In Islam, the idea of calculating dates instead of sighting the Moon has been shunned for a long time. How can it be guaranteed that a person who claims to have seen the Moon is trustworthy and does not make mistakes? This challenge has led to false Ramadan start dates in the past: someone had spotted Venus in the night sky and mistaken it for the Moon. This is the “local horizon rule.” This school of thought argues that although it would be good to unite all Muslims all over the world, they all pray at different times already, and one or two days of difference are acceptable.Ĭan you spot the Moon? You might think so, but this bright disk is actually Venus. The other side argues that every region or time zone should have its own Moon sighting. Who Is Sighting the Moon?ĭoes every single Muslim have to see the Moon or is it enough if one Muslim sees the Moon, and all others follow them? The “one horizon rule” is a school of thought treating the whole world as one: As soon as the crescent Moon has been sighted anywhere in the world, all Muslims should start fasting. The only way around this is to either follow a different sighting-many Muslims choose to follow Saudi Arabia-or to rely on calculations until the Moon can be seen again, which is highly controversial. South Africa, for example, moved the end of Ramadan ( Eid ul-Fitr) in 2022 because the Moon could not be spotted due to cloudy skies. Should Muslims wait until the sky clears? Many Muslim countries still follow this rule causing delays between Ramadan dates around the world. The new Crescent Moon might be hard to see even with optical aids-clouds and bad weather can hide it. Saudi Arabia, a country many Muslims look to for guidance, allows telescopes for Moon sightings. Others argue that optical aids are a natural extension of the human eye and therefore allowed. Some Muslim scholars argue that only the naked eye should be used to spot the Moon since no instruments were mentioned in the Quran. However, there are some challenges and questions that have arisen in the Muslim world: Sighting with the Naked Eye? The rule to finding the Ramadan start date seems simple enough: Ramadan starts as soon as the first sliver of the growing Moon after the month of Sha‘bān can be sighted in the night sky. And when you sight it (the new Moon of Shawwal) break it, and if the sky is cloudy for you, then observe fast for thirty days. 2378 from Sahih Muslim Book 6:Ību Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Whenever you sight the new Moon (of the month of Ramadan) observe fast. Ramadan is not like any other month: the question of when Ramadan begins and how Muslims should determine the start of their fasting is answered in the holy scriptures, for example in Hadith Nr. As soon as the Moon reappears, the new month starts. When the Moon disappears from the night sky during the New Moon phase, an Islamic month is about to end. The Islamic calendar uses the phases of the Moon to mark the months’ start and end dates. Because the Islamic calendar is based on the Moon while the Gregorian calendar is based on the Sun, the Ramadan date “wanders” through the year. During Ramadan, Muslims around the world fast for 29 or 30 days. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. Ramadan can start on different dates in different countries.
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