Discourse 335
By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
My 50th Anniversary Gift to the Sultan
Last week, I saw a number of advertorials in our national dailies congratulating you on the 5th Anniversary of your turbanning as the Sultan of Sokoto. On my part, what I have as your anniversary gift is materially small, but big to the function of your office.
The gift is an iTunes application called Emerald Observatory, Version 1.3.1_r628, produced by Emerald Sequoia LLC (2010) available at Apple Store for just $2. There are newer versions by now I believe. When I acquired it a month ago, I realized that it could tell so many things about the moon and the solar system in general. All the planets and their orbits are represented on its page and one can clearly see when each of them is above the horizon. Because of the unending controversy over moon sighting in Nigeria, I developed interest in the picture of the moon, which is allocated a special window on the top left corner of the page.
Observatory gives an accurate picture of the moon any time of the day as it appears on the horizon throughout the month. When in hiding, the moon is only represented by its shadow. With this application, I was able to monitor the months of Dhul Qidah and Dhul Hijjah every day, seeing the shape of the moon changing everyday, as it grew older.
What is important for me then was to find out how fairly the picture on the page of Observatory compares with the actual moon on the sky. This would enable me decide the degree of trust I would put in the computer application. Each time I open the page, therefore, I could not help but make that comparison.
I was astonished to find that the two were always the same, both in shape and orientation. This accuracy was derived from the wide range of data used in scripting the program. In the words of its inventor, “the astronomical algorithms and data tables used in Emerald Observatory are derived from ‘Lunar Tables and Programs from 4000 B.C. to A.D. 8,000 by Michelle Chapront-Touze & Jean Chapront, and ‘Planetary Programs and Tables from -4000 to +2800’ by Pierre Bretagnon & Jean-Louis Simon.”
My regular reader would now easily predict the direction of my thoughts. It did not take time to convince myself that these kinds of software would be very useful tools in mitigating our problems regarding moon sighting in Nigeria. When mastered, they could become to us what the compass is to the sailor, telling us, even in the comfort of our sitting rooms, when it is possible to see the new crescent.
What is good about such programs is that they are egalitarian. They could be accessed and used by all and sundry since they have saved us the demand for knowledge of algorithms. They make us by-pass the astronomer just as the calculator saves the market woman the pain of using the Reckoner.
The next thing was to think of the problems that could be encountered in using application by among Muslims generally. As is common with all new devices, it is expected that some people would receive it with suspicion. In fact some will out rightly dismiss it as the watch and radio are still dismissed by some groups as European products.
The majority of those who have western education will warmly receive it. In it they will see the replica of many devices they have been using, having known the logic behind its invention. They have been using calculators and even computers with several softwares. This majority will have no problem with any suggestion to use such application to monitor the moon. Surprisingly, it thrilled many who have not been to modern schools when I showed them. The secret here is the picture of the moon on the page that looks exactly as the one they see in the sky above.
Thus, I do not think the software will hit a hard wall. Of course there will always be those who would, in spite of their exposure to modern devices, still resist the use of any computer application in moon sighting, in any way. However, this resistance is customary in history, and is responsible for the lag experienced by the Muslim world in science and technology. Each time a technology is invented in the West, we sadly waste precious times - sometimes centuries - debating the legality of employing it.
Mamluk Egypt and Syria rejected the gunpowder when it was already in use in Europe. Its acceptance and that of other tools of European warfare among the Turks was quicker only because of the threat on the western frontier. That too was only possible after a prolonged debate among jurists on whether the weapons of the ‘infidels’ could be used against them.
Also, the Muslim world would have adopted printing before Gutenberg reinvented it in the 15th Century after it was discovered much earlier by the Chinese. After Sultan Bayezid II issued a decree banning the use of printing Arabic and Turkish texts in the caliphate in 1485. Sultan Selim decreed a death penalty on any Muslim involved in printing. Surprisingly, Jews were permitted to use it in the production of non-Islamic literature. It took 245 years before a mufti issued a fatwa permitting it.
When the imperial permit was given in 1729, it still excluded religious books. Yet, the volumes of the initial books had to carry a copy of "the fatwa from the chief mufti declaring printing to be licit, and certificates of approval from the two chief judges of the empire and other dignitaries," wrote the author of The Middle East, Professor Bernard Lewis. For the next sixteen years until when the government printer Ibrahim Mutafarrika died in 1745, only seventeen books have been published in secular subjects by the imperial press. Two hundred years earlier, not less than a thousand works have been published by the over 200 printing shops in Germany alone. The same fate was suffered by the study of medicine, science and astronomy for most part of those centuries.
But to the advantage of Emerald Observatory and its like, digital technology is now commonplace. Such software will soon be downloadable on non-Apple handsets and even in villages people would start using them directly. Once they are convinced of their fidelity, the masses will not hesitate to consult them on moon related issues. And what perfect consultants they would make!
Those resisting them would have little option, as usual, other than to adopt them too. All over the Muslim world, science and digital technology are increasingly gaining ground in the moon sighting process and many aspects of religion. A month ago, a debate was sparked in Saudi Arabia after an Imam used powerpoit during his Friday congregation sermon.
Time is required, I understand, to make people receptive to new technology. But history has shown, once it sets its foot on a land, technology does not retreat, neither can it be expelled. It gains new converts daily and the number of its disciples continues to increase until those who oppose it become an inconsequential minority. This will be the fate of Emerald Observation and other similar applications on moon sighting. Once with experimentation people find out that it always truly represents the moon in the sky, shi ke nan, their hostility will start to fade and soon would they admit it into the rooms of their hearts as a friend to their religion, not an enemy.
If I were presenting this to your grandfather, Muhammadu Bello, he would have received it with all enthusiasm. Clapperton has attested to Bello’s bent for justice just as he also mentioned his readiness to learn from diverse sources. In My Life, a descendant of Bello, the late Sardauna, told us that when Clapperton was leaving for England at the end of his first visit, Bello requested him to kindly purchase for him Elements of Euclid, arguably the most published book in history after the Bible. Bello lamented that he lost his copy of the famous book during a fire mishap. Clapperton brought it back as a gift from His Majesty, King George IV. If Bello were alive today, he would be happy to see that many of the contents of Euclid’s Elements are today included in the curriculum of all secondary schools in his caliphate. We miss you Bello! If you were alive, no one would have said boko is haram without attracting severe sanctions.
In conclusion, I have a prayer to make. I hope the piety of someone will not make you reject this precious gift. My fears are rooted in the history of a similar object. I remember the sad fate of Dar al-Rasad al-Jadid (House of the New Observatory) and other similar projects in the dying centuries of the Muslim Caliphate. The observatory was built upon the approval of the Sultan in Istanbul in 1575 by the renowned Muslim polymath and royal astronomer, Takiyyuddin al-Rashid. In Civilization: West and the Rest, we learned that it was “a sophisticated facility, on par with the Dyne Tyco Brahe’s more famous observatory, Uraniborg.”
After a comet passed over Istanbul on 11 September 1577, and Takiyyuddin answered that it foretold an Ottoman victory (may be in a bid to save his facility), the Grand Mufti Sheikhul Islam Kadizade “persuaded Sultan that Takiyyuddin prying into the secrets of the heavens was as blasphemous as the planetary tables of the Samarkand astronomer Ulugh Beg, who had supposedly been beheaded for similar temerity. In January 1580, barely five years after its completion, the Sultan ordered the demolition of Takiyyuddin’s observatory.” It took nearly three hundred years for Istanbul to build another observatory in 1868.
Emerald Observatory is even more lucid than Takiyyuddin’s observatory. I only pray that it does not suffer the same fate in hands of Your Eminence.
Bauchi
9 December 2011
Showing posts with label Moon sighting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moon sighting. Show all posts
Monday, December 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Discourse 333: For Astronomy and National Observatory
Discourse 333
By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
For Astronomy and a National Observatory
I will start this article from its conclusion: The recurrent conflicts and errors on moon sighting in Nigeria can only be resolved by employing the knowledge of astronomy as Muslims before us have done and as many renowned scholars of the past have advised. Astronomy, not astrology, will be a guide as to when the moon should be sighted and also as a verifier of the validity of the sighting.
Relying on the general thinking that we do not need astronomical calculations in moon sighting has helped in no small measure to prolong the problem. In this article, I will rely heavily on two papers written by an old classmate and colleague, Mal. Usman H. Dukku of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi. I have published one of Malam Dukku's articles in my column earlier. The link to the papers will be given below. In the end, I have made a plea for the establishment of a national observatory that will help us keep track of the moon and guide us on the science of its appearance. May God guide us unto the Right Path.
Astronomy and Moon sighting
The problem starts with what many of us think, that all we need in moon sighting is the following hadith:
“Fast when it (the crescent) is seen, and break when it is seen, but if it is obscured to you, complete Shawwal to 30.”
The instruction in the hadith looks simple but over time it has proved to require great effort to carry out. Initially the Islamic community was made of Arabs in the 7th Century A.D., people who were not given to science and literature then. To them, the above hadith came as a great relief as could be easily inferred from the following hadith of Abdullah ibn Umar that was reported by Buhari and Muslim:
“We are an uneducated community: We neither write nor calculate. A month is so and so days: meaning sometimes twenty-nine and sometimes thirty.”
Later the Muslim nation would expand and encompass people and ages given to writing and calculations. Scholars did not hesitate to learn, approve and employ the science of astronomy wherever they thought it would be useful. Dukku availed us with the following words of the great scholar, Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111 AD), who made a distinction between astrology (or duba in Hausa) and astronomy:
“The study of stars (astrology) whose aim is to predict the death or life of someone; and by the appearance of so and so star the death of someone, the perishing of a certain nation or demise of a kingdom is imminent: this is neither certainty nor even an informed guess. This kind of knowledge is not sanctioned by Shariah.”
Then Al-Ghazali continued to approve of astronomy:
“However, the study of stars with which the motions of the planets, the sun and the moon are determined is a natural science and the Shari’a has never refuted it. In fact, it serves as a means of reckoning of years, months and times of fasting, pilgrimage and prayers. The rejection of this is a (sign of) failure and ignorance.”
That was about 900 years ago!
Coming a century after Ghazali, another great scholar, Shaikul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328 AD) asserted the exactitude of astronomical calculations in determining, for example, conjugation (when the new moon is formed but still in ‘hiding’),when it is full and solar and lunar eclipses. In his Majmu’ul Fatawa, he said:
“Within the scope of astronomical calculations is the determination or disappearance of the moon and Full Moon, that is conjugation and opposition, respectively. Ordinary people can know these through clear signs such as disappearance of the waning crescent at the end of the month and its appearance at the beginning of the month and complete illumination in the middle of the month.
“Calculations, on the other hand, detect these using hidden events such as conjugation of the two discs during the period of disappearance of the moon and the opposition or the sun and moon which is the moment of Full Moon. Definitely, all these events can be determined through calculations. However, the visibility of the crescent cannot be accurately determined by calculations like the time of solar and lunar eclipse.”
In his comment under the above passage, Dukku said, “In other words, astronomical calculations can tell when and where it is impossible to sight the moon and when and where the moon can be sighted.”
The reason why visibility of the crescent cannot be determined accurately has to do with many physical reasons, including weather, season, position of the viewer,etc. Scientists have found out that visibility starts at least 12 hours after conjugation. May God bless Shaykhul Islam!
Later in the paper, Dukku availed us with the words of 8th Century AH scholar, Al-Subkiy, regarding astronomical calculations that appeared in Ahkam al-Ahillah of Ahmad ibn Abdullah al-Farih:
“What astronomical calculations can determine is the possibility or otherwise of sighting (the crescent)… What is meant here is a situation in which an informant informs about his sighting (of the crescent) while it is impossible (according to astronomical calculation) to see it. Information can either be true or false and giving false information may be either deliberate or due to an error; and either of these has limitless causes.
“Therefore,” al-Subkiy concluded, “it is not rational to accept information that is liable to these, or to testify on it, when it is impossible to sight (the crescent), because the law cannot be based on impossibilities.”
Al-Subkiy gave the reason why the jurists of his time took the stand of rejecting testimonies on moon sighting that contradict astronomical calculations:
“We have not found this issue written, thus we had to analyse it and give a ruling that such a testimony should be rejected. The reason for the (earlier) jurist’s silence on this issue is its rare occurrence (during their time). When it occurred during our time, we got a reason to speak on it. Jurisprudence is a sea no one can traverse and its issues are renewed with the renewal of its events.”
On this, another scholar, al-Abbadiy, was very strong in language:
“If definitive astronomical calculations indicate impossibility of sighting (the crescent), the sighting claim of even a trustworthy person should not be accepted. This is a clear issue. Fasting is not valid under this situation and opposing this is stubbornness and arrogance.”
