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A REJOINDER TO UNIFIED
WORLD ISLAMIC CALENDAR –
SHARI’A, SCIENCE AND
GLOBALIZATION
(Editor Mohammed Ilyas &
Co-editor Syed Kamarulzaman Kabeer)
Published by International Islamic
Calendar Program
Rejoinder by M.Ali
Manikfan, Advisor, Hijra committee of
India, Published by Hijra Committee of
India, Calicut, Kerala, India.
Edited by Dr. V.K.M.
Zubair and Dr. C. P. Abubacker
UNIFIED
WORLD ISLAMIC CALENDAR SHARI’A, SCIENCE
AND GLOBALIZATION
By Mohammed Ilyas & S .Kabeer
Comments
by Ali manikfan on “World Conference,
International Islamic Calendar, 2001”
Comments by Ali manikfan on “the opening
address by
Hon. Tan Sri Dato (Dr.) Musa
Mohammed”
He talked about the Lunar Date lines.
The so called lunar
datelines are marked on earth basing on
the Crescent visibility. These lines
will shift from place to place every
month, so they will not serve the
purpose of a dateline. Time is
calculated with reference to the sun.
The moon does not have any role in
defining the days. Dates are the number
of days in a month, which depend on the
cycle of the moon around the earth in
comparison with the Sun. Number of days
in a month should be 29 or 30 and total
number of days in a year should be 354
or 355 days according to the Shariah.
A date line marks the place
from where the week days begin on the
earth. Since there would be 2 days at
the place where the days change, it
cannot pass through a land where people
could live and it should be fixed
pemrmanently. Therefore the date line
which separates the two days must pass
through the sea. The present
International Dateline meets all
requirements for a date line in the
Islamic Shariah. Shifting lunar date
lines do not serve this purpose and are
not suitable according to the Shariah
and the commonsense of people. It would
not be practical.
1. Comments by Ali manikfan on the
paper “An Islamic view of time by Shaikh
Imran N. Hosein, Muslim organizations of
Greater New York.”
The
author explains about the complexity of
time etc. This paper is good and needs
no comments.
2. Comments by Ali manikfan on the
paper “Islamic Lunar Calendar as a
Civilizational Imperative by Dr.Taha J.
Al-Alwani, School of Islamic Social
Sciences, Virginia”
The
author describes the Ummah as the best
people who must be a guide to others and
the calendar of the Muslim Ummah as the
best. However the meaning of the Ayah
2:189 given by the author does not
convey the idea contained within. The
translation should be: “They ask you
about the phases of the moon. Say: They
are dates for the people and the
pilgrimage”. The words of the Prophet
(saw) should be rendered in English as:
“Begin fasting depending on its view and
break fasting depending on its view and
if you are in doubt estimate it, or
complete the period of Shaban as
thirty”.
Obviously the author has not examined
the Ayaths of the Quran relating to the
lunar months. He has not studied the
scientific methods of calculating the
period of the cycle of the moon, which
defines the months. He believes that
mere seeing of the crescent with the
naked eye marks the beginning of the
months in the Shariah.
He has never observed the Hilals or
Ahillah as directed by the Prophet
(saw). So he does not know the facts of
the Islamic dates and months depending
upon the phases or Ahillah of the moon.
The Prophet (saw) ordered the unlettered
people of his time to watch the Ahillah
because they did not know the
calculations of lunar cycle and they did
not know how the phases of the moon
changed day by day. He ordered them to
find out whether the Hilal appears on
the 29th. If it appeared the new month
begins on the next day. If not, the new
month begins after completing 30 days
without seeing the Hilal. The author and
most of the people believe that the
Hilal would be visible on the 30th.
The Hilal that is non visible on the 29th is
not visible on the 30th also,
in a month of 30 days. Therefore
the statement that one should see the
crescent to begin a month is wrong. In
fact more months start without seeing
it.
The author, like others believes that
the crescent must be seen before
beginning the months. The author
realizes that the Eid should be on one
day throughout the world. But he fails
to understand that the dates cannot be
predicted if one must see the crescent
to begin a month and prediction becomes
impossible because clouds could prevent
seeing the crescent. Further more the
first visibility of the crescent would
vary from place to place on the earth.
The dates which must be same in all
towns in the Islamic Shariah will be
different everywhere.
So visibility of the Hilal cannot be
used as the criterion to determine the
month.
3.
Comments by Ali manikfan on “Sighting of
the Hilal, possibility of sighting and
necessity of the calendar in Islamic law
by Maulana Habib Rehan Khan Nadawi
Azhari, Darul Uloom, Bhopal”
His article is good. He
speaks of the necessity of the calendar
for the Ummah, but he forgets that a
calendar could not be made without
certain rules. A calendar cannot be
drawn if one has to wait till one sees
the Hilal. According to his argument
the month would not begin if the Hilal
could not be seen. So the dates are
liable to change. The author has
overlooked the point that the visibility
of the Hilal is not the criterion for
fixing the month in the Shariah. The
cycle of the moon around its mother
planet earth in comparison with the sun
defines the month according to the Quran
36:39 and the phases of the moon
indicate the dates of the Islamic month
(Quran 2: 189). If the dates are liable
to change according to seeing of the
crescent, the dates would not tally with
the phases of the moon as demanded in
the verse 2:198 of the Quran.
Calculation of past or future dates
would be impossible because it would not
follow any logic or rule. The Quran says
the Manazil for the moon were appointed
to enable the calculation of dates of
the calendar. (10:5).
4. Comments by Ali manikfan on “Science of new moon’s visibility,
International Islamic Calendar and
future research process by Dr. Md. Ilyas,
University of Science, Malaysia”
Dr. Ilyas is not a scholar
in Quran and Hadees. He relies on Ulema
who have no knowledge in science. He
believes that seeing the crescent with
the naked eye is the criterion to begin
the Islamic months. A calendar cannot be
drawn for one year in advance if the
crescent has to be literally seen with
the naked eye before beginning a month.
Therefore the criterion to define the
months is not the visibility of the
crescent.
The Quran and Hadees do not
say that the new crescent should be
visible before beginning a month. So the
methods of predicting the visibility of
the crescent are unnecessary in the
Shariah. Non-Muslim scholars of the past
have developed them. Since the
visibility of the crescent varies from
place to place and month to month this
should not be used as the criterion to
define the Islamic months which were
determined in the Day of creation.
Dr. Ilyas talks about number
of complicated factors involved in the
visibility of the crescent. The correct
beginning of the months can be easily
found out without resorting to the
visibility of the crescent. Islam is
simple and straightforward. Allah (swt)
has not put any hurdles in the matters
of religion. The Prophet (saw) said
that he came to make things easy for
people.
Dr. Ilyas does not realize
that the angles of the sun indicate the
time and the phases of the moon or the
angles of the moon and sun viewed from
earth indicate the dates. He believes
that sighting the crescent is the
criterion and argues that sighting is
not same as seeing the shadow. This is
because he has no knowledge of Quran and
Hadees from which the criterion for
fixing the months is derived.
Quran and Hadees demand
people to celebrate the Eids on a single
day, not on many days. The Prophet
(saw) said “He who fasts and suffers
hunger on the feasting day of the Ummah
(Eid day) is not among us”. Fasting on
the Day of Eid is Haraam in the Shariah.
If people on Earth were to celebrate the
Eid on two days (Friday and Saturday)
the order of the Prophet (saw) cannot be
upheld.
