Monday Discourse (189)
Pope John Paul II
This is a tribute to the late Pope. I think his departure has accorded me as a Muslim to reflect on the relevant values of religion which all adherents to the belief in God must share, amidst bombardments from atheistic and libertarian orders of Western civilization. To some people the Pope was a Christian and represents only Christianity; his tributes and eulogy should is the prerogative, concern or monopoly of Christians. A millennium ago this would have been true. The Muslim and Christian World then were not only living apart and separated by geography, politics and ideas. It was the period of the Crusades, when Islam went knocking right at the gates of Europe and the Christiandom strived twice to reclaim Jerusalem. Then the idea of Islam in the West did not go beyond a religion of the sword, polygamy, concubines, Arabian Nights and other oriental tales.
In today’s globe, geography has been emasculated, distance conquered. The old misconceptions are gradually giving way, thanks to technological advances in transport and communications, to understanding and dialogue among men of reason. After the great debates in oriental scholarship and over two centuries of interaction, the West has finally come to regard Islam as a religion. Beyond that point, dynamic Christian leaders today view Islam as a veritable partner against the assault of Western philosophy and practice. This partnership has evolved not as a result of a dispassionate study of the two religions, one of the other, but as a result of experiences threatening to extinguish divine guidance itself.
It started with Christianity, which has suffered and has been on sharp decline during the past five hundred years as a result of onslaughts from science, western philosophy, and libertarianism. The discoveries of science especially in the area of physics have discredited many doctrines of the Church; the French Revolution and the others that followed have estranged the Church from political control; finally, democracy became the supreme doctrine in politics. Earlier, philosophers, like 19th Century Frederick Nietzsche, whose predecessors have suffered in the hands of the Church, have questioned the most fundamental beliefs of the Church. Among his most memorable contributions to Western Philosophy is his proclamation that God is dead. Yet, Nietzsche, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, “deeply affected generations of theologians, philosophers, psychologists, poets, novelists, and playwrights… (and) determined the agenda for many of Europe's most celebrated intellectuals after his death.”
The increasing shift towards democracy and market economy, as Francis Fukuyama would be eager to prove, has made materialism the transcendent philosophy of today. The dogma of faith has been abandoned since the secularizing influence of Enlightenment; today, it has been replaced by its antithesis, the lust of human mind, which commands the respect of civil societies and libertarian groups. All people of religion have helplessly watched with sympathy at the enormous pressure which these groups have subjected various orders of Christianity. This is an onslaught different from that of Nietzsche and his ilk, who did not claim to believe in God in the first place. The demand for the Church to ordain women and homosexuals as priests came from within its fold, by people who do not only subscribe to the idea of God, but also who claim to believe in Him and work for His cause. Homosexuals and adulterers according to all divine religions are supposed to be stoned to death. Now making such people priests is a deadly blow that goes straight to the very heart of Canon law and Christian morality. Thus we can only watch with grief, how in America and some few European countries, the Church is yielding to this Satanic pressure. It is promising to Muslims that our African Churches have stood firm against this. Morality is what defines religion. All religions have codes of conducts dictated by their moral precepts. Once the Church will yield to the libertarian pressure, then it can as well call it quits. Here, the late Pope remains exemplary for others to copy. He stood against the growing pressure and we hope his successors will remain resolute as he did.
On the issue of women celibacy, we must appreciate that extending the notion of constitutional rights to the domain of Canon law has no validity in the logic of religion. While the former is subject to rationalization, rules regarding religious behaviour and rituals are best obeyed than questioned. We cannot ask why God did not appoint a single woman as an Apostle. And if that has been the choice in Heaven why should the Church be under pressure to twist its laws to accommodate women in roles that are, by law, not theirs in the first place? What we are doing today is simply knocking at the doors of God and telling him, “Hey, take Your rules. They have no place in a modern, enlightened and free world.” But if we are not ready to abide by His rules, why chose to remain in His domain? Why not abandon God and religion entirely if we feel we have discovered or possess an intellect better than His?
It is not surprising to learn the attempt to introduce this perfidy into Islam by some “Muslim” women libertarians. A month ago, a lady in New York was reported to have led a Friday Congregation which was given wide coverage by all major media organizations in the West. This rubbish will not go anywhere in Islam, no matter the patronage from Western political and academic establishments. Here, also, we share a common ground with Christian brothers, especially those in Africa.
Family values are among matters which the late Pope upheld. In a world characterised by liberty, and particularly in the West, family has been on the decline. The legalisation of adultery and abortion has po0sed a new challenge to the Church which has remained the only custodian of family values in the West. While legalisation of adultery makes marriage an avoidable or even unnecessary burden, abortion threatens not only the life of the unborn child but also that of the living. The two combine to result in dwindling populations. Thus, it is not uncommon to learn how in many Western communities death to birth ratio has declined to something like 20:1. Not far from the Vatican, in Italy, CNN once reported a town where the ratio is 37:1. This means that such communities are aging fast and life must close down very soon, unless immigrants will be imported to provide for the workforce required to keep services going.
To maintain a reasonable degree of moral rectitude in a society, children must be raised by their parents: at a point they require the attention of their mother; later they need the crucial guidance, support and protection of their father; and lastly, if they are women, they require the compassion and protection of their husbands. Outside this family domain and values, I cannot envisage a school for cultivating moral consciousness that will breed the tolerance, endurance and compassion required in human civilization. It worth noting here that in both Beijing and Cairo Conferences, the Vatican stood side by side with Muslim countries against resolutions that attempt to disenfranchise the world of family values.
In all these, the Catholic Church and the late Pope have kept an enviable record. How far will they carry on depends on the choice they make for the future. Given the growing power of the United States and the inordinate manner with which it exercises that power, it is important that the Church chooses as a successor to the pope an ultra-conservative who will not yield the power of the state nor acquiesce to the Satanic pressure.
On the other side, politics is once more at the centre of discord between Islam and Christianity. The West is obviously transcendent in terms of military and economic might. The Muslim World is only recovering from centuries of decay and colonialism. It is this revival of Muslim consciousness that is seen as a threat to Western political hegemony which depends on the exploitation of human and material resources of developing countries. In its battle for consolidating that hegemony, the West has recruited Christianity as a foot soldier: Nowhere is this manipulation eloquently presented than in The Clash of Civilizations of Samuel Huntington. He contends that religion is at the centre of the growing hostility between Muslim World and the West. The West, he advises, must exclude from its club, like NATO and EU, countries from other civilizations – apparently referring to Muslim Turkey – if its present hegemony is to be maintained. It must also suppress, by any means possible, he continues, the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by other civilizations, especially Muslims. Hence, the passion of George Bush to destroy Iran’s nuclear plant. Has the God of Christianity who is also the God of Islam, approve of weapons of mass destruction?
Huntington has even failed to see the contradiction between Christian and modern Western values, some of which we have highlighted above. In politics, though, anything can be a weapon. Here there are desperate efforts to use Christianity as a rallying point. The invasion of Iraq is declared a Crusade by Bush; Iran is an axis of Evil; Turkey is not fit for admission into NATO for conflict of culture; etc. If Christian leaders will take a dispassionate look at affairs, they will readily confess that Islam poses only a small danger compared to the wholesome destruction caused by Enlightenment and Western libertarian doctrines. The struggle is between freedom and imperialism, not a clash of civilizations, dear Mr Huntington.
It delights here to recall that the late Pope has stood against American invasion of Iraq, though he was in no position to avert it, another proof that it is not a crusade but an imperial undertaking. In the same vein, we expect other Christians to speak for the freedom of Palestine and against Western support for monarchies and dictatorships throughout the Muslim World.
The late Pope has paid particular attention to Muslim Christian relations and appointed a Nigerian, who will possibly become the next Pope, to manage that desk. I cannot tell how well he carried out that job. But if what happened in his home country in the past five years is anything to go by, it is difficult to say much about his achievement. Where is this son of ours when Muslims and Christians were killing themselves Kaduna and Jos, for example? I expected his intervention which was badly needed to save the lives of thousands and their properties.
The Catholic leadership here at home, sorry to say, did not do better in such situations. No one has threatened the destruction of this country in the late 1980s and early 1990s as did Arch Bishop Okogie, the former leader of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, Even his successor did not do better to extend the hands of friendship to the Muslim community in the country, given now that he has the listening ear of the President and a position of influence in Aso Rock.
I was equally taken aback by the recent comments of Reverend Mathew Kuka on Muslim apprehensions about the political reform conference. The Father resorted to street language to describe the fears of fellow Nigerians, instead of re-assuring them as a man of religion and secretary of the gathering. He described their fears as “nonsense… irresponsible.. and … a means of making money.” My God! If these words are coming from a man of religion, I wonder what will be coming from our mouth, we the laity who should be confessing our sins before them. And for the second time, I watched Reverend Kukah striving to prove that he is more given to sentiments than to reason: He once denied a Christian ever becoming the VC of ABU Zaria, until he was reminded of the many Christians who occupied that seat. Recently, he reminded us Buhari and Idiagbon, both Muslims ruled this country, as if he was not alive during the Gowon era when both the Head of State and his deputy were Christians. We have a long way to civilization and certainly some people are better placed among politicians than among priests.
What I am trying to say is that these priests are not living by the standards of the late Pope John Paul II. He had the means to rubbish Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, and all non-Christians; he could also have gone into confederation with politicians like George Bush to unleash terror on non-Christian lands, as some would have eagerly done were they to enjoy a fraction of the opportunity he had. But he remained in the lofty positions of priesthood and threw away the yolk of bigotry, sentiments and pedestrian vocabulary. Mutual respect is what he preached. He did not pray fire and brimstone for his country or the World but peace and protection from God. As he turned his back to his home country on his journey to the Vatican, he prayed: “God, protect Poland.” I wish Nigeria were blessed with priests with great hearts like his.
In conclusion, I have tried to use the opportunity of the Pope’s death to scratch over matters that we share in common with our Christians brothers. The evil of secularism which has grown to the level of denying the existence of God, the evil of libertarianism, the evil of using religion to promote American expansionism, the evil of Zionism, the evil of making religion a subject of politics, should all form a common ground for the advancement of humanity, freedom and justice in the present world. These are values which the Pope stood for and people of all faiths should stand up to be counted at this crucial moment.
I learnt that a Nigerian is ranking high among the candidates to be considered for the Pope’s seat. That is good news for it will add to our c.v. as a nation especially at a time when we are standing among the three most corrupt nations on earth. My hope was that Obasanjo will not attend the funeral, otherwise the chances that he will infect them with the virus of rigging and corruption is very high. But my Christian friend assured me that he will not have the chance to meet with members of the conclave. Nigerian priests and President attending the funeral can as well leave our loads of Ghana-must-go and election rigging handouts behind. The Papacy does not need them.
Showing posts with label Islam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islam. Show all posts
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Dr. Tilde was Wrong
Friday Discourse (104)
Tilde was wrong on Hausa music
___________________________
Ahmad Bello Dogarawa
___________________________
I read Dr. Tilde's article on the ongoing debate
between the Ulama and the artistes in Katsina (Weekly
Trust September 7 - 13, 2000). I quite disagree with him on the Islamic ruling on music
and singing. According to Tilde, the debate on music has never been
conclusive. But a meticulous, critical analysis of the
relevant texts from the hadeeth and other authentic sources which clearly show that music, musical instruments,
singing to their accompaniment, etc., are objects
prohibited by Islamic Sharee'ah. The exceptions to
this general rule are specific, limited types of
innocent singing or chanting without any instrumental
accompaniment or to the accompaniment of the simple
hand drum [daff] on certain occasions designated by
the Sunnah.
Prohibition
In order to substantiate the above claim and to dispel
such false notion that the issue of music has never
been conclusive or the fault in music lies in what it
says, it is necessary to quote a number of authentic
traditions and sayings of the Salaf.
1. The Prophet [S.A.W] said: "There will be [at some
future time] people from my ummah [community of
Muslims] who will seek to make lawful: fornication,
the wearing of silk, wine drinking and the use of
musical instruments [ma'aazif].." [al-Bukhaaree]
2. The Messenger of Allah [S.A.W] said: "A people of
my ummah will drink wine, calling it by other than its
real name. Merriment will be made for them through the
playing of musical instruments and singing of lady
singers. Allah will cleave the earth under them and
turn into apes and swine." [at-Tirmidhee and Ibn
Majah, and declared Saheeh by Ibn al-Qayyim and
al-Albaanee.].
3. The Prophet [S.A.W] said: "Verily, Allah prohibited
wine, gambling and al-koobah; and every intoxicant is
prohibited." Sufyan said, "I asked the narrator, Ali
bin Badheemah, 'What is al-koobah?' He answered, 'It
is the drum.'" In another narration, Allah's Messenger
said, "Verily, Allah has prohibited for my ummah:
wine, gambling, a drink distilled from corn, the drum
and the lute [the Arabian guitar, termed qinneen in
the text of the hadeeth]; while He supplemented me
with another prayer, the witr." [Imam Ahmad in his
musnad and authenticated Saheeh by al-Albaanee in
Saheeh al-Jaami as-Sagheer and Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh.
These narrations have also been related by other
compilers, such as al-Bayhaqi in his Shu'ub al-Eemaan
with authentic isnaad and At-Tabaraani in al-Mu'jam
al-Kabeer with jayyid [good] isnaad].
4. Al-Haakim reported in a long hadeeth that the
Prophet [S.A.W] when asked why he wept after taking
his ailing son Ibraheem, who was in the throes of
death, replied: "Verily, I did not prohibit weeping
[per se], but rather, I forbade two voices [sowtayn]
which are imbecilic [ahqam] and sinfully shameless
[faajir]: one, a voice [singing] to the accompaniment
of musical amusement [lahw] and Satan's [wind]
instruments [a type of flute]; the other, a voice
[wailing] due to some calamity, accompanied by
striking of the face and tearing of the garments. But
this [weeping of mine] stems from compassion, and
whosoever does not show compassion will not receive
it." [The hadeeeth's degree is hasan, as proved by
al-Baghawi in Sharh as-Sunnah and al-Albaani in
Silsilah al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah. It has been
strengthened by another narration related by Abu Bakr
as-Shaafi'ee in his work, Rubaa`eeyat]
5. Anas bn Maalik related from the Prophet [S.A.W],
"two cursed sounds are that of the [wind] instrument
[mizmaar] played on the occasion of joy and grace, and
woeful wailing upon the occurrence of adversity."
[Abu Bakr as-Shaafi'ee in his work, Rubaa`eeyat with
authentic isnaad and quoted by al-Kanadee in his
Hukmuh as-Sharee'ah]
In reality, the companions unanimously agreed upon the
prohibition of music and song but allowed particular
exceptions specified by the authentic Sunnah. Many
authentic narrations [aathar] traced to the various
Sahaabah bear witness to this. For example, it is
authentically related by al-Bayhaqi that the
companion, Abdullah bn Mas'ood said, "Singing sprouts
hypocrisy in the heart as rain sprouts herbs and
greens."
He was also questioned regarding the meaning
of the words 'lahwal hadeeth' as appeared in Q 31:6,
and he replied, "I swear by Him besides Whom there is
no other god that it refers to singing." He repeated
it three times over to emphasise his belief that the
words from the Qur'aan were a rebuke and censure of
singing. [al-Bayhaqi and Ibn al-Mundhir. See also
Qurtubi's tafseer].
The four rightly guided caliphs
held the same view, the fuqahaa among the Sahaabah
such as Ibn Abbaas, Ibn Umar, Jaabir bn Abdullah and
Amr bn Shu`ayb, as well as the general body of
Sahaabah [R.A].
The taabi'een and their followers, the four imams and
the great majority of dependable Islamic scholars up
to the present time generally adhered to the view held
by the companions. From among the taabi'een and their
followers, there are such authorities as Sa'eed bn
Jubayr, Mujaahid, Qataadah, Ikramah, al-Hasan
al-Basri, an-Nakha'i, Qaasim bn Muhammad, Makhool,
Aliyyu bn Badheemah and Maimoon bn Mihraan. [See
al-Qurtubi's tafseer, al-Aloosi's tafseer and Kaffur
Ra'aa of Ibn Hajar al-Haythamee].
Imam Abu Haneefah has perhaps the harshest view of the
four famous imams of jurisprudence. His school of
thought is the strictest, for he detested singing and
considered it sinful. As for his disciples, they have
explicitly confirmed the prohibition of listening to
all musical amusements and pastimes, including wind
instruments [mazaameer], all types of tambourine, hand
drums [dufoof] and even the striking of sticks
[al-qadeeb]. They have asserted that such actions
constitute disobedience to Allah and that the
performer of such action is sinful, therefore
necessitating rejection of his testimony. [al-Qurtubi's al-Jaami' li ahkaamil
Qur'aan]
It is related by Ibnul Jowzi that Ishaaq bin Eesaa
at-Taba'a asked Imam Maalik bin Anas, the leading
jurisprudent of Madeenah, about the view of the people
of Madeenah regarding singing [ghinaa]. He replied,
"In fact, that is done by the sinful ones." Abut-Teeb
at-Tabari said, "As for Maalik bin Anas, he truly did
prohibit singing and listening to it." He further
related that Maalik said, "If one purchased a
slave-girl and found her to be a professional singer,
he could return her to the original owner for
reimbursement on the claim of found fault in the
merchandise." [Talbees Iblees of Ibn al-Jauzi]
Imam as-Shaafi'ee is reported as saying, "Verily, song
is loathsome [makrooh]; it resembles the false and
vain thing [al-baatil]. The one who partakes of it
frequently is an incompetent fool whose testimony is
to be rejected." [Talbees Iblees and al-Qurtubi's
tafseer]. Imam as-Shaafi'ees closest and most
knowledgeable disciples clearly stipulate that his
position on this issue is that of prohibition
[tahreem] and rebuke those who attribute its legality
to him.
Imam Ahmad's position regarding this issue has been
narrated in detail by the Hanbalite jurisprudent and
Qur'aanic commentator, Abul-Faraj Ibn al-Jauzi [d. 597
H.] in his Talbees Iblees. Ibn al-Jauzi said, Ahmad's
son and student, Abdullah relates that his father
said, "Singing sprouts hypocrisy in the heart; it does
not please me."
From the foregoing, it is evident that the general
consensus of the companions, taabi'een and the
following generations of Islamic scholars up to the
present day, including the four famous imams, points
to the ruling of prohibition of music and song [other
than the exceptions mentioned above]
Permissibility
There is agreement among the four Imams that all
musical instruments [ma'aazif] are forbidden. Shaykhul
Islam Ibn Taymiyyah affirms this in his Fataawa.
However, a few scholars see no harm in singing and/or in the playing of music. In order to remove any doubt from the reader's mind regarding this vital
issue, it is necessary not only to mention these
scholars and their claims but also to establish the
proof against them.
