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Illustration 1: Article in Saudi Arabian Newspaper: Arab
News, February 11, 2000, about the
inaccuracy of EidUlFitr 1420 date.
Sheikh Qardawi: Friday is the completion of the holy month
of Ramadaan.
Taking the confirmed astronomical
calculations, Sheik Yousof Al-Qardawi
has casuist that Friday, Jan 7th is the
30th day of the holy month of Ramadaan.
And that the Muslims in the countries
that announced Friday to be the first of
the Eid like Saudi Arabia, Palestine,
Qatar, UAE, and others. They should
start Eid on Friday, and fast a day
later instead of it. Previous
astronomical calculations have confirmed
without a shadow of a doubt that
sighting the crescent on Thursday was
impossible. Consequently, if the
calculations showed that there is no
Moon to be seen, people should not be
asked to fetch it, and no testimony of
sighting it should be accepted. Sheik
Qardawi has manifested that if a country
should announce a day as the first of
Ramada or Shawwal, then it is held
responsible. And the citizens of that
country must oblige to that. Because
there shouldn't be two parties in the
same country, one is fasting, the other
is feasting. If it's hard or impossible
for the whole nation to meet on the same
feasting day, then it's not hard for the
people of one country to do so. Finally
Sheik Qardawi stated" He who believes in
the credibility of the astronomical
calculations and feasted on Friday,
should fast a day instead of it".
Illustration 2: Sheikh Yusuf
AlQaradawi’s Fatwa: Those who followed
Saudi announcement for Eid 1420H should
make up one missed fastIllustration 3:
Arab Union of Astronomy & Social
Sciences (AUASS) on error in Saudi
decision of EidUlAdha 1420H date.
And this is for sure a strong argument
to use, based on proof (daleel) and
strengthened by viewpoint and qiyas
(analogy).
AlShaykh Ibn Othaimeen
Chapter: Rules of starting and ending a
month and the sighting of Hilaal
Book: Fatawa Islamiyah: AbdulAziz Bin
Baaz, Muhammad Bin Saleh Bin Othaimeen,
Abdullah Bin AbdurRahmaan AlJibreen;
Darul Watan Publishers
Illustration 4: Sheikh AlOthaimeen (RH)
supports Ikhtilaaf AlMatale (Local
Sighting); also says Sheikh Ibn Taimiya
supported Ikhtilaaf AlMatale.
Illustration 5: Sheikh AlOthaimeen (RH)
supports Ikhtilaaf AlMatale (Local
Sighting) for all 12 months including
DhulHijja (EidUlAdha).
In the name of Allaah, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful
Sheikh Muhammad bin Saleh AlOthaimeen
Fatwa on Eclipse & Dates
The question:- AsSalaamu Alaykum
WaRahmatullahi WaBarakaatuhu. If the
solar eclipse happens fully or partially
after the sunset in the kingdom of Saudi
Arabia and this eclipse was witnessed in
the region west of the kingdom, what is
the ruling of the following day for this
country in which the solar eclipse
happened? Is this the completion of the
30th day of the month? If the following
month started on that day through
calculation or sighting of Hilaal, what
is the ruling? Presenter: Abdul Aziz
Sultan Almar’esh, General Manager
responsible for watching Hilaal at the
department of Astronomical research at
King Abdul Aziz City for Science &
Technology.
BismillahirRahmaanirRaheem
Wa Alaykum AsSalaamu WaRahmatullahi
WaBarakaatuhu.
If an eclipse takes place after sunset
in any place on earth, it becomes
impossible to have a new month the next
day. This is due to the fact that
scholars and experts are of the same
opinion that the physical reason for the
eclipse is the presence of the moon
between the sun and the earth.
It is also a common fact to the scholars
and the public that a new month would
not start without the sighting of Hilaal,
some time after sunset.
If that is the case, then a new month
would not possible in the same night
where eclipse has taken place after
sunset. This is impossible based on the
norms that the Almighty Allah set for
the rotation of the sun and the moon.
The Almighty Allah stated in the
Glorious Qur’an, (Sura Al-An’am 6:96):
He makes the night for rest and
tranquillity, and the sun and moon for
the reckoning (of time): Such is the
judgment and ordering of (Him), the
Exalted in Power, the Omniscient.
And (in Sura Ya-Seen 36:38-40): And the
sun runs his course for a period
determined for him: that is the decree
of (Him), the Exalted in Might, the
All-Knowing. And the Moon,- We have
measured for her mansions (to traverse)
till she returns like the old (and
withered) lower part of a date-stalk. It
is not permitted to the Sun to catch up
the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the
Day: Each (just) swims along in (its
own) orbit (according to Law).
And (in Sura AshShams: 91:1-2): By the
Sun and his (glorious) splendor; By the
Moon as she follows him;
This verse indicates that the moon in
the night of the Hilaal, follows the
sun. Therefore, if the moon follows the
sun, it is consequently coming later
than the sun and not possible for it
(e.g. the moon) to be in the middle
between the sun and the earth. So how
would it jump in order for it to be
between (the sun) and the earth ?
Furthermore, a person who observes the
movement of the sun and the moon,
notices that the moon always lags the
sun in its movement. Thus, you can see
the moon in the first night of the
month- for example the moon would be two
or three meters away from the sun. The
second night, the moon would move
further away from the sun. The third
night, the moon would still get further
and further, and so on until the middle
of the month. At that time, the moon
would be on the opposite side of the
horizon from the sun. Thus between them
would be like between the East and West.
Therefore, if a person claims that the
month began in the same night when an
eclipse took place after sunset, is like
a person who claims that the moon would
be in a full-moon position in the same
night when it is born. Or, like the
person who claims that the sun would
rise before dawn, or like a baby will
show up before he gets out of the womb
of his mother. All these things are
impossible according to the rules &
behavior that the Almighty Allah has
ordained for this splendid universe, in
its precise system.
As for the belief in the power of the
Almighty Allah, there is no doubt that
the Almighty Allah is Capable to do
anything. And He is also capable to
combine the two moons, and to separate
them and to dim them or to make them
shining in their light at any time. As
He stated in the Glorious Qur’an.:
(Sura Al-Qiyama 75:7-10): At length,
when the sight is dazed, And the moon is
buried in darkness. And the sun and moon
are joined together,-
That Day will Man say: "Where is the
refuge?"
But the rules that the Almighty Allah
laid down concerning the sun and the
moon of this world are fixed, and do not
change, except in case of a miracle for
a Prophet or in the honor of a Wali
(closely befriended man to the Almighty
Allah). This is written by Muhammad
AsSaleh AlOthaimeen 30/1/1412H.
Illustration 6: Sheikh AlOthaimeen (RH)’s
Fatwa on Solar Eclipse and Hilaal dates.
Illustration 7: The visible Hilaal is
usually a day after the invisible
astronomical new moon birth (when sun,
moon and earth are in a straight line).
Illustration 8: MoonCalc from http://www.ummah.net/ildl/mooncalc.html
Areas outside the “Lunar Date Line”
curve see hilaal next day
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