Celebrating Eid on a single
day is the essence of the Eid and this
is the most important issue, which needs
clarification before going into other
details of the subject.
Dr. Ilyas has developed his
lunar dateline theory basing on the data
collected by non-Muslim workers like
Schmidt and others. The shifting date
lines of Dr. Ilyas would not serve the
purpose of a Dateline. The so called
lunar dateline marked on earth according
to the crescent visibility would pass
through houses creating a partition
between the inmates of a house! A date
line must pass through the sea and
should be within a time zone. Places on
either side of it should be separated at
least by a distance, which allows
lessening of canonical prayers in the
Shariah. Thus the lunar date lines are
meaningless and non Islamic. Dr. Ilyas
ignores that Islam advocates a time
system depending upon the sun and a date
system depending on the moon. The date
must change with the weekdays on a
suitable fixed Dateline and the dates of
the month would vary between 29 and 30
depending on the phases of the Moon.
The simple fact that date or day is one
and the same is overlooked. Days /
dates should change at a particular
place and time every day in the Islamic
Shariah. So a date line that shifts
from place to place is impractical. The
idea of lunar date lines is meaningless.
Dr. Ilyas believes that days
begin at the sunset. Islam ordained
five time prayers for a day and the
first prayer as taught by the Prophet
(saw) is the Fajre. So the days begin
before Fajre in the Shariah.
The reason behind the
change of Gregorian date at midnight has
not been explored and explained.
The research being carried out to find
out the visibility of the crescent are
futile and mere waste of time and
money. Non-Muslim astronomers initiated
this. Such futile exercises should be
stopped in order to avoid confusion.
First we must understand the Shariah
according to the Quran and Sunnah. Only
then can the scientists say what the
Islamic calendar is and how it could be
drawn well in advance.
5. Comments by Ali
manikfan on “Sighting of the moon: the
duration by Ibn Rushd, Jurist (6th century
Hijra)”
The Arabic months were known
as Islamic months after Hajjadthul Wida
and they should not be called Arabic
months. The rules of Arabic calendar
and Islamic calendar are different. It
is strange to note that even the people
of 6th century
AH believed that the months began after
seeing the crescent! The words of the
Prophet (saw) ‘Soomoo liru’uyathihi wa
afthiroo liru’uyathihi” means “fast
depending on its view and celebrate
Eidul fitre depending on its view”.
Since
this applies to every month
it is
the general instruction to begin the
months with the cycle of the moon around
the earth. The people who interpreted
the sayings of the Prophet (saw) without
knowing the astronomical facts about the
movement of the moon, were unable to
give a proper meaning to the words of
the Prophet (saw). There are two
different wordings for the Hadees
“Soomoo li ru’uyathihi wa afthiroo li
ru’uyathihi fa in gubbiya (and gumma)
alaikum fakmiloo iddatha Sha’ban
thalaseen”. When we examine the details
of the lunar mechanics we see that the
moon appears on the western horizon
after the sunset some times after
twenty-nine days and sometimes after 30
days. When the month is of 30 days the
moon does not appear on the 29th
evening. So the Prophet (saw) ordered
to begin the next month after completing
30 days. The Hadees is very clear and
there is no ambiguity at all. The two
Ahadees have different meanings and
people who did not know about the moon’s
movement believed that both have the
same meaning. They thought the
visibility of the crescent is meant.
When we have more knowledge we must rely
upon knowledge and not upon the views of
the people of the past.
The size of the crescent is
different and not alike always. The
crescents of the months of 29 are fat
while the crescents of the months of 30
are thin. It is easy to distinguish the
months of 29 and 30 days.
“If you sight the moon
during the day before the declining of
the sun, break your fast, but if you see
it after the declining of the sun do not
break it”. Such reports confirm that
the sky in those days was very clear and
they could see the first crescent at
noon even on the last day of the month.
Now we do not see it because the
atmosphere is polluted thanks to our
activities. Now we see the crescent at
noon only after 2nd or 3rd.
It is not seen on the first day.
The statement of Qadi (Ibn
Rushd) made in the 6th century
AH that “There is no difference here
whether it is before declining of the
sun or after it and the thing to be
considered is the disappearance of the
sun” is not correct. The moon could be
seen about 2 hours before or after
declining of the sun but it cannot be
seen when the sun is going to set. The
Qadi would not have done proper
observation.
The Qadi needs the testimony of
reliable witnesses because he has to
take the responsibility. Fasting is
ordained only in Ramadan. When the Qadi
himself does not know how to find out
the fixed days of Ramadan, he has to
rely on the witnesses who know the
month. He has no alternative. When one
has knowledge of Ramadan witnesses are
not necessary. Qadi himself can decide
Ramadan with his knowledge. The Quran
clearly says that “He has appointed
Manazil for the moon so that you may
know the number of its ages and the
calculations” (Quran 10:5) Ramadan is
the 9th month of the Islamic
calendar. Allah has already fixed the
number of days of the months as 29 or 30
on the Day he created the heavens and
the earth. So if Ramadan of 1426 has 30
days from Tuesday to Wednesday and the
first of Shawwal 1426 falls on Thursday,
this cannot change on people’s seeing or
not seeing the crescent. So the Qadi
should learn the art of finding out the
dates of the Islamic calendar rather
than misleading the people by making
them fast on the days of Eid on which
fasting is forbidden in the Shariah.
The saying of the Prophet
(saw) “Soomoo li ru’uyathihi wa afthiroo
liru’uyathihi” only means that the dates
of the month must tally with the Manazil
of the moon. The dates should not
change at the whims of the people. The
fasting of Ramadan should not be in
Sha’ban or Shawwal. It must be strictly
in Ramadan only.
When we know how to
calculate the lunar phases that
represent the dates of the month, the
witnesses are not required. Witnessing
is required in the absence of
knowledge. Fasting is ordained in the
month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a fixed
period 29 or 30 days as the case may be
depending on the moon’s cycle. So this
period cannot vary from region to region
on earth. If a Ramadan is 29 days from
Friday to Friday then all people on
earth should observe according to it and
not other wise. But if the people do
not know calculations or do not have
means of communication then they may
decide according to their knowledge. But
this will not be applicable to us
endowed with all knowledge and means of
communication.
“They agreed that this is not taken
into account for lands distant from each
other like Al Andalus and Al Hijaz”.
The author’s view that the date can
differ is wrong. Date and day for all
people in the world must be one and the
same in Islamic Shariah. There are many
Hadeeses corroborating this view.
“Fasting is on the day when the people
fast”. This means that all people must
fast on the same day. They should
celebrate Eid on the same day. They
should perform Hajj on the same day just
as they observe Jumu’a on the same day.
The Hadees of Kuraib does not prove that
the date of Sham and Medina was
different. The Hadees records that
Kuraib believed that the people at Sham
looked for the Hilal of Ramadan on
Thursday evening. But the people of
Medina looked for the Hilal of Ramadan
on Friday evening, because that was the
29th of
Sha’ban according to their observations.
Sham and Medina have Jumu’a on the same
day. So, one of them must have made a
mistake in their dates of Sha’ban. Now
who is wrong in calculating Sha’ban, the
people of Medina or the people of Sham?
Both of them cannot be correct.
