| WHY DO MUSLIMS FOLLOW MOONSIGHTING FOR DETERMINING ISLAMIC DATES? |
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WHY DO MUSLIMS FOLLOW MOONSIGHTING FOR DETERMINING ISLAMIC DATES? Islamic lunar calendar months are either 29 days or 30 days. They are never 28 days or 31 days. In the Gregorian (solar) calendar number of days foe each month are fixed. January, March, May, July, August, October and December are always 31 days while April, June, September and November are 30 days. February is 28 days except in a leap year when it becomes 29 days. Islamic months are not fixed in terms of any particular month being 29 or 30 days. This keeps on changing based on the sighting of the new moon. One year, Ramadan may be 30 days in one country (Canada and USA, for instance this year) and will be 29 days in Pakistan. This is based on sighting in each locality. In the Qur'an, Allah has ordained for us the following: "They will ask you (O Prophet) about the new moons. Tell them, these are for determining the seasons [of the year] for people and for establishing the day of Hajj" (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 189). There are several Hadith of the Prophet (sallallaho alayh-e wa Sallam) that clearly emphasise the importance of sighting the new moon for the start of every Islamic month. He has said: "Start your fast when you sight the moon, and end your [month of] fasting when you sight the moon" (Narrated in Muslim). In another related hadith, he has said: "If you are unable to sight the new moon on the 29th, or if the sky is overcast, complete your thirty days and then end [your month of] fasting." Thus, both from the Qur'an and Hadith, it is established that Muslims must follow the sighting criterion of the new moon for their Islamic calendar month. MODERN SCIENCE HAS MADE ENORMOUS PROGRESS. WHY CAN'T WE USE IT TO DETERMINE OUR DATES AHEAD OF TIME AND AVOID THIS CONFUSION EVERY YEAR? Scientific data enables us to determine the birth of the new moon very precisely but it can only give us approximate guidelines for when a new moon may be sighted. There are several factors that determine the of sighting the new moon: 1: Age of the new Moon at the time of sunset 2: Time difference between sunset and moonset 3: Angle of separation of the moon from the sun. 4: Weather conditions (clear or cloudy sky) at time of sunset. 1: Age of the moon is an important factor but not the only one as the above points indicate. The minimum age of a new moon for visibility is at least 20-22 hours at the time of sunset. If the above conditions are not met, it may take even 40-42 hours before the new moon becomes visible. 2: Equally important is how long the new moon stays on the horizon AFTER sunset. The longer the time, the greater the possibility of sighting. If the new moon sets soon after sunset or sets before sunset, obviously, it is impossible to sight itbecause at the time of sunset, there is too much light dispersion on the horizon. 3: The angle of separation of the moon from the sun is also important. The minimum angle is believed to be 7-12 degrees. The larger the degree of separation, the greater the chances of sighting. 4: Weather conditions are critical. Since the new moon is very thin, if the sky is overcast, as it almost always is in places like Canada, the chances of sighting the new moon are virtually nill. WHAT IS THE AGE OF THE MOON? This is the time that lapses between the moon passing the sun-earth conjunction and the time of sunset that evening or the following evening. The moon goes around the earth and completes one full cycle in about 29 days and 6 hours. A new moon is said to be born when it comes in exact line with the earth and the sun and is completely covered by the shadow of the earth. It takes about 20-22 hours for the moon to move sufficiently away from the shadow of the earth for a very thin sliver to become visible (this is the part of the moon that is lighted by the reflection of sunlight from earth). WHY IS IT SO CRITICAL FOR MUSLIMS TO START AND END RAMADAN ON THE CORRECT DATE? WHY DOES ONE DAY MAKE SO MUCH DIFFERENCE? Allah has ordained certain times and days for us to observe our Islamic rites. For instance, we cannot pray Maghrib Salat even one minute before sunset. It could be argued: why worry about a mere minute? If Allah commands us to perform our Ibadaat at certain times, we must obey them in order to get the blessings He has prescribed for those times. Similarly, Juma Prayer cannot be performed on any other day except Friday and at a specified time and place. In fact, it cannot even be performed alone. One must perform it in congregation in order for it to be valid otherwise one must perform only Zuhr Salat. From the above, it is clear that