In the last paragraph of his paper, Dukku said
“It may be concluded, from the foregoing, that astronomical science is compatible with the Shari’a injunction of basing the beginning of the lunar months on physical sighting of the crescent moon. It is a useful guide in moon sighting and helps in reducing errors. It is therefore recommended that Muslims all over the world, but in Nigeria in particular, be encouraged to use astronomical knowledge in enhancing physical sighting of the moon. This recommendation is in line with the resolution of the World Fiqh Council during its third conference, held in Amman , Jordan, in 1986.”
Twenty-five years after Amman, Nigerian Muslims remain adamant. We have expressed total defiance to anything astronomical even though, as shown above, reputable scholars of the highest order have agreed on the need to compliment our visual sighting with astronomical calculations and many Muslim countries around the world have adopted one form of recruiting the aid of astronomical calculations or another.
While differences between regions in moon sighting in ages past went unnoticed, the detachment of Nigeria from the rest of the Muslim world on this issue has become unsettling. The statistics as shown by Dukku in another paper are clear. Nigeria has always taken the gold medal when it comes to moon sighting. Even when it starts the fasting of Ramadan with the rest of the world, which it rarely does except with Libya, it is always – always – the first, and only few times among the first, to break it. The Ramadan moon has always been 29 for over 50 years, something that defies even the hadith of the Prophet (PBUH) who fasted more 30s than 29s in the period of only nine years in Medina.
So let us be practical and agree that there is a problem. I believe we can do it, unlike our inability to solve other national problems where economic interests are involved. This is not petrol, elections, education or transport. The solution here is ready made. It lies in treading the path taken by other nations. They combine astronomical calculations with physical observations to determine their calendar. This is not only in states of Libya or Egypt, but also in Saudi Arabia. In establishing his assertion that “the scholars are unanimous that any claim of moon sighting must be scrutinized and if it contradicts established common knowledge and expert knowledge (urf) about the moon (astronomy inclusive) it should be rejected,” Dukku, once more,cited “an eminent scholar, a member of the High Judicial Council of Saudi Arabia”, al-Shaykh Abdullah Ibn Suleyman al-Mani’ who said:
“For the fact that the testimony of sighting (the moon) should be free from what can nullify it according to practical experience, common sense and common knowledge, if it is not, then it is necessary to reject it. If experts in astronomy confirm that the sun will set before the birth of the New Moon and a witness comes to testify that he has sighted the moon after sunset, it is necessary to reject such a testimony, for it is a testimony about which we can at best say – giving the witness the benefit of the doubt – that the witness has erred in his testimony: for how can the crescent be sighted after sunset while the situation is that the New Moon is not yet born? That is to say the moon is ahead of the sun towards the west – the moon is in the front and the sun behind.” (Unpublished Fatwa dated 17th Sha’ban, 1422 AH)
“How can the crescent be sighted after sunset while the situation is that the New Moon is not yet born?” Sheikh Mani’ should come to Nigeria to get plenty of us that will give him so many answers. It even happened this year. The moon was ahead of the sun by far, yet some of us said they saw it, two days before the conjugation! Whether what they saw was new moon or the old one is a different question.
If it were not for the fact that we are, unfortunately, living at a time when the verses of the Qur’an carry less weight than the words of ulama, we would not have quarreled with a science that has long ago established what the Qur’an has said repeatedly. So preponderant is the evidence from the Qur’an that one will not be mistaken if he says there is astronomy in the Quran:
“And everything with Him is measured.” (13.8)
“The Sun and the Moon are punctual.” (55.5)
“And the Sun runs on unto a resting-place for him. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Wise. And for the moon we have appointed mansions till she return like an old shriveled palm-leaf. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit.” (36: 38-40)
And We made the night and the day two signs. Then we make the dark the sign of the night, and We make the sign of the day sight-giving, that you may seek bounty from your Lord, and that you may know the computation of the years, and the reckoning; and everything have We expounded with a clear expounding.” (17:12)
“And landmarks (too), and by the star they find a way.” (16:16)
“And it is He Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Each float, each in an orbit.”
Etc. Etc…
Astronomy helps us to know the measures that are ordained for these bodies and how we can use them to guide us – or find our way – through time and space. Certainly, it is not the astronomers that were condemned by the Holy Prophet as liars, but astrologers. In Nigeria, we are not willing to distinguish the two; we often jump to the conclusion that both stand condemned. How could it be so in a religion whose scripture has the above verses?
Moon Sighting Committee
The moon sighting committee under the Sultan will benefit a lot from people who have taken the pains to always study the moon in this country. There is a complete body – the Nigerian Moon Sighting Society – whose work will be of immense benefit to the committee if the committee is ready to advance beyond our traditional stand which has not solved our perpetual crisis regarding moon sighting. The truth is that the committee so far is hesitant to the idea of being guided by astronomy, if I am to put the cold war between the two mildly. This is normal. Change is always met with some skepticism and resistance.
If I were to find my way, I will not fail to advise the Sultan to fuse the two camps by incorporating members of the society into the committee. His announcement of when to start searching for the new moon should be guided by astronomical calculations and observations. Gradually, gradually, we will oneday reach a point where we will be strong enough to use the fatwas of al-Subkiy and al-Mani', when we will insist that the sighting should not contradict common or expert’s knowledge.
Also where a mistake is made, expert knowledge and observation (like the day of the full moon) can be used to adjust the calendar of that month such that the mistake does not spill over to the next or even subsequent months. This is often done in countries like Saudi Arabia. This year, given a lacuna in their arrangement, a court in Riyadh accepted the testimony of two people and the end of fasting was announced. Experts, however did not see it in other cities like Medina. Later, it was realized that there was an error. I heard that an announcement was made to adjust the calendar accordingly. If the experts were relied upon since, as Ibn Taymiyyah said, they would have calculated the exact time of conjugation (when the new moon is actually born) and advise that it is possible or impossible to see the crescent at so and so times. This drag-drag wey we de do on the question of using astronomy no go last wo. It was not surprising that Gaddafi's Libya went by astronomical calculations.
Observatory
Finally, it will also be a good idea for the Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs to establish a permanent observatory that will assist the moon sighting committee with necessary data to reach an informed decision. Such observatories are found in many Muslim countries. A conference in 1966 held under the auspices of Al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Council urged, among other resolutions, “Islamic governments and peoples to set up Islamic authorities in their respective countries to be assigned the task of determining the first of lunar month with the help of observatories and reliable astronomers.“
I have learnt that finally, after 45 years since that call from Al-Azhar, the Sultan in Nigeria has assigned a competent staff of the SCIA at the National Mosque with background in Islamic studies the duty of observing the moon throughout the year already. The brother has already become conversant with the various available software on astronomy of moon sighting and other things. I consider him to be the precursor of that observatory. All we need is to expand that effort to give it a permanent structure and function.
Such an observatory does not need to be sophisticated. Two graduates and a technician will be able to handle it. A board of few experts and ulama can be appointed to oversee its year round activities.
As for the site, a university or polytechnic in the Northwest where the sky is most clear will be suitable. Its department of physics or geography can host it as a unit comfortably.
Funding to cater for building, equipment, furnishing, salaries, conferences and passages generally can be sourced from various donors, if these items are not assigned to the university in the memorandum.
It will be better if one observatory is maintained as at now than many belonging to different state governments or Islamic groups. This will prevent duplication of effort and the unwarranted misuse of public funds.
At the risk of repeating my conclusion, I would like to appeal to the general public to see the issue of moon sighting with an open mind, devoid of politics or whatever. Astronomy is one tool that will help us minimize the chances of error in that task. The antipathy that some of us have for the field and its employment is uncalled for, going by the sources we read above. We are already using it in our calendars, timings, prediction of eclipses, etc, without any problem. While we continue to use the naked eye to announce the beginning of the new moon, astronomy, with its exact calculations of eclipses, conjugation, opposition, etc, as testified by Ibn Taymiyyah, will intelligently guide us on at least when to start looking for new moon. It will also tell whether what we have seen is possibly the new moon or something else up there in the sky. And, sure, there are many things in the infinitely broad sky up there.
Bauchi,
25 October 2011
The links to Dukku’s papers are:
http://fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2011/10/problem-of-moon-sighting-in-Nigeria.html
http://fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2011/10/astronomy-of-moon-sighting-islamic.html
By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
For Astronomy and a National Observatory
I will start this article from its conclusion: The recurrent conflicts and errors on moon sighting in Nigeria can only be resolved by employing the knowledge of astronomy as Muslims before us have done and as many renowned scholars of the past have advised. Astronomy, not astrology, will be a guide as to when the moon should be sighted and also as a verifier of the validity of the sighting.
Relying on the general thinking that we do not need astronomical calculations in moon sighting has helped in no small measure to prolong the problem. In this article, I will rely heavily on two papers written by an old classmate and colleague, Mal. Usman H. Dukku of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi. I have published one of Malam Dukku's articles in my column earlier. The link to the papers will be given below. In the end, I have made a plea for the establishment of a national observatory that will help us keep track of the moon and guide us on the science of its appearance. May God guide us unto the Right Path.
Astronomy and Moon sighting
The problem starts with what many of us think, that all we need in moon sighting is the following hadith:
“Fast when it (the crescent) is seen, and break when it is seen, but if it is obscured to you, complete Shawwal to 30.”
The instruction in the hadith looks simple but over time it has proved to require great effort to carry out. Initially the Islamic community was made of Arabs in the 7th Century A.D., people who were not given to science and literature then. To them, the above hadith came as a great relief as could be easily inferred from the following hadith of Abdullah ibn Umar that was reported by Buhari and Muslim:
“We are an uneducated community: We neither write nor calculate. A month is so and so days: meaning sometimes twenty-nine and sometimes thirty.”
Later the Muslim nation would expand and encompass people and ages given to writing and calculations. Scholars did not hesitate to learn, approve and employ the science of astronomy wherever they thought it would be useful. Dukku availed us with the following words of the great scholar, Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111 AD), who made a distinction between astrology (or duba in Hausa) and astronomy:
“The study of stars (astrology) whose aim is to predict the death or life of someone; and by the appearance of so and so star the death of someone, the perishing of a certain nation or demise of a kingdom is imminent: this is neither certainty nor even an informed guess. This kind of knowledge is not sanctioned by Shariah.”
Then Al-Ghazali continued to approve of astronomy:
“However, the study of stars with which the motions of the planets, the sun and the moon are determined is a natural science and the Shari’a has never refuted it. In fact, it serves as a means of reckoning of years, months and times of fasting, pilgrimage and prayers. The rejection of this is a (sign of) failure and ignorance.”
That was about 900 years ago!
Coming a century after Ghazali, another great scholar, Shaikul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328 AD) asserted the exactitude of astronomical calculations in determining, for example, conjugation (when the new moon is formed but still in ‘hiding’),when it is full and solar and lunar eclipses. In his Majmu’ul Fatawa, he said:
“Within the scope of astronomical calculations is the determination or disappearance of the moon and Full Moon, that is conjugation and opposition, respectively. Ordinary people can know these through clear signs such as disappearance of the waning crescent at the end of the month and its appearance at the beginning of the month and complete illumination in the middle of the month.
“Calculations, on the other hand, detect these using hidden events such as conjugation of the two discs during the period of disappearance of the moon and the opposition or the sun and moon which is the moment of Full Moon. Definitely, all these events can be determined through calculations. However, the visibility of the crescent cannot be accurately determined by calculations like the time of solar and lunar eclipse.”
In his comment under the above passage, Dukku said, “In other words, astronomical calculations can tell when and where it is impossible to sight the moon and when and where the moon can be sighted.”
The reason why visibility of the crescent cannot be determined accurately has to do with many physical reasons, including weather, season, position of the viewer,etc. Scientists have found out that visibility starts at least 12 hours after conjugation. May God bless Shaykhul Islam!
Later in the paper, Dukku availed us with the words of 8th Century AH scholar, Al-Subkiy, regarding astronomical calculations that appeared in Ahkam al-Ahillah of Ahmad ibn Abdullah al-Farih:
“What astronomical calculations can determine is the possibility or otherwise of sighting (the crescent)… What is meant here is a situation in which an informant informs about his sighting (of the crescent) while it is impossible (according to astronomical calculation) to see it. Information can either be true or false and giving false information may be either deliberate or due to an error; and either of these has limitless causes.
“Therefore,” al-Subkiy concluded, “it is not rational to accept information that is liable to these, or to testify on it, when it is impossible to sight (the crescent), because the law cannot be based on impossibilities.”
