Out of all the symbols that Muslims could have chosen to symbolize the unity of Islam, it is indeed ironic that they chose the crescent, which for many signifies the greatest manifestation of division amongst Muslims, at least in Western lands!
Yes, it's that time of the year again when brothers and sisters frantically begin calling family and friends, asking, “What did Shaykh so-and-so say?”
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I knew there was gonna be a post on this; I was just awaiting a sighting. No pun intended ;-)
our community center is fasting here in NY tomorrow =)
but ICNA and Zaytuna didn’t announce it yet =((((
( i hope zaytuna announces 4 tomorrow cuz it will make me feel better that tomorrow was right- if they dont then ill always remain doubtful whether tomorrow was 1st ramadhan or not =(
I know. I would love to follow Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and the Zaytuna peeps, but my community is fasting tomorrow, so I fast tomorrow inshaAllah. Ramadan kareem! everyone.
Shaykh Hamza’s article is really good by the way.
:)
I wonder if this will get as many comments as the Cheetos article lol
Assalamu alaikum
May Allah (swt) reward Shaykh Yaser for bringing clarity upon this issue. Ameen.
This seems to be the first time in a while that all the Masajid are performing Ramadhan roughly the same time. :)
masalama
What’s ironic about it, i.e. the sighting of the moon – first paragraph? No Muslim CHOSE to use the sighting of the moon: it was revealed in the Quran, e.g. http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/002.qmt.html#002.189
Is it not disbelief to say that Allah’s decree is ironic or to attribute to the creation something which has been done by the creator?
Amend these words. I haven’t read the rest of the article, but if that is how it starts off, how is it going to go the rest of the way? I imagine that to be the case.
Abdul Majeed, why don’t you read the article first and then complain. You may be surprised that your first paragraph read does not justify the conclusion that you seem to be deriving.
w/s
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah
Ramadan mubarak to all!
@Abdul Majeed. You read the paragraph incorrectly bro. The shaykh’s comment about irony had nothing to do with choosing the sighting of the moon. I believe he was referring to the fact that many Muslim communities have taken the hilal to be a symbol of their Islam, such as Pakistan and Turkey, who use it on their national flags. Look at the Ramadan Mubarak and Eid Mubarak greeting cards: hilal. Symbols on masjid timetables and islamic society handouts: hilal. What do you find sitting on the top of masjid domes: hilal. The Red Crescent charity: hilal! The hilal has become synonymous with Muslim culture. So when one Muslim sees any paperwork, a building or a flag with the hilal printed on it, he/she knows that it belongs to another Muslim, and thus, the hilal has become a symbol of Muslim unity. Upon realizing this, the irony of the hilal-sighting wars becomes immediately apparent.
I’m glad the shaykh mentioned the irony, cos i never noticed it before now. It’s quite funny, in a very sad way…
Anyway, Ameen to the shaykh’s duas!
Wa’salam
At last! I had to read this post from three different browsers before the comments section finally showed up (on Firefox).
Anyway, a very interesting article, especially the point about following the community regardless of when the hilaal was seen. I think that for me, as well as others, this is a point that we haven’t heard of often…
Ameen!
Shukran ustadh Yasir, for a brief and honorable statement which covered both the disputes and a straightforward explanation on resolving certain differences or at least dissolving some of the confusion.
I would just add that when you offer your opinion, inasmuch as it is fiqh-based, the ‘humble opinion’ (true as it may be) might not be necessary. The internet is full of people with their IMHO which aren’t very humble, and when someone who actually understands the subject can speak, we appreciate them not being arrogant, but also knowing that their opinion is based on sound scholarship (as is evident with the reasoning of the tulaab-ul-ilm, Hamza Yusuf and Haytham al-Haddad)
again, JazakamuLlahul khayran – Ramadan mubarek
As salaamu alaikum
Barak Allahu feek ya Shaykh.
Alhamdulillah this is the first year I am totally disassociating myself from these moonfighting debates, let alone conversations.
