Sighting the Moon and the Beginning of Ramadan Adil Salahi, Arab News The problem of sighting the moon arises every year as the month of Ramadan approaches. Some people suggest that Muslims should do away with the old method of sighting the moon with the naked eye and rely instead on calculation. They argue that it is possible to determine the exact time, down to the hour and minute, of the birth of the new moon long in advance. We can also determine the minute of its rise and visibility for every night throughout the year, many years in advance. Why should we continue to rely on sighting with our eyes, which was an appropriate method for the days when such accurate calculations were not available? All this may sound both logical and expedient. It will save people the many problems associated with making late announcements of the beginning and end of Ramadan, as happens very often. Many readers have put this question to me in the past, especially with the problems that occasionally happen when errors are made. Only an Islamic Jurists' Council could make a decision that has to be backed, ratified and implemented by governments. What we will attempt to do here is to discuss some of the Hadiths which relate to this problem in order to shed some light on its different aspects. I hope that this discussion will go some way to make the readers, especially those who have taken the trouble to write to me for clarification, more aware of the Islamic viewpoint in this connection.
It is worth noting at the outset that Islam is a religion revealed by God in order to be implemented by all communities and societies, regardless of the degree of their material or scientific advancement. It was revealed more than 1,400 years ago and it will continue to be the last guidance God gives to mankind through revelation for the rest of time. Therefore, when it tackles certain aspects of human life, it limits itself to laying down a number of broad guidelines, leaving the details to be filled in by every Islamic society according to the degree of progress it has achieved. As long as any society continues to live within the framework of these guidelines, it remains Islamic. In other matters, particularly those which affect the inner human personality which does not undergo any fundamental change, Islam lays down specific rules which remain valid for all time. Every Muslim has to implement them. One such rule is fasting in Ramadan. Every human being needs the benefits which fasting ensures. Hence, we are all commanded to fast in the month of Ramadan. Islam adopts the lunar year because it is the easier to follow by all societies, including very primitive ones. Every new moon signals the beginning of a month. Moreover, the lunar year has the advantage of varying the time of those acts of worship, which occur annually, such as fasting, zakah, and pilgrimage. The Prophet was keen to give us guidance for the determination of the beginning of the month of Ramadan which allows for all different situations. The general principle he has laid down is that fasting begins on the day, which follows the sighting of the new moon. We have a number of Hadiths, all authentic, which state this principle in varying modes of expression. A very clear statement by the Prophet is that related by Abdullah ibn Umar that when God's messenger mentioned Ramadan, he said: "Do not fast until you have sighted the new moon, and do not end your fasting until you have sighted it. If your sighting is beclouded, use your discretion." Here we have a specific instruction that we must not begin fasting or end it unless the moon is sighted. This is due to the fact that Islam does not like confusion to spread among the Muslim community in matters of worship. They, therefore, must act on the basis of certain knowledge. If the moon is not sighted, then we do not begin fasting unless we have used our discretion in the way outlined by the Prophet in other Hadiths. This clear instruction closes the door before any thought of fasting an extra day, in order to be on the safe side. Many Muslims may have such thoughts, especially if a mistake should happen in a sighting the moon one year. The next year you will find many people wondering: why do we not fast the day before, in order to be absolutely certain that we have fasted at the beginning? They will claim that an extra day of fasting is not too much trouble! Yet this is exactly what Islam does not want its followers to do. The fact is that a lunar month could be 29 or 30 days. Therefore, on the evening of 29 Shaaban, people are advised to go out and try to sight the moon. The following day is termed as 'the day of doubt', because it could be the last day of Shaaban or the first day of Ramadan. The thought of fasting it may be attractive to many people. The Prophet says, however: "He who fasts the day of doubt has disobeyed Abu Al-Qasim." Abu Al-Qasim is a name of the Prophet himself. There can be no clearer prohibition of fasting that day. The idea of 'keeping on the safe side' does not arise at all in matters of Islamic worship. For one thing, it is an affront to God Almighty. For another, it may lead to great confusion. It makes Ramadan at least 30 days all the time, and it could make it 31 days. God likes us to do exactly what He orders us to do. He does not wish us to add to any particular duty He has imposed on us. This is different from voluntary worship, which is done all the time. This is an effort to make a duty 'more complete'. The whole idea is inadmissible in Islamic thinking. We see then that the sighting of the moon is very important. How about the alternative of using our discretion when clouds prevent its sighting? Other Hadiths give us a clue to what is meant here. The Prophet says: "The month is 29 nights. Do not fast until you have sighted it, i.e. the new moon. Should you be prevented by clouds from sighting it, complete the count (of the preceding month) to 30." In another Hadith, the Prophet says: "Fast when you have sighted it and end your fast when you have sighted it. If it is beclouded, then complete the count of Shaaban to 30." Thus, the completion of Shaaban into 30 days is the way the Prophet has indicated for us when we have to use our discretion. It is the way that can be followed by all communities. It is also the way to be followed in determining the end of Ramadan. We finish fasting when we have sighted the new moon, which announces the beginning of the month of Shawwal. If clouds prevent us from sighting the moon, then we have to complete Ramadan into 30 days. Commentators on Hadiths tend to take the phrase, 'use your discretion', in the above-quoted Hadith as synonymous with the other advice to complete the count of the preceding month. It seems, however, possible to give it a different interpretation. Can we take it as a statement giving us the necessary sanction to rely on accurate calculation? Does the word "discretion" or its equivalent in Arabic which also connotes, "rely on estimates", accept the interpretation of using scientific calculation? I believe that we have a clear indication that it should be so in the Hadith that states: "We are an unlettered community: we neither write nor calculate. Therefore, fast when you sight the new moon and end your fasting when you see it." This Hadith indicates that the method of sighting the new moon is given as a simple alternative in the absence of the clearer and more accurate method of relying on astronomical data. Therefore, now that we have easy access to astronomical data, we need to use it. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5§ion=0&article=101199&d=22&m=9&y=2007