Al-Subkiy gave the reason why the jurists of his time took the stand of rejecting testimonies on moon sighting that contradict astronomical calculations:
“We have not found this issue written, thus we had to analyse it and give a ruling that such a testimony should be rejected. The reason for the (earlier) jurist’s silence on this issue is its rare occurrence (during their time). When it occurred during our time, we got a reason to speak on it. Jurisprudence is a sea no one can traverse and its issues are renewed with the renewal of its events.”
On this, another scholar, al-Abbadiy, was very strong in language:
“If definitive astronomical calculations indicate impossibility of sighting (the crescent), the sighting claim of even a trustworthy person should not be accepted. This is a clear issue. Fasting is not valid under this situation and opposing this is stubbornness and arrogance.”
In the last paragraph of his paper, Dukku said
“It may be concluded, from the foregoing, that astronomical science is compatible with the Shari’a injunction of basing the beginning of the lunar months on physical sighting of the crescent moon. It is a useful guide in moon sighting and helps in reducing errors. It is therefore recommended that Muslims all over the world, but in Nigeria in particular, be encouraged to use astronomical knowledge in enhancing physical sighting of the moon. This recommendation is in line with the resolution of the World Fiqh Council during its third conference, held in Amman , Jordan, in 1986.”
Twenty-five years after Amman, Nigerian Muslims remain adamant. We have expressed total defiance to anything astronomical even though, as shown above, reputable scholars of the highest order have agreed on the need to compliment our visual sighting with astronomical calculations and many Muslim countries around the world have adopted one form of recruiting the aid of astronomical calculations or another.
While differences between regions in moon sighting in ages past went unnoticed, the detachment of Nigeria from the rest of the Muslim world on this issue has become unsettling. The statistics as shown by Dukku in another paper are clear. Nigeria has always taken the gold medal when it comes to moon sighting. Even when it starts the fasting of Ramadan with the rest of the world, which it rarely does except with Libya, it is always – always – the first, and only few times among the first, to break it. The Ramadan moon has always been 29 for over 50 years, something that defies even the hadith of the Prophet (PBUH) who fasted more 30s than 29s in the period of only nine years in Medina.
So let us be practical and agree that there is a problem. I believe we can do it, unlike our inability to solve other national problems where economic interests are involved. This is not petrol, elections, education or transport. The solution here is ready made. It lies in treading the path taken by other nations. They combine astronomical calculations with physical observations to determine their calendar. This is not only in states of Libya or Egypt, but also in Saudi Arabia. In establishing his assertion that “the scholars are unanimous that any claim of moon sighting must be scrutinized and if it contradicts established common knowledge and expert knowledge (urf) about the moon (astronomy inclusive) it should be rejected,” Dukku, once more,cited “an eminent scholar, a member of the High Judicial Council of Saudi Arabia”, al-Shaykh Abdullah Ibn Suleyman al-Mani’ who said:
“For the fact that the testimony of sighting (the moon) should be free from what can nullify it according to practical experience, common sense and common knowledge, if it is not, then it is necessary to reject it. If experts in astronomy confirm that the sun will set before the birth of the New Moon and a witness comes to testify that he has sighted the moon after sunset, it is necessary to reject such a testimony, for it is a testimony about which we can at best say – giving the witness the benefit of the doubt – that the witness has erred in his testimony: for how can the crescent be sighted after sunset while the situation is that the New Moon is not yet born? That is to say the moon is ahead of the sun towards the west – the moon is in the front and the sun behind.” (Unpublished Fatwa dated 17th Sha’ban, 1422 AH)
“How can the crescent be sighted after sunset while the situation is that the New Moon is not yet born?” Sheikh Mani’ should come to Nigeria to get plenty of us that will give him so many answers. It even happened this year. The moon was ahead of the sun by far, yet some of us said they saw it, two days before the conjugation! Whether what they saw was new moon or the old one is a different question.
If it were not for the fact that we are, unfortunately, living at a time when the verses of the Qur’an carry less weight than the words of ulama, we would not have quarreled with a science that has long ago established what the Qur’an has said repeatedly. So preponderant is the evidence from the Qur’an that one will not be mistaken if he says there is astronomy in the Quran:
“And everything with Him is measured.” (13.8)
“The Sun and the Moon are punctual.” (55.5)
“And the Sun runs on unto a resting-place for him. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Wise. And for the moon we have appointed mansions till she return like an old shriveled palm-leaf. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit.” (36: 38-40)
And We made the night and the day two signs. Then we make the dark the sign of the night, and We make the sign of the day sight-giving, that you may seek bounty from your Lord, and that you may know the computation of the years, and the reckoning; and everything have We expounded with a clear expounding.” (17:12)
“And landmarks (too), and by the star they find a way.” (16:16)
“And it is He Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Each float, each in an orbit.”
Etc. Etc…
Astronomy helps us to know the measures that are ordained for these bodies and how we can use them to guide us – or find our way – through time and space. Certainly, it is not the astronomers that were condemned by the Holy Prophet as liars, but astrologers. In Nigeria, we are not willing to distinguish the two; we often jump to the conclusion that both stand condemned. How could it be so in a religion whose scripture has the above verses?
Moon Sighting Committee
The moon sighting committee under the Sultan will benefit a lot from people who have taken the pains to always study the moon in this country. There is a complete body – the Nigerian Moon Sighting Society – whose work will be of immense benefit to the committee if the committee is ready to advance beyond our traditional stand which has not solved our perpetual crisis regarding moon sighting. The truth is that the committee so far is hesitant to the idea of being guided by astronomy, if I am to put the cold war between the two mildly. This is normal. Change is always met with some skepticism and resistance.
If I were to find my way, I will not fail to advise the Sultan to fuse the two camps by incorporating members of the society into the committee. His announcement of when to start searching for the new moon should be guided by astronomical calculations and observations. Gradually, gradually, we will oneday reach a point where we will be strong enough to use the fatwas of al-Subkiy and al-Mani', when we will insist that the sighting should not contradict common or expert’s knowledge.
Also where a mistake is made, expert knowledge and observation (like the day of the full moon) can be used to adjust the calendar of that month such that the mistake does not spill over to the next or even subsequent months. This is often done in countries like Saudi Arabia. This year, given a lacuna in their arrangement, a court in Riyadh accepted the testimony of two people and the end of fasting was announced. Experts, however did not see it in other cities like Medina. Later, it was realized that there was an error. I heard that an announcement was made to adjust the calendar accordingly. If the experts were relied upon since, as Ibn Taymiyyah said, they would have calculated the exact time of conjugation (when the new moon is actually born) and advise that it is possible or impossible to see the crescent at so and so times. This drag-drag wey we de do on the question of using astronomy no go last wo. It was not surprising that Gaddafi's Libya went by astronomical calculations.
Observatory
Finally, it will also be a good idea for the Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs to establish a permanent observatory that will assist the moon sighting committee with necessary data to reach an informed decision. Such observatories are found in many Muslim countries. A conference in 1966 held under the auspices of Al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Council urged, among other resolutions, “Islamic governments and peoples to set up Islamic authorities in their respective countries to be assigned the task of determining the first of lunar month with the help of observatories and reliable astronomers.“
I have learnt that finally, after 45 years since that call from Al-Azhar, the Sultan in Nigeria has assigned a competent staff of the SCIA at the National Mosque with background in Islamic studies the duty of observing the moon throughout the year already. The brother has already become conversant with the various available software on astronomy of moon sighting and other things. I consider him to be the precursor of that observatory. All we need is to expand that effort to give it a permanent structure and function.
Such an observatory does not need to be sophisticated. Two graduates and a technician will be able to handle it. A board of few experts and ulama can be appointed to oversee its year round activities.
As for the site, a university or polytechnic in the Northwest where the sky is most clear will be suitable. Its department of physics or geography can host it as a unit comfortably.
Funding to cater for building, equipment, furnishing, salaries, conferences and passages generally can be sourced from various donors, if these items are not assigned to the university in the memorandum.
It will be better if one observatory is maintained as at now than many belonging to different state governments or Islamic groups. This will prevent duplication of effort and the unwarranted misuse of public funds.
At the risk of repeating my conclusion, I would like to appeal to the general public to see the issue of moon sighting with an open mind, devoid of politics or whatever. Astronomy is one tool that will help us minimize the chances of error in that task. The antipathy that some of us have for the field and its employment is uncalled for, going by the sources we read above. We are already using it in our calendars, timings, prediction of eclipses, etc, without any problem. While we continue to use the naked eye to announce the beginning of the new moon, astronomy, with its exact calculations of eclipses, conjugation, opposition, etc, as testified by Ibn Taymiyyah, will intelligently guide us on at least when to start looking for new moon. It will also tell whether what we have seen is possibly the new moon or something else up there in the sky. And, sure, there are many things in the infinitely broad sky up there.
Bauchi,
25 October 2011
The links to Dukku’s papers are:
http://fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2011/10/problem-of-moon-sighting-in-Nigeria.html
http://fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2011/10/astronomy-of-moon-sighting-islamic.html
The Astronomy of Moon Sighting: An Islamic Perspective
The Astronomy of Moonsighting: An Islamic Perspective
Usman H Dukku
Biological Sciences Programme
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University
Bauchi
E-mail: udukku@yahoo.com
Phone: 08057041968
A paper presented at the
National Conference on Moonsighting
Organized by the
Islamic Studies Section, Department of Education
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
From 12th to 16th July 2009
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العلمين والصلاة والسلام على محمد وعلى آله و صحبه
Abstract
This paper discusses the application of astronomy to moonsighting. It begins by defining astronomy distinguishing it from astrology, a closely related field often confused with it. It then went further to discuss the accuracy of astronomical calculations and their compatibility with the Sharia injunction of sighting the crescent moon as a means of determining the beginning of lunar months. The paper concludes that astronomical calculations are compatible with moonsighting, within the provisions of the Sharia, and, therefore, recommends that astronomy should complement physical sighting of the crescent in order to enhance the process by checking the errors often associated with moonsighting.
The Astronomy of Moonsighting: An Islamic Perspective
Astronomy is defined as “the scientific study of the universe, especially of the motions, positions, sizes, composition, and behavior of astronomical objects.”1 Closely related to astronomy, and often confused with it, is astrology which is defined as “the study of the positions of the moon, sun, and other planets in the belief that their motions affect human beings.”1
Al-Gazaliy makes a distinction between the two as follows:
“The study of stars (astrology) whose aim is to predict the death or life of someone; and by the appearance of so and so star the death of someone, the perishing of a certain nation or demise of a kingdom is imminent: this is neither certainty nor even an informed guess. This kind (of knowledge) is not sanctioned by the Shari’a. However, the study of stars (astronomy) with which the motions of the planets, the sun and the moon are determined is a natural science and the Shari’a has never refuted it. In fact it serves as a means of reckoning of years, months and times of fasting, pilgrimage and prayers. The rejection of this is a (sign of) failure and ignorance.”2
It can be seen from the above definitions that whereas astronomy is a definitive science based on deductive reasoning, astrology is a conjecture. The subject of this paper is astronomy.
Accuracy of astronomical calculations
Astronomers use accurate calculations to predict astronomical events. The precision of these calculations can easily be confirmed by monitoring a solar or a lunar eclipse – two of the many events predicted by astronomers since ancient times. Has anyone ever witnessed an eclipse occurring at a time other than that predicted by the astronomers? These calculations can be used to confirm past events as well. For example, in the book, Fiqh al-Sirah,3 it is stated that the Prophet (SAWS) set out (from Madinah) for the farewell pilgrimage on 25th Dhu al-Qi'dah 10 A.H. and that the month had 29 days and 1st Dhu al-Hijjah was on a Thursday. Now let us compare this account with astronomical calculations.