Ibn Hazam and Ibn al-`Arabi al-Maaliki claimed that
there is no authentic hadeeth, which prohibit music,
song and musical instruments. They asserted that
al-Bukhaari's hadeeth earlier is not authentic on the
ground that there is a missing link between
al-Bukhaari and the next narrator, implying that the
hadeeth's isnaad is disconnected [munqati'] and
therefore not a valid proof in the prohibition of
music, song, musical instruments and singing. In
addition, Ibn Hazam, as quoted by al-Qardaawi in
al-Halal wa al-Haraam fil Islaam, said, 'Every hadeeth
related [prohibiting music and singing] is false and
forged.'" However, al-Bukhaari's hadeeth is authentic,
because there exist fully connected chains for it,
which fulfill the conditions of authenticity. This was
stated by great scholars of hadeeth such as Ibn
as-Salah [in his Uloomul Hadeeth], al-Haafidh
al-Iraaqi and Ibn Hajar in his Fathul Baari and
Taghleequt Ta'leeq. They all have conveniently refuted
Ibn Hazam's claim and rendered it unfounded. In short,
al-Bukhari's narration is authentic and consequently
constitutes a valid and binding text to be referred to
in determining the ruling regarding music.
Imam al-Ghazaali, is often quoted by some as having
maintained a view of permissibility. It must be made
clear that he argued in favour of only innocent
singing, physical sport and entertainment. Nowhere did
he mention or argue in favour of the permissibility of
musical instruments or musical accompaniment to
singing. Thus, those who quote him [like al-Qardaawi]
as a proof for the legality of music commit a gross
error and do him a great injustice, for they impute to
him that which he himself did not claim.
As for the assertion made by Abu Taalib al-Makki [as
even quoted by Tilde], that some prominent companions
of the Prophet and those who followed them have
listened to songs, and that even now, the people of
Hijaz in Makkah listen to songs in the most sacred
days of the year, that is the appointed days in which
God enjoined His worship and remembrance, the reply
would be: al-Adhra'i has quoted Abul-Qaasim ad-Dowlaqi as
saying: "It has not been related regarding any one of
the companions [R.A] that he listened to the sort of
singing which is of the disputed type, nor is it
related that gatherings for song were organised for
him, nor that people were invited to them - either
publicly or privately, nor that he praised such song;
rather, it was the companions' habit to censure and
blame such gatherings for the purpose of listening to
it." [See Kaffur Ra'aa and al-Qurtubi]
What justification can one find from the foregoing to
accept the permissibility of ghinaa? It is based on
some of these reasons, al-Qardaawi rescind his
position of permissibility on the issue at stake by
accepting all the corrections made to his al-Halaal
wal Haraam by Muhammad Naasiruddeen al-Albaani in
Ghaayatul Maraam [as indicated by al-Qardaawi himself
in his Kaif Nata'aamal ma' Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah]. And
for the sake of, if al-Makki or any other scholar had
argued for the permissibility of music/or singing to
its accompaniment, the reply would be: When it is in
contradiction to the authentic Sunnah, one cannot
accept the view of any other person after Allah's
Messenger [S.A.W].
Ruling
§ The use of all musical instruments is forbidden,
except the daff, whose permissible use [in the
restricted form explained above] is a specification of
or an exception to the general ruling. The categories
of musical instruments are as follows: (a) wind
instruments such as flutes, horns, trumpets,
accordions, saxophones and trombones; (b) string
instruments which include guitars, violins, banjos,
harps, sitars, lutes, basses and cellos; (c)
percussion instruments such as gongs, cymbals, bass
drums, bongos, congas and tambourines; and (d) a
combination of two or more of the above such as the
piano, which combines percussion and string
instrumentation. This ruling has been arrived at
through the texts of authentic hadeeths narrated by
Ahmad, al-Bukhaari, Ibn Maajah, al-Haakim and
al-Bayhaqi quoted earlier on.
§ Preceding texts of the Sunnah designated the general
ruling of prohibition regarding singing under certain
circumstances. The narration of al-Haakim described
the singing voice coupled with music as imbecilic and
sinful. Naturally, singing to musical accompaniment is
forbidden since it is coupled with music. As for
innocent singing to the accompaniment of just the
daff, this has been allowed on only specific
occasions.
§ Singing without musical accompaniment is permitted
under certain circumstances and with particular
conditions. The lyrics of the songs must be pure and
innocent, and must keep within the moral bounds set by
Islamic teachings
§ Dancing to musical instrument is prohibited since
that which is coupled with a prohibited thing becomes
forbidden. As for dancing without music, or to the
accompaniment of the daff only, such is restricted
solely to women and children and is not befitting the
role of males.
§ Dancing by women has its conditions. No music other
than that provided by the daff and the human voice is
allowed. Women must be properly clothed and are
restricted to the company of women and children only.
It should also be a simple, natural rhythmic swaying
free from every form of obvious or covert vice.
§ The profession of music, singing, dancing and
instrument making and selling are all forbidden. In an
Islamic state such instruments may be seized from
their owner and destroyed without recourse to
indemnity.
§ It is the duty of a Muslim that he avoid listening
to music and singing in so far as it is within his
power and jurisdiction. As for what he hears from his
neighbour's yard, or when he passes through the
streets or markets, that is not a sin upon him, nor is
it his responsibility to try to stop it unless he has
the power and authority to do so. Similarly, where he
is forced to hear music without the will or desire to
do so, he is not to blame, provided it
is with the sole intention of deriving benefit from
the information contained therein and not for the
purpose of seeking pleasure in hearing the music.
§ The supposed contribution of Hausa singers and
musicians in entertainment, social mobilization and
cultural continuity is not enough reason for the
championing of this issue, or disagreeing with a
Fatawa issued by the Ulama. I do not know of any
scholar who opines the permissibility or canvass the
continuity of any issue prohibited by the Prophet on
the basis of its so-called contribution.
§ The claim by Dr. Tilde that the issue is not
conclusive or we have no basis in religion to abrogate
music and singing is therefore unfounded and untenable.
Alternatives
According to al-Munajjid in his Muharramaat, music and
singing form one of the greatest temptations of our
times. What is difficult is the fact that nowadays
music is part of so many things, such as clocks,
doorbells, children's toy, computers, telephones,
etc., and avoiding it takes a great deal of
determination.
Notwithstanding, it is the duty of every Muslim to
strive his utmost to find acceptable [lawful]
alternatives to the prohibited forms of music and song
as delineated in this write up. Some suggestions are:
§ Sweet and melodious recitation of and listening to
the reading of Allah's book.
§ Singing and listening to Islamic songs
§ Remembrance of Allah [Dhikr]
§ Healthy physical sports
Tilde was wrong on Hausa music
___________________________
Ahmad Bello Dogarawa
___________________________
I read Dr. Tilde's article on the ongoing debate
between the Ulama and the artistes in Katsina (Weekly
Trust September 7 - 13, 2000). I quite disagree with him on the Islamic ruling on music
and singing. According to Tilde, the debate on music has never been
conclusive. But a meticulous, critical analysis of the
relevant texts from the hadeeth and other authentic sources which clearly show that music, musical instruments,
singing to their accompaniment, etc., are objects
prohibited by Islamic Sharee'ah. The exceptions to
this general rule are specific, limited types of
innocent singing or chanting without any instrumental
accompaniment or to the accompaniment of the simple
hand drum [daff] on certain occasions designated by
the Sunnah.
Prohibition
In order to substantiate the above claim and to dispel
such false notion that the issue of music has never
been conclusive or the fault in music lies in what it
says, it is necessary to quote a number of authentic
traditions and sayings of the Salaf.
1. The Prophet [S.A.W] said: "There will be [at some
future time] people from my ummah [community of
Muslims] who will seek to make lawful: fornication,
the wearing of silk, wine drinking and the use of
musical instruments [ma'aazif].." [al-Bukhaaree]
2. The Messenger of Allah [S.A.W] said: "A people of
my ummah will drink wine, calling it by other than its
real name. Merriment will be made for them through the
playing of musical instruments and singing of lady
singers. Allah will cleave the earth under them and
turn into apes and swine." [at-Tirmidhee and Ibn
Majah, and declared Saheeh by Ibn al-Qayyim and
al-Albaanee.].
3. The Prophet [S.A.W] said: "Verily, Allah prohibited
wine, gambling and al-koobah; and every intoxicant is
prohibited." Sufyan said, "I asked the narrator, Ali
bin Badheemah, 'What is al-koobah?' He answered, 'It
is the drum.'" In another narration, Allah's Messenger
said, "Verily, Allah has prohibited for my ummah:
wine, gambling, a drink distilled from corn, the drum
and the lute [the Arabian guitar, termed qinneen in
the text of the hadeeth]; while He supplemented me
with another prayer, the witr." [Imam Ahmad in his
musnad and authenticated Saheeh by al-Albaanee in
Saheeh al-Jaami as-Sagheer and Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh.
These narrations have also been related by other
compilers, such as al-Bayhaqi in his Shu'ub al-Eemaan
with authentic isnaad and At-Tabaraani in al-Mu'jam
al-Kabeer with jayyid [good] isnaad].
4. Al-Haakim reported in a long hadeeth that the
Prophet [S.A.W] when asked why he wept after taking
his ailing son Ibraheem, who was in the throes of
death, replied: "Verily, I did not prohibit weeping
[per se], but rather, I forbade two voices [sowtayn]
which are imbecilic [ahqam] and sinfully shameless
[faajir]: one, a voice [singing] to the accompaniment
of musical amusement [lahw] and Satan's [wind]
instruments [a type of flute]; the other, a voice
[wailing] due to some calamity, accompanied by
striking of the face and tearing of the garments. But
this [weeping of mine] stems from compassion, and
whosoever does not show compassion will not receive
it." [The hadeeeth's degree is hasan, as proved by
al-Baghawi in Sharh as-Sunnah and al-Albaani in
Silsilah al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah. It has been
strengthened by another narration related by Abu Bakr
as-Shaafi'ee in his work, Rubaa`eeyat]
5. Anas bn Maalik related from the Prophet [S.A.W],
"two cursed sounds are that of the [wind] instrument
[mizmaar] played on the occasion of joy and grace, and
woeful wailing upon the occurrence of adversity."
[Abu Bakr as-Shaafi'ee in his work, Rubaa`eeyat with
authentic isnaad and quoted by al-Kanadee in his
Hukmuh as-Sharee'ah]
In reality, the companions unanimously agreed upon the
prohibition of music and song but allowed particular
exceptions specified by the authentic Sunnah. Many
authentic narrations [aathar] traced to the various
Sahaabah bear witness to this. For example, it is
authentically related by al-Bayhaqi that the
companion, Abdullah bn Mas'ood said, "Singing sprouts
hypocrisy in the heart as rain sprouts herbs and
greens."
He was also questioned regarding the meaning
of the words 'lahwal hadeeth' as appeared in Q 31:6,
and he replied, "I swear by Him besides Whom there is
no other god that it refers to singing." He repeated
it three times over to emphasise his belief that the
words from the Qur'aan were a rebuke and censure of
singing. [al-Bayhaqi and Ibn al-Mundhir. See also
Qurtubi's tafseer].
The four rightly guided caliphs
held the same view, the fuqahaa among the Sahaabah
such as Ibn Abbaas, Ibn Umar, Jaabir bn Abdullah and
Amr bn Shu`ayb, as well as the general body of
Sahaabah [R.A].
The taabi'een and their followers, the four imams and
the great majority of dependable Islamic scholars up
to the present time generally adhered to the view held
by the companions. From among the taabi'een and their
followers, there are such authorities as Sa'eed bn
Jubayr, Mujaahid, Qataadah, Ikramah, al-Hasan
al-Basri, an-Nakha'i, Qaasim bn Muhammad, Makhool,
Aliyyu bn Badheemah and Maimoon bn Mihraan. [See
al-Qurtubi's tafseer, al-Aloosi's tafseer and Kaffur
Ra'aa of Ibn Hajar al-Haythamee].
Imam Abu Haneefah has perhaps the harshest view of the
four famous imams of jurisprudence. His school of
thought is the strictest, for he detested singing and
considered it sinful. As for his disciples, they have
explicitly confirmed the prohibition of listening to
all musical amusements and pastimes, including wind
instruments [mazaameer], all types of tambourine, hand
drums [dufoof] and even the striking of sticks
[al-qadeeb]. They have asserted that such actions
constitute disobedience to Allah and that the
performer of such action is sinful, therefore
necessitating rejection of his testimony. [al-Qurtubi's al-Jaami' li ahkaamil
Qur'aan]
It is related by Ibnul Jowzi that Ishaaq bin Eesaa
at-Taba'a asked Imam Maalik bin Anas, the leading
jurisprudent of Madeenah, about the view of the people
of Madeenah regarding singing [ghinaa]. He replied,
"In fact, that is done by the sinful ones." Abut-Teeb
at-Tabari said, "As for Maalik bin Anas, he truly did
prohibit singing and listening to it." He further
related that Maalik said, "If one purchased a
slave-girl and found her to be a professional singer,
he could return her to the original owner for
reimbursement on the claim of found fault in the
merchandise." [Talbees Iblees of Ibn al-Jauzi]
Imam as-Shaafi'ee is reported as saying, "Verily, song
is loathsome [makrooh]; it resembles the false and
vain thing [al-baatil]. The one who partakes of it
frequently is an incompetent fool whose testimony is
to be rejected." [Talbees Iblees and al-Qurtubi's
tafseer]. Imam as-Shaafi'ees closest and most
knowledgeable disciples clearly stipulate that his
position on this issue is that of prohibition
[tahreem] and rebuke those who attribute its legality
to him.
Imam Ahmad's position regarding this issue has been
narrated in detail by the Hanbalite jurisprudent and
Qur'aanic commentator, Abul-Faraj Ibn al-Jauzi [d. 597
H.] in his Talbees Iblees. Ibn al-Jauzi said, Ahmad's
son and student, Abdullah relates that his father
said, "Singing sprouts hypocrisy in the heart; it does
not please me."
From the foregoing, it is evident that the general
consensus of the companions, taabi'een and the
following generations of Islamic scholars up to the
present day, including the four famous imams, points
to the ruling of prohibition of music and song [other
than the exceptions mentioned above]
Permissibility
There is agreement among the four Imams that all
musical instruments [ma'aazif] are forbidden. Shaykhul
Islam Ibn Taymiyyah affirms this in his Fataawa.
However, a few scholars see no harm in singing and/or in the playing of music. In order to remove any doubt from the reader's mind regarding this vital
issue, it is necessary not only to mention these
scholars and their claims but also to establish the
proof against them.
Ibn Hazam and Ibn al-`Arabi al-Maaliki claimed that
there is no authentic hadeeth, which prohibit music,
song and musical instruments. They asserted that
al-Bukhaari's hadeeth earlier is not authentic on the
ground that there is a missing link between
al-Bukhaari and the next narrator, implying that the
hadeeth's isnaad is disconnected [munqati'] and
therefore not a valid proof in the prohibition of
music, song, musical instruments and singing. In
addition, Ibn Hazam, as quoted by al-Qardaawi in
al-Halal wa al-Haraam fil Islaam, said, 'Every hadeeth
related [prohibiting music and singing] is false and
forged.'" However, al-Bukhaari's hadeeth is authentic,
because there exist fully connected chains for it,
which fulfill the conditions of authenticity. This was
stated by great scholars of hadeeth such as Ibn
as-Salah [in his Uloomul Hadeeth], al-Haafidh
al-Iraaqi and Ibn Hajar in his Fathul Baari and
Taghleequt Ta'leeq. They all have conveniently refuted
Ibn Hazam's claim and rendered it unfounded. In short,
al-Bukhari's narration is authentic and consequently
constitutes a valid and binding text to be referred to
in determining the ruling regarding music.
Imam al-Ghazaali, is often quoted by some as having
maintained a view of permissibility. It must be made
clear that he argued in favour of only innocent
singing, physical sport and entertainment. Nowhere did
he mention or argue in favour of the permissibility of
musical instruments or musical accompaniment to
singing. Thus, those who quote him [like al-Qardaawi]
as a proof for the legality of music commit a gross
error and do him a great injustice, for they impute to
him that which he himself did not claim.
As for the assertion made by Abu Taalib al-Makki [as
even quoted by Tilde], that some prominent companions
of the Prophet and those who followed them have
listened to songs, and that even now, the people of
Hijaz in Makkah listen to songs in the most sacred
days of the year, that is the appointed days in which
God enjoined His worship and remembrance, the reply
would be: al-Adhra'i has quoted Abul-Qaasim ad-Dowlaqi as
saying: "It has not been related regarding any one of
the companions [R.A] that he listened to the sort of
singing which is of the disputed type, nor is it
related that gatherings for song were organised for
him, nor that people were invited to them - either
publicly or privately, nor that he praised such song;
rather, it was the companions' habit to censure and
blame such gatherings for the purpose of listening to
it." [See Kaffur Ra'aa and al-Qurtubi]
What justification can one find from the foregoing to
accept the permissibility of ghinaa? It is based on
some of these reasons, al-Qardaawi rescind his
position of permissibility on the issue at stake by
accepting all the corrections made to his al-Halaal
wal Haraam by Muhammad Naasiruddeen al-Albaani in
Ghaayatul Maraam [as indicated by al-Qardaawi himself
in his Kaif Nata'aamal ma' Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah]. And
for the sake of, if al-Makki or any other scholar had
argued for the permissibility of music/or singing to
its accompaniment, the reply would be: When it is in
contradiction to the authentic Sunnah, one cannot
accept the view of any other person after Allah's
Messenger [S.A.W].
Ruling
§ The use of all musical instruments is forbidden,
except the daff, whose permissible use [in the
restricted form explained above] is a specification of
or an exception to the general ruling. The categories
of musical instruments are as follows: (a) wind
instruments such as flutes, horns, trumpets,
accordions, saxophones and trombones; (b) string
instruments which include guitars, violins, banjos,
harps, sitars, lutes, basses and cellos; (c)
percussion instruments such as gongs, cymbals, bass
drums, bongos, congas and tambourines; and (d) a
combination of two or more of the above such as the
piano, which combines percussion and string
instrumentation. This ruling has been arrived at
through the texts of authentic hadeeths narrated by
Ahmad, al-Bukhaari, Ibn Maajah, al-Haakim and
al-Bayhaqi quoted earlier on.
§ Preceding texts of the Sunnah designated the general
ruling of prohibition regarding singing under certain
circumstances. The narration of al-Haakim described
the singing voice coupled with music as imbecilic and
sinful. Naturally, singing to musical accompaniment is
forbidden since it is coupled with music. As for
innocent singing to the accompaniment of just the
daff, this has been allowed on only specific
occasions.
§ Singing without musical accompaniment is permitted
under certain circumstances and with particular
conditions. The lyrics of the songs must be pure and
innocent, and must keep within the moral bounds set by
Islamic teachings
§ Dancing to musical instrument is prohibited since
that which is coupled with a prohibited thing becomes
forbidden. As for dancing without music, or to the
accompaniment of the daff only, such is restricted
solely to women and children and is not befitting the
role of males.
§ Dancing by women has its conditions. No music other
than that provided by the daff and the human voice is
allowed. Women must be properly clothed and are
restricted to the company of women and children only.
It should also be a simple, natural rhythmic swaying
free from every form of obvious or covert vice.
§ The profession of music, singing, dancing and
instrument making and selling are all forbidden. In an
Islamic state such instruments may be seized from
their owner and destroyed without recourse to
indemnity.
§ It is the duty of a Muslim that he avoid listening
to music and singing in so far as it is within his
power and jurisdiction. As for what he hears from his
neighbour's yard, or when he passes through the
streets or markets, that is not a sin upon him, nor is
it his responsibility to try to stop it unless he has
the power and authority to do so. Similarly, where he
is forced to hear music without the will or desire to
do so, he is not to blame, provided it
is with the sole intention of deriving benefit from
the information contained therein and not for the
purpose of seeking pleasure in hearing the music.
