[hqudsi]

Islamic tradition values reason and rationality. It doesn’t say to blindly follow stuff. You still have to reason through new situations. The Quran is more for spiritual guidance even though it has some prescriptions. But most of the "rules" come from hadiths or the prophetic tradition which has been passed down orally before it was compiled into books by famous scholars.

For example, the Quran says to pray but doesn't spell out how to pray. We learn how to pray from the hadith. Same thing with fasting. The Quran just says fast like Abraham fasted but it doesn't spell what that was. So we follow the way the Prophet did and he's human - he probably wasn't thinking how it would affect people in higher latitudes. He doesn't have supernatural powers or foresight. We say he's the best of us within human limits. Hence why there's a rich scholarly tradition to work these edge cases. It's also why we traditionally break our fast with dates because that's how the prophet did it. But the choice of dates is pretty arbitrary. There's nothing inheritly special about it. It's a staple food in the middle east so it's what he had access to. If the prophet lived in east Asia, then he probably would have broke his fast with rice and then that we would be the thing we break our fast with.

Also the Quran is not like other texts when it comes to structure. It was "revealed" (or authored for the non-religious) over a span of 20+ years and usually in response to something that happened. It's really more a dialogue between god and the prophet and his companions in response to events (someone is being mean or trying to kill them) or if they need guidance or reassurance on something. That's why sometimes taking verses literally is often wrong.

[eimrine]

> But the choice of dates is pretty arbitrary.

Of course it's not! It must be comfortable for farmers, and the farming season starts just now. I'm not a religious but I respect Islam as the most wise of religions, like an iPhone among other cell phones. I want to try fastening because I see some wisdom in having a month with feeding like that and I consider these days of year as totally not arbitrary.

[hqudsi]

I meant breaking your fast with dates is kinda arbitrary not the fasting itself. Fasting is very much not arbitrary and has a very special meaning since it's one of the few things we do solely for God and God alone. Also you can fast outside of Ramadan as well and get additional blessings from it. The prophet would routinely fast on Mondays for example. I think the only days you are not allowed to fast on is Eid because it's a time for celebration.

There's no rule that says you _have_ to break your fast with dates. We just do because that's how the prophet usually did it. Dates have no inherit religious significance. I eat them throughout the year because they are delicious and have nutritional benefits and there's some baraqah (wisdom) in things turning out this way. Also when it comes to farming dates are often harvested in late fall/early winter that's when they are juiciest so we just missed the window but also Ramadan rotates around the seasons due to being on the Lunar calendar. But there are different kinds of dates and you can dry them and they last on long time without spoiling. A very useful property when you live in a desert hence why it's such a common fruit there.

Even when the prophet didn't have access to dates, he would break it with water or yogurt, or even just salt instead. Whatever he has access to at the time.