According to MoonCalc,4 a computer programme that calculates astronomical events, including crescent visibility, 29th Dhu al-Qi'dah 10 A. H corresponds with Wednesday 26th February 632 A.D. and 1st Dhu al-Hijjah 10 A.H with Thursday 27th February 632 A.D. This also confirms the historical account that the day of Arafat of that year was Friday. The accuracy of these calculations has its origin in the precision with which the heavenly bodies move, as described by the Glorious Qur'an:
"The sun and the moon follow courses exactly computed."5
Ibn Kathir explains the meaning of this verse as follows:
وقوله تعالى الشمس والقمر بحسبان أي يجريان متعاقبين بحساب مقنن لا يختلف ولايضطرب
“They move in their orbit in perfect succession, according to precise calculation that is never delayed nor disturbed.”6
Astronomy of the Moon
Four of the five pillars of Islam, namely, Salah, Zakah, Fasting of the month of Ramadan and Hajj are time bound and the Shariah designated the sun and the moon as objects of timekeeping for performing these duties. This underscores the importance of studying the motions of these objects. The following verses from the Holy Quran and Hadiths of the Holy Prophet (SAWS) describe this role of the moon:
"They ask you concerning the crescent moons. Say: They are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the affairs of) men and for Pilgrimage."7
"It is He who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for it, that you might know the number of years and the count (of time)."8
"And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (appointed). And the Moon, We have measured for it stations (to traverse) till it returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk. It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit."9
Abu Hurayrah (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: "Start fasting upon sighting it (the crescent) and terminate the fast upon sighting it (the crescent) and if it is hidden to you (by clouds), then count the month of Sha'ban to thirty days."10
Abdullah ibn Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once mentioned Ramadan and said, "Do not begin the fast until you see the new crescent, and do not break the fast (at the end of Ramadan) until you see it. If the new crescent is obscured from you, then work out when it should be."11
Abdullah Ibn Umar (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: "We are an uneducated community: We neither write nor calculate. A month is so and so days; meaning sometimes twenty nine and sometimes thirty."12
The moon is the only known natural satellite of Earth. It revolves around Earth, completing one revolution in about 27 days (27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes). This is called the orbital period or the moon. However, as the moon revolves around the earth, the latter revolves around the sun and at a certain time the three objects lie in the same plane, with the moon in the middle. This moment, termed conjugation (birth of the new moon), marks the end of a lunar month and the beginning of another. The length of a lunar month, also called synodic period, is the period between two successive conjugations and is about 29½ days (29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes).
The visibility, shape and brightness of the moon, from the earth, depend on the illumination it receives from the sun and this, in turn, depends on the moon’s angular distance from the sun as it moves in its orbit in an easterly direction. The various forms in which the moon appears from the earth, which change daily, are called Moon phases. The most obvious ones are:
New Moon: This phase is completely hidden from Earth because the face of the moon that faces the earth backs the sun and, therefore, is completely dark, since it does not receive any sunlight. It should be noted that the moon does not produce any light; its luminosity is due to the sunlight it reflects.
Waxing Crescent: This phase begins from the first appearance of the moon (which marks the beginning of the lunar month, according to the Shari’a) and ends at the First Quarter Moon.
First Quarter Moon: This occurs about a week from the moment of the New Moon when the moon has travelled a quarter of the distance of its orbit (90 degrees). At this moment the moon looks like a halved disc.
Waxing Gibbous: The appearance of the moon between First Quarter Moon and Full Moon phases.
Full Moon: This occurs about two weeks from the moment of the New Moon when the moon has travelled half the distance of its orbit (180 degrees). At this moment the moon looks like a perfect disc.
Waning Gibbous: The Moon as it appears between the Full Moon and the Last Quarter phases.
Last Quarter Moon: This occurs about three weeks from the last New Moon (and a week to the next New Moon) when the moon has travelled three quarters of the distance of its orbit (270 degrees). At this moment the moon looks like a halved disc.
Waning Crescent: This is the phase from Last Quarter Moon to the disappearance of the moon, hours before the next New Moon.
The phases that are of special importance to our discussion are New Moon, Full Moon, Waning Crescent and Waxing Crescent.
The occurrence of the new moon phase has already been described. What we may need to add here is that the moment of the new moon is the most important reference point in the science of moonsighting: The new (waxing) crescent can only be seen after the New Moon. Caldwell and Laney have this to say on this issue:
“At this time (of the new moon) the moon is always invisible from the earth. When the moon first becomes visible again (always more, usually much more, than half a day after astronomical new moon), observers see a young crescent moon.”13
It is also important to mention that it is at the instant of the New Moon that solar eclipses occur. This makes a solar eclipse an important event in checking the authenticity of a lunar date.
The moment of Full Moon (al badr in Arabic), on the other hand, is midway between two successive conjugations when the three bodies again lie in a straight line, but with the earth in the middle( a lunar eclipse can only occur at this moment). This moment occurs between the 13th and 15th of the lunar month that started with the correct sighting of the moon. The Arabic name for this period (ayyam al bid) is as a result of two phenomena unique to this period, that is, the moon is brightest and there is no total darkness during this period since there is an overlap between daylight and moonlight at dusk and dawn.
Towards the end of the month, that is, after Last Quarter Moon, the moon is described as a waning crescent. It rises in the morning, before sunrise, and it progressively appears thinner and lower until it finally fades away.
As the moon leaves the Sun – Earth line, after conjugation, its face that faces Earth starts getting light from Sun and reflecting it towards Earth. When it reflects sufficient light to be seen from Earth, observers see it as a waxing crescent. Ibn Taymiyya describes these events in the following words:
وَهَذَا الِاجْتِمَاعُ يَكُونُ بَعْدَ الِاسْتِسْرَارِ وَقَبْلَ الِاسْتِهْلَالِ فَإِنَّ الْقَمَرَ يَجْرِي فِي مَنَازِلِهِ الثَّمَانِيَةِ وَالْعِشْرِينَ كَمَا قَدَّرَهُ اللَّهُ مَنَازِلَ ثُمَّ يَقْرُبُ مِنْ الشَّمْسِ فَيَسْتَسِرُّ لَيْلَةً أَوْ لَيْلَتَيْنِ ; لِمُحَاذَاتِهِ لَهَا فَإِذَا خَرَجَ مِنْ تَحْتِهَا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ النُّورَ ثُمَّ يَزْدَادُ النُّورُ كُلَّمَا بَعُدَ عَنْهَا إلَى أَنْ يُقَابِلَهَا لَيْلَةَ الْإِبْدَارِ ثُمَّ يَنْقُصُ كُلَّمَا قَرُبَ مِنْهَا إلَى أَنْ يُجَامِعَهَا14
“This conjugation takes place after the disappearance of the moon and before the new
Crescent. The moon moves in its 28 stations destined for it by Allah; then it approaches the sun and disappears for one or two nights because of its closeness to it (the sun). When the moon leaves Sun’s domain, Allah illuminates it and this illumination increase as the moon moves further away from the sun up to the time of opposition at Full Moon. Thereafter, the illumination diminishes as the moon comes closer to the sun until it conjugates with it.”14
Astronomical Calculations and Crescent Visibility
Whereas astronomical calculations can predict very accurately (without an error) phenomena, that depend on the motions of Sun, Earth and Moon, which are constant and independent of the observer’s location, such as moonrise and set times, the birth of the New Moon, Full Moon and eclipses, they are not sufficient in predicting the visibility of the crescent moon, after New Moon, with that degree of accuracy. This is because non astronomical factors such as weather, land topography and the conditions of the observer also affect crescent visibility. This fact is presented by Ibn Taymiyya in the following words:
وَمِنْ مَعْرِفَةِ الْحِسَابِ الِاسْتِسْرَارُ وَالْإِبْدَارُ الَّذِي هُوَ الِاجْتِمَاعُ وَالِاسْتِقْبَالُ فَالنَّاسُ يُعَبِّرُونَ عَنْ ذَلِكَ بِالْأَمْرِ الظَّاهِرِ مِنْ الِاسْتِسْرَارِ الْهِلَالِيِّ فِي آخِرِ الشَّهْرِ وَظُهُورِهِ فِي أَوَّلِهِ وَكَمَالِ نُورِهِ فِي وَسَطِهِ والحساب يُعَبِّرُونَ بِالْأَمْرِ الْخَفِيِّ مِنْ اجْتِمَاعِ الْقُرْصَيْنِ الَّذِي هُوَ وَقْتُ الِاسْتِسْرَارِ وَمِنْ اسْتِقْبَالِ الشَّمْسِ وَالْقَمَرِ الَّذِي هُوَ وَقْتُ الْإِبْدَارِ فَإِنَّ هَذَا يُضْبَطُ بِالْحِسَابِ . وَأَمَّا الْإِهْلَالُ فَلَا لَهُ عِنْدَهُمْ مِنْ جِهَةِ الْحِسَابِ ضَبْطٌ ; لِأَنَّهُ لَا يُضْبَطُ بِحِسَابٍ يُعْرَفُ كَمَا يُعْرَفُ وَقْتُ الْكُسُوفِ وَالْخُسُوفِ15
"Within the scope of astronomical calculations is the determination of disappearance of the moon and Full Moon, that is conjugation and opposition, respectively. Ordinary people can know these through clear signs such as disappearance of the waning crescent at the end of the month and its appearance at the beginning of the month and complete illumination in the middle of the month. Calculations, on the other hand, detect these using by hidden events such as conjugation of the two discs during the period of disappearance of the moon and from the opposition or the sun and moon which is the moment of Full Moon. Definitely all these events can be determined through calculations. However, the visibility of the crescent cannot be accurately determined by calculations like the time of solar and lunar eclipse.”15
In other words astronomical calculations can tell when and where it is impossible to sight the moon and when and where the moon can be sighted. Computer programmes that simplify these calculations are now available. For example, Accurate Times, a non-technical, easy to use programme, developed by Muhammad Odeh,16 computes, among other things, crescent visibility and prayer times for any given location. In addition it displays the world map with details of crescent visibility for any given month.
Moonsighting and Astronomical calculations
Now, given the accuracy of astronomical calculations and the advancement in technology, which makes it possible to predict when and where the crescent moon can be sighted, should we replace physical sighting of the moon with astronomical calculations?
The view of the majority of jurists is that astronomical calculations should not replace physical sighting of the crescent. However it should be noted that some scholars, such as Mutarrif (among the Tabi’un) and al-Shafi’iy, approve the use of astronomical calculations, in place of physical sighting of the moon, under certain conditions , such as when there is an overcast on the 30th night17. In the same vein, the scholars are unanimous that any claim of moonsighting must be scrutinized and if it contradicts established common and expert knowledge (‘urf) about the moon (astronomy inclusive) it should be rejected. For example, the eminent scholar, a member of the High Judiciary Council of Saudi Arabia, al-Shaykh Abdullah Ibn Sulayman al-Mani’ explains as follows:
ونظراً إلى أن الشهادة بالرؤية يجب أن تكون منفكة عما يكذبها حساً وعقلاً وعرفاً وإلا فيجب ردها فإذا قرر علماء الفلك أن الشمس تغرب قبل ولادة الهلال وجاء من يشهد برؤية الهلال بعد غروب الشمس فيجب رد هذه الشهادة لأنها شهادة غاية ما نقول فيها عند إحساننا الظن بالشاهد بأن الشاهد قد وهم في شهادته وغلط. إذ كيف يُرى الهلال بعد غروب الشمس والحال أن الهلال لم يولد بعد أي أنه لا يزال متقدماً على الشمس إلى جهة الغرب فهو أمامها وهي خلفه من جهة الشرق.18
“For the fact that the testimony of sighting (the moon) should be free from what can nullify it according to practical experience, common sense and common knowledge, if it is not, then it is necessary to reject it. If experts in astronomy confirm that the sun will set before the birth of the New Moon and a witness comes to testify that he has sighted the moon after sunset, it is necessary to reject such a testimony, for it is a testimony about which we can at best say - giving the witness the benefit of doubt – that the witness has erred and strayed in his testimony: for how can the crescent be sighted after sunset while the situation is that the New Moon is not yet born? That is to say the moon is ahead of the sun towards the west - the moon is in the front and the sun behind.” 18
Another eminent scholar, al-Subkiy (683-756 AH), had earlier expressed the same opinion:
"What astronomical calculations can determine is the possibility or otherwise of sighting (the crescent)…..What is meant here is a situation in which an informant informs about his sighting (of the crescent) while it is impossible (according to astronomical calculations) to see it. Information can either be true or false and giving false information may be either deliberate or due to an error; and either of these has limitless causes. Therefore, it is not rational to accept information that is liable to these, or to testify on it, when it is impossible to sight (the crescent), because the law cannot be based on impossibilities. We have not found this issue written, thus we had to analyse it and give a ruling that such a testimony should be rejected. The reason for the (earlier) jurists’ silence on this issue is its rare occurrence (during their time). When it occurred during our time, we got a reason to speak on it. Jurisprudence is a sea no one can traverse and its issues are renewed with the renewal of its events.”2
Still another eminent scholar, Al-Abbadiy, expressed the same opinion:
“If definitive astronomical calculations indicate impossibility of sighting (the crescent), the sighting claim of even a trustworthy person should not be accepted. This is a clear issue. Fasting is not valid under this situation and opposing this is stubbornness and arrogance.”2
This opinion agrees with what happened during the early years of this Ummah when a sighting claim by Anas bn Malik (RA), a companion of the Prophet (SAWS), was rejected because it was found to be an erroneous one. The story goes thus:
“A group of people, among them Hadart Anas b. Malik (RA), were looking for the crescent moon of Ramadan. He was close to 100 (years old). He said: ‘Indeed, I see it; it is there.’ And he kept pointing to (in the sky). However, others did not see any. Iyas looked at Anas (RA) and (found) a hair from his eyebrow bent (over his eye). Iyas rubbed and smoothed his brow. Then he told him:’Abu Hamzah! (Now) show us the moon’s location (in the sky).’ He (Anas RA) kept looking (for it) and then said: ‘I don't see it (now).” 19
Now the answer to our question: Astronomical calculations should compliment actual sighting of the crescent moon rather than replace it.