§ The supposed contribution of Hausa singers and
musicians in entertainment, social mobilization and
cultural continuity is not enough reason for the
championing of this issue, or disagreeing with a
Fatawa issued by the Ulama. I do not know of any
scholar who opines the permissibility or canvass the
continuity of any issue prohibited by the Prophet on
the basis of its so-called contribution.
§ The claim by Dr. Tilde that the issue is not
conclusive or we have no basis in religion to abrogate
music and singing is therefore unfounded and untenable.
Alternatives
According to al-Munajjid in his Muharramaat, music and
singing form one of the greatest temptations of our
times. What is difficult is the fact that nowadays
music is part of so many things, such as clocks,
doorbells, children's toy, computers, telephones,
etc., and avoiding it takes a great deal of
determination.
Notwithstanding, it is the duty of every Muslim to
strive his utmost to find acceptable [lawful]
alternatives to the prohibited forms of music and song
as delineated in this write up. Some suggestions are:
§ Sweet and melodious recitation of and listening to
the reading of Allah's book.
§ Singing and listening to Islamic songs
§ Remembrance of Allah [Dhikr]
§ Healthy physical sports
Regulating Hausa Film and Novels
Regulating Hausa films and novels
Kano has not stopped attracting our attention. The state government there has suspended the production of Hausa films pending legislation that will regulate the activities of the industry in addition to existing laws. I assume it will also include Hausa novels. The producers and writers of such films and books seem to be entertaining the legitimate fear that the legislation will ban their profession or strangulate it through strict interference.
In our discourse today, we have pointed out that neither art nor its regulation is new in our custom. Though we support government regulation of such influential tool of cultural transformation, we are against the government siding with people that would like to push it to the extreme. Instead, it should see how it could utilize the film industry and the Kano Market Literature to achieve mass mobilization towards desired social goals. The reader should please note that whatever we said below about films in this discourse also applies to the popular novels.
Custom
Changes in our entertainment culture started in the seventies. It was brought about by different factors including urbanization, infrastructure growth, education and so on. Education for example prevented the child of dankama from inheriting his father. Providing villages with electricity diminished the power that the moonshine had in attracting children to night plays. It also removed the darkness required to play hide and seek (o jibo jibo).
But the greatest of all factors in diminishing these aspects of culture is the ascendancy of religion in our social sector. There is no doubt that today a greater percentage of the Muslim population is educated than in the 1960s, thanks to the efforts of many groups that have shifted Islamic education from its “aristocratic” position to a “democratic” one, borrowing from the expression of the father of modern Arabic literature, Dr. Taha Husein.
We may be wrong in correlating the decline of entertainment to religion, infrastructure or education alone. Another equally important factor is the introduction of modern avenues for entertainment that have replaced previous ones. First were the cinema houses, then came the television, followed by the home video, and lastly the over 100 satellite stations available to families today, depending on their income and lifestyle. This implies that the waveband of our cultural interaction has expanded from the simple and narrow limits that the village could offer to the widest horizons presented by the cinema industry and globalisation.
Regulation
Now before going further, let me quickly add that not all the traditional means of entertainment was Islamic. If modern satellite channels can boast of parental control keys on their remote control, our parents were equally interested in limiting the contact of their children with indigenous bad culture. They were strict on their children in matters that were inconsistent with the teachings of Islam or with the dignity of their families.
For example, some parents detests anything drum. Gantsare, the Hausa version of Raqs, was seen as immoral by religiously inclined families. I remember my elder sister Zainab who we use to call Jebu. I cannot remember seeing her dance or participating in evening songs which other girls used to sing in the open. But I remember that she was generous to Pankashali, the kalangu master in the village to whose tune the girls used to dance. Both Jebu and Pankashali knew that she will be severely beaten once she is reported to have danced or sang anything in the market. So, Pankashali himself did all he could to exonerate her in take (anthem). He would use his kalangu to say: “Jebu yar filani\ ba rawa take ba\ sai dai ta bada kyauta\ ta taimaki mai kidan kalangu.”
The point I tried to make so far is that censorship is not new in our society. And the effort of the past has indeed yielded results. With the ascendance of religious consciousness, girls here neither dance nor sing in the open. Alhamdu lillah. Jebu is married with children and grandchildren. She is now a scholar, teaching in a women night Islamic institute and therefore might not want to recall her days as a girl. She does not need to worry about the likelihood of her children dancing or singing in the open. Pankashali has himself noticed the shift of public attention away from his profession. He has ‘repented’ and changed his profession from kida to roko!
Films
But modern films are so popular that they demand a different form of control. The issue is no longer restricted to a song or a single artist. Entertainment today is a big industry that serves thousands of families with productions that could have great impact on culture. The films today have inherited the power of the cinema industry when it first appeared in Europe and America. On this, the celebrated Egyptian scholar, Professor Muhammad Qutb once wrote in Ma’rakatul’ Taqalid, saying:
“The cinema was since its inception an art of the masses, people who could neither read literature nor had money to enter the theatre or the opportunity to patronize dance and concert. They could not also contemplate possessing artworks and frames. But these masses understood the cinema and they attended it in mad crowds…
“The cinema, with its distinct possibilities, was a fascination for them. In reality, it is a collection of various similar arts: the arts of story, theatre, photography, music and song. Aided by technology, the motion picture looked similar to what obtains in real life. This gave the cinema greater impact on morals and customs more than any other form of art…”
With this potential to affect our customs and morality, I strongly believe that government in any shariah state must insist on putting in place not only legislation but also a mechanism that will effectively censor the cinema and Hausa film industry in particular. The concern is not really on foreign films as much as it is on local films. Whatever foreign films show is regarded alien since the roles are performed by turawa and the production is foreign. To some extent, the same thing could be true of films from other regions in Nigeria.
But our link with Hausa films is different. It is real. It talks about our society, about its beliefs and practices. If a person belonging to the same cultural bracket as the viewer plays any obscene role, it immediately captures the mind of the latter and his subconscious will register it as a possibility, just as Muhammad Qutb said above. Some are even true-life stories. Now, why should we publicize the evil that was done in private?
Happily, the producers of Hausa films are not entirely against government regulation. To be fair to them, they have, as once reported in this magazine, set up, on their own, a committee in Kano that screens such films before they are released. This is in addition to the regulatory measures set by the Nigerian Film Cooperation. To that effect, they have refused to release certain films that they felt are inconsistent with our culture and religion. And even in the ongoing debate, they have pledged their readiness to work with whatever steps the government would take to make their films shariah-compliant. What remains is to determine the extent to which government should go in its intervention.
Extent of control
Let’s begin with the extreme. I do not support banning the films, just as poetry was not banned in the past. That will only leave us with the option of patronizing other films. The fact is that the average man today has come to look at leisure as part of life, be it music or cinema, traditional or modern. We need to regard our local Hausa films as alternatives to the foreign ones.
For example, I will strongly support legislation that will prohibit the featuring of crime, sex and whatever will lead to that in Hausa films. The use of guns, as I saw in one of the films will promote violence. Robbery and other crimes should also be banned. Where both sexes are to feature, whatever Islam prohibits in real life, from transparent and tight dresses to bodily contacts between the actors and sex or its imitation must be desisted. The same thing applies to novels.
This is in the interest of both writers and film stars. As Thomas Chenery once wrote, “whatever the age or country of a writer, he cannot but lose in reputation by indecency.” The first thing that led to the decline of the American actress and singer Madonna was her appearance in blue film. By exposing her body, she demystified it, showing nothing more than what other women possess. By that act, she left nothing to attract anyone anymore.
Using religion to generate laughter like what we see in Jahilci ya fi Hauka should not be tolerated. No matter the how good an artist is, blasphemous vanity would lead to his reprimand by Islamic authorities. I support the fatwa of Imam Khomeini on Salman Rushdie. It is nothing new. Those conversant with the history of Arabic literature will recall the murder of the Persian Abdullah ibn al-Mokaffa’, despite his unsurpassed mastery of Arabic prosody, on the orders of Mansoor, the Abbasid Caliph. The reason why the indecent poetry on women by Bashar and that of beer by Abu Nuwas were tolerated during the reign of Mamoon was because they fell short of blasphemy. In the same vein, Shata would have only been reprimaned by Yeriman Bakura, not murdered, for singing A Sharuwa, Garba Jiikan Garba, Gagara Badau or A’i Captain. The same thing would have applied to Hassan Wayam and Barmani Choge. I am not at all surprised that I bought my diwan of Abu Nuwas just some meters away from the Haram in Mecca in 1993. Had I asked for that of Bashar, I would have likely got it.
What we really want our Hausa films and novelists to desist from is anything that will promote moral degradation and societal tranquillity. They also have a great role to play in pushing our society forward, toward progress in various areas of endeavour: economy, politics, religion, education, security, etc.
Moderation
At the same time, I would appeal to governments in shariah states to be moderate in their legislations. For example, I believe that there is no need to shut down cinema houses or video clubs, once the type of films they should not trade in are made clear. They could be heavily punished for violating of the law. The cinema and video clubs are important avenues for “the masses” that do not have the video machines to watch Wasila or Mukhtar in their houses. If government will utilize the film industry effectively, it could serve as an effective channel of reaching out to the masses. It can even sponsor productions that will carry a definite message that it wants to reach the population and have the desired impact.
What government must desist from, as I always mention, is succumbing to the pressures of people who would like to push it to the extreme and make it adopt a puritanical stand. Art has not been in the good books of puritans who assume that everybody should be a saint. In the 12th century when al-Hariri wrote his Assemblies, he came under criticism from some scholars. They saw it as too playful and glorifying indecency in some places. This is what might have compelled al-Hariri to put up a defence in his introduction. He contended that his narratives were like tales that were widely accepted and that since deeds are judged according to intention, he should be regarded as “one who accents to doctrine and guides to the right path.”
We would however like our scholars to see art from the same angle as the author of Fi Zilal. When Sayyid Qutb published his Tasweerul’ Fanni fil’ Quran (Artistic Imagery in the Quran), he expected some opposition for viewing the sacred document using the lens of an artist. The only predecessor that attempted it centuries earlier was Yusuf al-Jarjaniy. So, Sayyid was surprised when he saw the wide acceptance that the book got even among religious circles. Seven years after its debut, he made the following remarks in its Third Edition:
“All thanks are due to Allah, it has been successful. It has been widely accepted in circles of art, science and religion. This shows that religion does not stand in the path of researches in science and art … and that researches in art and science are neither offensive nor lacerating to religion, once they carried out with good intention and devoid of pretence and false claims… and that freedom of thought does not necessarily imply the obliteration of religion as understood by some blind followers of liberation …”
There might be few people who have overcome their shortcomings as mortals and therefore look at the society from atop tudun mun tsira. However, every government must be aware that legislation is not made for such saints. It is made for us, the majority, people who are still struggling to fulfil the basic requirements of Islam and who could easily cave in, due to our numerous weaknesses and shortcomings, to the tempting offers of the World. So we will very much appreciate the kind gesture of government when it comes to write laws to consider our interest and of course our legitimate right to indulge in what is not unlawful.
Conclusion
In the absence of the moonshine that invites us to Ta-karido Ta-Karido and tatsuniya as kids, or the darkness that presents us the opportunity to play oh-jibo-jibo due to the spread of electricity and with the absence of dankama and gardi from our markets; with the decline of other traditional forms of entertainment, like dambe, sharo and kokawa; with Pankashali abandoning his kalangu and becoming a maroki; and with our natural desire for leisure and relaxation, governments in shariah states should please consider leaving the gate open for modern forms of entertainment. We welcome any legislation that will prevent the growth of indecency in the film industry, but we would like the industry to remain lively for the opportunities it presents in empowerment and mass mobilization. Ditto for Hausa novels, cinema, video clubs, etc.
Kano has not stopped attracting our attention. The state government there has suspended the production of Hausa films pending legislation that will regulate the activities of the industry in addition to existing laws. I assume it will also include Hausa novels. The producers and writers of such films and books seem to be entertaining the legitimate fear that the legislation will ban their profession or strangulate it through strict interference.
In our discourse today, we have pointed out that neither art nor its regulation is new in our custom. Though we support government regulation of such influential tool of cultural transformation, we are against the government siding with people that would like to push it to the extreme. Instead, it should see how it could utilize the film industry and the Kano Market Literature to achieve mass mobilization towards desired social goals. The reader should please note that whatever we said below about films in this discourse also applies to the popular novels.
Custom
Changes in our entertainment culture started in the seventies. It was brought about by different factors including urbanization, infrastructure growth, education and so on. Education for example prevented the child of dankama from inheriting his father. Providing villages with electricity diminished the power that the moonshine had in attracting children to night plays. It also removed the darkness required to play hide and seek (o jibo jibo).
But the greatest of all factors in diminishing these aspects of culture is the ascendancy of religion in our social sector. There is no doubt that today a greater percentage of the Muslim population is educated than in the 1960s, thanks to the efforts of many groups that have shifted Islamic education from its “aristocratic” position to a “democratic” one, borrowing from the expression of the father of modern Arabic literature, Dr. Taha Husein.
We may be wrong in correlating the decline of entertainment to religion, infrastructure or education alone. Another equally important factor is the introduction of modern avenues for entertainment that have replaced previous ones. First were the cinema houses, then came the television, followed by the home video, and lastly the over 100 satellite stations available to families today, depending on their income and lifestyle. This implies that the waveband of our cultural interaction has expanded from the simple and narrow limits that the village could offer to the widest horizons presented by the cinema industry and globalisation.
Regulation
Now before going further, let me quickly add that not all the traditional means of entertainment was Islamic. If modern satellite channels can boast of parental control keys on their remote control, our parents were equally interested in limiting the contact of their children with indigenous bad culture. They were strict on their children in matters that were inconsistent with the teachings of Islam or with the dignity of their families.
For example, some parents detests anything drum. Gantsare, the Hausa version of Raqs, was seen as immoral by religiously inclined families. I remember my elder sister Zainab who we use to call Jebu. I cannot remember seeing her dance or participating in evening songs which other girls used to sing in the open. But I remember that she was generous to Pankashali, the kalangu master in the village to whose tune the girls used to dance. Both Jebu and Pankashali knew that she will be severely beaten once she is reported to have danced or sang anything in the market. So, Pankashali himself did all he could to exonerate her in take (anthem). He would use his kalangu to say: “Jebu yar filani\ ba rawa take ba\ sai dai ta bada kyauta\ ta taimaki mai kidan kalangu.”
The point I tried to make so far is that censorship is not new in our society. And the effort of the past has indeed yielded results. With the ascendance of religious consciousness, girls here neither dance nor sing in the open. Alhamdu lillah. Jebu is married with children and grandchildren. She is now a scholar, teaching in a women night Islamic institute and therefore might not want to recall her days as a girl. She does not need to worry about the likelihood of her children dancing or singing in the open. Pankashali has himself noticed the shift of public attention away from his profession. He has ‘repented’ and changed his profession from kida to roko!
Films
But modern films are so popular that they demand a different form of control. The issue is no longer restricted to a song or a single artist. Entertainment today is a big industry that serves thousands of families with productions that could have great impact on culture. The films today have inherited the power of the cinema industry when it first appeared in Europe and America. On this, the celebrated Egyptian scholar, Professor Muhammad Qutb once wrote in Ma’rakatul’ Taqalid, saying:
“The cinema was since its inception an art of the masses, people who could neither read literature nor had money to enter the theatre or the opportunity to patronize dance and concert. They could not also contemplate possessing artworks and frames. But these masses understood the cinema and they attended it in mad crowds…
“The cinema, with its distinct possibilities, was a fascination for them. In reality, it is a collection of various similar arts: the arts of story, theatre, photography, music and song. Aided by technology, the motion picture looked similar to what obtains in real life. This gave the cinema greater impact on morals and customs more than any other form of art…”
With this potential to affect our customs and morality, I strongly believe that government in any shariah state must insist on putting in place not only legislation but also a mechanism that will effectively censor the cinema and Hausa film industry in particular. The concern is not really on foreign films as much as it is on local films. Whatever foreign films show is regarded alien since the roles are performed by turawa and the production is foreign. To some extent, the same thing could be true of films from other regions in Nigeria.
But our link with Hausa films is different. It is real. It talks about our society, about its beliefs and practices. If a person belonging to the same cultural bracket as the viewer plays any obscene role, it immediately captures the mind of the latter and his subconscious will register it as a possibility, just as Muhammad Qutb said above. Some are even true-life stories. Now, why should we publicize the evil that was done in private?
Happily, the producers of Hausa films are not entirely against government regulation. To be fair to them, they have, as once reported in this magazine, set up, on their own, a committee in Kano that screens such films before they are released. This is in addition to the regulatory measures set by the Nigerian Film Cooperation. To that effect, they have refused to release certain films that they felt are inconsistent with our culture and religion. And even in the ongoing debate, they have pledged their readiness to work with whatever steps the government would take to make their films shariah-compliant. What remains is to determine the extent to which government should go in its intervention.
Extent of control
Let’s begin with the extreme. I do not support banning the films, just as poetry was not banned in the past. That will only leave us with the option of patronizing other films. The fact is that the average man today has come to look at leisure as part of life, be it music or cinema, traditional or modern. We need to regard our local Hausa films as alternatives to the foreign ones.
For example, I will strongly support legislation that will prohibit the featuring of crime, sex and whatever will lead to that in Hausa films. The use of guns, as I saw in one of the films will promote violence. Robbery and other crimes should also be banned. Where both sexes are to feature, whatever Islam prohibits in real life, from transparent and tight dresses to bodily contacts between the actors and sex or its imitation must be desisted. The same thing applies to novels.
This is in the interest of both writers and film stars. As Thomas Chenery once wrote, “whatever the age or country of a writer, he cannot but lose in reputation by indecency.” The first thing that led to the decline of the American actress and singer Madonna was her appearance in blue film. By exposing her body, she demystified it, showing nothing more than what other women possess. By that act, she left nothing to attract anyone anymore.
Using religion to generate laughter like what we see in Jahilci ya fi Hauka should not be tolerated. No matter the how good an artist is, blasphemous vanity would lead to his reprimand by Islamic authorities. I support the fatwa of Imam Khomeini on Salman Rushdie. It is nothing new. Those conversant with the history of Arabic literature will recall the murder of the Persian Abdullah ibn al-Mokaffa’, despite his unsurpassed mastery of Arabic prosody, on the orders of Mansoor, the Abbasid Caliph. The reason why the indecent poetry on women by Bashar and that of beer by Abu Nuwas were tolerated during the reign of Mamoon was because they fell short of blasphemy. In the same vein, Shata would have only been reprimaned by Yeriman Bakura, not murdered, for singing A Sharuwa, Garba Jiikan Garba, Gagara Badau or A’i Captain. The same thing would have applied to Hassan Wayam and Barmani Choge. I am not at all surprised that I bought my diwan of Abu Nuwas just some meters away from the Haram in Mecca in 1993. Had I asked for that of Bashar, I would have likely got it.
What we really want our Hausa films and novelists to desist from is anything that will promote moral degradation and societal tranquillity. They also have a great role to play in pushing our society forward, toward progress in various areas of endeavour: economy, politics, religion, education, security, etc.
