Moon sighting vs. Moon
fighting
9/26/2005
- Religious Social - Article Ref: IC0310-2120
Number of comments: 54
Opinion Summary: Agree:32
Disagree:8
Neutral:14
By: Omer Bin Abdullah
IslamiCity* -
The Messenger of Allah swt
said, "When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are
opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained."
narrated Abu Huraira (Al-Bukhari
Vol. 3: No. 123).
The arrival of the month of Shaban offers a tired old subject to participants
in Muslim events, even informal dinners and celebrations, and Internet chat
groups: the day to start and end the month of Ramadan.
The issue of moon sighting has become moon fighting. In this case, both sides
of the divide are divided over the question that what is really the 'new' moon.
Interestingly, both sides of the divide base their arguments on the Hadith:
"Do not fast unless you sight the crescent, and do not break your fast
till you sight the (following) crescent." (Al-Bukhari, Vol. 3:130).
The Islamic Shura Council of North America (ISCNA), in consultation with the
Fiqh Council of
Syed Khalid Shaukat, national coordinator, and moon sighting consultant to
ISNA, expressing his disappointment over the issue, says: "In the present
era of scientific and technological advancement, three decades after man landed
on the moon, some Muslims are still avoiding the use of scientific knowledge
for making an Islamic calendar and get over with the feuds and having to wait
till midnight for a confirmation of moon sighting."
Shaukat stresses, "Today, Muslims have expertise and access to technology
to understand the calculations of when and where the sighting occurs. Recorded
data shows how the science of moon sighting is compared with the actual
observations. The results show that calculations of sighting and observations
have matched every month since 1993. Calculations of moon sighting and actual
sighting are not two different things for an Islamic Calendar when it was found
that they both match."
He stresses that the results show that with today's technology, calculations
are far more accurate than the claims of sighting, which we all have
experienced, that often people mistake other objects for the crescent moon.
Shaukat points out that calculations for sighting are
surety (haqqul-yaqeen), while claims of sighting may be suspicion (zann) or
mistake. He says that Allah has given us the knowledge about the motions of earth and
moon, and an Islamic calendar based on calculations that has proven to match
with actual sighting would enable us to plan ahead of time, while actual sighting
will prove to be confirmatory. This, he says, only meets the intent of Qur'an
and Sunnah and its benefits greatly surpass the consequences faced by false
claims of sighting and waiting for a decision until
The most misunderstood question is whether the sighting is a means or a
requirement of ascertaining the beginning of an Islamic month. Shaukat says
that the answer to this question is better understood by people in the
The opponents of scientific calculations also cite Bukhari, Vol. 3:130, and
maintain that the people at the time of the Prophet were illiterate and thus physical sighting was the method
prescribed by Allah and thus cannot be changed. Among this group, there are
differences on the number of witnesses needed for confirming such a sighting.
The Fiqh Council's view that physical sighting must go hand in hand with
scientific calculations finds numerous grounds in the Hadith. ISNA, which
serves as coordinator of the ISCNA moon sighting program, has set up a system
where people who claim sighting the moon call the headquarters. The scientists
then examine this information and discuss the various nuances with the reporter
to establish the veracity of his sighting.
The need for such dual sighting is only strengthened by the fact that in
contemporary times when the skies are also inhabited by numerous man made objects that may befool the viewer.
Sighting
or Calculation?
The proponents of determining the start of Ramadan purely by calculations offer
two main arguments. First, the Hadith "Do not fast until you see the
crescent-moon, and do not break the fast until you have seen the crescent moon,
but if conditions are overcast for you then enumerate for it." [Bukhari]
They cite the statement, "then enumerate for it" as evidence for the
permissibility of calculation. Second, they say that calculations were not used
during the Prophet's time because the people were "unlettered,"
however, we are now educated and advanced in astronomy, there
is no harm in calculating alone.
The first argument cannot be sustained because if "enumerate" in the
above hadith is in fact referring to calculation, it would only indicate the
permissibility of calculations in overcast conditions. In addition, the meaning
of "enumerate" is clarified by another narration of the hadith by
Bukhari (also, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Hibban and al-Tayalisi),
"Then complete the number of [days of] Sha`ban as thirty." [Nasb
al-Rayah, 2/437-8] This hadith clarifies what is meant by "enumerate"
in the first narration is to count thirty days, for the first narration is
general and imprecise (mujmal), whereas the second is explicit (mubayyan),
clarifying the imprecision in the first. Ibn Rushd says, "It is obligatory
to refer the mujmal to the mubayyan, and this is the way of the scholars of
usul, without any disagreement." [Bidayat al-Mujtahid, 1/284]
The second argument about the people being "unlettered" is refuted by
the fact that there were many among the Companions who were not only well read
but also scholarly. In fact, what "unlettered" refers to is that the
means for determining the month are simple, not requiring sophisticated science
or education, equally accessible to all people, scientists as well as
non-scientists.
The
Islam is a strong proponent of using reason. Today the fact is that astronomy
can accurately establish the time of birth of the new moon, and the time
interval when it is impossible to see the crescent-moon due its not yet being
present. Thus, there is no harm in using this astronomical basis to reject a
claimed sighting which cannot possibly be correct. Indeed, this is similar to
rejecting the claim of someone who claims to have seen the crescent-moon on the
twentieth night of Shaban!
In the same vein of using reason, Islam asks us to use the scientific method.
Thus, if a sighting is reported when it was absolutely impossible for it to
have occurred, it will be rejected, even if the one reporting it is an upright
Muslim. This rejection is attributed to genuine misjudgment, which does not diminish
the person's Islamic uprightness and acceptability as a witness. Numerous
renowned as well as recent and contemporary scholars support this view.
Universal Sighting?
The proponents of using the sighting in Makkah to begin Ramadan anywhere on earth
argue that a sighting in one area is binding on Muslims in other areas as
well.
However, the hadith narrated by Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Nasa'i rejects
argues against a sighting being binding on distant places. Thus states that
Kurayb, who traveled to Syria encountered the start of Ramadan there on a
Friday, upon return to Medina, informed Ibn Abbas that he had seen the
crescent-moon on the night of Friday, and that the people in Syria, including
Muawiyah the governor, had fasted on Friday. Ibn Abbas replied that they (in
Also, we need to consider that just as Muslims around the world will not pray
simultaneously, rather each area will pray based on the movement of the sun in
their area. Thus, how could they start and end fasting simultaneously.
The presence of numerous hadith on this issue only indicates that even the
Companions and their later contemporaries differed about the start and end of
Ramadan, such difference did not cause disunity among them, and so there is no
reason why it should for us.
Want More
!! Log on to http://www.islamicity.com/