This wonderful scene is repeated every year, in every country, city, and place, where there are muslims that have fasted for the month. The end of the month of fasting is greeted with the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr. Greetings and good wishes are shared with family and friends who are nearby and with those who are in different countries.
Muslims follow the Lunar Calendar, as required by Islam, the religion of muslims. The start of the lunar month is based on the first sighting of the Crescent Moon and this leads to the excitement of visually sighting the beautiful Crescent. The sequence of the lunar months is not changed.
The Holy Quran states:
"They ask thee concerning the New Moons. Say: they are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the affairs of) men, and for pilgrimage. ..." Chapter 2, Verse 189In order to understand the bases for declaring the start of an Islamic month, we will rely on Islamic Law. There are two equally valid opinions."The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year), so ordained by Him, the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred; ... "Verily the transporting (of a sacred month) is an addition to unbelief. ..." Chapter 9, Verses 36, 37
The first is Ittehad-ul-Matale (Unity of the Crescent). According to this opinion, when a new crescent moon is declared as sighted, in any part of the world, that declaration could be used as the basis of local declarations for the start of the Islamic month, at other parts of the world. This was the basis for most of the muslims living in the USA/Canada for many years. The muslims used to call family and friends in their countries of origin and when any of those countries had declared the start of the Islamic month, the Imam (religious leader) of the local community was informed and the local declaration for the Islamic month was made by the Imam.
The other equally valid opinion of Islamic law is Iktelaf-ul-Matale (Different Crescents). This opinion acknowledges that there could be different days on which the crescent moon is first sighted in different parts of the world and consequently the start of the Islamic month could be on different days. The declaration for the start of an Islamic month is based only on local sightings of the Crescent Moon.
While initially following the Ittehad-ul-Matale (Unity) in USA/Canada, it was noted that some of the declarations for the start of the Islamic Lunar month, by some of the countries to the east of USA/Canada, were on days on which it was impossible to see the new crescent moon. Quick computations with programs developed by the U.S.Naval Observatory indicated that on those impossible days, the moon had set before the sun had set, or the conjunction of the Sun-Moon-Earth had not yet occured at the time of local sunset. This was observed by some of the more than 6 million muslims in USA/Canada. Subsequently, there was great pressure on the religious leaders, of the fastest growing religion in the western countries, to seek an organized effort to resolve this conflict. In the publications of the Muslim Astronomer, Dr.Muhammad Ilyas, introduced the International Lunar Date Line (1970's). Subsequent seminars and papers presented by Dr.E.S.Kennedy (1983), Dr.D.A.King (1986), Dr.L.E.Doggett (U.S. Naval Observatory), Dr.B.Schaefer (NASA), Dr.K.Abdali (1978), Dr.O.Afzal (1985), Dr.I.Ahmed (1987), Dr.M.N.Durrani (1989, 1993, 1994, 1995), Mr.K.Shaukat (1994, 1995), and the amateur astronomy magazine Sky and Telescope helped to educate the muslims to the astronomical bases of Crescent Moon Visiblity. The Fiqh Council (religious scolars) of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), one of the major muslim groups in USA/Canada, stated in April 1988:
" ... Criteria for determining the beginning and end of Ramadan. ... The Fiqh Council, after deliberation and review of the past criteria, fiqh opinions, and contemporary positions of Muslim scholars in North America and in the Muslim world, has decided to follow the authentic, well-founded, and widely accepted position of IKHTILAAF AL-MATAALI (literally, different horizons or different places of sighting), which states that each locality should make its own sighting of the crescent. The Fiqh Council, therefore, has concluded that North America should be considered as one MATLA (place of sighting) and that Muslims of North America should depend solely on crescent sightings in North America. ...In 1995 four major muslim groups in USA/Canada decided to coordinate their efforts for Crescent Moon sighting. Reports are received at the offices of each group. The reports are then authenticated by comparing the reported altitude, azimuth and orientation of the Crescent Moon with computed values. Comparison is also made with reported world records of youngest Crescent Moons sighted with the unaided eye and with optical aids.The Fiqh Council also concluded that the date for the Eid al-Adha will coincide with the date announced in MECCA for the day of Eid al-Adha."
The four major muslim groups are:News of the Crescent Moon sighting is eagerly awaited by many and computer internet newsgroups are very useful in the announcements. I will take this opportunity to thank the various amateur astronomy publications, clubs, planetariums, observatories, and astronomers who have happly given their time to educate the muslims in USA/Canada.The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA),
The Ministry of Imam W.Deen Mohammad,
The Jamaat Community of Imam Jamil Al-Amin, and
The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
[Also see astronomy magazine: Sky and Telescope, Dec 1996, page 106.]