It may be concluded, from the foregoing, that astronomical science is compatible with the Shari’a injunction of basing the beginning of the lunar months on physical sighting of the crescent moon. It is a useful guide in moonsighting and helps in reducing errors. It is therefore recommended that Muslims all over the world, but in Nigeria in particular, be encouraged to use astronomical knowledge in enhancing physical sighting of the moon. This recommendation is in line with the resolution of the World Fiqh Council during its third conference, held in Amman, Jordan, in 1986.20
References
Encarta Dictionaries, Microsoft® Encarta® 2009, Microsoft Corporation.
Al-Farih, Ahmad b. Abdillah b. Muhammad. Ahkam al-Ahillah. Dar al Jawziy 1429 AH.
Al-Butiy, Muhammad Said Ramadan. Fiqh al-Sirah. Dar al-Fikr. 1993/1414AH
Ahmad, M (2001) Moon Calculator Version 6.0. http://www.ummah.net/ildl/mooncalc.html Accessed on 10th July 2009
The Glorious Qur'an, Chapter 55, al-Rahman, Verse 3
Ibn Kathir(701-774 AH), Abu Al-Fida' `Imad Ad-Din Isma il bin 'Umar bin Kathir Al-Qurashi Al-Busrawi. Abridged Tafsir Ibn Kathir. Darussalam Publishing and Distribution
The Glorious Qur'an, Chapter 2, al-Baqarah, Verse 189
The Glorious Qur'an, Chapter 10, Yunus, Verse 5
The Glorious Qur'an, Chapter 36, Ya-sin, Verses 37-39
Hadith transmitted by Bukhari and Muslim
Hadith transmitted by Imam Malik
Hadith transmitted by Bukhari
Caldwell, J A. R. and Laney, C. D. First Visibility of the Lunar Crescent http://www.saao.ac.za/public-info/sun-moon-stars/moon-index/lunar-crescent-visibility/first-visibility-of-lunar-crescent/ Accessed on 25th June 2009
Ibn Taymiyya, Shaikh al-Islam Ahmad b. Abdilhalim. Majmu’ al-Fatawa v25 p184
Ibn Taymiyya, Shaikh al-Islam Ahmad b. Abdilhalim. Majmu’ al-Fatawa v25 p185
Odeh, Muhammad Shawkat (2005) Accurate Times Version 5.1. http://www.icoproject.org/accut.html Accessed on 10th July 2009
Ibn Rushd (d 595 AH), Abu al-Walid Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Muhammad b Ahmad b Rushd al-Qurtubiy al-Andalusiy. Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid. V 1 p228
Al-Mani’, Al-Shaikh Abdullah b Sulayman. Unpublished Fatwa dated 17th Sha’ban 1422AH
Ibn Khallikan, Wafayaat. Ed. by Yusuf A. and Maryam Q. al-Taweel, v. 1, pp. 248-249
IslamOnline. http://www.islamonline.net/fatwa/arabic/FatwaDisplay.asp?hFatw Accessed on 18th December 2004
Usman H Dukku
Biological Sciences Programme
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University
Bauchi
E-mail: udukku@yahoo.com
Phone: 08057041968
A paper presented at the
National Conference on Moonsighting
Organized by the
Islamic Studies Section, Department of Education
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
From 12th to 16th July 2009
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العلمين والصلاة والسلام على محمد وعلى آله و صحبه
Abstract
This paper discusses the application of astronomy to moonsighting. It begins by defining astronomy distinguishing it from astrology, a closely related field often confused with it. It then went further to discuss the accuracy of astronomical calculations and their compatibility with the Sharia injunction of sighting the crescent moon as a means of determining the beginning of lunar months. The paper concludes that astronomical calculations are compatible with moonsighting, within the provisions of the Sharia, and, therefore, recommends that astronomy should complement physical sighting of the crescent in order to enhance the process by checking the errors often associated with moonsighting.
The Astronomy of Moonsighting: An Islamic Perspective
Astronomy is defined as “the scientific study of the universe, especially of the motions, positions, sizes, composition, and behavior of astronomical objects.”1 Closely related to astronomy, and often confused with it, is astrology which is defined as “the study of the positions of the moon, sun, and other planets in the belief that their motions affect human beings.”1
Al-Gazaliy makes a distinction between the two as follows:
“The study of stars (astrology) whose aim is to predict the death or life of someone; and by the appearance of so and so star the death of someone, the perishing of a certain nation or demise of a kingdom is imminent: this is neither certainty nor even an informed guess. This kind (of knowledge) is not sanctioned by the Shari’a. However, the study of stars (astronomy) with which the motions of the planets, the sun and the moon are determined is a natural science and the Shari’a has never refuted it. In fact it serves as a means of reckoning of years, months and times of fasting, pilgrimage and prayers. The rejection of this is a (sign of) failure and ignorance.”2
It can be seen from the above definitions that whereas astronomy is a definitive science based on deductive reasoning, astrology is a conjecture. The subject of this paper is astronomy.
Accuracy of astronomical calculations
Astronomers use accurate calculations to predict astronomical events. The precision of these calculations can easily be confirmed by monitoring a solar or a lunar eclipse – two of the many events predicted by astronomers since ancient times. Has anyone ever witnessed an eclipse occurring at a time other than that predicted by the astronomers? These calculations can be used to confirm past events as well. For example, in the book, Fiqh al-Sirah,3 it is stated that the Prophet (SAWS) set out (from Madinah) for the farewell pilgrimage on 25th Dhu al-Qi'dah 10 A.H. and that the month had 29 days and 1st Dhu al-Hijjah was on a Thursday. Now let us compare this account with astronomical calculations.
According to MoonCalc,4 a computer programme that calculates astronomical events, including crescent visibility, 29th Dhu al-Qi'dah 10 A. H corresponds with Wednesday 26th February 632 A.D. and 1st Dhu al-Hijjah 10 A.H with Thursday 27th February 632 A.D. This also confirms the historical account that the day of Arafat of that year was Friday. The accuracy of these calculations has its origin in the precision with which the heavenly bodies move, as described by the Glorious Qur'an:
"The sun and the moon follow courses exactly computed."5
Ibn Kathir explains the meaning of this verse as follows:
وقوله تعالى الشمس والقمر بحسبان أي يجريان متعاقبين بحساب مقنن لا يختلف ولايضطرب
“They move in their orbit in perfect succession, according to precise calculation that is never delayed nor disturbed.”6
Astronomy of the Moon
Four of the five pillars of Islam, namely, Salah, Zakah, Fasting of the month of Ramadan and Hajj are time bound and the Shariah designated the sun and the moon as objects of timekeeping for performing these duties. This underscores the importance of studying the motions of these objects. The following verses from the Holy Quran and Hadiths of the Holy Prophet (SAWS) describe this role of the moon:
"They ask you concerning the crescent moons. Say: They are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the affairs of) men and for Pilgrimage."7
"It is He who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for it, that you might know the number of years and the count (of time)."8
"And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (appointed). And the Moon, We have measured for it stations (to traverse) till it returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk. It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit."9
Abu Hurayrah (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: "Start fasting upon sighting it (the crescent) and terminate the fast upon sighting it (the crescent) and if it is hidden to you (by clouds), then count the month of Sha'ban to thirty days."10
Abdullah ibn Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once mentioned Ramadan and said, "Do not begin the fast until you see the new crescent, and do not break the fast (at the end of Ramadan) until you see it. If the new crescent is obscured from you, then work out when it should be."11
Abdullah Ibn Umar (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: "We are an uneducated community: We neither write nor calculate. A month is so and so days; meaning sometimes twenty nine and sometimes thirty."12
The moon is the only known natural satellite of Earth. It revolves around Earth, completing one revolution in about 27 days (27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes). This is called the orbital period or the moon. However, as the moon revolves around the earth, the latter revolves around the sun and at a certain time the three objects lie in the same plane, with the moon in the middle. This moment, termed conjugation (birth of the new moon), marks the end of a lunar month and the beginning of another. The length of a lunar month, also called synodic period, is the period between two successive conjugations and is about 29½ days (29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes).
The visibility, shape and brightness of the moon, from the earth, depend on the illumination it receives from the sun and this, in turn, depends on the moon’s angular distance from the sun as it moves in its orbit in an easterly direction. The various forms in which the moon appears from the earth, which change daily, are called Moon phases. The most obvious ones are:
New Moon: This phase is completely hidden from Earth because the face of the moon that faces the earth backs the sun and, therefore, is completely dark, since it does not receive any sunlight. It should be noted that the moon does not produce any light; its luminosity is due to the sunlight it reflects.
Waxing Crescent: This phase begins from the first appearance of the moon (which marks the beginning of the lunar month, according to the Shari’a) and ends at the First Quarter Moon.
First Quarter Moon: This occurs about a week from the moment of the New Moon when the moon has travelled a quarter of the distance of its orbit (90 degrees). At this moment the moon looks like a halved disc.
Waxing Gibbous: The appearance of the moon between First Quarter Moon and Full Moon phases.
Full Moon: This occurs about two weeks from the moment of the New Moon when the moon has travelled half the distance of its orbit (180 degrees). At this moment the moon looks like a perfect disc.
Waning Gibbous: The Moon as it appears between the Full Moon and the Last Quarter phases.
Last Quarter Moon: This occurs about three weeks from the last New Moon (and a week to the next New Moon) when the moon has travelled three quarters of the distance of its orbit (270 degrees). At this moment the moon looks like a halved disc.
Waning Crescent: This is the phase from Last Quarter Moon to the disappearance of the moon, hours before the next New Moon.
The phases that are of special importance to our discussion are New Moon, Full Moon, Waning Crescent and Waxing Crescent.
The occurrence of the new moon phase has already been described. What we may need to add here is that the moment of the new moon is the most important reference point in the science of moonsighting: The new (waxing) crescent can only be seen after the New Moon. Caldwell and Laney have this to say on this issue:
“At this time (of the new moon) the moon is always invisible from the earth. When the moon first becomes visible again (always more, usually much more, than half a day after astronomical new moon), observers see a young crescent moon.”13
It is also important to mention that it is at the instant of the New Moon that solar eclipses occur. This makes a solar eclipse an important event in checking the authenticity of a lunar date.
The moment of Full Moon (al badr in Arabic), on the other hand, is midway between two successive conjugations when the three bodies again lie in a straight line, but with the earth in the middle( a lunar eclipse can only occur at this moment). This moment occurs between the 13th and 15th of the lunar month that started with the correct sighting of the moon. The Arabic name for this period (ayyam al bid) is as a result of two phenomena unique to this period, that is, the moon is brightest and there is no total darkness during this period since there is an overlap between daylight and moonlight at dusk and dawn.
Towards the end of the month, that is, after Last Quarter Moon, the moon is described as a waning crescent. It rises in the morning, before sunrise, and it progressively appears thinner and lower until it finally fades away.
