an 2:185, 192f, and one need not
necessarily date all of these passages much later, since at least some aspects
of the institution of the Islamic Hajj must have been concurrent with the
change of the qibla.
Both Sira and canonical traditions attempt to connect the Jewish fast on the
Day of Atonement (Ashura) with the introduction of the fast of Ramadan. However, although some Western scholars have notic^124 ed similarities to this Jewish fast, which is held in autumn, the^125 re is a substantial disagreement in months, since this Islamic rite is reported to have been begun 19 months after the Hijra (in March 624 AD). A canonical tradition describingAshura as being a day highly esteemed by Jews and
Christians together with the consistent (although incorre^126 ct) testimony of
Islamic hadith that Ashura commemorated Israel's deliverance from Pharaoh, indicate that instead of the Day of Atonement, the Je^127 wish Passover and Christian Easter were meant, which are celebrated in the spring. Other Islamic traditions show that Muhammad collected the "zakat al-fitr" at the end of Ramadan, and this is similar to the Jewi^128129 sh payment of redemption which was also collected at the Passover. Some^130 Western scholars of Islam have viewed the fast of Ramadan as coming from the Christian observance of Lent, but this is not very probable, since the Christian "fasting" during Lent is not very similar to the Islamic practice.^131 The Manichaeans apparently had a fast which lasted 30 days and which was broken at each sunset, and the Harranians are said to have had a similar fast. Another Western scholar thinks that since Ramadan was^132 the first month of the year and the night of Qadr may have been New Years day, the Islamic practice may have been related to the pagan practice of "itikaf."^133
It is generally thought that Muhammad combined quite a number of sources
in introducing the fast of Ramadan.^134
According to Islamic traditions, the battle of Badr would have occurred
during the first fast of Ramadan. Some accounts depict Muham^135 mad as
only keeping the fast for the first one or two days, whereas ot^136 hers present
him and his followers as not having kept the fast at all. One tr^137 adition
maintains that Muhammad kept the fast on returning from Badr, but^138
another indicates that the Muslims ate during the daytime immediately after