My mind and heart are completely at ease and I feel so much happier. :) Alhamdulillah.
Asalamualaikum wa rahmatullah,
Jazak Allah khayr shaykh Yasir for another excellent article. I feel as though my knowledge regarding moon sighting has increased as a result, and I pray that Allah rewards you for writing it.
I have a quick question based on what was written:
I know often times the concern that I come across is the idea of making taqleed when my understanding (based on the little knowledge that I have) of the situation conflicts with that of my communities . I know and understand that it’s better to follow your community in such situations and to avoid fitnah at all costs, but what I was taught is that calling to the truth should never be considered a fitnah, even if people dont want to hear it. I also know that the people who have made the ijtihaad are much more knowledgeable than me and I trust them in these matters, but once again I was taught that each person will testify for himself and no one will be able to testify for you on the Day of Judgment.
How do we understand the decision within this context and reconcile between the two opinions/feelings?
Jazak Allah khayr in advance.
Shaykh Yasir, Please explain on what is the wisdom of Allah behind the diversity of fiqh ruling. “… As can be seen, it’s not as simple as that, and indeed it is of the wisdom of Allah that such a rich diversity exists in fiqh.”
Salaam Alaikum
Jazak Allah to everyone for the comments.
@mvaid
You are right that every single soul is responsible for himself, however Allah does not place a burden on a soul more than he can bear. And of these burdens is to understand every single legal ruling. There is no sin whatsoever in making taqlid in a finer issue of fiqh, such as this one. The same will not apply, however, to an issue of shirk, as generally speaking shirk is something clear.
@Faizan
This is a very drawn out topic, perhaps I can comment on it in an entire post dedicated to this subject. Ibn Taymiyyah’s Raf al-Malaam and Shah Wali Allah’s Hujjat Allah al-Baaligha (both of which are translated into English) deal with this issue in much more detail.
Yasir
Isn’t it just common sense to preserve unity rather than arguing about it? I like the article but praise to God that I have already adapted the attitude of preserving unity in the community even though I did receive several emails that were trying to impose the international moon sighting on me.
Scholars are human beings and they make mistakes. I wonder, during the time when the muslim empire comprised of 2/3 of the world, how did the moon sighting news get spread around? Did local muslims have local moon sighting? Surely, not all of them saw the moon.
So, is bypassing the moon sighting a big sin? If I didn’t take part in it, must I feel guilty about it? What if I inherently believe that the calculation is more precise, am I committing bid’ah? Since all bid’ah leads to hell fire, am I destined to hell?
I’m a muslim. Shouldn’t I feel good about myself?
:(
JazaakaAllah khair brother Yaser. I was especially interested in the information about “fasting beginning when the people fast”.
I wanted to comment on this statement:
“in my humble opinion the strongest fiqh position, independent of other factors (see below), seems to be that we should follow a visual sighting within North America. If one trustworthy Muslim physically sees the moon, and it was seen at a time when we know from astronomical data that it was born and possible to see, then such a sighting should be accepted for all Muslims of this continent.”
In my understanding, this is not a valid opinion because the north american continent is not just 1 matla’. I have understood that the 2 valid opinions of local vs. global sighting pertain to either sighting in one city (not a large nation or continent) or accepting the sighting of any muslim anywhere in the world (of course not just in saudi). Have you read Shawkani on this? He gives a very detailed consideration of all of the opinions and settles on 1 universal sighting as the strongest opinion.
Above, ibn abee omar wrote that “To fix Saudi Arabia as the place of sighting is incorrect as it does not abide by the opinion of local sighting or a truly global sighting. ” Likewise, fixing “north america” as the place of sighting is not truly local sighting, and of course it isn’t global sighting.
onto the time when the khilaafa spread far across the world, my impression was that news of a sighting was spread across the land by lighting large torches that could be seen from far away, and those who saw it would light their own in succession to pass the message rapidly across the land. Can anyone verify that?