Moderation
At the same time, I would appeal to governments in shariah states to be moderate in their legislations. For example, I believe that there is no need to shut down cinema houses or video clubs, once the type of films they should not trade in are made clear. They could be heavily punished for violating of the law. The cinema and video clubs are important avenues for “the masses” that do not have the video machines to watch Wasila or Mukhtar in their houses. If government will utilize the film industry effectively, it could serve as an effective channel of reaching out to the masses. It can even sponsor productions that will carry a definite message that it wants to reach the population and have the desired impact.
What government must desist from, as I always mention, is succumbing to the pressures of people who would like to push it to the extreme and make it adopt a puritanical stand. Art has not been in the good books of puritans who assume that everybody should be a saint. In the 12th century when al-Hariri wrote his Assemblies, he came under criticism from some scholars. They saw it as too playful and glorifying indecency in some places. This is what might have compelled al-Hariri to put up a defence in his introduction. He contended that his narratives were like tales that were widely accepted and that since deeds are judged according to intention, he should be regarded as “one who accents to doctrine and guides to the right path.”
We would however like our scholars to see art from the same angle as the author of Fi Zilal. When Sayyid Qutb published his Tasweerul’ Fanni fil’ Quran (Artistic Imagery in the Quran), he expected some opposition for viewing the sacred document using the lens of an artist. The only predecessor that attempted it centuries earlier was Yusuf al-Jarjaniy. So, Sayyid was surprised when he saw the wide acceptance that the book got even among religious circles. Seven years after its debut, he made the following remarks in its Third Edition:
“All thanks are due to Allah, it has been successful. It has been widely accepted in circles of art, science and religion. This shows that religion does not stand in the path of researches in science and art … and that researches in art and science are neither offensive nor lacerating to religion, once they carried out with good intention and devoid of pretence and false claims… and that freedom of thought does not necessarily imply the obliteration of religion as understood by some blind followers of liberation …”
There might be few people who have overcome their shortcomings as mortals and therefore look at the society from atop tudun mun tsira. However, every government must be aware that legislation is not made for such saints. It is made for us, the majority, people who are still struggling to fulfil the basic requirements of Islam and who could easily cave in, due to our numerous weaknesses and shortcomings, to the tempting offers of the World. So we will very much appreciate the kind gesture of government when it comes to write laws to consider our interest and of course our legitimate right to indulge in what is not unlawful.
Conclusion
In the absence of the moonshine that invites us to Ta-karido Ta-Karido and tatsuniya as kids, or the darkness that presents us the opportunity to play oh-jibo-jibo due to the spread of electricity and with the absence of dankama and gardi from our markets; with the decline of other traditional forms of entertainment, like dambe, sharo and kokawa; with Pankashali abandoning his kalangu and becoming a maroki; and with our natural desire for leisure and relaxation, governments in shariah states should please consider leaving the gate open for modern forms of entertainment. We welcome any legislation that will prevent the growth of indecency in the film industry, but we would like the industry to remain lively for the opportunities it presents in empowerment and mass mobilization. Ditto for Hausa novels, cinema, video clubs, etc.
Before We Revolt (Third article on Moon sighting in Nigeria)
Before We Revolt
“Ina ruwa na? Sun ce mu dauka, mun dauka. Sun ce mu aje, mun aje. In karya ce su da Allah »
The above is the usual answer of the common Nigerian Muslim if asked whether the new moon was sighted correctly or not. He did not have the sharp eye to sight the crescent himself on the first night. Neither has he the capacity to participate in scholastic discourse on the issue. He works with what the Sultan commands. And when the chips are down, the commoner has no defense but to throw the rope round the neck of the royal father, not giving a damn to whether the latter would be hanged by it or not.
The defense of the authorities, starting from the dagaci or hakimi up the royal hierarchy to His Eminence, the Sultan, is also simple. People have reported sighting the new moon, from more than one place. What choice have we other than announcing the arrival of the Holy month, or its departure, as enjoined by the Hadith of the Holy Prophet?
The Scholars on their part depend on a consensus Hadith that says, “Fast when the new moon (of Ramadan) is sighted, and stop fasting when it (the new moon of Shawwal) is sighted”. And it requires the sight of only one upright Muslim for Ramadan and of two independent ones for Shawwal, upon the most authentic and most preponderant view among jurists.
Thus with the above touch of simplicity, the month of Ramadan continued to be an annual source of controversy in Nigeria. All of us seem to have a reason to shy away from the responsibility of any mistake, if at all we accept or believe, even secretly, that any was made.
Speaking honestly though, I do not think anybody is lying. People are innocent. We are only slow in adapting to the impact of new information and technology. That is all. As usual, anything new is received with skepticism. Some would rush to say, “Ah! This is the end of the world. The Prophet has said that controversy over moon sighting is one of its signs.” The majority will run away from it, making all sorts of accusations.
For example, to claim that when the new moon would form could be predicted with good degree of accuracy would sound blasphemous to many ears, some of them scholars. It is considered an indulgence in gaibu (knowledge of the Hidden). Many factors are responsible for this. First, our society has remained a simple one, as far as science is concerned. Our knowledge of the moon is still shrouded with superstitions. Are there many moons or a single one? Is there a moon for each month, as Ramli among the Shafi’ites would claim? The eclipse of the moon or sun is still greeted with fear and clamor. It signifies the end of the world or an impending disaster. To claim that the earth is spherical, suspended in the air and moving round the sun is considered a blatant lie. The sun? Ah, it rises from the East and sets at the West. Simple.
Hence, the news that Apollo XI has landed on the moon in 1969 was received with the fear that America and Russia would “destabilize” the Heavens, or reach the “Kursiyyu.” Shata was exceptionally adventurous. He received the news with a thrill that compelled him to sing in praise of the Americans and their Apollo Program in Kumbo Apollo Eleven. But his contender on the issue, Muhammadu Gawo Filinge, expressed the feeling of the majority in Hausaland in his famous song Rabbi Sarki Mai-Jima’a. Though he conceded that God has given America and Russia luck and “enormous” knowledge, he nevertheless advised that they should desist from landing on the moon. This is how rudimentary our knowledge of the moon and the sun is traditionally. The common man would therefore naturally accept simple explanations based on modern science only gradually.
Secondly, predictions regarding rain, new moon or eclipses, etc. are generally regarded as indulgence in gaibu, the unknown whose knowledge in the doctrine of Monotheism is peculiar to God. The mathematics (hisabi) involved is often regarded as duba (fortune-telling), which along with astrology stands condemned in Islam.
Regarding moon sighting in particular, there is enough ground in some texts of Islamic jurisprudence that appear to support such views, at least on the surface. One of such texts is the most commonly used commentary on the Mukhtasar, the Jawahirul Ikleel of Sheikh Saleh Abdulsami’. In it, he said, “Ramadan will not be established by the calculation of an astrologer even when his truth is manifest because God has instructed that his assertions be rejected. No one should fast based on what he says. Neither could he (the astrologer) himself depend on that. Believing him is haram because the Prophet (S) has said, “Whoever believes a soothsayer, or a fortune-teller or an astrologer has disbelieved in what was revealed upon Muhammad (S).”
Now, where do we stand with astronomical calculations? In the first place, there is an ocean of difference between astronomy and astrology. The New Websters Dictionary defines astrology as “the art of predicting or determining the influence of the planets and stars on human affairs.” It defined astronomy, on the other hand, as “the science of heavenly bodies.” So though both pertains heavenly bodies, astrology is an art, a discourse (logos) while astronomy is a science (nomos) concerning the “law or arrangement” of such bodies. That is precisely why the author of Jawahirul Ikleel was quick to say that Ma’zari does not consider the calculation of the astrologer sinful if he has based it on a universal law.
The issue of Ghaib (the Unknown) itself has on a number of matters undergone transformation. Talking about tomorrow does not necessary imply indulgence in Ghaib. If we ask a child, from where would the sun rise tomorrow? His answer will certainly be “from the East.” Now we ask an adult of 40 years: “Would it rain in Maiduguri in December this year?” His answer will be “No.” Now, would the sun set at 7.15pm in Maiduguri today? No, because every year it sets around 6.00pm or just thereabout in December.
So man has learnt, by the Grace of God, how to predict the motion of heavenly bodies depending on the technique he employs. With lenses we know he could see farther than his ordinary eyes could reach. That is no Ghaib. Even issues like where rains would fall what the gender of a womb is, things that were once regarded as Ghaib in classical commentaries, in the famous Jalalain for example, are today, by the Grace of God Who furnished us with satellites and scanners, within the reach of man. That is why Ghaib is what is hidden from us, but remains in the Knowledge of God, which has encompassed everything. Whatever He lets us know would no longer be Ghaib. It soon becomes a tradition (‘adah) known to all and sundry. “They encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will.” (2:255)
Thus the last two verses in Suratul Luqman are given a fresh commentary by modern commentators like the late Mutawalli Sha’arawi. According to him, the essence of the verse stands. It says “ma fil arham,” not “man fil arham.” The commentary is what changes with our perceptions while the verses of the Quran remain.
Having said this much, it is ripe to conclude that scientific information about the movement of the moon should not be seen as transgression into Ghaib. It is not even astrology. It is something based on empirical calculations that have been tested and found correct many times. The basis for using these calculations is the Quran itself. It has categorically mentioned: “The sun and the moon are made punctual” (55:5). Scientists simply took their time to watch the arrivals and departures of these ever punctual bodies and came out with formulae. So what is wrong with that?
The third problem has to do with the misunderstanding on what we are preaching. No one is asking the public to use these calculations alone and forget about sighting the moon. That will be a violation of the Hadith earlier referred to in this discourse. If it were so, we would have suggested that the last Ramadan should begin on Sunday, 26th November since the astronomical moon started at 12.53am that morning. But the condition of the Hadith needs to be fulfilled: The visual sighting of the moon, with the naked eye. That will require a waiting for about 17 hrs after the conjunction has taken place. In the evening of Sunday therefore, it would be possible for the moon to be sighted, as witnessed by the rest of the world, other than Nigeria.
So the calculation serves as a guide, a compass if you like, towards a correct sighting of the crescent. If I would tell someone that Lagos is southwest of Bauchi, and he flies without a compass straight in that direction, he will most likely end up in Benin Republic. To get to Lagos exactly, he needs a more precise definition, in degrees and minutes, which only a compass can accord. In the same way, astronomical calculations, as used in other countries, give us a more precise data on when to look at the sky and expect to see our newborn moon.
That is precisely the problem in this country. If people were asked to go on moon sighting on the right day, we would not have had any problem. But for both Ramadan and Shawwal, they went a day earlier, coming back to claim that they have seen a moon. They did not lie. Yes they did see a moon, especially on the 24th of December. Mind you, it was the same moon that everybody saw in the morning in the East, an old moon, not a new one. Before the new one is seen, the old one must go into “hiding” and it will not be seen for at least a day.
I heard a young Imam around denouncing the necessity for the moon to “hide”. It has aligned with the sun, so our naked eyes cannot see it. As it moves away from that alignment, now being a new moon, it starts to become visible and its visibility increases everyday until it becomes a full moon. God has said “And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shriveled palm leaf.” (36:39) All commentators, old and new, have asserted that these mansions are 28 if the moon is 29-day and 29 if it is 30-day, as written in Raddul’ Adzhan. What we are saying is nothing new.
If we have seen it in the East, how do we see it as a new moon later in the day? And how comes it completely disappeared the following evening, on Monday, the day we were busy celebrating Sallah?
What is really disturbing is how Nigeria came out different from the rest of the world. Though it is not possible for the whole world to begin fasting or observe Sallah on the same day due to the difference in timing, it is doubtful whether Nigeria was correct in being a loner, almost every year. Though the issue of moon sighting is not a completely settled one, we have every reason to doubt our stand if we alone could be on one side, and the rest of the world on another. Tolerable differences due to differences in latitude must never be more than a day. But to see the new moon two days earlier than the rest of the world can hardly be justified even by common sense.
And that is the danger: the fact that people have common sense. My advice here is for the Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs to reconsider its practice on moon sighting. Let it be bold enough to imbibe new ideas that have only come to confirm what previous scholars have said. One important step in that direction is to use astronomical calculations as a guide towards sighting new moons. This alone will drastically reduce the chances of mistakes. The Council would then be able to compare notes with countries with which we share timing zones. The issue of timing zones is an old one in Islamic literature. Navigating without a compass is a risky business.
People may wish to underestimate the importance of my advice. But it needs to be taken seriously to avert the possibility of revolt both within the royal circles and among commoners like myself. A difference of a day last year was enough to cause a rift between the royal fathers during Eid al-Adha. Many did not follow the Sultan. This year the arithmetic will be a more difficult one. We will be two days ahead of the world except if both Shawwal and Zhul Qida would be 29 days only in Nigeria and 28 days in the rest of the world. But could a moon be 28 days? Or both months will be 30 days in Nigeria and 29 days each in the rest of the World. But Nigerians are not used to 30-day moons. Head or tail, all permutations show that we are heading for a crisis in two months, especially if Nigeria will observe one of the months as 29 and the world observes it as 30. The difference then will then be three days or Nigerians will a lunar month of 31 days! The discrepancy will only be averted if the authorities will be bold enough to concede to the population that there was a mistake in our Ramadan. Mistakes are human. So what is wrong in confessing to a making one?
One really wonders why it is taking time for the leaders and scholars to adjust. In the past we can afford to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world because information took days or even months to traverse the globe. Today, it could be within seconds. Immediately people learnt over the BBC and VOA that we were alone in Sallah, they became disturbed. Some even rushed to withhold eating and fast the following day. Education is circulating wider and faster, making people to ask questions. When they cannot find satisfactory answers here, they will listen to those coming from overseas. We cannot cock people in bottles any longer.
This matter, simple as it may seem, has the capacity to undermine the reverence that people have for traditional institutions and the local clergy. It can be averted if both groups will become more adaptive and adventurous in scholarship. Holding on to traditions and superstitions will only facilitate revolt and the search for alternatives. It is in our collective interest that we remain together.
It will benefit us a lot also if our Ulema would strive to acquire even the rudimentary concepts of science. Their counterparts in other parts of the world are busy doing so. They organize international conferences where they seek explanations from scientists on recent advances in various fields of science.
The two classes of people have everything to lose by not heeding to my call. If they however take it seriously, they will retain their most precious possession – their followers. Meanwhile, let them contend with the approaching dilemma on the issue of Arafat and the next Sallah.
“Ina ruwa na? Sun ce mu dauka, mun dauka. Sun ce mu aje, mun aje. In karya ce su da Allah »
The above is the usual answer of the common Nigerian Muslim if asked whether the new moon was sighted correctly or not. He did not have the sharp eye to sight the crescent himself on the first night. Neither has he the capacity to participate in scholastic discourse on the issue. He works with what the Sultan commands. And when the chips are down, the commoner has no defense but to throw the rope round the neck of the royal father, not giving a damn to whether the latter would be hanged by it or not.
The defense of the authorities, starting from the dagaci or hakimi up the royal hierarchy to His Eminence, the Sultan, is also simple. People have reported sighting the new moon, from more than one place. What choice have we other than announcing the arrival of the Holy month, or its departure, as enjoined by the Hadith of the Holy Prophet?
The Scholars on their part depend on a consensus Hadith that says, “Fast when the new moon (of Ramadan) is sighted, and stop fasting when it (the new moon of Shawwal) is sighted”. And it requires the sight of only one upright Muslim for Ramadan and of two independent ones for Shawwal, upon the most authentic and most preponderant view among jurists.
Thus with the above touch of simplicity, the month of Ramadan continued to be an annual source of controversy in Nigeria. All of us seem to have a reason to shy away from the responsibility of any mistake, if at all we accept or believe, even secretly, that any was made.
Speaking honestly though, I do not think anybody is lying. People are innocent. We are only slow in adapting to the impact of new information and technology. That is all. As usual, anything new is received with skepticism. Some would rush to say, “Ah! This is the end of the world. The Prophet has said that controversy over moon sighting is one of its signs.” The majority will run away from it, making all sorts of accusations.
For example, to claim that when the new moon would form could be predicted with good degree of accuracy would sound blasphemous to many ears, some of them scholars. It is considered an indulgence in gaibu (knowledge of the Hidden). Many factors are responsible for this. First, our society has remained a simple one, as far as science is concerned. Our knowledge of the moon is still shrouded with superstitions. Are there many moons or a single one? Is there a moon for each month, as Ramli among the Shafi’ites would claim? The eclipse of the moon or sun is still greeted with fear and clamor. It signifies the end of the world or an impending disaster. To claim that the earth is spherical, suspended in the air and moving round the sun is considered a blatant lie. The sun? Ah, it rises from the East and sets at the West. Simple.
Hence, the news that Apollo XI has landed on the moon in 1969 was received with the fear that America and Russia would “destabilize” the Heavens, or reach the “Kursiyyu.” Shata was exceptionally adventurous. He received the news with a thrill that compelled him to sing in praise of the Americans and their Apollo Program in Kumbo Apollo Eleven. But his contender on the issue, Muhammadu Gawo Filinge, expressed the feeling of the majority in Hausaland in his famous song Rabbi Sarki Mai-Jima’a. Though he conceded that God has given America and Russia luck and “enormous” knowledge, he nevertheless advised that they should desist from landing on the moon. This is how rudimentary our knowledge of the moon and the sun is traditionally. The common man would therefore naturally accept simple explanations based on modern science only gradually.
Secondly, predictions regarding rain, new moon or eclipses, etc. are generally regarded as indulgence in gaibu, the unknown whose knowledge in the doctrine of Monotheism is peculiar to God. The mathematics (hisabi) involved is often regarded as duba (fortune-telling), which along with astrology stands condemned in Islam.
Regarding moon sighting in particular, there is enough ground in some texts of Islamic jurisprudence that appear to support such views, at least on the surface. One of such texts is the most commonly used commentary on the Mukhtasar, the Jawahirul Ikleel of Sheikh Saleh Abdulsami’. In it, he said, “Ramadan will not be established by the calculation of an astrologer even when his truth is manifest because God has instructed that his assertions be rejected. No one should fast based on what he says. Neither could he (the astrologer) himself depend on that. Believing him is haram because the Prophet (S) has said, “Whoever believes a soothsayer, or a fortune-teller or an astrologer has disbelieved in what was revealed upon Muhammad (S).”
Now, where do we stand with astronomical calculations? In the first place, there is an ocean of difference between astronomy and astrology. The New Websters Dictionary defines astrology as “the art of predicting or determining the influence of the planets and stars on human affairs.” It defined astronomy, on the other hand, as “the science of heavenly bodies.” So though both pertains heavenly bodies, astrology is an art, a discourse (logos) while astronomy is a science (nomos) concerning the “law or arrangement” of such bodies. That is precisely why the author of Jawahirul Ikleel was quick to say that Ma’zari does not consider the calculation of the astrologer sinful if he has based it on a universal law.
The issue of Ghaib (the Unknown) itself has on a number of matters undergone transformation. Talking about tomorrow does not necessary imply indulgence in Ghaib. If we ask a child, from where would the sun rise tomorrow? His answer will certainly be “from the East.” Now we ask an adult of 40 years: “Would it rain in Maiduguri in December this year?” His answer will be “No.” Now, would the sun set at 7.15pm in Maiduguri today? No, because every year it sets around 6.00pm or just thereabout in December.