As the moon leaves the Sun – Earth line, after conjugation, its face that faces Earth starts getting light from Sun and reflecting it towards Earth. When it reflects sufficient light to be seen from Earth, observers see it as a waxing crescent. Ibn Taymiyya describes these events in the following words:
وَهَذَا الِاجْتِمَاعُ يَكُونُ بَعْدَ الِاسْتِسْرَارِ وَقَبْلَ الِاسْتِهْلَالِ فَإِنَّ الْقَمَرَ يَجْرِي فِي مَنَازِلِهِ الثَّمَانِيَةِ وَالْعِشْرِينَ كَمَا قَدَّرَهُ اللَّهُ مَنَازِلَ ثُمَّ يَقْرُبُ مِنْ الشَّمْسِ فَيَسْتَسِرُّ لَيْلَةً أَوْ لَيْلَتَيْنِ ; لِمُحَاذَاتِهِ لَهَا فَإِذَا خَرَجَ مِنْ تَحْتِهَا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ النُّورَ ثُمَّ يَزْدَادُ النُّورُ كُلَّمَا بَعُدَ عَنْهَا إلَى أَنْ يُقَابِلَهَا لَيْلَةَ الْإِبْدَارِ ثُمَّ يَنْقُصُ كُلَّمَا قَرُبَ مِنْهَا إلَى أَنْ يُجَامِعَهَا14
“This conjugation takes place after the disappearance of the moon and before the new
Crescent. The moon moves in its 28 stations destined for it by Allah; then it approaches the sun and disappears for one or two nights because of its closeness to it (the sun). When the moon leaves Sun’s domain, Allah illuminates it and this illumination increase as the moon moves further away from the sun up to the time of opposition at Full Moon. Thereafter, the illumination diminishes as the moon comes closer to the sun until it conjugates with it.”14
Astronomical Calculations and Crescent Visibility
Whereas astronomical calculations can predict very accurately (without an error) phenomena, that depend on the motions of Sun, Earth and Moon, which are constant and independent of the observer’s location, such as moonrise and set times, the birth of the New Moon, Full Moon and eclipses, they are not sufficient in predicting the visibility of the crescent moon, after New Moon, with that degree of accuracy. This is because non astronomical factors such as weather, land topography and the conditions of the observer also affect crescent visibility. This fact is presented by Ibn Taymiyya in the following words:
وَمِنْ مَعْرِفَةِ الْحِسَابِ الِاسْتِسْرَارُ وَالْإِبْدَارُ الَّذِي هُوَ الِاجْتِمَاعُ وَالِاسْتِقْبَالُ فَالنَّاسُ يُعَبِّرُونَ عَنْ ذَلِكَ بِالْأَمْرِ الظَّاهِرِ مِنْ الِاسْتِسْرَارِ الْهِلَالِيِّ فِي آخِرِ الشَّهْرِ وَظُهُورِهِ فِي أَوَّلِهِ وَكَمَالِ نُورِهِ فِي وَسَطِهِ والحساب يُعَبِّرُونَ بِالْأَمْرِ الْخَفِيِّ مِنْ اجْتِمَاعِ الْقُرْصَيْنِ الَّذِي هُوَ وَقْتُ الِاسْتِسْرَارِ وَمِنْ اسْتِقْبَالِ الشَّمْسِ وَالْقَمَرِ الَّذِي هُوَ وَقْتُ الْإِبْدَارِ فَإِنَّ هَذَا يُضْبَطُ بِالْحِسَابِ . وَأَمَّا الْإِهْلَالُ فَلَا لَهُ عِنْدَهُمْ مِنْ جِهَةِ الْحِسَابِ ضَبْطٌ ; لِأَنَّهُ لَا يُضْبَطُ بِحِسَابٍ يُعْرَفُ كَمَا يُعْرَفُ وَقْتُ الْكُسُوفِ وَالْخُسُوفِ15
"Within the scope of astronomical calculations is the determination of disappearance of the moon and Full Moon, that is conjugation and opposition, respectively. Ordinary people can know these through clear signs such as disappearance of the waning crescent at the end of the month and its appearance at the beginning of the month and complete illumination in the middle of the month. Calculations, on the other hand, detect these using by hidden events such as conjugation of the two discs during the period of disappearance of the moon and from the opposition or the sun and moon which is the moment of Full Moon. Definitely all these events can be determined through calculations. However, the visibility of the crescent cannot be accurately determined by calculations like the time of solar and lunar eclipse.”15
In other words astronomical calculations can tell when and where it is impossible to sight the moon and when and where the moon can be sighted. Computer programmes that simplify these calculations are now available. For example, Accurate Times, a non-technical, easy to use programme, developed by Muhammad Odeh,16 computes, among other things, crescent visibility and prayer times for any given location. In addition it displays the world map with details of crescent visibility for any given month.
Moonsighting and Astronomical calculations
Now, given the accuracy of astronomical calculations and the advancement in technology, which makes it possible to predict when and where the crescent moon can be sighted, should we replace physical sighting of the moon with astronomical calculations?
The view of the majority of jurists is that astronomical calculations should not replace physical sighting of the crescent. However it should be noted that some scholars, such as Mutarrif (among the Tabi’un) and al-Shafi’iy, approve the use of astronomical calculations, in place of physical sighting of the moon, under certain conditions , such as when there is an overcast on the 30th night17. In the same vein, the scholars are unanimous that any claim of moonsighting must be scrutinized and if it contradicts established common and expert knowledge (‘urf) about the moon (astronomy inclusive) it should be rejected. For example, the eminent scholar, a member of the High Judiciary Council of Saudi Arabia, al-Shaykh Abdullah Ibn Sulayman al-Mani’ explains as follows:
ونظراً إلى أن الشهادة بالرؤية يجب أن تكون منفكة عما يكذبها حساً وعقلاً وعرفاً وإلا فيجب ردها فإذا قرر علماء الفلك أن الشمس تغرب قبل ولادة الهلال وجاء من يشهد برؤية الهلال بعد غروب الشمس فيجب رد هذه الشهادة لأنها شهادة غاية ما نقول فيها عند إحساننا الظن بالشاهد بأن الشاهد قد وهم في شهادته وغلط. إذ كيف يُرى الهلال بعد غروب الشمس والحال أن الهلال لم يولد بعد أي أنه لا يزال متقدماً على الشمس إلى جهة الغرب فهو أمامها وهي خلفه من جهة الشرق.18
“For the fact that the testimony of sighting (the moon) should be free from what can nullify it according to practical experience, common sense and common knowledge, if it is not, then it is necessary to reject it. If experts in astronomy confirm that the sun will set before the birth of the New Moon and a witness comes to testify that he has sighted the moon after sunset, it is necessary to reject such a testimony, for it is a testimony about which we can at best say - giving the witness the benefit of doubt – that the witness has erred and strayed in his testimony: for how can the crescent be sighted after sunset while the situation is that the New Moon is not yet born? That is to say the moon is ahead of the sun towards the west - the moon is in the front and the sun behind.” 18
Another eminent scholar, al-Subkiy (683-756 AH), had earlier expressed the same opinion:
"What astronomical calculations can determine is the possibility or otherwise of sighting (the crescent)…..What is meant here is a situation in which an informant informs about his sighting (of the crescent) while it is impossible (according to astronomical calculations) to see it. Information can either be true or false and giving false information may be either deliberate or due to an error; and either of these has limitless causes. Therefore, it is not rational to accept information that is liable to these, or to testify on it, when it is impossible to sight (the crescent), because the law cannot be based on impossibilities. We have not found this issue written, thus we had to analyse it and give a ruling that such a testimony should be rejected. The reason for the (earlier) jurists’ silence on this issue is its rare occurrence (during their time). When it occurred during our time, we got a reason to speak on it. Jurisprudence is a sea no one can traverse and its issues are renewed with the renewal of its events.”2
Still another eminent scholar, Al-Abbadiy, expressed the same opinion:
“If definitive astronomical calculations indicate impossibility of sighting (the crescent), the sighting claim of even a trustworthy person should not be accepted. This is a clear issue. Fasting is not valid under this situation and opposing this is stubbornness and arrogance.”2
This opinion agrees with what happened during the early years of this Ummah when a sighting claim by Anas bn Malik (RA), a companion of the Prophet (SAWS), was rejected because it was found to be an erroneous one. The story goes thus:
“A group of people, among them Hadart Anas b. Malik (RA), were looking for the crescent moon of Ramadan. He was close to 100 (years old). He said: ‘Indeed, I see it; it is there.’ And he kept pointing to (in the sky). However, others did not see any. Iyas looked at Anas (RA) and (found) a hair from his eyebrow bent (over his eye). Iyas rubbed and smoothed his brow. Then he told him:’Abu Hamzah! (Now) show us the moon’s location (in the sky).’ He (Anas RA) kept looking (for it) and then said: ‘I don't see it (now).” 19
Now the answer to our question: Astronomical calculations should compliment actual sighting of the crescent moon rather than replace it.
It may be concluded, from the foregoing, that astronomical science is compatible with the Shari’a injunction of basing the beginning of the lunar months on physical sighting of the crescent moon. It is a useful guide in moonsighting and helps in reducing errors. It is therefore recommended that Muslims all over the world, but in Nigeria in particular, be encouraged to use astronomical knowledge in enhancing physical sighting of the moon. This recommendation is in line with the resolution of the World Fiqh Council during its third conference, held in Amman, Jordan, in 1986.20
References
Encarta Dictionaries, Microsoft® Encarta® 2009, Microsoft Corporation.
Al-Farih, Ahmad b. Abdillah b. Muhammad. Ahkam al-Ahillah. Dar al Jawziy 1429 AH.
Al-Butiy, Muhammad Said Ramadan. Fiqh al-Sirah. Dar al-Fikr. 1993/1414AH
Ahmad, M (2001) Moon Calculator Version 6.0. http://www.ummah.net/ildl/mooncalc.html Accessed on 10th July 2009
The Glorious Qur'an, Chapter 55, al-Rahman, Verse 3
Ibn Kathir(701-774 AH), Abu Al-Fida' `Imad Ad-Din Isma il bin 'Umar bin Kathir Al-Qurashi Al-Busrawi. Abridged Tafsir Ibn Kathir. Darussalam Publishing and Distribution
The Glorious Qur'an, Chapter 2, al-Baqarah, Verse 189
The Glorious Qur'an, Chapter 10, Yunus, Verse 5
The Glorious Qur'an, Chapter 36, Ya-sin, Verses 37-39
Hadith transmitted by Bukhari and Muslim
Hadith transmitted by Imam Malik
Hadith transmitted by Bukhari
Caldwell, J A. R. and Laney, C. D. First Visibility of the Lunar Crescent http://www.saao.ac.za/public-info/sun-moon-stars/moon-index/lunar-crescent-visibility/first-visibility-of-lunar-crescent/ Accessed on 25th June 2009
Ibn Taymiyya, Shaikh al-Islam Ahmad b. Abdilhalim. Majmu’ al-Fatawa v25 p184
Ibn Taymiyya, Shaikh al-Islam Ahmad b. Abdilhalim. Majmu’ al-Fatawa v25 p185
Odeh, Muhammad Shawkat (2005) Accurate Times Version 5.1. http://www.icoproject.org/accut.html Accessed on 10th July 2009
Ibn Rushd (d 595 AH), Abu al-Walid Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Muhammad b Ahmad b Rushd al-Qurtubiy al-Andalusiy. Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid. V 1 p228
Al-Mani’, Al-Shaikh Abdullah b Sulayman. Unpublished Fatwa dated 17th Sha’ban 1422AH
Ibn Khallikan, Wafayaat. Ed. by Yusuf A. and Maryam Q. al-Taweel, v. 1, pp. 248-249
IslamOnline. http://www.islamonline.net/fatwa/arabic/FatwaDisplay.asp?hFatw Accessed on 18th December 2004
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Problem of Moon Sighting in Nigeria By Dr. U. H. Dukku
The Problem of Moon Sighting in Nigeria: The Way Out
By
Usman H Dukku
[GUEST OF DR. ALIYU TILDE]
udukku@yahoo.com
Introduction
Muslims in Nigeria start the Ramadan fast or celebrate the Eids on different dates in spite of the official announcement of the sighting of the crescent. Details of the problem include the following:
· Most Nigerians do not go by the official announcements.
· An organised system of monitoring the moon is wanting.
· Sha'ban and Ramadan have had 29 days each in the past 40 years while Shawwal and Dhul-Qi'dah have had 30 days each but only in Nigeria.
· Nigeria leads the world in moon sighting.
This has led to a dichotomy, that is, there are those that follow the announcements with absolute loyalty; and those that totally reject such announcements. Whereas the former maintain that they are following their leaders, as dictated by the Shari'a, the latter believe that the leaders are wrong and, therefore, should not be followed.
According to them the announcements made often contradict common knowledge, that is
· The old moon should disappear before reappearing as a crescent moon.
· Full moon should be on the 14th day of the month.
· The crescent is not popularly sighted, one or two days after the announcement.
The Way Out
The Qur’an has commanded us to refer to God and his messenger in matters of dispute (4:59; 26:10) and to ask “those who possess knowledge” where we do not know (16:43)
Allah, the Almighty said: "They ask you concerning the crescent moons. Say: They are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the affairs of) men and for Pilgrimage." (2:189)
“It is He who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for it, that you might know the number of years and the count (of time)."(10:5)
"And the Moon We have measured for it stations (to traverse) till it returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk. It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit." (36:39-40)
"The sun and the moon follow courses (exactly computed."(55:5)
The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) has said:
Abu Hurayrah (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: "Start fasting upon sighting it (the crescent) and terminate the fast upon sighting it (the crescent) and if it is hidden to you (by clouds), then count the month of Sha'ban to thirty days." (Bukhari and Muslim)
Narrator Abdullah ibn Umar in Al-Muwatta: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once mentioned Ramadan and said, "Do not begin the fast until you see the new moon, and do not break the fast (at the end of Ramadan) until you see it. If the new moon is obscured from you, then work out (when it should be)."