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatollah
I just wanted to ask Sh. Yasir where the above two books, particularly raf’ al malaam can be found in the English language.
Do you have any details?
JazakAllah
wassalamu alykum
assalaamlikum Sr. Takumi. I am glad that you were able to apply the principles of unity before reading this article.
I only caution you in one thing: every “unity” decision is not the right one either. So, we should go to our scholars to understand issues. It is similar to one who has a disease or has a question about his health… some things he can figure out with his own little research, but for serious matters, he has to go a doctor. The scholars are the doctors of Islam, so we need to use their expert services inshalah.
Bypassing the moon is not a big sin… I don’t even know if is a sin at all. After reading this article, you should know some of the basic rulings in this matter and that the majority of the scholars would not accept calculations.
Bid’ahs “lead” to the fire but it doesn’t mean that you will be in fire. Just like sinning will also lead you to fire, if you insist on it and engage in bigger and bigger sins. Everyone is destined to whatever their deeds takes them to.
Yes, feel good… its great to be a Muslim! Do the best you can and fear Allah as much as you can.
Thank you for your clarification Br. Amad.
So, who are the scholars now? Whom do we follow?
Jazakum Allahu Khair for the reminder Sheikh Yasir.
I am an avid moonsighter and have been for a while. I try and go out and sight the moon every month and not just ramadan. I have done extensive research into all the opinions regarding moonsighting and local sighting is the correct opinion. I say “correct” here and not “strongest” because the word “global” for scholars in the past is the same as the “local” of today. I will explain later in the response.
From my experience, most people who call for a global sighting do not understand moon phases. They also try to relate unity in moonsighitng with the unity of the ummah which has no basis.
I have a question for my global sighting brethren: If the muslims in the Polynesian Islands see the moon first will you be willing to accept it? How about if we see it in America? Do you think the Middle East will start when we see it?
The answers are of course no. People’s definition of a global sighting is a Saudi sighting which makes no sense. Even huge Saudi scholars support the local sighting opinion (see fatwa of Sh. Uthaymeen). Another thing is that if people understood moon phases they would realize that people in the Western hemisphere can usually see the moon first. And since it is already the NEXT day in the middle east than it is impossible to start on the same day.
Sister Asma, you have to ask yourself what the definition of “global” was to Imam Shawkani and other Imams in the past. Imam Shawkani was in the 18th century. Global could not have meant more than a few cities since you would have to dispatch a horse to spread the news. There was no lighting fires in the mountains like Lord of the Rings or tying a note to a bird and sending it to the Muslims in China. Ramadan is already done by the time the message gets across.
Of course now we have email and phones but I don’t think people really realize the communications effort that would be required to ensure everyone started on the same day. It is actually impossible both astronomically and technically.
Ibn Taymiyah said that “illiterate nation” meant simple nation since Allah made it easy for us to perform our acts of worship.
Alhamdulillah progress has been made since there have been numerous books, articles, and conferences addressing the issue with the majority agreeing on local sighting. The problem is that the general community is unaware of the scholarly consensus. There is also the problem of unreliable sightings and miscommunication (e.g., my fave is when someone says they saw the moon in NY when what really happened is that in NY someone heard that they saw the moon in Saudi).
A few things have to be done to solve the problem:
1. ISNA must abandon their calculations based on the Saudi new moon! That completely boggles the mind and just added to the confusion.
2. There needs to be official moonsighting committees that are in charge of official local sightings.
3. Communication between the reasonable local area must be faster and smoother.
It really is that simple. In sha Allah I will be working on this project for the coming year.
May Allah guide us all and accept our fasts! Ameeen.
My thanks to you for an informative article. As a non-Muslim, I did not previously understand how complex an issue setting events by the lunar calendar could be, nor what were the practical implications of that complexity. You have signally contributed to my understanding of your faith.
thanks for your comments brian, we hope you enjoy our site!