Ibn Abbas ® and the people of Medina
who knew for certain that Sha’ban began
on Friday could not believe Kuraib when
he said that they saw the Hilal at Sham
on Thursday evening. Thursday evening
completes only 28 days for Sha’ban. How
could they see the Hilal on 28th? So
he questioned Kuraib once again, “Did
you see the Hilal on Thursday evening?”
to which Kuraib’s reply was not to the
point. He said: “Yes, the people saw it
and they fasted and Muawiya too
fasted.” To this Ibn Abbas ® who saw
something wrong in Kuraib’s statement
replied, “no, we will continue fasting
till 30 or we see (refer) the Hilal.
This is what the Prophet (saw) commanded
us”.
“Soomoo li ru’uyathihi wa afthiroo
liru’uyathihi fa’in gumma alaikum
faqduru lahu”. This does not mean that
the dates of Medina and Sham should be
different. Distant lands and nearby
lands must have same date according to
the Islamic Shariah which is perfect.
Disparity of dates is not allowed in the
Shariah
6. Comments by Ali manikfan on “Legal
discussion about the sighting of the new
moon of Ramadan by Dr. Abdul Jalil Sajid,
Brighton Muslim Community Centre”
The author too believes that
the crescent should be seen to begin a
month. This view is not in accordance
with the Quran and Hadees. The Prophet
(saw) said “Soomoo li ru’uyathihi wa
afthiroo li ru’uyathihi fa in gubbiya
alaikum fakmiloo iddatha salaseen”. The
months are 29 or 30. When a month is 29
the Hilal appears on the western horizon
on the 29th day.
We cannot see it with the naked eye but
we can know it by observing the Ahillah
or by calculation. When the month is of
30 days the Hilal does not appear on the
29th of
the month. The next month begins after
completing 30 but without seeing the
Hilal. So seeing the Hilal is
not the criterion for beginning the
months of the Shariah.
Once the people start observing the
Ahillah of the moon as directed in the
Quran and according to the Sunnah of the
Prophet (saw), all doubts and ignorance
about the Hilals or Ahillah would vanish
like darkness in the presence of light.
7. Comments by Ali manikfan on
“Sighting of the Crescent or presence of
Moon: Perspective from Quran, Hadith and
Fiqh by Moulana Yaqub Qasmi, Islamic
Research Institute Britain”
Author says, “There is no explicit
verse in the Quran concerning the start
and the end of Islamic months”.
The Author has not delved deep in to
the meanings of Ayaths of the Quran. The
verse 2:189 explains everything. The
meaning of this Ayath is “they ask you
about Ahillah. Tell them they are dates
for the people and the Hajj”. Those who
know about waxing and waning phases of
the Moon understand what is explained in
this miraculous verse of the Quran.
The explanation given to the Quaranic
verse 2:187 also is not correct. The
word “shahida” means witnessing and not
seeing or sighting. Similarly the word
“shahra” means month and not crescent
moon. Actually the verse means that one
who witnesses the month should fast in
it. That is if one is present at home in
that month should fast provided he is
not sick or on travel. The other meaning
would be one who knows the month should
fast in it if he is not sick or on
travel and he should bear witness for
the month. He should not hide the
Shahadah.
The view that naked eye sighting of the
crescent is a must to begin the fast or
break it is not correct because many
Ramadans and Shawwals begin without
seeing the crescent. For example when
Sha’ban has 30 days we begin Ramadan
without seeing the crescent with naked
eye. In fact more months begin that way.
They begin after observing and not after
seeing the crescent. So, seeing
the crescent with naked eye is not the
criterion to begin the Islamic months.
The author has not seen the Hilal
himself but he quotes others without
understanding the true meaning. It is
true that the Prophet (saw) instructed
the people “not to leave the assured
month of Sha’ban except with the assured
Yaqeen of Ramadan either by an authentic
observation of the Ahillah or by
completion of 30 days”. This does not
mean that one should see the crescent
with naked eye to have the Yaqeen.
Besides simply looking for the crescent
on some day is not enough but one must
look for it on the real 29th.
In the Hadees “Soomoo li ru’uyathihi”
the word “ru’uya” has two meanings:
seeing with eyes or with mind. The
correct meaning of the Hadees would be
“do not start fasting without observing
the Ahillah”. It is wrong to assume that
the Hadees quoted above means that one
should not begin fasting or end it
without seeing the crescent with naked
eye. The author has misunderstood the
fact because he does not know about the
movements of the Moon. The Quran throws
light on this in the verses 36:39 and
55:5. The calculations mentioned in
verse 10:5 are carelessly ignored. If
Ramadan begins only after seeing the
crescent the dates will not tally with
the “Manazil” of the Moon mentioned in
the verses 2:189, 10:5 and 36:39 of the
Quran. So the interpretation of the
Hadith “la thasoomoo hatha tharawhu” as
do not fast without literally sighting
the crescent moon and keep on fasting
until you sight the crescent again and
if there are clouds then complete
thirty days is not proper. The
assumption that a month will complete 30
days whenever clouds obstruct the
sighting is wrong, as it would allow 30
days to the months of 29 days and the
calendar will be inaccurate. Some people
would fast for 29 days while the others
fasted for 30 days. This discrepancy
cannot be permitted in matters of
obligatory duties and this will violate
Halal and Haram of Allah (swt). The
Prophet (saw) had given instructions to
find out the months by observing the
Hilals or Ahillah. When observation
becomes impossible or doubtful we are
asked to complete 30 in order that we
may not do things without proper
conviction. When one knows how to
calculate the dates and months one must
rely on this knowledge rather than
gifting one more day to a month of 29.
This is the authentic view of all Imams
and scholars. The Holy Quran exhorts us
to follow the knowledge. It says, “Do
not stand on what you do not know”
(17:36). And “Ask those who know if you
do not know” (16:43)
The wording “faqdiroo lahu”: could mean
calculate it and “fakmiloo iddatha
salaseen” could mean to complete the
count of 30. We know that the Moon
completes one cycle in 29.53 days. This
gives us 29 or 30 days according to the
movement of the Moon. Thus we can easily
discern the months of 29 and 30 days.
When we know that a particular month has
29 days only, we cannot give 30 days to
it just because the Hilal is obscured
due to clouds or some other reason. Of
course in the absence of knowledge one
could do so.
The statement quoted from Allama Subki
“in my opinion there is consensus of
Ummah that the Moon must separate from
the Sun sufficiently so as not to make
it’s sighting impossible due to its
closeness to the Sun. This condition may
result at before or even after the
sunset and is not a basis for any
commands of Shariah,” reveals that Subki
had no knowledge of Modern Astronomy.
The Sun and the Moon are far away and
are never close to each other. The Moon
is thousands of miles away from the
Earth while the Sun is millions of miles
away. So when viewed from the Earth a
portion of the lighted part of moon will
be visible always to some part of the
Earth. In fact a narrow crescent becomes
visible to the Earth 9 hours before the
conjunction. Even if Subki knew
Astronomy he has not studied the
situation caused by parallax. The Moon’s
first crescent becomes visible only when
the separation is more than 12 degree or
48 minutes. This will take 24 hours or
more after the conjunction and we would
commence the month on the second day of
it if we waited to see the crescent. In
a situation where two months of 29 days
come consecutively (this happens often)
if we have accorded the first month
30days due to lack of visibility, the
crescent would appear on 28th day
itself of the 2nd month.
Since a month cannot have 28 days we
must add one extra day to make it 29 and
this is forbidden by the Quaranic verse
9:37.
The statement attributed to Shaikh is
not correct. Obviously his knowledge in
astronomy and lunar sciences is not
profound. He said “I say that in respect
of a basis for the start of fasting
there is no validity in Shariah for
astronomical calculations that only take
the immediate time after conjunction in
to account. Some astronomers use these
calculations and thereby start the month
1 or 2 days in advance of the month
based on actual sighting. The use of
this method would be an innovation in
Islam and something that is not ordained
by the Almighty Allah”.