So man has learnt, by the Grace of God, how to predict the motion of heavenly bodies depending on the technique he employs. With lenses we know he could see farther than his ordinary eyes could reach. That is no Ghaib. Even issues like where rains would fall what the gender of a womb is, things that were once regarded as Ghaib in classical commentaries, in the famous Jalalain for example, are today, by the Grace of God Who furnished us with satellites and scanners, within the reach of man. That is why Ghaib is what is hidden from us, but remains in the Knowledge of God, which has encompassed everything. Whatever He lets us know would no longer be Ghaib. It soon becomes a tradition (‘adah) known to all and sundry. “They encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will.” (2:255)
Thus the last two verses in Suratul Luqman are given a fresh commentary by modern commentators like the late Mutawalli Sha’arawi. According to him, the essence of the verse stands. It says “ma fil arham,” not “man fil arham.” The commentary is what changes with our perceptions while the verses of the Quran remain.
Having said this much, it is ripe to conclude that scientific information about the movement of the moon should not be seen as transgression into Ghaib. It is not even astrology. It is something based on empirical calculations that have been tested and found correct many times. The basis for using these calculations is the Quran itself. It has categorically mentioned: “The sun and the moon are made punctual” (55:5). Scientists simply took their time to watch the arrivals and departures of these ever punctual bodies and came out with formulae. So what is wrong with that?
The third problem has to do with the misunderstanding on what we are preaching. No one is asking the public to use these calculations alone and forget about sighting the moon. That will be a violation of the Hadith earlier referred to in this discourse. If it were so, we would have suggested that the last Ramadan should begin on Sunday, 26th November since the astronomical moon started at 12.53am that morning. But the condition of the Hadith needs to be fulfilled: The visual sighting of the moon, with the naked eye. That will require a waiting for about 17 hrs after the conjunction has taken place. In the evening of Sunday therefore, it would be possible for the moon to be sighted, as witnessed by the rest of the world, other than Nigeria.
So the calculation serves as a guide, a compass if you like, towards a correct sighting of the crescent. If I would tell someone that Lagos is southwest of Bauchi, and he flies without a compass straight in that direction, he will most likely end up in Benin Republic. To get to Lagos exactly, he needs a more precise definition, in degrees and minutes, which only a compass can accord. In the same way, astronomical calculations, as used in other countries, give us a more precise data on when to look at the sky and expect to see our newborn moon.
That is precisely the problem in this country. If people were asked to go on moon sighting on the right day, we would not have had any problem. But for both Ramadan and Shawwal, they went a day earlier, coming back to claim that they have seen a moon. They did not lie. Yes they did see a moon, especially on the 24th of December. Mind you, it was the same moon that everybody saw in the morning in the East, an old moon, not a new one. Before the new one is seen, the old one must go into “hiding” and it will not be seen for at least a day.
I heard a young Imam around denouncing the necessity for the moon to “hide”. It has aligned with the sun, so our naked eyes cannot see it. As it moves away from that alignment, now being a new moon, it starts to become visible and its visibility increases everyday until it becomes a full moon. God has said “And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shriveled palm leaf.” (36:39) All commentators, old and new, have asserted that these mansions are 28 if the moon is 29-day and 29 if it is 30-day, as written in Raddul’ Adzhan. What we are saying is nothing new.
If we have seen it in the East, how do we see it as a new moon later in the day? And how comes it completely disappeared the following evening, on Monday, the day we were busy celebrating Sallah?
What is really disturbing is how Nigeria came out different from the rest of the world. Though it is not possible for the whole world to begin fasting or observe Sallah on the same day due to the difference in timing, it is doubtful whether Nigeria was correct in being a loner, almost every year. Though the issue of moon sighting is not a completely settled one, we have every reason to doubt our stand if we alone could be on one side, and the rest of the world on another. Tolerable differences due to differences in latitude must never be more than a day. But to see the new moon two days earlier than the rest of the world can hardly be justified even by common sense.
And that is the danger: the fact that people have common sense. My advice here is for the Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs to reconsider its practice on moon sighting. Let it be bold enough to imbibe new ideas that have only come to confirm what previous scholars have said. One important step in that direction is to use astronomical calculations as a guide towards sighting new moons. This alone will drastically reduce the chances of mistakes. The Council would then be able to compare notes with countries with which we share timing zones. The issue of timing zones is an old one in Islamic literature. Navigating without a compass is a risky business.
People may wish to underestimate the importance of my advice. But it needs to be taken seriously to avert the possibility of revolt both within the royal circles and among commoners like myself. A difference of a day last year was enough to cause a rift between the royal fathers during Eid al-Adha. Many did not follow the Sultan. This year the arithmetic will be a more difficult one. We will be two days ahead of the world except if both Shawwal and Zhul Qida would be 29 days only in Nigeria and 28 days in the rest of the world. But could a moon be 28 days? Or both months will be 30 days in Nigeria and 29 days each in the rest of the World. But Nigerians are not used to 30-day moons. Head or tail, all permutations show that we are heading for a crisis in two months, especially if Nigeria will observe one of the months as 29 and the world observes it as 30. The difference then will then be three days or Nigerians will a lunar month of 31 days! The discrepancy will only be averted if the authorities will be bold enough to concede to the population that there was a mistake in our Ramadan. Mistakes are human. So what is wrong in confessing to a making one?
One really wonders why it is taking time for the leaders and scholars to adjust. In the past we can afford to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world because information took days or even months to traverse the globe. Today, it could be within seconds. Immediately people learnt over the BBC and VOA that we were alone in Sallah, they became disturbed. Some even rushed to withhold eating and fast the following day. Education is circulating wider and faster, making people to ask questions. When they cannot find satisfactory answers here, they will listen to those coming from overseas. We cannot cock people in bottles any longer.
This matter, simple as it may seem, has the capacity to undermine the reverence that people have for traditional institutions and the local clergy. It can be averted if both groups will become more adaptive and adventurous in scholarship. Holding on to traditions and superstitions will only facilitate revolt and the search for alternatives. It is in our collective interest that we remain together.
It will benefit us a lot also if our Ulema would strive to acquire even the rudimentary concepts of science. Their counterparts in other parts of the world are busy doing so. They organize international conferences where they seek explanations from scientists on recent advances in various fields of science.
The two classes of people have everything to lose by not heeding to my call. If they however take it seriously, they will retain their most precious possession – their followers. Meanwhile, let them contend with the approaching dilemma on the issue of Arafat and the next Sallah.
Nigeria is Sighting the Wrong Moon (2)
Nigeria is sighting the wrong moon (2)
This is a continuation of Engr. A. A. Aziz’s presentation titled Scientific Developments in Moon Sighting
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Locating the waxing crescent
The new waxing crescent is located near the Sun, so we shall wait until Sunset, because it is obviously not possible to observe the thin waxing crescent before Sunset. In addition, we must wait a reasonable time until the twilight decreases, i.e. until we can differentiate between Moon's light and twilight glare, a 10-minute period could be enough sometimes to detect the thin waxing crescent.
As mentioned above, the wane Moon (New Moon) is located exactly near the Sun. If we assume that the Moon will set when it is wane (New Moon), generally it will set along with the Sun, but we are looking for a new crescent, which means that it is still near the Sun. So, we must look at the west, a little bit over the Sunset point.
The Moon, like the Sun, rises from the East and sets after about 12 hours at the west (with exceptions at high-latitude areas), and since the waxing crescent lies near the Sun, it will set after the Sunset, and in its best cases, the new waxing crescent sets about one hour after the Sun.
Factors determining crescent visibility
Other factors responsible for crescent visibility are: 1) the angular distance between the centers of Sun and Moon 2) The crescent's altitude 3) The Moon's staying (the interval between the Sunset and the Moon 4) The azimuth difference between the Sun and the Moon.
Meaning of astronomical calculations of the crescent
Most people think that the astronomical calculations mean absolute determination of crescent visibility, but this is not true, the astronomical calculations include the following:
1. The time of the wane Moon (New Moon) must be determined, and this time is accurately calculated. For sure there is no chance for any error.
2. Some of the above factors are determined. Such as the Moon's altitude, the angular distance between the centers of the Sun and the Moon at the Sunset, Sunset time and the Moon set time, Moon's staying period, ...etc.
3. The results of the above calculations must be compared with crescent visibility conditions in the previous years, and with the accurate practical and international observations.
Note: It is absolutely impossible to see the thin waxing crescent after sunset if the Moon didn't reach the Wane phase (New Moon) yet. How can we see the new crescent if it is not wane yet? " Who claims that he viewed the thin waxing crescent before the New Moon instant, is like the one who claims that he saw the Sun before dawn, or he saw the baby before delivery", ancients said.
Guidelines
To locate the thin waxing crescent, we have to start looking for it after a while of the sunset at the West, a little bit above the point at which the Sun sets, in its best cases, crescent sets about one hour after Sunset.
The following are the guidelines to prepare individuals for crescent moon sighting:
1. On an evening previous to the Moon Sighting evening, it is advisable to FIND A PLACE WITH A CLEAR WESTERN HORIZON (i.e without any buildings or trees obstructing the place where the sun sets, on the western horizon).
2. It should be noted that the actual PLACE OF THE SETTING OF THE SUN varies with the seasons. In the northern hemisphere, the sun sets to the north of west during the summer with the extreme north setting on the summer solstice (June 22). The sun sets due west on the autumnal equinox (Sept 22). The sun again sets due west on the spring equinox (March 21).
3. Observe and note down the approximate angle of inclination of the PATH OF THE SUN while it is setting. This inclination of the path of the setting sun from the vertical is nearly equal to the latitude of observing location.
4. In order to obtain an idea as to approximately where to look, the following information on LUNAL ORBIT is useful:
. The PATH OF THE CRESCENT MOON while it is setting will be nearly parallel to the path of the setting Sun. The path of the Moon will be CLOSE to the path of setting Sun, being at a maximum of about 5 degrees (usually it is less than the +/-5 deg) ‘above’ or ‘below’ the path of the sun, when it is observed from the surface of the earth.
The CRESCENT MOON will also be TRAILING the SUN by about 5 to 20 degrees, for a particular observing point. The earliest sightings in the world would have the moon trailing the sun by the least angle. The Trailing angle of the Moon from the Sun can be estimated from the Orbital details and the location of the observer.
The DURATION OF THE FIRST SIGHTING of very young moons may begin as early as 10 minutes after the sun has set (to allow the twilight to reduce in spectral intensity) with the first sightings being usually before 20 minutes after sunset and the sighting could continue for about 40 to 90 or more minutes after sunset. The sighting would finally be ‘fading’ when the crescent is a few degrees above the horizon.
Criteria for crescent visibility
1. Moon’s age is equal to, or more than, 17 hours.
2. The angular distance between the Sun's center and the Moon's center at Sunset is equal to, or more than, 7 degrees.
3. The Moon's altitude at Sunset is equal to, or more than, 4 degrees.
4 .The interval between Sunset and Moon set is equal to, or more than, 12 minutes.
If the crescent satisfies these conditions, it is expected to be seen from a highly elevated and clear area. Knowing that an excess of one of these factors may compensate for the lack of another, for instance, if the angular distance between the Moon and the Sun is 10 degrees and the Moon's altitude is just two degrees, then the big angular distance may compensate for the small value of the Moon's altitude.
Methods of starting Islamic months in different countries
There is no unique method adopted by all the Islamic countries to start the Islamic months. There are many methods spread all over the Islamic World, some of them are:
1. If the Wane Phase (New Moon) occurs before midnight, then the next day is the first day of the Islamic Month. This method is adopted in astronomical books and magazines and some Islamic countries.
2. .If the Wane Phase (New Moon) occurs before Sunset, then the next day is the first day of the month. Since the Islamic day starts at Sunset not at midnight.
3. Some countries adopt specific criteria, such as the Moon's age, altitude, the interval between Sunset and Moonset, etc., and if the Moon fulfills these criteria at Sunset, then the following day is the first day of the Islamic Month.
4. Some countries adopt the actual sighting of the crescent with the assistance of astronomical calculations. This is the most reliable and accepted method among people and scientists, as well as among most of scientists of Islamic Shari'a nowadays. Adoption of this method follows Prophet Mohammad’s (Pbuh) order to us not to start the month except when we view the crescent, thus it must be seen, and we use astronomical calculations in order to know where and when to observe, as well as the probability of observing the crescent, since sometimes it would be useless to observe the crescent if the calculations show that there is no crescent after Sunset!
5. Other countries adopt several different ways, some of them make the month 29 and 30 days alternately, others make Ramadan either 29 or 30 days always, and finally some countries don't adopt any specific
Main factors for crescent visibility
Most people associate visibility with the age of the moon. Age of the moon is simply the time lapsed since new moon. It can give a rough approximation for visibility. The visibility depends upon the angular separation of the moon from the sun seen from the earth. As the time passes from the instant of new moon, the angular separation between the sun and the moon increases. This angular separation reflects sun's light to earth.
The earth revolves around the sun in an elliptical orbit, with the sun off-center, and the moon revolves around the earth in a similar way. When the new moon occurs, the sun, moon, and earth come in line as shown, and no light of the sun falling on the moon can come to the earth, so it is a dark or invisible moon.
About 18-24 hours after the new moon, the moon moves away from the line of earth and sun, to its new location as shown by the location of the crescent moon. Now the sun and moon have separated from the same line. The angle subtended by sun, earth, and moon is the “angular separation”. This angular separation causes the crescent to form.
Until this angle becomes 7 degrees, no light of sun reflected by the moon can come to the earth, because of the mountains on the surface of the moon that block the sunlight. This angle must be about 10-12 degrees from the sun's light to reflect from the moon making a thin crescent that can be sighted.
Sometimes this crescent is very thin and very low on the horizon, so it cannot be seen as it disappears in the glare of the sun, and therefore is not visible, even though it may remain above horizon for 20-30 minutes after sunset.
Another important factor is the moon's altitude above horizon. If the crescent thickness is sufficient, but it is not above horizon, then it cannot be seen. This happens in the month of September and October in northern hemisphere, when the moon is in the southern hemisphere, therefore, it cannot be seen from northern hemisphere. If the moon is above the horizon but close to it within the glare of the sun, then it may not be visible. The moon within the altitude of 10 degrees at sunset is usually not visible.
Muslim astronomers in this age of technology are now in a position to calculate the dates for possible/impossible moon sighting. So the validity of sighting claims can be easily verified for authentic moon sighting. To start an Islamic month correctly, we must examine sighting claims in light of knowledge that Allah (swt) has given us. Let us pray to Allah (swt) to open our hearts and minds to understand these facts about moon sighting.
Misconceptions about moon sighting
Common misconceptions about moon sighting are: 1) 29th day moon is always thin and 30th day moon is thick. 2) 29th day moon sets in a short time while 30th day moon remains longer on the horizon. 3 If the moon is thick and remains on the horizon a long time, it must be the 2nd day moon. 4) On New-moon day the dark side of the moon faces earth. 5) Three consecutive months of 30 days are not possible.6) Full moon occurs on the 14th night.
It is very possible that the 30th day moon of one month is about the same thickness as 29th day moon of another month. The moon revolves around the earth in an elliptical orbit, therefore, sometimes it is closer to the earth and sometimes it is farther from the earth.
The moon above the horizon an hour before setting travels down to horizon line along a path whose inclination depends upon the latitude of the observer. A vertically downward path would be an Equator, and a 45 degrees slope at 45 degree latitude. The moon that is 10 degrees above horizon at Equator, would set quicker than a moon that is 10 degrees above horizon at a latitude of 45 degrees. Therefore, it is not correct to say that the 30th day moon remains longer on the horizon. Some months it may be, but not always.
This is very common argument that we hear repeatedly, but has no truth in it. If on the 29th day, the moon at sunset is 18 hours old and is higher above the glare of the sun, it may be visible on that day and will appear to be very thin. However, if the 18 hours old moon on the 29th day is very low on the horizon, it would not be visible on that day, then on the 30th day it would be 42 hours old and quite thick, and remains above the horizon a long time, but it was not visible the day before.
By this sentence, people think that the far side of the moon is dark side of the moon, and that dark side faces us at New-moon day. That is not the case. The same side of the moon always faces the earth, sometimes illuminated, and sometimes dark. The moon takes 27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes to spin, or rotate, once on its axis. It takes the same amount of time to orbit the earth. The combination of the two motions keeps the same side of the moon facing the earth. To us on earth, the moon is fully illuminated at full moon, completely dark at new moon, and partially lit in between.
This is wrong too. Full moon is the instant of time when the moon crosses an imaginary line passing through the centers of the sun and earth. This could happen at any moment of day or night. Therefore, it is very possible that in one month the moon is full at 7:00 a.m. This moon would be 99% lit on the night before and becomes full in the morning, but decreases to 99% lit-up on the following night. Such a moon would appear as a full moon to an observer on both nights. These two nights could be 13th and 14th, or 14th and 15th depending upon the location on earth and the time of new moon birth.
What do we need to do?
We need to 1) develop a compendium for every town through collaboration of Ulema and astronomers. 2) Use newspapers to publish moon information. 3) Own our radio stations, TV stations and newspapers. 4) Utilize/optimize the use of Information Technology through Networking, Intranet and Internet. 5) Pray to Allah to guide us and give us courage to change our attitudes toward acquiring knowledge as our first commandment is Read, i.e. seek knowledge.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I will now attempt to answer those questions posed at the beginning of the presentation:
1. Yes, the morning hour moon seen in the east is decreasing moon that is 27th or 28th of the month that began with the actual moon sighting, not by conjunction date. Then the moon vanishes for about 24-30 hours and appears as a new crescent moon on western horizon in the evening of 29th or 30th.
2. No, there is nothing exceptional about our area to allow us consistently be the earliest observers of the crescent in the world.
3. Yes, solar eclipse occurs at the instant of astronomical new moons.
4. Finally, concerning the first group that always sights the moon on the day of conjunction. It is impossible! Nobody could see the moon on the day of conjunction. However, I am not saying that somebody is lying.
5. The second group that claims “the moon was seen at east in the morning and therefore could not have been sighted on the same day at west in the evening as a new crescent” is correct. Yes, the statement they make is correct. THE END.
Comment: Engr. Aziz has appended a table of Solar and Lunar Ephemeris for Abuja. According to the calculations, the astronomical new moon of Ramadan this year will start at 12:13 AM on Saturday, November 26th. It is impossible to see the moon before then. But later, at sunset of the following evening, the new moon will be 17:53 hrs old. It will then be possible to sight it as a crescent. We can therefore look forward to start fasting the following morning, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2000., in sha Allah.
May God guide us to the Right Path. Amen.
This is a continuation of Engr. A. A. Aziz’s presentation titled Scientific Developments in Moon Sighting
____________________________________
Locating the waxing crescent
The new waxing crescent is located near the Sun, so we shall wait until Sunset, because it is obviously not possible to observe the thin waxing crescent before Sunset. In addition, we must wait a reasonable time until the twilight decreases, i.e. until we can differentiate between Moon's light and twilight glare, a 10-minute period could be enough sometimes to detect the thin waxing crescent.
As mentioned above, the wane Moon (New Moon) is located exactly near the Sun. If we assume that the Moon will set when it is wane (New Moon), generally it will set along with the Sun, but we are looking for a new crescent, which means that it is still near the Sun. So, we must look at the west, a little bit over the Sunset point.