starting and ending Ramadan on the correct date is extremely important for us to get the blessings of Allah. An example from our everyday life will help explain this point further. Suppose a friend invites you to dinner for Saturday. If you show up at his house on Friday evening, would you expect to have the dinner that was planned for Saturday? If he is a good friend, he would not be upset and may even welcome you into his house but he would not have the dinner that is scheduled for Saturday ready for you. The correct observation of the start and end of Ramadan is even more important. There is another point worthy of note. In Ramadan, we also have the last ten days, especially the odd nights, in which we perform extra prayers. There is also Laylat al-Qadr that according to the Prophet's hadith is in one of the odd nights. Most scholars opine that it is on the night of the 27th. If we start Ramadan on the wrong day, it is impossible to observe the 27th night on the proper night and we would deprive ourselves of Allah's blessings. In the Qur'an, Allah has described Laylat al-Qadr as the night whose blessings equal that of 1000 months (83.3 years). What kind of a Muslim would want to deprive himself/herself of such blessings by observing it on the wrong night? ARE THERE OTHER REASONS FOR MUSLIMS BECOMING CONFUSED ABOUT THE CORRECT START AND END OF RAMADAN? Yes, there are. The main culprit seems to be sighting claims from Saudi Arabia. This country follows the Lunar calendar for its day to day operations as do some other countries in the Middle East. This is perfectly valid, in fact good. The confusion arises over what criteria they use for establishing their lunar calendar. Since it is not possible to establish the precise day when a new moon will become visible, for their daily routine, the Saudis have established the birth of the new moon as the start of their lunar month to facilitate business activity. This is a decision based purely on convenience. It has nothing to do with the Islamic practice of observing the new moon. While the regime states this, there are people in Saudi Arabia who make false claims of sighting the new moon when it is impossible for it to be visible. Why do people make such claims? The Saudi regime offers a reward of 10,000 riyals for anyone reporting a credible sighting. Data from the past 30 years shows that there are certain regions in Saudi Arabia whose people habitually make such claims. Professors and other scholars in Saudi Arabia have decried this practice and have called upon their government not to accept such claims in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence, but for some reason, the Saudi regime just follows this practice. This leads to enormous confusion in the rest of the world, especially in North America, where some Muslims follow the Saudi announcement arguing that they want to be united. This eagerness for unity, while commendable, leads to even greater confusion and disunity among Muslims. WHY DON'T MUSLIMS FOLLOW THE SAUDI ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE SAKE OF UNITY? Allah has not created the earth flat. There are certain parts of the world that are 12-16 hours ahead of us in North America. For instance, Australia and New Zealand are 13-16 hours ahead of us. While Saudi Arabia is 7 hours ahead of us now, in winter it would be 8 hours ahead. Thus, it is impossible for people in Australia to follow the Saudi announcement because by the time the Saudis announce the start of Ramadan on a particular evening say at 7 pm, it would already be 1 am to 4 am the next morning for Muslims in Australia. Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia (Muslim majority states) would face a similar dilemma. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MUSLIMS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TO CELEBRATE THEIR ISLAMIC FESTIVALS ON THE SAME DAY BECAUSE OF DIFFERENCE TIME ZONES. Thus, Muslims will have to devise their own method of determining moonsighting and follow it according to local decisions. This is the reason, we at the Islamic Society of York Region do NOT follow announcements from Saudi Arabia or any other part of the world. We follow our local conditions, as we do for all our Salat timings and make every effort to provide accurate information to Muslims to observe Islamic dates as accurately as possible. We sincerely hope this enables Muslims to have a better understanding of what the moonsighting is all about. We wish you all a blessed month of Ramadan and a very Happy Eid that is likely to be on SATURDAY OCT 13. May Allah accept our duas and make us worthy of His Infinite mercy and blessings. |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 19 October 2007 ) |