Certainly Shaikh is not an astronomer.
He has made a wrong statement. He does
not know the calculations pertaining to
the Sun and the Moon. He does not know
how to find out the months by observing
the Ahillah of the moon. He may not even
understand about the globular shape of
the Earth due to which days and nights
alternate. He has not studied the
statement of Imam Shafi that a solar
eclipse and I’dul fitre should coincide.
The statement attributed to Subuki is
misleading. May Allah forgive him! No
one should make statements without
profound knowledge.
The statement of Doctor
Yusuf Al Qaradawi also is misleading. He
said “the most favored opinion is that
the crescent Moon should remain in the
horizon after sunset long enough (as
considered by the opinions of the
experts) for it to be sighted by the
naked eye. Doctor Qaradawi is not an
astronomer and his statement without
proper study is not valid. He has not
studied the subject thoroughly. He
quotes from people who are not experts
in the subject. His statement given
above is wrong. He does not give the
place of observation. Since the Earth is
a globe vision from different parts of
the Earth would vary. For example the
Moon which sets 1 minute before the
sunset in Wellington, New Zealand would
set in Central America about 35 minutes
after sunset there. He has not verified
the time lag between the Moon and the
Sun required for the crescent to be
visible to the naked eye. If one waited
to begin the month till he sees the
crescent the date would begin on the
second day. This will contradict the
statement of the Quran. Doctor Qaradawi
had issued a fatwa, which stated that
I’d-ul-fitr of 2000 AD on Friday in
Saudi Arabia was wrong. This shows that
he has no knowledge in Astronomy and
that he is not qualified to speak
anything on this subject. He does not
know the art of calculating the dates of
the Islamic Calendar referred to in
Quran 10:5.
The 30th of
Ramadan 1420 AH was Thursday and there
was no need to look for the Hilal on
that day. The Prophet (saw) said,
“Complete 30 days in case the crescent
did not appear on 29th.” The crescent did not appear on Wednesday and they completed 30 days
by fasting on Thursday. There was no
need to look for the Hilal on 30th.
Friday was certainly the day of
I’d-ul-fitr. Doctor Qaradawi issued a
fatwa and attached a fatwa of Shaikh
Uthaimeen (RA) that if a solar eclipse
occurs and it is night for you then the
next day is not the first day for you.
This contradicts the Quran and Sunnah.
It also contradicts the statement of
Imam Shafi (RA) that solar eclipse and
Eid should coincide. People who have no
knowledge in Astronomy are unable to
understand the verses of the Quran, the
Hadees and the statement of Imam Shafi ®
in the right perspective.
Doctor Wahaba Zaheely author of
Alfiqh-ul-Islami also is in the same
group. Their arguments without
considering astronomical facts and
calculations are baseless. The Quran
mentions about the calculations and no
one can deny it.
Allama Quraifi’s statements are also
unfounded. He speaks of matters of which
he has no knowledge. He gives us an
example of time of sunset and sunrise
for 20th January
1994 at a particular place. He further
states that these times will remain
constant on that particular date at that
particular place. On the other hand
calculations with regard to visibility
of the Moon he feels is at best
conjectural. But the fact is that with
the current scientific knowledge at our
disposal the Moon’s phase for any date
at any year can be calculated
accurately. The Sun follows certain
rules and the Moon too follows certain
rules laid down by Allah (swt). They
never change until the last day and the
Quran has referred to it in verse 55:5.
Experience has shown that the Moon too
moves precisely just as the Sun, but
most of the people do not understand
this. Our Ulemas believe that the
Islamic months are determined only by
seeing the crescent with the naked eye.
But the fact is that the observation of
Ahillah of the Moon and the calculations
only will lead us to the true beginning
of the month.
Allama
Quraifi should clarify whether the
Islamic Shariah could allow different
dates for two cities. He says that
seeing the crescent with naked eye is
the only way to determine Islamic
months. If it is so, there cannot be a
calendar for Muslims who must be
contented with Gregorian calendar. This
is not permissible to Muslims as the
directive for them is “What Prophet
(saw) brought must be accepted and what
he forbade should be avoided.” (59:7) Is
not Islam a perfect way to mankind till
the last day? Allama should be kind
enough to reply to following questions:
1) What
is the lunar month referred to in the
Quran?
2) How
are the months calculated according to
Quran?
3) When
does a day begin according to Shariah?
4)
Which is the place where days change in
the world?
5) If
the crescent is present at one place on
the Earth is it not sufficient for all
people of the world?
6) Can
there be many versions of Islamic
calendar in the world?
7) What
is the average period of a month? How is
it calculated?
8) If a
month begins one day late what will
happen to the next month?
9) Does
Shariah permit one day of Ramadan to go
in to Sha’ban and one day of Shawwal to
go in to Ramadan?
10)
Have you observed the Hilal for 12
months consecutively? Does the Hilal
appear after 29
Th
of
every month?
12)
Please explain conjunction, Manazil and
Ahillah of the Moon?
13) Can
the Hilal appear anytime of the day or
night? When the Hilal appears in America
what time is in Arabia?
14) How
do we calculate the duration of the
average month? How do we get the
duration as 29days 12hours and
44minutes?
15)
What is the average number of days in a
month according to Shariah?
16)
Could the month begin after one or two
days of the true lunar month according
to Shariah?
17) Can
we prove from the Quran that the Earth
is spherical?
Allama Quraifi points out the defects
in “the presence of the Moon above the
horizon” theory. His unfounded
statements would mislead others.
Knowledge in the art of calculating
dates and months and understanding terms
like average etc. are essential in this
subject. The moon which sets before the
Sun at one place will set after it at
another place. The author is totally
ignorant about such details of the Moon
and its well-ordained movements. Allama
gives an example of Zilhijja 1414H. The
conjunction was on 10th May
1994. As per astronomical calculation
May 11th should
be the first of Zilhijja. But according
to him 10th May
was Zil Qaida 28 and if new month begins
next day Zil Qaida will have only 28
days and Zilhijja will have 31 days. It
is wrong. He argues that adopting this
formula based on conjunction is absurd,
impractical and defective. Unfortunately
he does not have knowledge in Astronomy.
Actually Zul Qaida began on April 12th Tuesday
and it completed 29 days by May 10th Tuesday
1994. Zil Hijja began on May 11th Wednesday
1994. This can be verified
astronomically even today. Allama has
given a wrong statement without studying
the topic thoroughly. (Incidentally Hajj
was postponed by one day under the
pretext that the Hilal was not
seen).This may be due to pressure by
eminent Ulema like the Allama.
Allama believes that “Soomoo li
ru’uyathihi” means that one should begin
fasting only after seeing the crescent
with the naked eye. When Allah (swt)
created the heavens and the earth he
created the date system for mankind so
that man may calculate his dates
accurately. He did not want people to
meddle with it and change the dates at
their whims. Then how could mere seeing
of the people which change the limits of
Allah (swt) be the criterion for fixing
the month in the Shariah? Allama seems
to be unaware of the fact that the
crescent invisible at one place could be
visible at another place on earth.