The Moon, like the Sun, rises from the East and sets after about 12 hours at the west (with exceptions at high-latitude areas), and since the waxing crescent lies near the Sun, it will set after the Sunset, and in its best cases, the new waxing crescent sets about one hour after the Sun.
Factors determining crescent visibility
Other factors responsible for crescent visibility are: 1) the angular distance between the centers of Sun and Moon 2) The crescent's altitude 3) The Moon's staying (the interval between the Sunset and the Moon 4) The azimuth difference between the Sun and the Moon.
Meaning of astronomical calculations of the crescent
Most people think that the astronomical calculations mean absolute determination of crescent visibility, but this is not true, the astronomical calculations include the following:
1. The time of the wane Moon (New Moon) must be determined, and this time is accurately calculated. For sure there is no chance for any error.
2. Some of the above factors are determined. Such as the Moon's altitude, the angular distance between the centers of the Sun and the Moon at the Sunset, Sunset time and the Moon set time, Moon's staying period, ...etc.
3. The results of the above calculations must be compared with crescent visibility conditions in the previous years, and with the accurate practical and international observations.
Note: It is absolutely impossible to see the thin waxing crescent after sunset if the Moon didn't reach the Wane phase (New Moon) yet. How can we see the new crescent if it is not wane yet? " Who claims that he viewed the thin waxing crescent before the New Moon instant, is like the one who claims that he saw the Sun before dawn, or he saw the baby before delivery", ancients said.
Guidelines
To locate the thin waxing crescent, we have to start looking for it after a while of the sunset at the West, a little bit above the point at which the Sun sets, in its best cases, crescent sets about one hour after Sunset.
The following are the guidelines to prepare individuals for crescent moon sighting:
1. On an evening previous to the Moon Sighting evening, it is advisable to FIND A PLACE WITH A CLEAR WESTERN HORIZON (i.e without any buildings or trees obstructing the place where the sun sets, on the western horizon).
2. It should be noted that the actual PLACE OF THE SETTING OF THE SUN varies with the seasons. In the northern hemisphere, the sun sets to the north of west during the summer with the extreme north setting on the summer solstice (June 22). The sun sets due west on the autumnal equinox (Sept 22). The sun again sets due west on the spring equinox (March 21).
3. Observe and note down the approximate angle of inclination of the PATH OF THE SUN while it is setting. This inclination of the path of the setting sun from the vertical is nearly equal to the latitude of observing location.
4. In order to obtain an idea as to approximately where to look, the following information on LUNAL ORBIT is useful:
. The PATH OF THE CRESCENT MOON while it is setting will be nearly parallel to the path of the setting Sun. The path of the Moon will be CLOSE to the path of setting Sun, being at a maximum of about 5 degrees (usually it is less than the +/-5 deg) ‘above’ or ‘below’ the path of the sun, when it is observed from the surface of the earth.
The CRESCENT MOON will also be TRAILING the SUN by about 5 to 20 degrees, for a particular observing point. The earliest sightings in the world would have the moon trailing the sun by the least angle. The Trailing angle of the Moon from the Sun can be estimated from the Orbital details and the location of the observer.
The DURATION OF THE FIRST SIGHTING of very young moons may begin as early as 10 minutes after the sun has set (to allow the twilight to reduce in spectral intensity) with the first sightings being usually before 20 minutes after sunset and the sighting could continue for about 40 to 90 or more minutes after sunset. The sighting would finally be ‘fading’ when the crescent is a few degrees above the horizon.
Criteria for crescent visibility
1. Moon’s age is equal to, or more than, 17 hours.
2. The angular distance between the Sun's center and the Moon's center at Sunset is equal to, or more than, 7 degrees.
3. The Moon's altitude at Sunset is equal to, or more than, 4 degrees.
4 .The interval between Sunset and Moon set is equal to, or more than, 12 minutes.
If the crescent satisfies these conditions, it is expected to be seen from a highly elevated and clear area. Knowing that an excess of one of these factors may compensate for the lack of another, for instance, if the angular distance between the Moon and the Sun is 10 degrees and the Moon's altitude is just two degrees, then the big angular distance may compensate for the small value of the Moon's altitude.
Methods of starting Islamic months in different countries
There is no unique method adopted by all the Islamic countries to start the Islamic months. There are many methods spread all over the Islamic World, some of them are:
1. If the Wane Phase (New Moon) occurs before midnight, then the next day is the first day of the Islamic Month. This method is adopted in astronomical books and magazines and some Islamic countries.
2. .If the Wane Phase (New Moon) occurs before Sunset, then the next day is the first day of the month. Since the Islamic day starts at Sunset not at midnight.
3. Some countries adopt specific criteria, such as the Moon's age, altitude, the interval between Sunset and Moonset, etc., and if the Moon fulfills these criteria at Sunset, then the following day is the first day of the Islamic Month.
4. Some countries adopt the actual sighting of the crescent with the assistance of astronomical calculations. This is the most reliable and accepted method among people and scientists, as well as among most of scientists of Islamic Shari'a nowadays. Adoption of this method follows Prophet Mohammad’s (Pbuh) order to us not to start the month except when we view the crescent, thus it must be seen, and we use astronomical calculations in order to know where and when to observe, as well as the probability of observing the crescent, since sometimes it would be useless to observe the crescent if the calculations show that there is no crescent after Sunset!
5. Other countries adopt several different ways, some of them make the month 29 and 30 days alternately, others make Ramadan either 29 or 30 days always, and finally some countries don't adopt any specific
Main factors for crescent visibility
Most people associate visibility with the age of the moon. Age of the moon is simply the time lapsed since new moon. It can give a rough approximation for visibility. The visibility depends upon the angular separation of the moon from the sun seen from the earth. As the time passes from the instant of new moon, the angular separation between the sun and the moon increases. This angular separation reflects sun's light to earth.
The earth revolves around the sun in an elliptical orbit, with the sun off-center, and the moon revolves around the earth in a similar way. When the new moon occurs, the sun, moon, and earth come in line as shown, and no light of the sun falling on the moon can come to the earth, so it is a dark or invisible moon.
About 18-24 hours after the new moon, the moon moves away from the line of earth and sun, to its new location as shown by the location of the crescent moon. Now the sun and moon have separated from the same line. The angle subtended by sun, earth, and moon is the “angular separation”. This angular separation causes the crescent to form.
Until this angle becomes 7 degrees, no light of sun reflected by the moon can come to the earth, because of the mountains on the surface of the moon that block the sunlight. This angle must be about 10-12 degrees from the sun's light to reflect from the moon making a thin crescent that can be sighted.
Sometimes this crescent is very thin and very low on the horizon, so it cannot be seen as it disappears in the glare of the sun, and therefore is not visible, even though it may remain above horizon for 20-30 minutes after sunset.
Another important factor is the moon's altitude above horizon. If the crescent thickness is sufficient, but it is not above horizon, then it cannot be seen. This happens in the month of September and October in northern hemisphere, when the moon is in the southern hemisphere, therefore, it cannot be seen from northern hemisphere. If the moon is above the horizon but close to it within the glare of the sun, then it may not be visible. The moon within the altitude of 10 degrees at sunset is usually not visible.
Muslim astronomers in this age of technology are now in a position to calculate the dates for possible/impossible moon sighting. So the validity of sighting claims can be easily verified for authentic moon sighting. To start an Islamic month correctly, we must examine sighting claims in light of knowledge that Allah (swt) has given us. Let us pray to Allah (swt) to open our hearts and minds to understand these facts about moon sighting.
Misconceptions about moon sighting
Common misconceptions about moon sighting are: 1) 29th day moon is always thin and 30th day moon is thick. 2) 29th day moon sets in a short time while 30th day moon remains longer on the horizon. 3 If the moon is thick and remains on the horizon a long time, it must be the 2nd day moon. 4) On New-moon day the dark side of the moon faces earth. 5) Three consecutive months of 30 days are not possible.6) Full moon occurs on the 14th night.
It is very possible that the 30th day moon of one month is about the same thickness as 29th day moon of another month. The moon revolves around the earth in an elliptical orbit, therefore, sometimes it is closer to the earth and sometimes it is farther from the earth.
The moon above the horizon an hour before setting travels down to horizon line along a path whose inclination depends upon the latitude of the observer. A vertically downward path would be an Equator, and a 45 degrees slope at 45 degree latitude. The moon that is 10 degrees above horizon at Equator, would set quicker than a moon that is 10 degrees above horizon at a latitude of 45 degrees. Therefore, it is not correct to say that the 30th day moon remains longer on the horizon. Some months it may be, but not always.
This is very common argument that we hear repeatedly, but has no truth in it. If on the 29th day, the moon at sunset is 18 hours old and is higher above the glare of the sun, it may be visible on that day and will appear to be very thin. However, if the 18 hours old moon on the 29th day is very low on the horizon, it would not be visible on that day, then on the 30th day it would be 42 hours old and quite thick, and remains above the horizon a long time, but it was not visible the day before.
By this sentence, people think that the far side of the moon is dark side of the moon, and that dark side faces us at New-moon day. That is not the case. The same side of the moon always faces the earth, sometimes illuminated, and sometimes dark. The moon takes 27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes to spin, or rotate, once on its axis. It takes the same amount of time to orbit the earth. The combination of the two motions keeps the same side of the moon facing the earth. To us on earth, the moon is fully illuminated at full moon, completely dark at new moon, and partially lit in between.
This is wrong too. Full moon is the instant of time when the moon crosses an imaginary line passing through the centers of the sun and earth. This could happen at any moment of day or night. Therefore, it is very possible that in one month the moon is full at 7:00 a.m. This moon would be 99% lit on the night before and becomes full in the morning, but decreases to 99% lit-up on the following night. Such a moon would appear as a full moon to an observer on both nights. These two nights could be 13th and 14th, or 14th and 15th depending upon the location on earth and the time of new moon birth.
What do we need to do?
We need to 1) develop a compendium for every town through collaboration of Ulema and astronomers. 2) Use newspapers to publish moon information. 3) Own our radio stations, TV stations and newspapers. 4) Utilize/optimize the use of Information Technology through Networking, Intranet and Internet. 5) Pray to Allah to guide us and give us courage to change our attitudes toward acquiring knowledge as our first commandment is Read, i.e. seek knowledge.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I will now attempt to answer those questions posed at the beginning of the presentation:
1. Yes, the morning hour moon seen in the east is decreasing moon that is 27th or 28th of the month that began with the actual moon sighting, not by conjunction date. Then the moon vanishes for about 24-30 hours and appears as a new crescent moon on western horizon in the evening of 29th or 30th.
2. No, there is nothing exceptional about our area to allow us consistently be the earliest observers of the crescent in the world.
3. Yes, solar eclipse occurs at the instant of astronomical new moons.
4. Finally, concerning the first group that always sights the moon on the day of conjunction. It is impossible! Nobody could see the moon on the day of conjunction. However, I am not saying that somebody is lying.
5. The second group that claims “the moon was seen at east in the morning and therefore could not have been sighted on the same day at west in the evening as a new crescent” is correct. Yes, the statement they make is correct. THE END.
Comment: Engr. Aziz has appended a table of Solar and Lunar Ephemeris for Abuja. According to the calculations, the astronomical new moon of Ramadan this year will start at 12:13 AM on Saturday, November 26th. It is impossible to see the moon before then. But later, at sunset of the following evening, the new moon will be 17:53 hrs old. It will then be possible to sight it as a crescent. We can therefore look forward to start fasting the following morning, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2000., in sha Allah.
May God guide us to the Right Path. Amen.
Nigeria is Sighting the Wrong Moon
Nigeria is sighting the wrong Moon (1)
Ramadan is fast approaching. And as the author of ‘Ishriniyah said, “You indulge in the world and the intelligent does not indulge. You are deceived by its (outward) peace, while it internally is a war. Leave it and go eastward, the west is not stable for you. In Yethrib is a light of Prohethood that does not wane. The eye and the heart are partners in it.”
The controversy
In his last four years before his death, my late father (may God have mercy on his gentle soul) has broken ranks with the Muslim mainstream whenever it came to sighting the Ramadan and Shawwal crescents. Quite O.K., he used to start fasting on the same day with the rest of us, but he will, in addition, fast on the day Nigerians observe their Eid el-Fitr. Though we did not follow him, his ‘rebellion’ was not new to the family. Earlier, one of my elder brothers who witnessed a ‘419’ case of new Moon sighting in Kaduna in 1980 has since been a skeptic. He has for long been with the elders.
Home aside. In the wider society also, we have witnessed the “rebellion of itinerant scholars (commonly called Kala kato) and their sedentary (and less volatile) counterparts. And in another village just 6 kilometers away from us here, many people have been observing a Ramadan calendar that has for long been two or three days later than ours. As a child, I used to wonder what nuts went into their heads.
In the past all these could be disregarded as coming from a negligible minority in the society. However, recently the divergence of opinion in the Ummah regarding Ramadan and the two Eids has reached a level of serious concern to even the majority. During the last Eid el-Adha, there was a division even among the Emirs. Generally, few people obeyed the Sultan.
The controversy over Moon sighting is global. It has been heightened by developments in communication that made it possible for millions of people to share information instantly. But fortunately, at the global level, science is coming to our aid, if we are ready to use our intellect as commanded by the Quran. Many scholars are now meeting annually to find a way of harmonizing the Islamic calendar, especially on Ramadan, in line with scientific calculations and observations. The difference between them and our scholars is simply that while we still hold on to age long books of ancient writers on astronomy and dating, they were able, by God’s guidance, to keep pace with new developments in the area field. Many of us still believe that the Earth is still flat and static; the sun moves from east to west; etc.
The difficulty with Nigeria is that it has all along observed a different calendar with the rest of the world. Are Nigerians living on a different planet? Some would like us to believe so. But we disagree. The Earth is one. The Sun is one. The Moon too is one. The movement of the Sun and the Moon are predetermined and fixed. But many of our assumptions in Nigeria are simply misconceptions. We just cannot be on one side, and the world on the other; or assume a position that diametrically contradicts what science has established as a stark reality.
Take for example the main reason why my late father decamped from the mainstream on this issue. We once had an argument with him over the issue of seeing the Moon in the East in the morning and sighting a crescent in the west later in the same day. He strongly contended that it is impossible. He insisted that according to classical commentaries of the Quran, the Moon is supposed to ‘hide’ for a day or two, depending on whether its cycle is 29 or 30 days; or something like that, if I can recall. Today, from the literature I am presenting below, science is on his side.
There are many other misconceptions about the new Moon in Nigeria. The matter has caught the attention of Jama’atu Nasril Islam. Months ago, the organization has commissioned Islamic scholars to investigate the matter and come out with the best way to reconcile the stands of Nigerians on it. However, the Ramadan is fast approaching and I have not heard anything about it from them. Shiru ka ke ji, wai ruwa ya ci makadi.
I sincerely feel that it is a responsibility on people like me, who have the privilege of a page in a newspaper, to print here for public consumption what I have learnt in the past two years on the subject. I do not mind the controversy that will ensue. Nigerians like controversy, especially on matters of religion. But like any other new information, I predict that people will be skeptical at the beginning, many will even be furious about its release to the public. However, history has shown that they will eventually yield to what is certain and factual. They will one day defend it, tooth and nail.
I therefore have the pleasure to reprint for the guidance and delight of my readers a presentation made by my esteemed teacher, Engr. A. A. Aziz, at the 3rd Annual Ramadan Symposium of the Abuja Center for Arabic Studies, which was held in 1999 and titled Scientific Developments in Moon Sighting. The presentation will take two weeks to reproduce here. Forgive me for deleting the diagrams. Readers who wish to have its complete copy of the slides (with diagrams) can contact his Esteem for further clarification on 09-5237719. Only in his absence, his student, in the person of my humble self, will attempt to put you through because as the Arabs say, “In Medina no other person gives a fatwa, when Malik is around.” Catch me on 077-540186.
_____________________________________
Scientific Developments in Moon Sighting
By Engr. A. A. Aziz
Introduction
When it comes to sighting the new crescent Moon, Muslims in Nigeria are principally divided into two groups. The first group would always claim to have sighted the crescent on the day of conjunction (i.e. the phase during Moon’s orbit, when the Moon, Earth and the Sun lie exactly at the same line, with the Moon in the Middle). The second group would claim that the Moon was seen at east that morning and therefore could not have been sighted on the same day at west in the evening.
As a result of this, we always commence fasting of the month of Ramadan and celebrate Eid on two different days in the same town. The questions are: Are there any relationships between crescent sighting at the west in the evenings and Moon sighting at east in the morning hours of the same day? Are we living in an area with peculiar geographic conditions that allow us to be among the earliest observers of the crescent in the world? Does Moon sighting have relationship with eclipses? This presentation will seek to answer these questions through the development of modern scientific criteria for sighting the new crescent Moon in the light of the Shariah. May Allah Guide us. Let us see what Allah (SWT) says about the subject.
Surah al-Rahman 55, Ayah 5: “The Sun and Moon follow courses exactly computed.” Surah Yunus 10, Ayah 5: It is He who made the Sun a radiance the Moon a light and determined its stations that you might know the number of years and reckoning of time.” Surah al-Baqarah 2, Ayah 189: “They ask you about the crescent moons, say: They are signs to mark fixed periods of time for the people and for pilgrimage.”
These Ayaat are telling us that the Moon and the Sun follow the decree of Allah (SWT) and must be used for reckoning of months and calendar. Fortunately we now have Muslim astronomers who can predict, for many years in advance when and where the new crescent Moon will first appear.
Topics of Discussion: Basic facts about the Moon; Science of crescent visibility; methods of sighting the crescent; misconceptions on Moon sighting; actual Saudi Dating System; Expectations for this Ramadan; what next; and conclusion.
The Moon: The Moon is our companion in space, and stays together with us as we travel round the Sun. it is much nearer than any other natural body in the sky, which is why it appears brilliant. This bleak, airless sphere is about 3,476 kilometers in diameter, and revolves around Earth at an average distance of some 384,400 kilometers, completing one revolution in about 27 days. The lunar orbit is an ellipse, not a true circle; so the distance of the Moon from the Earth changes.
Since the Moon rotates on its axis in the same time it takes to revolve around the Earth, the lunar hemisphere visible to us remains about the same.
The light of the Moon: Sunlight falls on the Moon as it does on Earth. What we call moonlight is simply sunlight which the Moon is reflecting toward Earth. Except during lunar eclipses, a full half of the Moon is always lighted by the Sun. but we see this full half only when the Earth is between the Sun and Moon – the phase called full Moon. When the Moon is not in line with Earth and Sun, we see only part of the lighted half.
The lunar phases: The familiar lunar phases occur because the Moon does not always turn its daylight side toward the Earth. When it is almost between the Earth and the Sun, the Moon is new and its dark side (the side that is not receiving light) is turned toward the Earth. It cannot then be seen unless the alignment is perfect enough to produce a solar eclipse. It progressively becomes half (first quarter), then full, then half once more (last quarter). Between half and full phases the Moon is “gibbous”.
The Moon takes 27.3 days to move round the barycenter – the center of gravity of the Earth-Moon system, which lies within the Earth’s globe. However, the Earth is moving round the Sun. The lunation, or interval between successive new moons, is therefore 29.5 days (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds), not 27.3.