Abdullah Ibn Umar (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: "We are an uneducated community: We neither write nor calculate. A month is so and so days; meaning sometimes twenty nine and sometimes thirty." (Bukhari)
Disappearance
Commentators on the Holy Qur'an, jurists and astronomers agree that the stations are twenty-eight and that the moon passes through one station daily as it revolves around the earth in its orbit. This means that the moon spends twenty-eight days to complete one revolution. In fact this period, known as the orbital period, is twenty-seven days, seven hours and forty three minutes.
Remember that as the moon revolves around the earth the latter revolves around the sun and at a certain time the three objects align, with the moon in the middle. This moment, termed conjugation, marks the end of a lunar month and the beginning of another. The length of a lunar month, also called synodic period, is the period between two successive conjugations and is twenty-nine days, twelve hours and forty-four minutes (i.e., 29.53 days)
Abdullah Ibn Fodiyo, commenting on the verse (10:5), in his book Kifayatu dua'fa us-Sudan said: "It (the moon) has twenty-eight stations in twenty-eight days in every month. Thereafter it disappears for two days in the case of a thirty-day month or one day in the case of a twenty-nine-day month."
Ibn Rushd said, in his book Bidayatul mujtahid: “The jurists agree that the Arabic (lunar) month has twenty nine or thirty days and that the only valid way to determine the month of Ramadan is through sighting of the crescent due to his (the Prophet (SAWS)) saying: 'Fast upon sighting it and terminate the fast upon sighting it.' What is meant by sighting is the first appearance of the crescent after its disappearance."
John Caldwell and David Laney, of the South African Astronomical Observatory, said: "…At this moment (conjugation) the moon is always invisible from the earth. When the moon first becomes visible again (always more than half a day after astronomical New Moon), observers see a Young Crescent Moon."
Mohammed Odeh, of the Jordanian Astronomical Society, said: "…So during the moon's orbit if the moon, earth and the sun lie exactly in the same line and the moon in 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. However… according to my information no observer yet reported seeing such crescent."
Abdurrazak Ebrahim Snr said: "For approximately fifteen hours on either side of the instant of conjugation, the moon is completely hidden from view. Consequent to the first appearance of the lunar crescent on the western horizon after sunset the moon waxes (increased illumination) until the fourteenth night when it appears as the full moon. After this the moon wanes (diminishing illumination) until it disappears over the eastern horizon before sunrise on the twenty-eighth day of the month."
New and Old Moon
It is not possible to see a new moon in the evening of the same day the old one was seen in the morning. No! What is meant by the disappearance of the moon is its invisibility at any time, in the east or in the west, even under the best of weather conditions, due to the reasons given above. Also remember that for the moon to be sighted in the morning it ought to have risen well before sunrise and, therefore, would set before sunset: Then how can it be seen? Please refer to the commentary of Suratush Shams verse 2,viz, 'By the moon when it follows it (the sun)', by Ibn Kathir where he said: "Qatada has said: 'The time when it (the moon) follows it (the sun) in the night preceding the beginning of a lunar month; when the sun sets, the crescent is then sighted."
Solar and Lunar Eclipses
A solar eclipse occurs only at the time of conjugation when the earth moon and the sun lie in a straight line (with the moon in the middle) whence the moon obstructs the sun. A lunar eclipse, on the other hand, occurs at full moon, i.e., when the three bodies again lie in a straight line, but with the earth in the middle. The shadow of the earth falls on the moon which then appears dark to us, since it does not produce its own light (It reflects sunlight). Since full moon occurs midway between two successive conjugations, a lunar eclipse can occur only between the thirteenth and fifteenth day of a lunar month.
Size and Altitude
The size and altitude of the crescent is not an accurate measure of its age because it depends on the following factors:
1) The age of the moon. That is the period between conjugation and local sunset when the crescent is sighted. The minimum time required is about seventeen hours for sighting with naked eyes, fifteen with binoculars and twelve with a telescope. Since conjugation can take place at any time of the day, the age of the moon at sunset varies from month to month and the older it is the bigger. Here is an example, assuming naked-eye sighting. Suppose conjugation takes place at 1:00am in a lunar month A and the sun sets at 6:00pm: The moon is 17 hours old at sunset and can, therefore, be sighted. Now in another lunar month B conjugation takes place at 6:00am: The moon is 12 hours at sunset and, therefore, cannot be sighted until the following evening when it is 36 hours old. Other factors being constant, crescent B will certainly be bigger than crescent A.
2) Distance. As the moon revolves in its orbit its distance from the earth varies, due to the shape of the orbit. The moon is said to be at perigee when it is closest (356,410 km) to the earth and at apigee when it is furthest (406,740 km). Other factors being constant a perigee crescent is larger.
3) Season. Summer crescents are larger than winter crescents because the moon (being in the same hemisphere as the observer) is nearer to the observer. Thus, here in Nigeria, the crescent observed during the hot season (late spring to early autumn) is larger than the one observed during the cool season (late autumn to early spring).
From the foregoing, it is clear that size and altitude alone are not sufficient in determining the age of the crescent. Now let us conclude our explanation with the following hadith, reported by Muslim and Ahmad: Abul Bakhtari reported: "We went out to perform Umrah and when we encamped in the valley of Nakhlah, we tried to see the new moon. Some of the people said: It was three nights old, and others (said) that it was two nights old. We then met Ibn Abbas and told him we had seen the new moon, but that some of the people said it was three nights old and others that it was two nights old. He asked on which night we had seen it; and when we told him we had seen it on such and such night, he said the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) had said Verily Allah deferred it till the time it is seen, so it is to be reckoned from the night you saw it."
Astronomical calculations
Though these calculations can predict exactly when a new moon will be born, they cannot predict precisely (the accuracy is 85%) when it can be seen. In other words, these calculations can tell you when it is impossible to sight the moon and when it is most likely to sight it.
The popular view among Muslim jurists regarding the meaning of the hadith "Fast upon sighting it (the crescent)…" is actual sighting of the crescent
Therefore astronomy should compliment actual sighting rather than replace it. In other words astronomy should be used to check sighting errors.
Sighting of other countries
There are two views regarding using the sighting of other countries: 1) The single horizon view: favours global sighting and is based on the hadith "Fast when you sight it…" and 2) The multiple horizon view: favours local sighting and is based on this Hadith:
Kurayb said: Umm Fadl, daughter of Harith, sent him to Mu'awiyah in Syria. I arrived in Syria, and did the needful for her. It was there in Syria that the month of Ramadan commenced. I saw the new moon (of Ramadan) on Friday. I then came back to Medina at the end of the month. Abdullah ibn Abbas asked me (about the new moon of Ramadan) and said: When did you see it? I said: We saw it on Friday. He said: (Did) you see it yourself? I said: Yes, and the people also saw it so they observed fast and Mu'awiyah also observed fast. Thereupon he said: But we saw it on Saturday . So we shall continue to observe the fast until we complete thirty (fasts) or we see it (the new moon of Shawwal). I said: Is the sighting of the moon by Mu'awiyah not valid for you? He said: No; this is how the Messenger of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) has commanded us. Yahya ibn Yahya was in doubt (whether the word used in the narration by Kurayb) was Naktafi or Taktafi. (Muslim, Attirmidhiy, Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'iy and Ahmad)
Change?
No, in fact this is one of the worst, but interesting, years we are witnessing. Worst because the month was started wrongly; and interesting because Allah has provided us with a rare opportunity to check ourselves.
Only Nigeria claimed sighting the crescent on this planet on Monday 4 November 2002.
The moon set before the sun on the said day: Not only in Nigeria but even in countries west of it such as Senegal. In fact, the moon set nine minutes before the sun in Kaduna and Port Harcourt while it set eight minutes before the sun in Sokoto, the three places where claims of sighting were made.
Conjugation took place on the day in question at 9:34 pm local time (Yes, more than three hours after sunset). How then could someone have sighted the moon before conjugation, that is, when it was still before the sun? Please refer to the commentary of Suratush Shams verse 2 ('By the moon when it follows it (the sun)') by Ibn Kathir where he said: "Qatada said: 'The time when it (the moon) follows it (the sun) in the night preceding the beginning of a lunar month; when the sun sets the crescent is then sighted."
Based on actual sighting of the crescent, and not speculation or pre-prepared calendars, Monday 4 November 2002 was equivalent to 28 Sha’ban 1423 throughout the world, Nigeria (the common people, most of whom live in rural areas, and others that care to monitor the moon) inclusive. Then did Sha'ban have 28 days or did we start fasting on 29 Sha'ban?
Before I conclude the answer to this question, I wish to draw your attention to this fact: The majority of Muslims, locally and globally, started fasting on Wednesday 6 November. Only two countries declared Tuesday 5 November the beginning of Ramadan, and these are Nigeria and Libya. However, the latter did not claim sighting the crescent they rather declared Ramadan based on their official criterion for determining the beginning of lunar months, that is conjugation before dawn. Since it is not the Libyan issue we are discussing, I will conclude with the following Hadith, reported by Attirmidhy:
Abu Huraira reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: "Fasting is when you fast and Fitr (termination of fasting) is when you celebrate Fitr and Adha is when you celebrate Adha." Abu Isa (ie Attirmidhy) said: "This hadith is sound and rare and that some authorities have explained it to mean that fasting and Fitr should be with the majority."
Opportunity
Two eclipses will occur this month (Ramadan): A lunar eclipse on Wednesday 20 November (around 3:00am) and a solar eclipse on Wednesday 4 December (at sunrise). Since these events take place at specific times they are very useful in checking the authenticity of a lunar date: Whereas a solar eclipse takes place at the time of conjugation (i.e., at the expiry of an old lunar month and the beginning of a new one when the earth, moon and sun lie in a straight line, with the moon in the middle) a lunar eclipse occurs at full moon (i.e., about midway between successive conjugations when again the three objects lie in a straight line, but with the earth in the middle) that is between 13th and 15th day of the month.
Now let us use these two events to check our beginning of Ramadan. The lunar eclipse will take place on the 16th day! This is a divine proof that we started Ramadan at least a day earlier. Now the solar eclipse: Going by the Nigerian standard the moon will be sighted on Tuesday 3 December, after 29 days of fasting, and Wednesday 4 December (the day of the eclipse) will be declared Eid al-Fitr day. However, as we get ready to go to the prayer ground, the sun will rise with the moon. What we are witnessing is a solar eclipse and the dark portion of the solar disc is nothing but the moon approaching conjugation. Then how could anybody have sighted it the previous evening? In fact on 3 December the moon will set before the sun throughout the country. For example, it will set thirty and forty minutes before the sun in Sokoto and Lagos, respectively. Even in the evening of 4 December the moon cannot be sighted since it will be only a little over 9 hours old (the minimum requirement for naked-eye sighting being 17 hours). However, on Thursday 5 December the moon can be sighted and it is going to be big and high above the horizon: Enough to mislead a layman to believe that the crescent is more than a day old. It is big because it is about 34 hours old and near perigee (closest to the earth).
Recommendation
We should make it an obligation upon ourselves to be going out en masse to search for the crescent at the end of each month, and throughout the year. In particular, the Supreme Council For Islamic Affairs should, as a matter of urgency, evolve a system of monitoring the moon throughout the year and throughout the country. The beginning of every month should be announced for public consumption. This is the path of the Prophet (SAWS), his companions and those that followed them, as shown by the following hadith:
Abdullah Ibn Abi Qais (RA) said: "I heard A'isha (RA) saying: 'The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) used to keep track of Sha'ban more than any other month. Then he would fast the month of Ramadan when the crescent was sighted; and if it was hidden he would count thirty days and then fast." (al-Bayhaqiy)
__________________________
Kindly send your comments to the author at Biological Sciences Programme. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.
E-mail: udukku@yahoo.com
By
Usman H Dukku
[GUEST OF DR. ALIYU TILDE]
udukku@yahoo.com
Introduction
Muslims in Nigeria start the Ramadan fast or celebrate the Eids on different dates in spite of the official announcement of the sighting of the crescent. Details of the problem include the following:
· Most Nigerians do not go by the official announcements.
· An organised system of monitoring the moon is wanting.
· Sha'ban and Ramadan have had 29 days each in the past 40 years while Shawwal and Dhul-Qi'dah have had 30 days each but only in Nigeria.
· Nigeria leads the world in moon sighting.
This has led to a dichotomy, that is, there are those that follow the announcements with absolute loyalty; and those that totally reject such announcements. Whereas the former maintain that they are following their leaders, as dictated by the Shari'a, the latter believe that the leaders are wrong and, therefore, should not be followed.
According to them the announcements made often contradict common knowledge, that is
· The old moon should disappear before reappearing as a crescent moon.
· Full moon should be on the 14th day of the month.
· The crescent is not popularly sighted, one or two days after the announcement.