His statement that “in Islam neither
every agreement can be praised nor is
every disagreement to be looked down
upon” is not correct. The fundamentals
of Islam are from the Quran and the
Sunnah. The Quran is from Allah (swt)
and the Sunnah is from the Prophet
(saw). Everything in Islam must be
praiseworthy and congruent. There is
nothing in Islam that disagrees with
commonsense. All disagreements are
Baathil and all agreements are Haqq.
Ramadan and Sha’ban are two different
months clearly defined by marking stones
of Ahillah of the Moon. Man has no
authority to change these limits, which
are predestined by Allah (swt). If one
is ignorant of these signs he is unlucky
because he has never used the faculties
bestowed on him by Allah (swt). When he
is called to Quran he turns back saying
that I should follow the path of
forefathers. He dubs the truth as
innovation in Islam. For him Islam is
the path of forefathers. The priests are
not the authorities to decide Ramadan
and Shawwal. It is the Moon’s Manazil
and Ahillah, which decide it. We should
observe the sky and learn from the signs
of Allah (swt) as commanded by the
Prophet (saw), “Soomoo li ru’uyathihi”?
Asking people to look for the Hilal on
wrong days and changing the limits set
by Allah (swt) would make a mockery of
Quran and the words of the Messenger of
Allah (swt).
The author says “in fact the theory of
presence of moon on the horizon has come
about due to the unconfirmed and false
claims of sightings of the crescent. If
the start and the end of the Islamic
months were based on confirmed sightings
of the crescent then it is quite
possible that in a large part of the
world Eid and Ramadan will correctly
take place on the same days, as has been
shown by experience several times over
the last few years.” Allama does not
know about the Moon and its phases. The
crescent that appears on the western
horizon on the last day of the month is
seldom visible in our times where
atmosphere is polluted viciously. If we
waited till the crescent becomes
visible, one or two days would already
have elapsed. Then in the succeeding
month the Hilal would be visible on 28th day
somewhere on the Earth and adjustment
becomes necessary. This is not
permissible in Shariah (9:37). Allama
does not know about this.
The topic should be thoroughly studied
before making statements.
8. Comments by Ali manikfan on
“Sighting the crescent for the purpose
of ascertaining the month by Doctor
Yoosuf al Qaradawi, Al-Qaboos
University”
Yoosuf al Qaradawi agrees
that calculations can be used for
deciding Islamic months. He is not a
scholar in Astronomy. Hence whatever he
has said on the subject is not his own.
He has not verified the statements
either by his observation or by study.
So his views on this topic cannot be
considered scholarly or authentic.
Doctor Qaradawi agrees that calculations
are accurate and hence acceptable. But
he does not know what to calculate-
visibility of the crescent or the
presence of the crescent- at a
particular place or anywhere in the
world. He has made a mistake in his
fatwa regarding I’d-ul-fitr of 1420AH
(2000AD) because he relied on the
astronomers who do not know the Shariah.
He said that Friday 7/1/2000 was a day
of Ramadan and the celebration of Eid on
that day in Saudi Arabia was wrong.
Doctor Qaradawi had not observed
previous months and had gone wrong in
Sha’ban. He began Ramadan one day later,
on Thursday whereas Ramadan had begun on
Wednesday as per observation of Ahillah
and calculation of lunar dates. The
Hilal did not appear on Wednesday 29th of
Ramadan and 30 days were completed on
Thursday 6-1-2000AD. Nothing was wrong
in celebrating Eid on Friday. The fatwa
of Dr.Qaradawi created confusion among
the scholars. He had no time to study
this topic thoroughly and did not
respond when clarification about his
fatwa was sought.
9. Comments by Ali manikfan on “Shariah
aspects on the utility of the
Imkane-Ru’yah based calendar by Moulana
Muhamed Burhanudeen Alsanbahly,
Nadwathul Uloom University”
The statement “these can have negative
effects on our life with respect to
Islamic law” while referring to advances
in science is not correct. Islamic law
is nothing but Quran and Sunnah. But the
“laws” derived may contain many things
contrary to Islam and that indeed will
have negative effect if they are not
corrected according to human knowledge.
The bookish knowledge will not suffice.
Practical experience is necessary to
understand “Soomoo li ru’uyathihi”. The
command of the Prophet (saw) “Soomoo li
ru’uyathihi” has not been practiced in
the proper way. We have never looked in
to the sky and tried to find out the
Islamic dates by observing the Hilals or
the Ahillah. All the studies carried out
to this day are for a single Hilal, not
for the Ahillah mentioned in the Quran.
All these studies are in vain as they
are not based on the Quran and Sunnah.
They do not help us find out the
criterion for fixing the dates according
to Quran and Sunnah. We simply follow
what is written in books with out
verifying it by observation as commanded
by the Prophet (saw). We believe that
mere seeing of the crescent is the
criterion for beginning the months.
There are 12 months and “Soomoo li
ru’uyatihi” applies to all months. Do we
agree with this?
Islam is natural, simple, right and
straightforward. It is neither crooked
nor difficult. Islamic calendar too must
be perfect and easy to calculate. It
must be applicable to the entire world
for all time. How can a calendar be
drawn in advance if one has to wait till
he sees the crescent? A cloud may come
in the way and the Hilal may not be
visible. In this case the month gets 30
days! It would appear that Allah (swt)
has not fixed the Manazil for the Moon.
This contradicts the Quaranic verse
36:39.
Sunrise, sunset, twilight and darkness
are not parameters of time. But they are
only means to know passage of time.
There are places in the world where
these phenomena are not appreciated.
What would people do there? Have not
prayers to be observed there? Is not
fasting compulsory for people living
there? The Quran gives clear
instructions for finding times of the
day. “Establish worship to the declines
of the Sun till it goes to the darkness
of night” (17:78) and the Prophet (saw)
explained five different angles for
prayer times.
To understand the Ayah 10:5 one must
have sufficient knowledge pertaining to
heavenly bodies. Without this one cannot
grasp its proper meaning. The Quran is
an everlasting treasure of knowledge for
those who try to understand and pray
earnestly “Rabbi zidnee ilman”.
As far as the Hadees “Soomoo li
ru’uyathihi” is concerned the
interpretation given to Ahadees of
Bukhari and Muslim are misleading. The
word “ru’ya” does not mean ‘sighting’.
It should be translated as “fast
depending on its view and break the fast
depending on its view and when it is not
seen count the month as thirty”. The
real meaning is not understood and
people are led to believe that months of
29 and 30 are interchangeable. This has
been happening for a very long time
because of the wrong interpretation
given to the word “ru’ya”. The confusion
would vanish if one tries the method of
the Prophet (saw) for himself without
relying on the sightings of the people.
Most often people see a Hilal that is
not present in the Horizon. It happens
due to illusion.
The author says further “it is worth
noting here that Rassoolullah (saw)
based the beginning of the month on
sighting the Hilal with the naked eyes,
not on the Hilal actually being above
the horizon nor on the logical
possibility of sighting it. When he
says, “if you could not”, this will
include the situations where the Hilal
is actually above the horizon but it
cannot be sighted because of barriers
like cloud or dust”. This interpretation
negates the Ayaths in Quran regarding
the months and the calculation of their
dates. We should at least accept the
views of Imams that the month confirmed
at one place on earth by observation
must be applicable to all people in the
world. The Prophet (saw) has seen the
full moon, half moon etc but we do not
have any record that the Prophet (saw)
saw the Hilal. Can any one produce a
Hadith to this effect?