Lunar Eclipse: An eclipse of the Moon occurs when the Moon passes into the cone of shadows cast by the Earth. If the Moon partially enters the cone there is a partial eclipse; if it wholly enters the cone the eclipse is total. Eclipses do not happen at every full Moon because the lunar orbit is appreciably inclined.
Solar eclipse: Eclipses of the Sun occur when the Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned. A total eclipse is seen at places along a narrow band, the path of totality. Over a wide area outside this band, a partial eclipse is seen. Unfortunately solar eclipses do not occur every month because the Moon’s orbit is inclined to that of the Earth and, at most new Moons, the Moon passes either “above” or “below” the Sun in the sky, thereby avoiding eclipse.
Crescent Moon: Just after new Moon, a thin bright crescent is seen. The rest of the disk is faintly lighted. This faint light called the “old Moon in the new Moon’s arms” is light reflected from Earth to the Moon’s dark side, and is known as earthshine.
The Moon rises about 50 minutes later each night on the average, but the actual time from month to month varies considerably. For some evenings around full Moon near the autumnal equinox (about September 23) moonrise will be only about 20 minutes later each night, because the angle between ecliptic and horizon is then near the minimum. Thus we have moonlight in early evening longer than usual. This phase is called Harvest Moon. The next full phase after Harvest Moon is known as Hunter’s Moon.
The lunar pathway stays near the ecliptic or path of the Sun. However, while the Sun rides high in the summer and low in winter, the Moon rides low in summer and high in winter. At the full phase, the lunar disk may take odd shapes as it rises or sets, particularly when seen through a dense or smoky atmosphere. Sometimes reflection makes it look oval.
Science and Crescent Visibility: The Moon orbits Earth once every 29.53 days (average synodic month). Because of this revolution, phases of the Moon change as the Moon’s position change relative to the Earth and the Sun. So, during the Moon’s orbit, if the Moon, Earth and the Sun lie exactly at the same line and the Moon is the middle, the Sun will illuminate half of the Moon that faces it, and the other half which faces us, will be dark because it does not reflect rays of the Sun.
At this point, the Moon is called Wane or New Moon (Astronomical New Moon not CRESCENT). After that, the Moon continues orbiting the Earth and begins to reflect a small amount of Sun’s rays and now we see the Moon as a very small waxing crescent. Afterwards, it becomes first quarter, full Moon, last quarter, waning crescent and then wane again.
Moons age is measured from the moment of the wane (New Moon). We often say this Full Moon is 14 days old, which means that the number of days since the wane is 14. And we say this crescent is about 2-3 days old.
But, did any one ask himself what is the minimum age of crescent that we can see? Generally, it is not likely to see a crescent that is less than 17 hours, i.e. if we want to observe the thin waxing crescent to determine the beginning of an Islamic month, the Moon should be in the wane phase (New Moon) 17 hours ago or more. But why?!
The wane Moon (New Moon) is located exactly at the Sun’s direction, so the Sun’s glare will prevent us from seeing it, in addition, the percentage of the reflected rays out of the wane Moon (New Moon) is nearly equal to zero, and this percentage increases as the Moon’s age increases. Thus, GENERALLY, human eye can’t detect any reflected rays from the Moon if the Moon’s age is less than 17 hours.
_____________________________________
No, Engr. Aziz! Nigerians that have eyes that are more powerful than the giant telescopes of NASA do not need to wait for 17 hrs, kai not even for an hour, to claim sighting their ‘CRESCENT.’ Last year, their ‘CRESCENT’ was older than the Astronomical New Moon! Incredible. Funny enough, yearly they make such a mistake and yearly we believe them. They were mistaking an old Moon that was yet to go into ‘hiding’ for a crescent.
Dear readers, we are continuing with Engr. Aziz’s presentation next week.
Ramadan is fast approaching. And as the author of ‘Ishriniyah said, “You indulge in the world and the intelligent does not indulge. You are deceived by its (outward) peace, while it internally is a war. Leave it and go eastward, the west is not stable for you. In Yethrib is a light of Prohethood that does not wane. The eye and the heart are partners in it.”
The controversy
In his last four years before his death, my late father (may God have mercy on his gentle soul) has broken ranks with the Muslim mainstream whenever it came to sighting the Ramadan and Shawwal crescents. Quite O.K., he used to start fasting on the same day with the rest of us, but he will, in addition, fast on the day Nigerians observe their Eid el-Fitr. Though we did not follow him, his ‘rebellion’ was not new to the family. Earlier, one of my elder brothers who witnessed a ‘419’ case of new Moon sighting in Kaduna in 1980 has since been a skeptic. He has for long been with the elders.
Home aside. In the wider society also, we have witnessed the “rebellion of itinerant scholars (commonly called Kala kato) and their sedentary (and less volatile) counterparts. And in another village just 6 kilometers away from us here, many people have been observing a Ramadan calendar that has for long been two or three days later than ours. As a child, I used to wonder what nuts went into their heads.
In the past all these could be disregarded as coming from a negligible minority in the society. However, recently the divergence of opinion in the Ummah regarding Ramadan and the two Eids has reached a level of serious concern to even the majority. During the last Eid el-Adha, there was a division even among the Emirs. Generally, few people obeyed the Sultan.
The controversy over Moon sighting is global. It has been heightened by developments in communication that made it possible for millions of people to share information instantly. But fortunately, at the global level, science is coming to our aid, if we are ready to use our intellect as commanded by the Quran. Many scholars are now meeting annually to find a way of harmonizing the Islamic calendar, especially on Ramadan, in line with scientific calculations and observations. The difference between them and our scholars is simply that while we still hold on to age long books of ancient writers on astronomy and dating, they were able, by God’s guidance, to keep pace with new developments in the area field. Many of us still believe that the Earth is still flat and static; the sun moves from east to west; etc.
The difficulty with Nigeria is that it has all along observed a different calendar with the rest of the world. Are Nigerians living on a different planet? Some would like us to believe so. But we disagree. The Earth is one. The Sun is one. The Moon too is one. The movement of the Sun and the Moon are predetermined and fixed. But many of our assumptions in Nigeria are simply misconceptions. We just cannot be on one side, and the world on the other; or assume a position that diametrically contradicts what science has established as a stark reality.
Take for example the main reason why my late father decamped from the mainstream on this issue. We once had an argument with him over the issue of seeing the Moon in the East in the morning and sighting a crescent in the west later in the same day. He strongly contended that it is impossible. He insisted that according to classical commentaries of the Quran, the Moon is supposed to ‘hide’ for a day or two, depending on whether its cycle is 29 or 30 days; or something like that, if I can recall. Today, from the literature I am presenting below, science is on his side.
There are many other misconceptions about the new Moon in Nigeria. The matter has caught the attention of Jama’atu Nasril Islam. Months ago, the organization has commissioned Islamic scholars to investigate the matter and come out with the best way to reconcile the stands of Nigerians on it. However, the Ramadan is fast approaching and I have not heard anything about it from them. Shiru ka ke ji, wai ruwa ya ci makadi.
I sincerely feel that it is a responsibility on people like me, who have the privilege of a page in a newspaper, to print here for public consumption what I have learnt in the past two years on the subject. I do not mind the controversy that will ensue. Nigerians like controversy, especially on matters of religion. But like any other new information, I predict that people will be skeptical at the beginning, many will even be furious about its release to the public. However, history has shown that they will eventually yield to what is certain and factual. They will one day defend it, tooth and nail.
I therefore have the pleasure to reprint for the guidance and delight of my readers a presentation made by my esteemed teacher, Engr. A. A. Aziz, at the 3rd Annual Ramadan Symposium of the Abuja Center for Arabic Studies, which was held in 1999 and titled Scientific Developments in Moon Sighting. The presentation will take two weeks to reproduce here. Forgive me for deleting the diagrams. Readers who wish to have its complete copy of the slides (with diagrams) can contact his Esteem for further clarification on 09-5237719. Only in his absence, his student, in the person of my humble self, will attempt to put you through because as the Arabs say, “In Medina no other person gives a fatwa, when Malik is around.” Catch me on 077-540186.
_____________________________________
Scientific Developments in Moon Sighting
By Engr. A. A. Aziz
Introduction
When it comes to sighting the new crescent Moon, Muslims in Nigeria are principally divided into two groups. The first group would always claim to have sighted the crescent on the day of conjunction (i.e. the phase during Moon’s orbit, when the Moon, Earth and the Sun lie exactly at the same line, with the Moon in the Middle). The second group would claim that the Moon was seen at east that morning and therefore could not have been sighted on the same day at west in the evening.
As a result of this, we always commence fasting of the month of Ramadan and celebrate Eid on two different days in the same town. The questions are: Are there any relationships between crescent sighting at the west in the evenings and Moon sighting at east in the morning hours of the same day? Are we living in an area with peculiar geographic conditions that allow us to be among the earliest observers of the crescent in the world? Does Moon sighting have relationship with eclipses? This presentation will seek to answer these questions through the development of modern scientific criteria for sighting the new crescent Moon in the light of the Shariah. May Allah Guide us. Let us see what Allah (SWT) says about the subject.
Surah al-Rahman 55, Ayah 5: “The Sun and Moon follow courses exactly computed.” Surah Yunus 10, Ayah 5: It is He who made the Sun a radiance the Moon a light and determined its stations that you might know the number of years and reckoning of time.” Surah al-Baqarah 2, Ayah 189: “They ask you about the crescent moons, say: They are signs to mark fixed periods of time for the people and for pilgrimage.”
These Ayaat are telling us that the Moon and the Sun follow the decree of Allah (SWT) and must be used for reckoning of months and calendar. Fortunately we now have Muslim astronomers who can predict, for many years in advance when and where the new crescent Moon will first appear.
Topics of Discussion: Basic facts about the Moon; Science of crescent visibility; methods of sighting the crescent; misconceptions on Moon sighting; actual Saudi Dating System; Expectations for this Ramadan; what next; and conclusion.
The Moon: The Moon is our companion in space, and stays together with us as we travel round the Sun. it is much nearer than any other natural body in the sky, which is why it appears brilliant. This bleak, airless sphere is about 3,476 kilometers in diameter, and revolves around Earth at an average distance of some 384,400 kilometers, completing one revolution in about 27 days. The lunar orbit is an ellipse, not a true circle; so the distance of the Moon from the Earth changes.
Since the Moon rotates on its axis in the same time it takes to revolve around the Earth, the lunar hemisphere visible to us remains about the same.
The light of the Moon: Sunlight falls on the Moon as it does on Earth. What we call moonlight is simply sunlight which the Moon is reflecting toward Earth. Except during lunar eclipses, a full half of the Moon is always lighted by the Sun. but we see this full half only when the Earth is between the Sun and Moon – the phase called full Moon. When the Moon is not in line with Earth and Sun, we see only part of the lighted half.
The lunar phases: The familiar lunar phases occur because the Moon does not always turn its daylight side toward the Earth. When it is almost between the Earth and the Sun, the Moon is new and its dark side (the side that is not receiving light) is turned toward the Earth. It cannot then be seen unless the alignment is perfect enough to produce a solar eclipse. It progressively becomes half (first quarter), then full, then half once more (last quarter). Between half and full phases the Moon is “gibbous”.
The Moon takes 27.3 days to move round the barycenter – the center of gravity of the Earth-Moon system, which lies within the Earth’s globe. However, the Earth is moving round the Sun. The lunation, or interval between successive new moons, is therefore 29.5 days (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds), not 27.3.
Lunar Eclipse: An eclipse of the Moon occurs when the Moon passes into the cone of shadows cast by the Earth. If the Moon partially enters the cone there is a partial eclipse; if it wholly enters the cone the eclipse is total. Eclipses do not happen at every full Moon because the lunar orbit is appreciably inclined.
Solar eclipse: Eclipses of the Sun occur when the Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned. A total eclipse is seen at places along a narrow band, the path of totality. Over a wide area outside this band, a partial eclipse is seen. Unfortunately solar eclipses do not occur every month because the Moon’s orbit is inclined to that of the Earth and, at most new Moons, the Moon passes either “above” or “below” the Sun in the sky, thereby avoiding eclipse.
Crescent Moon: Just after new Moon, a thin bright crescent is seen. The rest of the disk is faintly lighted. This faint light called the “old Moon in the new Moon’s arms” is light reflected from Earth to the Moon’s dark side, and is known as earthshine.
The Moon rises about 50 minutes later each night on the average, but the actual time from month to month varies considerably. For some evenings around full Moon near the autumnal equinox (about September 23) moonrise will be only about 20 minutes later each night, because the angle between ecliptic and horizon is then near the minimum. Thus we have moonlight in early evening longer than usual. This phase is called Harvest Moon. The next full phase after Harvest Moon is known as Hunter’s Moon.
The lunar pathway stays near the ecliptic or path of the Sun. However, while the Sun rides high in the summer and low in winter, the Moon rides low in summer and high in winter. At the full phase, the lunar disk may take odd shapes as it rises or sets, particularly when seen through a dense or smoky atmosphere. Sometimes reflection makes it look oval.
Science and Crescent Visibility: The Moon orbits Earth once every 29.53 days (average synodic month). Because of this revolution, phases of the Moon change as the Moon’s position change relative to the Earth and the Sun. So, during the Moon’s orbit, if the Moon, Earth and the Sun lie exactly at the same line and the Moon is the middle, the Sun will illuminate half of the Moon that faces it, and the other half which faces us, will be dark because it does not reflect rays of the Sun.
At this point, the Moon is called Wane or New Moon (Astronomical New Moon not CRESCENT). After that, the Moon continues orbiting the Earth and begins to reflect a small amount of Sun’s rays and now we see the Moon as a very small waxing crescent. Afterwards, it becomes first quarter, full Moon, last quarter, waning crescent and then wane again.
Moons age is measured from the moment of the wane (New Moon). We often say this Full Moon is 14 days old, which means that the number of days since the wane is 14. And we say this crescent is about 2-3 days old.
But, did any one ask himself what is the minimum age of crescent that we can see? Generally, it is not likely to see a crescent that is less than 17 hours, i.e. if we want to observe the thin waxing crescent to determine the beginning of an Islamic month, the Moon should be in the wane phase (New Moon) 17 hours ago or more. But why?!
The wane Moon (New Moon) is located exactly at the Sun’s direction, so the Sun’s glare will prevent us from seeing it, in addition, the percentage of the reflected rays out of the wane Moon (New Moon) is nearly equal to zero, and this percentage increases as the Moon’s age increases. Thus, GENERALLY, human eye can’t detect any reflected rays from the Moon if the Moon’s age is less than 17 hours.
_____________________________________
No, Engr. Aziz! Nigerians that have eyes that are more powerful than the giant telescopes of NASA do not need to wait for 17 hrs, kai not even for an hour, to claim sighting their ‘CRESCENT.’ Last year, their ‘CRESCENT’ was older than the Astronomical New Moon! Incredible. Funny enough, yearly they make such a mistake and yearly we believe them. They were mistaking an old Moon that was yet to go into ‘hiding’ for a crescent.
Dear readers, we are continuing with Engr. Aziz’s presentation next week.
Islam and Reason
Islam and Reason
The issue of modernity and religion has been central to the thesis of Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim in his article God save us from ‘religious’ laws. He has given the western views of relationship between the two. According to that paradigm, on the one hand, modernity is based on rational thought, as we have seen last week. Religion, on the other, is seen as formed on belief in the supernatural and its laws. To fuse the two is something that is seen impossible by western social scientists. To them, what is true about Christianity, whether in doctrine or in history, is true about any other religion.
The question here is: could Islam prove to be different and thus be successful in accepting modernity? Would giving the shariah a mandate over secular matters not stifle our development and return us to stagnation, similar to that of the Dark Ages of Europe?
To answer this question we need to ask other questions. Can Islam afford to imbibe the properties of modernity like structural differentiation and cultural secularization? Could it come into terms with rationality, allowing human reason a space in the realm of social and political territories of its societies which, as western social scientists assume, are like any other traditional society that is based on absolute fatalism?
Previous Attempts
These were the same questions that the famous father of modernizing Islam, the late Sheikh Muhammad Abduh, had to contend with. In the end his views had tremendous impact in the formation of modern Egypt. He tried to reconcile between revelation and reason and was convinced that the former really has had a place in Islamic doctrine, culture and history.
No one would doubt Abduh’s Islamic scholarship, being a graduate and professor in the celebrated al-Azhar. We always remember his famous hyperbole when he was asked to describe his experience in Europe after his first visit. He said: “I have seen Islam where there are no Muslims!”
Nor would anyone doubt his conviction about Islam since most of his theological views belong to the ultra-puritanical school of Wahabism. But perhaps both his adversaries in the religious establishment and his allies among the colonialists misunderstood him. He lost his professorial seat in Azhar. And as is pointed out by Peter Mansfield in a recent book, The Arabs, Lord Cromer, who believed that in the impossibility of modernizing Islam, felt that Abduh had, at a time, lost his faith.
Nevertheless, Abduh, ever confident like his teacher, Afghani, did pursue his conviction. He established the famous Dar-al-Ulum. There, he set the stage for shifting the opinion of Muslims from the traditionalist ground of the conservative establishment to a one that would put the Muslim world in harmony with the socio-political ideas of the contemporary West.
His efforts did yield results, though decades after his death. Dar-al-Ulum produced or attracted two categories of scholars; both of them versed in Islamic and western culture. On the one hand were those that called for an all-out embrace of western culture as a means of developing the Muslim world, people like famous novelist and literary critic, Dr. Taha Husein. On the other hand it produced scholars and reformers like the founder of Muslim Brotherhood, al-Banna and its chief ideologue, Syed Qutb. The last category rejected the adoption of western culture and imperialism but strongly harmonized the methodology and results of empirical science with Islamic tenets. Their views today have become predominant not only among the literati in secular specialties but also in the conservative circles, including the very al-Azhar that rejected them in the days of Abduh.
There have been other attempts in other parts of the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent that were concurrently running along the Egyptian one explained above. The result has been the same. Islam, it is now believed, could re-launch itself back into politics without necessarily undermining the progress of humanity. Indeed it has the potential for immense contributions today as it did earlier. In my small judgement, the ongoing clamor for shariah in Nigeria is a manifestation of this belief.
However, I also strongly believe that despite the above attempts, we need to revisit the issues that defined modernity. This is important because there are some schools of Islamic philosophy still held in esteem among Muslims whose views contradict the tenets of empirical discourse. The remaining part of the article will address the issues of reason and fatalism.
Islam and Reason
In Christianity, both in doctrine and in history, as we have seen in previous articles, it has proved difficult to reconcile between the secular and the divine. In fact the experience of Europe in its early attempt to do so was bitter. But that is now history.
We can however say with the greatest degree of certainty that such a separation and conflict between the secular and the divine is improbable in Islam. But since rationalization has been considered as central to the secularization thesis, it is essential to briefly see what Islam says about reason.
There are verses (5:3; 16:89) that signify that God has in the Quran given an “exposition of all things.” When some of our learned preachers explain such verses, they give “all things” an absolute meaning. In doing so they often leave us – their students and listeners – with the impression that Islam has no room for human reason. In my view, and with all respect to their scholarship, this may not be precisely correct.