In terms of Ramadan, I understand the “complexities” and “differences of opinion” of having everyone start/end on the same day. My question now is in regards to Eid-ul-Adha – specifically the day of Arafat. Do we not know, 9 days in advance which day Arafat will occur (for those performing hajj), and hence Eid-ul-Adha. Does it make sense that some Muslims around the world would be fasting their own “day of Arafat” when in fact there is not a single person on the mountain of Arafat? Also, when those performing hajj are slaughtering the animals, is it permissible for others to be fasting? Although one can argue for Ramadan, I believe that this argument cannot be validated for Eid-ul-Adha as the basis that this Eid is based on the completion of hajj. And since we all know the Kaaba is located in Saudi Arabia (not Asia or North America), our hajj dates are dictated by the Saudi calendar. Hence, the reasoning why some groups follow the Saudi calender year-round, leaving the onus on them to justify their moon-sighting methods.
As Salaam Alaikum.
I agree with your view that we should follow moonsighting in North America.
I see three problems:
1. Saudis announcing incredible sightings that defy scientific verification.
2. ISNA coming up with a pre-calculated calendar that is trying to impose its dates on the whole world, which will never be accepted outside the USA. This aim is ruining their calendar.
3. Half of the US masaajid rushing to accept the Saudi Eid dates.
Why can’t we forget the outside announcements and concentrate on the USA?
Why are we coming up with all sorts of excuses to follow Saudi Arabia?
The appointment of hilal by Allah as the sign of the new month itself points to the fact that each region is autonomous. Otherwise, it was easy for Allah to appoint a khalifah, ruler or a qaadi to pronounce the new month for the entire ummah.
>>> “My question now is in regards to Eid-ul-Adha – specifically the day of Arafat. Do we not know, 9 days in advance which day Arafat will occur (for those performing hajj), and hence Eid-ul-Adha. Does it make sense that some Muslims around the world would be fasting their own “day of Arafat” when in fact there is not a single person on the mountain of Arafat?”
Br. UM Yusuf, Fasting has nothing to do with Hajis in the Arafat. Just 100 years ago, no one knew where were haajis on any day.
>>>”Also, when those performing hajj are slaughtering the animals, is it permissible for others to be fasting?”
Again, same answer. How could Muslims were to find this information in say 1850?
>>>”Although one can argue for Ramadan, I believe that this argument cannot be validated for Eid-ul-Adha as the basis that this Eid is based on the completion of hajj.”
No Eid-ul_adha is not based on hajj. Hajj was made fard in 8th Hijri while Eid-ul-Adha was started in 2nd Hijri.
>>>”And since we all know the Kaaba is located in Saudi Arabia (not Asia or North America), our hajj dates are dictated by the Saudi calendar. Hence, the reasoning why some groups follow the Saudi calender year-round, leaving the onus on them to justify their moon-sighting methods.”
Did the Prophet, phuh, followed Makkah dates in Madinah? Or did he try to find out dates so that he can adjust Madinah calendar? Or did the older generations do that? Doing this sounds like, “Bid’ah.”
Br. Zaheer, unfortunately, it is not as simple as you state. For instance, here is an article from Shaykh Waleed:
http://www.aussiemuslims.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-15997.html
All I can say is that both sides on this issue have solid evidences and opinions. So, like Ramadan, we should follow our local communities and enjoy Eid with them.
Personally, I find fasting on the Day of Arafah much more pertinent when it does somewhat correspond to the Day of Arafah… so even if my community prayed 2 days later, I would probably fast both yesterday and Thursday and then do Eid with the community on Friday, even if I believe otherwise (i.e. Eid was today).
I think we need to be careful when we paint things in black and white. If it was as simple as you point out, I think the argument wouldn’t be as complex and as contentious as it has become.
So, advanced Eid Mubarak to you.
Br. Amad, a lot of brothers are trying very hard to link Eidul Adha with Hajj & Hajis.