Further the interpretation of the
Hadith: “Do not fast until you see it
(the Hilal), and then fast until you see
it. If a cloud covers it continue
counting to thirty (days)”. The actual
Hadith is “la thasoomoo hatha tharawul
Hilala wa la thufthiroo hatha tharawhu
fa in gumma alaikum fakmiloo iddatha
salaseen” it means, “do not fast without
observing the Hilal and do not break
fast without observing it. If it becomes
dubious, count 30 days.” Rassoolullah
said this because month may be 29 or 30
days. Since they did not know
calculations, observation alone could
help them gauge the months correctly.
The calendar then in vogue was
artificial lunar calendar, which had
months with fixed duration repeating
every year. It was not permissible
because dates of this calendar did not
tally with the phases and Manazil of the
Moon. The whole thing is misunderstood
because the Hadees is wrongly
interpreted without understanding the
subject. It is better for us to study
Astronomy and the related subjects
before interpreting the verses of the
Quran and Ahadees concerning it. It is
not proper for us to talk about the
Islamic calendar revealed in the Book of
Allah (swt) without understanding the
verses relating to it. It would be wrong
to think that Rassoolullah (saw) too did
not look at the sky and did not know
about the Sun and the Moon. Every one of
us know the fact that a calendar cannot
be drawn a year in advance without
calculations. If we do not have a
calendar we will be compelled to use the
Christian solar calendar or the
artificial Jewish Lunar Calendar for our
daily affairs.
The author continues: “to clarify this
we say: The Moon in her astronomical
movement reaches a point where she
coincides exactly (in celestial
longitude) with the Sun. This continues
for 2 to 3 minutes, then she moves away
from the Sun and the distance between
them increases. The Moon will be
separate but can only be seen from the
Earth approximately 13 hours from
separation. Obviously during the period
between separations to the time it is
sighted by naked eye, no Islamic rules
involving law can be based on it at
all.”
It is not an opinion of his own but he
is simply repeating the views of those
who have no knowledge in the subject. He
has not understood the topic properly
and that could be more dangerous than
having no knowledge at all.
In fact the Sun is far away from the
Earth while the Moon is near to it. When
the Sun and the Moon are in the same
line the lighted side of the Moon is
invisible only to a particular place on
the Earth. A small portion of the
lighted side is always visible from
other parts of the world. This happens
because of parallax. The Moonset lags
behind Sunset at some places about 9
hours before conjunction. The author
without knowledge of Astronomy gives
wrong ideas about lunar months. He fails
to understand that a month is the time
taken by the moon to go round the Earth
calculated with reference to the Sun
around which the Earth is rotating. The
crescent becomes visible to naked eye
only 24 hours after conjunction. If the
months begin after seeing the crescent,
dates will go out of phase with the
Manazil of the Moon. This is not allowed
according to Quran 2:189, 10:5
The author ignores that a year has
often more months of 30 days and in all
these cases the months begin before one
could see the crescent with the naked
eye. The argument that every
Islamic month as per Shariah should
begin after seeing the crescent with the
naked eye is baseless.
Even if all the blind people in the world unanimously call a day
night it cannot be true. Similarly if
all the Ulemas say something about
heavenly bodies on which they have no
knowledge it cannot be accepted. Any
body can acquire knowledge. Why should
we fail to understand the truth? If Al
Hafiz Ebn Hijr Al Asqalani said
something incongruent with Quran and
Sunnah we should not accept it.
If “Ru’uyah” means seeing with naked
eye, then his method is not practical on
the Earth. Some people will see the
crescent after 1 day and some others
after 2 days. This results in more than
one date for a single day in the world.
This is not permissible in Islam. The
Prophet (saw) said “fasting is on the
day when the people fast” meaning that
all should commence fasting on the same
day.
No scientist would give the exact time
of the Hilal visibility because none can
predict the weather conditions, which
change every moment on the Earth. People
see the Hilal even when it is not
present. This sort of seeing of the
Hilal cannot mark the end of the month
in the Shariah.
Without experience and experiments
Author continues: “These leave us more
sure about what the Prophet (saw) said:
“we are illiterate nation, we do not
write nor do we compute. A month is this
and this, one time 29 and another time
30”. (Bukhari and Muslim)”
“Islamic nation must remain in the
illiterate condition forever” does not
go with the teachings of Prophet (saw)
who said acquire knowledge even from
China. Not only people of Arabia but
also the people of entire world were
illiterate then. Only a few people knew
how to read and write. Paper was not
invented. Writing material was meager.
If the Muslim nation were to remain in
that condition forever the first verse
of the Quran would not have been “Read
in the name of thy Lord who created,
created man from Alaque. Read by your
Lord most generous who taught by the
pen, taught man what he did not know.”
Ibn Hijr’s statement was also
misinterpreted to give a wrong idea. In
those days astronomy had not developed.
People thought that the Earth was flat,
that the Earth was stationary and that
the Sun and the stars revolved around
the Earth! Few people had some knowledge
about the apparent movement of the stars
and the planets and they attributed
certain powers to them. They believed
that some of them were gods that brought
sickness and bad fortune for them. The
Prophet (saw) condemned all these
conjectures. But he never condemned the
science of astronomy. Their months had
fixed days regularly alternating between
29 and 30. The Prophet (saw) instructed
that Ahillah of the Moon indicated the
dates and sometimes months would be 29
and sometimes 30 according to Ahillah of
the Moon. They did not know their laws
and calculations. Hence observation of
Ahillah was necessary to discern the
month of 29 and 30. It is true that they
were illiterate. But Islam made it
compulsory for men and women to acquire
knowledge. How can the illiterate Ummah
guide other people? The Prophet (saw)
never meant that if a cloud obstructed
the view one could convert a month of 29
to 30 when one knew about it. For
example, people of a locality could not
observe the Ahillah of the Moon for 3 or
4 months consecutively. Then, 4th of
5th month
could not have 30 days. This indicates
that it is not mere seeing but the
systematic observation of the Ahillah
that the Prophet (saw) meant by the
Hadith- “Soomoo li ru’uyathihi wa
afthiroo liru’uyathihi”. But the
painfully strange interpretation of this
Hadith that whenever a cloud came in the
way a month could get 30 is maintained
as correct.
As long as people did not have watches
they relied upon their eyesight to know
the time of Salaat. But when they got
reliable instruments they no longer
looked at the Sun to gauge time.
Similarly as long as people did not know
how to calculate they looked at the
Ahillah of the Moon to estimate their
dates. Now when
we have the correct method to calculate dates we can adopt it as well
because Allah (swt) has said in His Book
“the Sun and the Moon are with
calculations” (55:5). If we accept
calculations of the Sun but not that of
the Moon we accept one and deny the
other.
The Prophet’s (saw) order “Soomoo li
ru’uyathihi” is not practiced in the
proper way. This is not only for Ramadan
but for entire months as well. If we
followed the command of the Prophet
(saw) we would have understood the
proper meaning of this saying. Despite
having knowledge we do not obey the
Prophet (saw) and we are misled in the
process. Actually the crescent becomes
visible only on the first day of the
month and not on the last day as
imagined by the people. Then, how could
the Hadith mean ‘seeing with naked eye’?
Of course all the observations are made
by naked eye. The Prophet (saw) said
“Allah has made Ahillah as indicators of
dates for mankind; so (you) fast at its
view and celebrate the Eid at its view.
If it becomes dubious due to clouds or
other conditions then complete 30 days
for Sha’ban”.
The pre-Islamic Arabian months had
fixed dates of either 29 or 30 just as
we have 31 days always for January in
the Christian Calendar. Their Sha’ban
had 29 days and Ramadan 30 days always.