The Way Out
The Qur’an has commanded us to refer to God and his messenger in matters of dispute (4:59; 26:10) and to ask “those who possess knowledge” where we do not know (16:43)
Allah, the Almighty said: "They ask you concerning the crescent moons. Say: They are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the affairs of) men and for Pilgrimage." (2:189)
“It is He who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for it, that you might know the number of years and the count (of time)."(10:5)
"And the Moon We have measured for it stations (to traverse) till it returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk. It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit." (36:39-40)
"The sun and the moon follow courses (exactly computed."(55:5)
The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) has said:
Abu Hurayrah (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: "Start fasting upon sighting it (the crescent) and terminate the fast upon sighting it (the crescent) and if it is hidden to you (by clouds), then count the month of Sha'ban to thirty days." (Bukhari and Muslim)
Narrator Abdullah ibn Umar in Al-Muwatta: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once mentioned Ramadan and said, "Do not begin the fast until you see the new moon, and do not break the fast (at the end of Ramadan) until you see it. If the new moon is obscured from you, then work out (when it should be)."
Abdullah Ibn Umar (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: "We are an uneducated community: We neither write nor calculate. A month is so and so days; meaning sometimes twenty nine and sometimes thirty." (Bukhari)
Disappearance
Commentators on the Holy Qur'an, jurists and astronomers agree that the stations are twenty-eight and that the moon passes through one station daily as it revolves around the earth in its orbit. This means that the moon spends twenty-eight days to complete one revolution. In fact this period, known as the orbital period, is twenty-seven days, seven hours and forty three minutes.
Remember that as the moon revolves around the earth the latter revolves around the sun and at a certain time the three objects align, with the moon in the middle. This moment, termed conjugation, marks the end of a lunar month and the beginning of another. The length of a lunar month, also called synodic period, is the period between two successive conjugations and is twenty-nine days, twelve hours and forty-four minutes (i.e., 29.53 days)
Abdullah Ibn Fodiyo, commenting on the verse (10:5), in his book Kifayatu dua'fa us-Sudan said: "It (the moon) has twenty-eight stations in twenty-eight days in every month. Thereafter it disappears for two days in the case of a thirty-day month or one day in the case of a twenty-nine-day month."
Ibn Rushd said, in his book Bidayatul mujtahid: “The jurists agree that the Arabic (lunar) month has twenty nine or thirty days and that the only valid way to determine the month of Ramadan is through sighting of the crescent due to his (the Prophet (SAWS)) saying: 'Fast upon sighting it and terminate the fast upon sighting it.' What is meant by sighting is the first appearance of the crescent after its disappearance."
John Caldwell and David Laney, of the South African Astronomical Observatory, said: "…At this moment (conjugation) the moon is always invisible from the earth. When the moon first becomes visible again (always more than half a day after astronomical New Moon), observers see a Young Crescent Moon."
Mohammed Odeh, of the Jordanian Astronomical Society, said: "…So during the moon's orbit if the moon, earth and the sun lie exactly in the same line and the moon in 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. However… according to my information no observer yet reported seeing such crescent."
Abdurrazak Ebrahim Snr said: "For approximately fifteen hours on either side of the instant of conjugation, the moon is completely hidden from view. Consequent to the first appearance of the lunar crescent on the western horizon after sunset the moon waxes (increased illumination) until the fourteenth night when it appears as the full moon. After this the moon wanes (diminishing illumination) until it disappears over the eastern horizon before sunrise on the twenty-eighth day of the month."
New and Old Moon
It is not possible to see a new moon in the evening of the same day the old one was seen in the morning. No! What is meant by the disappearance of the moon is its invisibility at any time, in the east or in the west, even under the best of weather conditions, due to the reasons given above. Also remember that for the moon to be sighted in the morning it ought to have risen well before sunrise and, therefore, would set before sunset: Then how can it be seen? Please refer to the commentary of Suratush Shams verse 2,viz, 'By the moon when it follows it (the sun)', by Ibn Kathir where he said: "Qatada has said: 'The time when it (the moon) follows it (the sun) in the night preceding the beginning of a lunar month; when the sun sets, the crescent is then sighted."
Solar and Lunar Eclipses
A solar eclipse occurs only at the time of conjugation when the earth moon and the sun lie in a straight line (with the moon in the middle) whence the moon obstructs the sun. A lunar eclipse, on the other hand, occurs at full moon, i.e., when the three bodies again lie in a straight line, but with the earth in the middle. The shadow of the earth falls on the moon which then appears dark to us, since it does not produce its own light (It reflects sunlight). Since full moon occurs midway between two successive conjugations, a lunar eclipse can occur only between the thirteenth and fifteenth day of a lunar month.
Size and Altitude
The size and altitude of the crescent is not an accurate measure of its age because it depends on the following factors:
1) The age of the moon. That is the period between conjugation and local sunset when the crescent is sighted. The minimum time required is about seventeen hours for sighting with naked eyes, fifteen with binoculars and twelve with a telescope. Since conjugation can take place at any time of the day, the age of the moon at sunset varies from month to month and the older it is the bigger. Here is an example, assuming naked-eye sighting. Suppose conjugation takes place at 1:00am in a lunar month A and the sun sets at 6:00pm: The moon is 17 hours old at sunset and can, therefore, be sighted. Now in another lunar month B conjugation takes place at 6:00am: The moon is 12 hours at sunset and, therefore, cannot be sighted until the following evening when it is 36 hours old. Other factors being constant, crescent B will certainly be bigger than crescent A.
2) Distance. As the moon revolves in its orbit its distance from the earth varies, due to the shape of the orbit. The moon is said to be at perigee when it is closest (356,410 km) to the earth and at apigee when it is furthest (406,740 km). Other factors being constant a perigee crescent is larger.
3) Season. Summer crescents are larger than winter crescents because the moon (being in the same hemisphere as the observer) is nearer to the observer. Thus, here in Nigeria, the crescent observed during the hot season (late spring to early autumn) is larger than the one observed during the cool season (late autumn to early spring).
From the foregoing, it is clear that size and altitude alone are not sufficient in determining the age of the crescent. Now let us conclude our explanation with the following hadith, reported by Muslim and Ahmad: Abul Bakhtari reported: "We went out to perform Umrah and when we encamped in the valley of Nakhlah, we tried to see the new moon. Some of the people said: It was three nights old, and others (said) that it was two nights old. We then met Ibn Abbas and told him we had seen the new moon, but that some of the people said it was three nights old and others that it was two nights old. He asked on which night we had seen it; and when we told him we had seen it on such and such night, he said the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) had said Verily Allah deferred it till the time it is seen, so it is to be reckoned from the night you saw it."
Astronomical calculations
Though these calculations can predict exactly when a new moon will be born, they cannot predict precisely (the accuracy is 85%) when it can be seen. In other words, these calculations can tell you when it is impossible to sight the moon and when it is most likely to sight it.
The popular view among Muslim jurists regarding the meaning of the hadith "Fast upon sighting it (the crescent)…" is actual sighting of the crescent
Therefore astronomy should compliment actual sighting rather than replace it. In other words astronomy should be used to check sighting errors.
Sighting of other countries
There are two views regarding using the sighting of other countries: 1) The single horizon view: favours global sighting and is based on the hadith "Fast when you sight it…" and 2) The multiple horizon view: favours local sighting and is based on this Hadith:
Kurayb said: Umm Fadl, daughter of Harith, sent him to Mu'awiyah in Syria. I arrived in Syria, and did the needful for her. It was there in Syria that the month of Ramadan commenced. I saw the new moon (of Ramadan) on Friday. I then came back to Medina at the end of the month. Abdullah ibn Abbas asked me (about the new moon of Ramadan) and said: When did you see it? I said: We saw it on Friday. He said: (Did) you see it yourself? I said: Yes, and the people also saw it so they observed fast and Mu'awiyah also observed fast. Thereupon he said: But we saw it on Saturday . So we shall continue to observe the fast until we complete thirty (fasts) or we see it (the new moon of Shawwal). I said: Is the sighting of the moon by Mu'awiyah not valid for you? He said: No; this is how the Messenger of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) has commanded us. Yahya ibn Yahya was in doubt (whether the word used in the narration by Kurayb) was Naktafi or Taktafi. (Muslim, Attirmidhiy, Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'iy and Ahmad)
Change?
No, in fact this is one of the worst, but interesting, years we are witnessing. Worst because the month was started wrongly; and interesting because Allah has provided us with a rare opportunity to check ourselves.
Only Nigeria claimed sighting the crescent on this planet on Monday 4 November 2002.
The moon set before the sun on the said day: Not only in Nigeria but even in countries west of it such as Senegal. In fact, the moon set nine minutes before the sun in Kaduna and Port Harcourt while it set eight minutes before the sun in Sokoto, the three places where claims of sighting were made.
Conjugation took place on the day in question at 9:34 pm local time (Yes, more than three hours after sunset). How then could someone have sighted the moon before conjugation, that is, when it was still before the sun? Please refer to the commentary of Suratush Shams verse 2 ('By the moon when it follows it (the sun)') by Ibn Kathir where he said: "Qatada said: 'The time when it (the moon) follows it (the sun) in the night preceding the beginning of a lunar month; when the sun sets the crescent is then sighted."
Based on actual sighting of the crescent, and not speculation or pre-prepared calendars, Monday 4 November 2002 was equivalent to 28 Sha’ban 1423 throughout the world, Nigeria (the common people, most of whom live in rural areas, and others that care to monitor the moon) inclusive. Then did Sha'ban have 28 days or did we start fasting on 29 Sha'ban?
Before I conclude the answer to this question, I wish to draw your attention to this fact: The majority of Muslims, locally and globally, started fasting on Wednesday 6 November. Only two countries declared Tuesday 5 November the beginning of Ramadan, and these are Nigeria and Libya. However, the latter did not claim sighting the crescent they rather declared Ramadan based on their official criterion for determining the beginning of lunar months, that is conjugation before dawn. Since it is not the Libyan issue we are discussing, I will conclude with the following Hadith, reported by Attirmidhy:
Abu Huraira reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: "Fasting is when you fast and Fitr (termination of fasting) is when you celebrate Fitr and Adha is when you celebrate Adha." Abu Isa (ie Attirmidhy) said: "This hadith is sound and rare and that some authorities have explained it to mean that fasting and Fitr should be with the majority."
Opportunity
Two eclipses will occur this month (Ramadan): A lunar eclipse on Wednesday 20 November (around 3:00am) and a solar eclipse on Wednesday 4 December (at sunrise). Since these events take place at specific times they are very useful in checking the authenticity of a lunar date: Whereas a solar eclipse takes place at the time of conjugation (i.e., at the expiry of an old lunar month and the beginning of a new one when the earth, moon and sun lie in a straight line, with the moon in the middle) a lunar eclipse occurs at full moon (i.e., about midway between successive conjugations when again the three objects lie in a straight line, but with the earth in the middle) that is between 13th and 15th day of the month.
Now let us use these two events to check our beginning of Ramadan. The lunar eclipse will take place on the 16th day! This is a divine proof that we started Ramadan at least a day earlier. Now the solar eclipse: Going by the Nigerian standard the moon will be sighted on Tuesday 3 December, after 29 days of fasting, and Wednesday 4 December (the day of the eclipse) will be declared Eid al-Fitr day. However, as we get ready to go to the prayer ground, the sun will rise with the moon. What we are witnessing is a solar eclipse and the dark portion of the solar disc is nothing but the moon approaching conjugation. Then how could anybody have sighted it the previous evening? In fact on 3 December the moon will set before the sun throughout the country. For example, it will set thirty and forty minutes before the sun in Sokoto and Lagos, respectively. Even in the evening of 4 December the moon cannot be sighted since it will be only a little over 9 hours old (the minimum requirement for naked-eye sighting being 17 hours). However, on Thursday 5 December the moon can be sighted and it is going to be big and high above the horizon: Enough to mislead a layman to believe that the crescent is more than a day old. It is big because it is about 34 hours old and near perigee (closest to the earth).
Recommendation
We should make it an obligation upon ourselves to be going out en masse to search for the crescent at the end of each month, and throughout the year. In particular, the Supreme Council For Islamic Affairs should, as a matter of urgency, evolve a system of monitoring the moon throughout the year and throughout the country. The beginning of every month should be announced for public consumption. This is the path of the Prophet (SAWS), his companions and those that followed them, as shown by the following hadith:
Abdullah Ibn Abi Qais (RA) said: "I heard A'isha (RA) saying: 'The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) used to keep track of Sha'ban more than any other month. Then he would fast the month of Ramadan when the crescent was sighted; and if it was hidden he would count thirty days and then fast." (al-Bayhaqiy)
__________________________
Kindly send your comments to the author at Biological Sciences Programme. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.
E-mail: udukku@yahoo.com
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
____________________________________
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
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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