First, God has chosen human reason to be the tool through which conviction, the pre-requisite of belief and faith, is achieved. It refers to it with various names and in various places as akl, fikr, lubb, etc. The appeal to reason is so routine in the Quran that one could confidently say that without conviction (which can only be arrived at through reason) there could be no faith.
Reason, as Abduh argued, is a creation of God since man himself is created. Revelation, if truly divine, is a message from the same Creator. The two are therefore not suppose to conflict. By implication, whatever man would discover in the world of nature should not be different from what revelation has said about it. Thus early scientists like Galileo that developed their disciplines through empirical methods would not have found any obstacle under an Islamic civilization.
This does not mean that there will never be an instance when a perceived conflict between human empirical observation and revelation. Where the two varies, early scholars have held that such a conflict could occur only under one or more of three circumstances: the observation could be wrong, the revelation may not be authentic, or both could have been misunderstood.
But reason is not limited to empirical observations alone. Abstract concepts are also product of reason and are what largely makes human beings different from animals. This is the realm in which man is most likely to err because there are greater constraints to his perception. It could concern the past that may be too remote to recall, or the present that is covered by obscurity, or worse still, a future that is uncertain. Yet man is expected to maneuver his life amidst that remoteness, this obscurity and those uncertainties.
But human reason has limitations. Even in science, it is difficult and impossible, as Hawking said in his A Brief History of Time, for man to perceive time before the Big Bang. Neither can our brains comprehend the size of the universe. Social matters are often more complicated. The undercurrents that precipitate them are too numerous to disentangle meticulously. Ideas that will guide societies are not easy to arrive at. Tocqueville was honest when he said,
“Only minds singularly free from the ordinary preoccupations of life, penetrating, subtle and trained to think, can at the cost of much time and trouble sound the depths of these truths that are so necessary. Fixed ideas about God and human nature are indispensable to men for the conduct of daily life, and it is daily life that prevents them from acquiring them.”
It is in this context that the laws in the Quran come in handy, “as a mercy on mankind.” They have saved man the “much time and trouble” for arriving at fixed ideas. But we should note that the intervention of God has come at two levels: the fundamental and the detail. Generally, the fundamental covers everything from rituals to politics. Man is expected to develop ideas based on the framework of the fundamental according to his situation, experience and advancement. Take politics for example. Principles like shura (consulatation) and khilafah (vicegerency) are form the framework for the development of different political systems. Whether it is monarchy or democracy, the nation decides for itself.
The essence here is the essentiality of what Tocqueville would call the need for fixed ideas that do not waver with variations in human conditions. The concept of shura, adl (justice), and birr (virtue) for example will forever remain universally valid irrespective of history and geography. The basis has been formed for reason to build on.
Beyond this level of fundamentals, the Quran has gone further on certain issues which will be impossible for man to settle meticulously, or for which it is too dangerous to for the society to be left at the mercy of human shortcomings to tackle. Here God went into details. These issues are not restricted to rituals but also to some matters in economics and sociology. We have seen God prohibit usury and eating of swine. He has discussed details of inheritance, zakat distribution and marital relations. Here the scope of development is certainly limited for human reason.
Later scholars have thus found it important to redefine the relationship between revelation and reason as defined above by Abduh. For example, Syed Qutb saw the stand of Abduh as one equating revelation with reason. He moderated it by saying that revelation is firm and absolute while reason is flexible and inconsistent between times and people. It is only logical therefore to make reason subject to confirmation by the revelation or at least a variant of its interpretation. This has remained the predominant view today.
In Islam therefore, reason is not seen as being in competition with revelation. That is why science and literature flourished unhindered throughout Islamic civilization. And since the Quran is undoubtedly divine, empirical science has not to date disputed its assertions about creation. Neither could its values, principles and laws, when carefully studied and understood, be described as invalid or antiquated. In many areas, humanity, despite what is considered as its achievements, is yet to attain the heights of Islamic social values.
Fatalism
I do not intend to discuss under this section the secular in relation to religion in Islam, as that must have been clear from previous discussions in the series. What I intend to do is to discuss the secular in relation to fatalism (kadr), something that classical western scholars regard as the main feature in the worldview of traditional societies and adverse to the modern.
To begin with, fatalism as a doctrine of belief in the ability of God to influence our lives is the sixth element of Islamic faith (iman). This cannot be disputed. However, there have been two divergent opinions that vary only in the extent to which God exercises this influence. Some say it is total, leaving man both helpless and hopeless. They have their basis in the primary sources of Islamic faith. This group has a large membership over the centuries especially with the influence of Greek philosophy on Islamic thought. It is not possible to rationalize their stand. We better not attempt it.
I am more inclined to the second group. It believes that God has His traditions (sunan) and one of them is the freewill He offered mankind. Another tradition is that people are created on fitra (nature) that enables them be an organic part of the universe. Still another divine tradition is the provision of a code that is charged with guiding man to use his intelligence and freewill to live in peace and harmony with other people, the universe and God.
So the decision to obey or disobey is ours, not God’s (2:38-39; 90:10; 91:9, etc.). If God were to make the choice, then some injustice is perceivable. He would have then been seen to give freewill by one hand and turn round to cease it by the other. Exalted is He above injustice! He said in this regard, and His saying is true, that “whoso doeth right it is for his soul, and whoso does wrong it is against it. And thy Lord is not at all a tyrant to His slaves.” Effect here is unambiguously made a direct function of human cause.
I find this important to my life and as contributing positively to its quality particularly in this material world. The effort man puts is a pre-requisite to the assistance and blessing of God, as the Hausa adage would put it. Thus two of the twelve words of wisdom written in the testaments of Abraham and Moses was: “And that man hath only that for which he maketh effort. And that his effort will be seen.” (53:39-40).
So the attitude of people has an impact on their lives, positive or negative. If they wrongly subscribe their laziness and shortcomings to God, they will forever remain backward and their problems – social, political and whatever – will never be solved. If on the other hand they rise up and investigate the causes of their problems and attempt to overcome them, God will assist them and progress will be their fate. God has created the world a virgin. The crop we cultivate thereon is what we shall always reap. The fatalism therefore ascribed to traditional societies has no basis in the Muslim society, if seen from this angle.
Before moving further, let me hasten to say that there are situations that could be regarded as exceptions to this rule. There are instances when God may choose to intervene directly in our affairs. He may afflict us with a misfortune deliberately to test our faith (2:155; 29:2), to correct us (6:42; 30:41) or to punish us (6:43) for a wrong committed. He can also recall His servant when his time is due. But on all other occasions man is responsible for his death. It could be himself as in the case of suicide; or someone, as in the case of murder; or the society, as in the case of a poor condition of living. That is why life indices like infant mortality rates and life expectancy can be practically proven to be related to conditions of living. Thus God prohibited self-destruction (2:195) and made suicide (4: 29) and murder (4:93) great crimes that attract His greatest punishment and wrath in this world and in the Hereafter.
What is the implication of this thought to the material development of the Muslim society? What we said so far clearly illustrates that the Muslim World has the potential of advancing in science and technology without sacrificing its faith, unlike the situation in Europe and unlike what the western social sciences believe.
Conclusion
Throughout the series we have tried to explain the peculiarities of Islam that make it difficult for the practical Muslim to adapt western concepts and laws. In an attempt to do so, we have explored the theoretical foundation of the shariah for our mutual benefit.
I believe it is now clear that the issue of shariah to the Muslims is indeed a fundamental matter. During colonialism Muslims might have conceded to secular laws under force. However, their silence over it has continued to create more problems than it could solve. The situation is daily deteriorating. With democracy as a game of choice, compelling Muslims to continue with secularism is like asking them to “exchange that which is higher for that which is lower” even though we have agreed to live in a federation. They have chosen the higher and prayed that God save them from the lower.
The issue of modernity and religion has been central to the thesis of Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim in his article God save us from ‘religious’ laws. He has given the western views of relationship between the two. According to that paradigm, on the one hand, modernity is based on rational thought, as we have seen last week. Religion, on the other, is seen as formed on belief in the supernatural and its laws. To fuse the two is something that is seen impossible by western social scientists. To them, what is true about Christianity, whether in doctrine or in history, is true about any other religion.
The question here is: could Islam prove to be different and thus be successful in accepting modernity? Would giving the shariah a mandate over secular matters not stifle our development and return us to stagnation, similar to that of the Dark Ages of Europe?
To answer this question we need to ask other questions. Can Islam afford to imbibe the properties of modernity like structural differentiation and cultural secularization? Could it come into terms with rationality, allowing human reason a space in the realm of social and political territories of its societies which, as western social scientists assume, are like any other traditional society that is based on absolute fatalism?
Previous Attempts
These were the same questions that the famous father of modernizing Islam, the late Sheikh Muhammad Abduh, had to contend with. In the end his views had tremendous impact in the formation of modern Egypt. He tried to reconcile between revelation and reason and was convinced that the former really has had a place in Islamic doctrine, culture and history.
No one would doubt Abduh’s Islamic scholarship, being a graduate and professor in the celebrated al-Azhar. We always remember his famous hyperbole when he was asked to describe his experience in Europe after his first visit. He said: “I have seen Islam where there are no Muslims!”
Nor would anyone doubt his conviction about Islam since most of his theological views belong to the ultra-puritanical school of Wahabism. But perhaps both his adversaries in the religious establishment and his allies among the colonialists misunderstood him. He lost his professorial seat in Azhar. And as is pointed out by Peter Mansfield in a recent book, The Arabs, Lord Cromer, who believed that in the impossibility of modernizing Islam, felt that Abduh had, at a time, lost his faith.
Nevertheless, Abduh, ever confident like his teacher, Afghani, did pursue his conviction. He established the famous Dar-al-Ulum. There, he set the stage for shifting the opinion of Muslims from the traditionalist ground of the conservative establishment to a one that would put the Muslim world in harmony with the socio-political ideas of the contemporary West.
His efforts did yield results, though decades after his death. Dar-al-Ulum produced or attracted two categories of scholars; both of them versed in Islamic and western culture. On the one hand were those that called for an all-out embrace of western culture as a means of developing the Muslim world, people like famous novelist and literary critic, Dr. Taha Husein. On the other hand it produced scholars and reformers like the founder of Muslim Brotherhood, al-Banna and its chief ideologue, Syed Qutb. The last category rejected the adoption of western culture and imperialism but strongly harmonized the methodology and results of empirical science with Islamic tenets. Their views today have become predominant not only among the literati in secular specialties but also in the conservative circles, including the very al-Azhar that rejected them in the days of Abduh.
There have been other attempts in other parts of the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent that were concurrently running along the Egyptian one explained above. The result has been the same. Islam, it is now believed, could re-launch itself back into politics without necessarily undermining the progress of humanity. Indeed it has the potential for immense contributions today as it did earlier. In my small judgement, the ongoing clamor for shariah in Nigeria is a manifestation of this belief.
However, I also strongly believe that despite the above attempts, we need to revisit the issues that defined modernity. This is important because there are some schools of Islamic philosophy still held in esteem among Muslims whose views contradict the tenets of empirical discourse. The remaining part of the article will address the issues of reason and fatalism.
Islam and Reason
In Christianity, both in doctrine and in history, as we have seen in previous articles, it has proved difficult to reconcile between the secular and the divine. In fact the experience of Europe in its early attempt to do so was bitter. But that is now history.
We can however say with the greatest degree of certainty that such a separation and conflict between the secular and the divine is improbable in Islam. But since rationalization has been considered as central to the secularization thesis, it is essential to briefly see what Islam says about reason.
There are verses (5:3; 16:89) that signify that God has in the Quran given an “exposition of all things.” When some of our learned preachers explain such verses, they give “all things” an absolute meaning. In doing so they often leave us – their students and listeners – with the impression that Islam has no room for human reason. In my view, and with all respect to their scholarship, this may not be precisely correct.
First, God has chosen human reason to be the tool through which conviction, the pre-requisite of belief and faith, is achieved. It refers to it with various names and in various places as akl, fikr, lubb, etc. The appeal to reason is so routine in the Quran that one could confidently say that without conviction (which can only be arrived at through reason) there could be no faith.
Reason, as Abduh argued, is a creation of God since man himself is created. Revelation, if truly divine, is a message from the same Creator. The two are therefore not suppose to conflict. By implication, whatever man would discover in the world of nature should not be different from what revelation has said about it. Thus early scientists like Galileo that developed their disciplines through empirical methods would not have found any obstacle under an Islamic civilization.
This does not mean that there will never be an instance when a perceived conflict between human empirical observation and revelation. Where the two varies, early scholars have held that such a conflict could occur only under one or more of three circumstances: the observation could be wrong, the revelation may not be authentic, or both could have been misunderstood.
But reason is not limited to empirical observations alone. Abstract concepts are also product of reason and are what largely makes human beings different from animals. This is the realm in which man is most likely to err because there are greater constraints to his perception. It could concern the past that may be too remote to recall, or the present that is covered by obscurity, or worse still, a future that is uncertain. Yet man is expected to maneuver his life amidst that remoteness, this obscurity and those uncertainties.
But human reason has limitations. Even in science, it is difficult and impossible, as Hawking said in his A Brief History of Time, for man to perceive time before the Big Bang. Neither can our brains comprehend the size of the universe. Social matters are often more complicated. The undercurrents that precipitate them are too numerous to disentangle meticulously. Ideas that will guide societies are not easy to arrive at. Tocqueville was honest when he said,
“Only minds singularly free from the ordinary preoccupations of life, penetrating, subtle and trained to think, can at the cost of much time and trouble sound the depths of these truths that are so necessary. Fixed ideas about God and human nature are indispensable to men for the conduct of daily life, and it is daily life that prevents them from acquiring them.”
It is in this context that the laws in the Quran come in handy, “as a mercy on mankind.” They have saved man the “much time and trouble” for arriving at fixed ideas. But we should note that the intervention of God has come at two levels: the fundamental and the detail. Generally, the fundamental covers everything from rituals to politics. Man is expected to develop ideas based on the framework of the fundamental according to his situation, experience and advancement. Take politics for example. Principles like shura (consulatation) and khilafah (vicegerency) are form the framework for the development of different political systems. Whether it is monarchy or democracy, the nation decides for itself.
The essence here is the essentiality of what Tocqueville would call the need for fixed ideas that do not waver with variations in human conditions. The concept of shura, adl (justice), and birr (virtue) for example will forever remain universally valid irrespective of history and geography. The basis has been formed for reason to build on.
Beyond this level of fundamentals, the Quran has gone further on certain issues which will be impossible for man to settle meticulously, or for which it is too dangerous to for the society to be left at the mercy of human shortcomings to tackle. Here God went into details. These issues are not restricted to rituals but also to some matters in economics and sociology. We have seen God prohibit usury and eating of swine. He has discussed details of inheritance, zakat distribution and marital relations. Here the scope of development is certainly limited for human reason.
Later scholars have thus found it important to redefine the relationship between revelation and reason as defined above by Abduh. For example, Syed Qutb saw the stand of Abduh as one equating revelation with reason. He moderated it by saying that revelation is firm and absolute while reason is flexible and inconsistent between times and people. It is only logical therefore to make reason subject to confirmation by the revelation or at least a variant of its interpretation. This has remained the predominant view today.
In Islam therefore, reason is not seen as being in competition with revelation. That is why science and literature flourished unhindered throughout Islamic civilization. And since the Quran is undoubtedly divine, empirical science has not to date disputed its assertions about creation. Neither could its values, principles and laws, when carefully studied and understood, be described as invalid or antiquated. In many areas, humanity, despite what is considered as its achievements, is yet to attain the heights of Islamic social values.
Fatalism
I do not intend to discuss under this section the secular in relation to religion in Islam, as that must have been clear from previous discussions in the series. What I intend to do is to discuss the secular in relation to fatalism (kadr), something that classical western scholars regard as the main feature in the worldview of traditional societies and adverse to the modern.
To begin with, fatalism as a doctrine of belief in the ability of God to influence our lives is the sixth element of Islamic faith (iman). This cannot be disputed. However, there have been two divergent opinions that vary only in the extent to which God exercises this influence. Some say it is total, leaving man both helpless and hopeless. They have their basis in the primary sources of Islamic faith. This group has a large membership over the centuries especially with the influence of Greek philosophy on Islamic thought. It is not possible to rationalize their stand. We better not attempt it.
I am more inclined to the second group. It believes that God has His traditions (sunan) and one of them is the freewill He offered mankind. Another tradition is that people are created on fitra (nature) that enables them be an organic part of the universe. Still another divine tradition is the provision of a code that is charged with guiding man to use his intelligence and freewill to live in peace and harmony with other people, the universe and God.
So the decision to obey or disobey is ours, not God’s (2:38-39; 90:10; 91:9, etc.). If God were to make the choice, then some injustice is perceivable. He would have then been seen to give freewill by one hand and turn round to cease it by the other. Exalted is He above injustice! He said in this regard, and His saying is true, that “whoso doeth right it is for his soul, and whoso does wrong it is against it. And thy Lord is not at all a tyrant to His slaves.” Effect here is unambiguously made a direct function of human cause.
I find this important to my life and as contributing positively to its quality particularly in this material world. The effort man puts is a pre-requisite to the assistance and blessing of God, as the Hausa adage would put it. Thus two of the twelve words of wisdom written in the testaments of Abraham and Moses was: “And that man hath only that for which he maketh effort. And that his effort will be seen.” (53:39-40).
So the attitude of people has an impact on their lives, positive or negative. If they wrongly subscribe their laziness and shortcomings to God, they will forever remain backward and their problems – social, political and whatever – will never be solved. If on the other hand they rise up and investigate the causes of their problems and attempt to overcome them, God will assist them and progress will be their fate. God has created the world a virgin. The crop we cultivate thereon is what we shall always reap. The fatalism therefore ascribed to traditional societies has no basis in the Muslim society, if seen from this angle.
Before moving further, let me hasten to say that there are situations that could be regarded as exceptions to this rule. There are instances when God may choose to intervene directly in our affairs. He may afflict us with a misfortune deliberately to test our faith (2:155; 29:2), to correct us (6:42; 30:41) or to punish us (6:43) for a wrong committed. He can also recall His servant when his time is due. But on all other occasions man is responsible for his death. It could be himself as in the case of suicide; or someone, as in the case of murder; or the society, as in the case of a poor condition of living. That is why life indices like infant mortality rates and life expectancy can be practically proven to be related to conditions of living. Thus God prohibited self-destruction (2:195) and made suicide (4: 29) and murder (4:93) great crimes that attract His greatest punishment and wrath in this world and in the Hereafter.
What is the implication of this thought to the material development of the Muslim society? What we said so far clearly illustrates that the Muslim World has the potential of advancing in science and technology without sacrificing its faith, unlike the situation in Europe and unlike what the western social sciences believe.
Conclusion
Throughout the series we have tried to explain the peculiarities of Islam that make it difficult for the practical Muslim to adapt western concepts and laws. In an attempt to do so, we have explored the theoretical foundation of the shariah for our mutual benefit.
I believe it is now clear that the issue of shariah to the Muslims is indeed a fundamental matter. During colonialism Muslims might have conceded to secular laws under force. However, their silence over it has continued to create more problems than it could solve. The situation is daily deteriorating. With democracy as a game of choice, compelling Muslims to continue with secularism is like asking them to “exchange that which is higher for that which is lower” even though we have agreed to live in a federation. They have chosen the higher and prayed that God save them from the lower.
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