The Prophet (saw) refuting this, ordered
his followers to observe Ahillah of the
Moon and judge their dates accordingly.
By observing Ahillah wise people devised
methods to compute the Manazil of the
Moon on which depend Ahillah. Those who
have never looked at the sky do not
understand
the
signs that Allah (swt) set for computing
the calendar. The method of the Prophet
(saw) is practicable in all ages for the
learned and the illiterate alike.
The dates computed by calculation can
be verified by observation of Ahillah.
But people are not aware of the Moon’s
Ahillah though Allah (swt) has clearly
said that it was made for people to
compute dates (Quran: 10:5). The Ummah
will never agree upon a falsehood and
that is why they have been quarrelling
over the Hilal and celebrating Eid on
different days even though it happens
due to their ignorance.
Astronomy was not developed till
recent times. Only Astrology prevailed
in the days of Imam Subki ® and others.
They were not aware of Astronomical
calculations and laws of the heavenly
bodies. Modern Astronomy took off only
after the path breaking observation by
Galileo when he found with the aid of
telescope that moons of Jupiter
perambulated Jupiter. Then the theory of
gravitation was developed by Isaac
Newton and discoveries followed. How
could we say then that people of Subki’s
time knew Astronomy when Astronomy
itself was not developed? On the other
hand the Prophet (saw) and the Ulema
condemned Astrology. Learning Astrology
is haram in Shariah while learning
Astronomy is Fard kifaya. The option
“then complete counting to thirty days”
arises only when people are confused not
being able to judge whether month is 29
or 30. Here thirty days are completed
not because it is a month of 30 but
because of one’s inability to judge
whether it is 29 or 30. No one has
authority to change a month of 29 to one
of 30. If one were to base the beginning
of the month on the sighting of Hilal
then Muslims cannot make the calendar.
Are the Muslims allowed to borrow the
Gregorian calendar? Is this allowed in
Islam? What has happened to the calendar
of Islam?
It is worth recalling the statement
attributed to Al Shatby that “every
meaning that contradicts with Islamic
fundamentals or logical rules is
unreliable”. The view that the beginning
of the month should be based upon seeing
the crescent contradicts not only the
fundamentals of Islam but also the
logical rules.
The statement of Al Suyooti that “if
you see a Hadith contradicting logic
then know it is false”. According to
this statement if the Hadith “Soomoo
liru’uyathihi” is translated as “fast
when you see the crescent” it will
contradict the logic for when the
crescent comes to our sight one or two
days of the month would have already
passed and the dates would be out of
phase with the moon’s Manazil and when
two months of 29 repeat, the crescent
would appear one day in advance, that is
on 28th.
Most of the people do not have
experience or knowledge about this.
Quran condemns making statements without
knowledge.
Astronomy is based on the verified
facts by the eye observation and not on
mere conjectures and the facts of
Astronomy cannot be ignored. Finally we
would request humbly that all of us
should be prepared to obey the orders of
Rassoolullah (saw) that we should
observe the Hilals (Ahillah) every month
as required in “Soomoo liru’uyathihi”.
If we do this we would realize that the
months of 29 and months of 30 should not
be interchanged because Allah (swt) has
not permitted this. The Prophet (saw)
has not made anything lawful without the
permission of Allah (swt).
“Soomoo li ru’uyatihi” does not in any
way mean that the Imkane ru’uya is the
basis for the Islamic calendar.
10. Comments by Ali manikfan on
“Unification of Islamic calendar and the
problem of Ikhthilaf-E-matale by Dr.
Muhammed Jufail, International Islamic
University, Pakistan.”
The author agrees that Muslim Ummah has
a calendar of their own and Quran and
Hadees give the rules for this
calendar. He too like others argues
that the seeing of the crescent with the
naked eye is the only criterion that
defines the months. “Soomoo li
ru’uyathihi wa afthiroo li ru’uyathihi”
means we should observe the Hilal every
month on 29th and
decide the months accordingly. If this
is done all doubts and ambiguities that
prevail in the Islamic world regarding
the so-called moon sighting will vanish.
We would understand that seeing the
crescent is not the criterion. Writers
of these articles are not astronomers
and they are not competent to make any
comments on the astronomical points.
The author has not pondered over the
words of Allah (swt) in the verse 10:5.
He translates ‘number of years’ instead
of ‘number of ages’ and calculations.
As he is not an astronomer he fails to
understand the meaning conveyed by that
Ayath. He has not made experiments and
tried to find out the months by
practicing “Soomoo li ru’uyatihi”.
He too like others
interprets Ru’uyah as seeing just
as his contemporary ulema. The
‘Ru’uyah’ should be rendered as ‘observation’
in English. “La thasoomoo hatha
tharawhu” would mean, “do not fast until
you observe the hilal”. The meaning is
that the months should not begin before
or after the exact day fixed for it.
Advancing or delaying by one or two days
is not allowed. The author considers
the Mathalia for visibility of the
crescent whereas all the Imams and
eminent scholars have said that in the
case of the moon the difference of Matla
should not be considered. All should
begin the month on the same day and
celebrate the Eid on the same day
everywhere in the world irrespective of
the differences in the Mathalia of the
moon. Two days of Eid i.e. Eid on
Friday and Saturday is not allowed. If
it is allowed the order of the Prophet
(saw) not to fast on Eid day will have
no meaning. Some people would be
compelled to fast on Eid day while is
not allowed in the Shariah. This
important point is somehow overlooked.
As a result there are regional Hijra
calendars whereas Allah orders the Ummah
to follow one calendar based on the
phases of the moon.
11. Comments by
Ali manikfan on “The controversy in
regard to the religious requirement of
physical sighting of the new moon in
South Africa. Professor Dr.Syed Habil
ul Haqq, University of
Dublin-Westville.”
The author too has the same wrong views
about the Hilal. He has not conducted
any practical experiments with the Hilal
observation. He depends on the reports
of common people seeing the Hilal and
their decisions of Ramadan and Eid
basing on this imaginary sighting of the
Hilal.
Most often the 29th of
Sha’ban is wrong. They look for the
Hilal one day late and when they do not
see it, they add one more day thereby
delaying Ramadan by one or two days.
When they get information from other
places, they do not accept believing it
is false seeing. They say that Ibn Abbas
® rejected the report of Kuraib and so
they will also reject the reports. They
do not realize that he rejected the
report because it was unreliable, not
because it was from a far off place.
When they do not believe each other they
cannot be called ‘believers’.
Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi
and Imam Ahmad bin Hambal ® all have the
same opinion that the month fixed at one
place on the basis of observation of the
Hilals must be acceptable to all those
who get this information provided it is
authentic. But the Ulema of today
(1423AH) say that it should not be
accepted.
A date stands for a particular day of
the week, which has a name.
So, two dates cannot be used to denote
one day.
But according to them different cities
will have different dates while all
cities have the same day. Thus Islamic
calendar is rendered baseless,
impractical and ridiculous. We
therefore, request the Ulema who say
that the “Ru’uya” means “seeing the
Hilal with naked eye only” to observe
the Hilals or Ahillah every month and
then take their decision instead of
writing irrelevant things and causing
disharmony and confusion in the Ummah.
12. Comments by Ali manikfan on
“Anomalies in the Ruet-I-Hilal by
Professor Dr. A.F.N Abdul Rahman,
University of Dacca.”
The Professor believes that the days
start at sunset. It starts at daybreak.