There is no evidence at all that non-Hajis should link or adjust their calendar and events with Hajis. Prophet, Pbuh, never adjusted Madinah calendar when he had enough time to do so. Not a single incidence has been recorded where either the Prophet or the Khalifah fasted or celebrated the Eid “just because Hajis finished their Hajj.”
It is that simple. Until 50-60 years ago, Saudi Arabia really sighted the moon and all countries around and west of it saw the moon. In all Middle-Eastern countries Eid naturally occured the day after Arafah so people started believing that Eid must follow the Day of Arafah. The problem started when Saudia started announcing totally incredible dates based on some calculations totally unrelated to moon sightings.
Just think. Was it possible for the previous generations without the telecommunications to follow the Hajj and fast and celebrate Eid with them?
What we have done is we are celebrating the Hajj of our friends and relatives rather than the sacrifices of Prophet Ibrahim. Sadly, I am seeing this in newspaper and magazine articles that this Eid is about Hajis completing their Hajj.
It is nice you are fasting on two days and may Allah reward you for that. But Allah does not burden anyone with impossible tasks, and He would not force you to ensure that your fast coincide with Hajis’ stay in Arafah. This would have been simply impossible to do a few generations ago.
Assalamu alaikum.Day of arafat is 9th dhul hijjah when pilgrims gather at arafat. Fasting is prohibited for pilgrims while it is recommended for others as it is an expiation of sins of two years.The day after arafat, yaum un nahr is the day of stoning and sacrifice in mina and according to both imaam shafi and ahmad it is the day of eid for the others.There is no ambiguity at all
Pl. read book Sh.albanis book’Rites of hajj and umrah”
Let us follow the Quran and sunnah according to the understanding of our
Salaf. In matters of fiqh, let us follow
those who are qualified to do ijthihad.
It is not for everyone of us, but for the
Imamas of the past and the Ulema of our time
JazakumuAllahu khairan for the article.
Reminds me of the 3 M&Ms of Shs. YQ & Suhabi Webb talked about in SS. :)
Our masjid in Milwaukee, WI will be fasting on Monday, iA. (most probably following ISNA)
I think most masjids in USA either follow Saudi Arabia or ISNA, WAllahu A’laam.
May Allah grant our ummah Unity, and true guidance. Ameen.
ISLAMIC EVENTS ARE BASED ON A LUNAR CALENDAR..THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE OF OPINION ON THIS.
WE ARE TOLD TO FAST BY SIGHTING THE MOON AND BREAK THE FAST THAT IS END THE MONTH OF RAMADHAN BY SIGHTING THE MOON. THE ORDER IN THE QURAN IS NOT TO PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT AREAS, BUT TO THE UMMAH IN GENERAL AS CLEARLY STATED BY SIDDEEK HASSAN KHAN A GREAT SCHOLAR FROM THE INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT. WE LOOK FOR THE MOON IN OUR LOCALITY AND COUNTRY, THEN CHECK WITH OTHER COUNTRIES AND IF WE HAVE NO EVIDENCE OF SIGHTINGS, CHECK WITH SAUDI AND MAKE A FINAL DECISION.
COMING TO EID AL ADHA. THE EID IS ENTIRELY LINKED WITH THE HAJ.IN FACT THE DAYS ARE REFERRED TO AS “YOUAM UT TARWEEYAH”, YOUM UL ARAFAH” AND ‘YOUM UN NAHR” AND THE
THE THREE DAYS AFTER AS “AYYAMUT THASHREEK”
WITH IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS AND THE OBTAINING OF INFORMATION, VERY QUICKLY, THERE NEED BE NO CONFUSION AS TO OBSERVING THESE EVENTS..
THE PROBLEM IS THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN DEVIANT GROUPS “HELL BENT” ON CREATING CONFUSION AND THEREBY DISUNITY AMONGST THE MUSLIMS. HIGH TIME WE COME TO OUR SENSES AND ACT ACCORDING TO THE QURAN AND SUNNAH. IS THIS ASKING TOO MUCH ??//