The Prophet (saw) taught that a day is
comprised of five prayers and the first
prayer is Fajre. Islam is the natural
religion. Night is the resting time and
day is for work. (78:10, 11) The new day
begins after the people get up from
sleep at dawn.
It is true that people who did not know
the date calculations of the lunar
calendar confirmed the beginning of the
month after observing the Hilal in the
evening when the observation of the
Hilal is finalized. The day or date
does not start at the time. It starts
before the rising of the sun next
morning.
Observation of the Hilal systematically
for 12 months from Muharam to Muharam
will make it clear that Ru’uyate Hilal
does not mean just seeing of the
crescent and starting the month at the
time of seeing it. It means observation
of the Hilal to confirm the presence of
the moon in the western horizon
somewhere in the world. The Hilal is
seldom visible. The date begins with the
day next morning.
It is true that there are Hilal
committees everywhere. But the members
of these committees do not know anything
about the movements of the heavenly
bodies. They do not know from where the
moon rises. Most of them say it rises
from the west! They fix the 29th of
Sha’ban as they like without proper
observation of the Hilal for three
previous months and ask the people to
see whether the Hilal is seen on that
day evening. Rajab is one of the sacred
months and its dates must be correct.
For this they should observe the Hilal
from Muharam itself which too is one of
the sacred months. Most often these
months have wrong dates in the printed
calendars. People see a Hilal of their
own imagination and the month is fixed
on this basis. How can a sensible man
say that this is the method, which the
Prophet (saw) taught the people?
The author gives an example of the
anomalies stating “This is exactly what
happened during the last Hajj and Idul
Adha of Hijra 1411. Announcement for
Hajj was made from Saudi Arabia to fall
on Friday, 21st June
1991, which according to Islamic
calendar was 9th of
Zul Hijja. According to the data
prepared by Dr. Ilyas, the 9th of
Zilhijja also falls on Friday, 21st June
1991. This data compilation is applied
to the Asia-Pacific region. Hence it
should have applied to the region in
which his country Bangladesh is
situated. But the Ru’uyat-e- Hilal
Committee announced that 1st Zul Hajj falls on 15th June
and as a result Idul Adha was observed
on 24th June
1991, which gave a glaring difference of
two days between the observances of the
same festival in the same part of the
globe. But astronomically speaking
there can be at the most a difference of
only one day between the observances of
the same festival in any part of the
Muslim world. Who is to blame for these
anomalies in the sighting of the
crescent moon? Obviously, the
Ru’uyath-e-Hilal Committee. The
Ru’uyath-e-Hilal Committee is generally
composed of the Ulema of the country who
advise the relevant government
organization to announce the sighting of
the new moon”.
The author just as the ulemas and the
Muslim astronomers does not know the
criterion of fixing the lunar months in
Islam. The astronomers who do not
understand the Quran and Sunna cannot
know the correct criterion. The Ulema
who do not understand astronomy cannot
derive the astronomical rules from the
Quran and Sunna. It is like the blind
leading the blind. The author of this
article too does not know the facts. He
does not know the correct criterion for
finding out the Islamic lunar months.
He too like others believes that seeing
the Hilal with the naked eye is the
criterion. He does not know that Hilal
is seldom visible. He has stated many
astronomical matters without
understanding the meaning.
The correct date of Hajj of 1411 AH
falls on the 9th of Zul Hijja 1411
corresponding Friday the 21st of
June 1991. The statement that Dr.Ilyas
also gives the same date is not
correct. Dr. Ilyas calculates the dates
basing on Imkane Ru’uya of the Hilal
that is possibility of visibility of the
crescent to the naked eye. The Ummul
Qura calendar is based on the scientific
calculations. Then how could Dr. Ilyas’
date of Hajj coincide with that of
Makkah? The Ulema are so ignorant that
they did not accept the correct lunar
date of Makkah and they rejected the
views of all Imams that those who
receive the information must do
accordingly. It is only the arrogance
and ignorance of the Ulema that mislead
the people from the true path of Allah.
Furthermore the statements of the author
given below are not correct.
1.
“The moon must be past the actual
position of conjunction and should lag
behind the sun at 25 minutes so that it
sets in the western horizon some time
later than the sun”. 25 minutes
difference is not enough for the
crescent to be visible to the naked eye.
A minimum of 48 minutes is
required.(Please note that this
visibility is not the criterion to
determine the months in the shariah)
2.
“The moon should be sufficiently high up
in the crescent state of its birth in
the western sky at the time of sunset
(generally at an altitude of 50 to
70 from
the western horizon) so that it does not
get lost in the red glow of the
twilight”. 50 to
70 degrees
of separation is not enough to make the
seeing of the crescent possible to the
naked eye. 50 to
70 will
give the time lag of 20 to 28 minutes
only. The separation should be more
than 120 equaling
48 minutes lag to make it possible to
see the crescent.
3.
“The age of the moon at sunset should be
at least 12 hours to 20 hours so that it
may grow sufficiently in size to reflect
necessary light for its visibility with
the naked eye”. This is same as what is
said above. The age of the moon should
be more than 24 hours to make it visible
to the naked eye in a very clear
atmosphere. The author has not made any
experiments with the moon sighting. He
has simply copied what others have said.
The author like Dr. Ilyas believes that
the criterion for defining the months in
the Shariah is seeing the crescent with
the naked eye. If the month already got
30 days the next month begins
irrespective of the crescent without
seeing it. In such cases seeing or
knowing the position of the moon is not
necessary in the Shariah. The following
statement of the author “Hence the
beginning of the month of Zul hijja this
year (1411.H) on 13th of
June 1991 was possibly one day ahead of
its correct beginning. We in
Bangladesh, were equally wrong to say
that the Zul Hijja moon was not sighted
on 13th June
evening” is also wrong. He does not
know astronomy and he does not know how
to observe the Ahillah of the moon. He
has not made his own observations and
attempts to find out the months. He
simply relies on what others say. His
statements are confusing.
The Zul Qaida of 1411H had only 29 days
according to the Manazil of the moon.
The new moon took place on 12.06.1991
Wednesday at 12 hours 06 m UT. So
13.06.1991 Thursday should be the first
of Zul hijja 1411AH at all costs. If
one wanted to see the crescent it will
be difficult to see it even on the 13th due to many reasons. The author has not carried out experiments to
find out the truth. He has gone wrong
in his unfounded statements.
He is right in saying that “Instead of
expanding the horizon of astronomy, we
have shrunk to zero except for a few
amateur astronomical societies of some
adolescent young enthusiasts having no
formal astronomical background. Now our
science students look vacantly when the
space age exploits are flashed in
newspapers and they come across terms
like satellites, meridian transit,
conjunction, zenith, constellation,
parallax etc”. The author agrees that
something is wrong in our present method
of fixing our Islamic dates. He feels
that the Ulema and the scientists should
sit together and learn from each other
and solve the longstanding problem.
We request the authors
who published their papers to sit
together and search the truth for the
Ummah. It is their duty and if they do
not do this they will certainly be held
responsible for chaos created in the
Muslim Ummah during their Eids.
“Certainly the grip of your Lord is very
strong”. (85:12)
by
Ali manikfan
Do Nothing farm,
Kizhananevi P.O,
Vallioor - 627117
mobile 09842386224 land
phone 04637294556
Vallioor: 08.09.1426/ 11.10.2005
If you have any doubt
please contact
irc@sancharnet.in
Please visit our site
also.
www.hijracalendar.com
www.moonobservation.com
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