Moon Sighting and the Islamic Calendar

The subject of moon-sighting is of interst to all Muslims. This article
gives you an understanding on the science of moon-sighting and how current
scientific knowledge could be used to develop an Islamic Calendar.

Let us first see what Allah (SWT) says about this subject.

Surah Rahmaan55, Ayah 5: "The sun and moon
follow courses exactly computed."

Surah Yunus10, Ayah 5: "It
is he who made the sun a radiance and the moon a light and determined its
stations that you might know the number of years and reckoning of time."


Surah Baqarah2, 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 sun follow the decree of
Allah (SWT) and must be used for reckoning of months and Calendar. Man
has been observing and studying the regularity of motions of the sun and
moon for hundreds of centuries. Man has made use of mathematics, science,
and astronomy; as fields of knowledge (Uloom), given by Allah (SWT). How
can we benefit from the exactness ordained by Allah (SWT)? By understanding
the orbits of sun and moon and the science of moon-sighting.

In recent years Muslim communities have been seeking an Islamic Calendar
that can be prepared in advance. We are now able to calculate the motion
of sun and moon with great precision. Therefore, an Islamic Calendar can
be made following some criteria that can be accepted by Muslim Jurists
(Fuqaha).

A lot of research has been done in the last two decades about how we
can calculate the dates when the moon would be visible from certain place.
Data of moon-sighting has been collected for the last two centuries, and
correlated with calculations to see when and how the moon becomes visible.
An algorithm has been developed by the author to calculate moon-sighting
with greater accuracy, after calculating over 1000 cases of sighting and
non-sighting reports collected from different parts of the world in the
last 200 years from published and unpublished data.

For the last several years, calculations based on this criterion matched
the actual sighting throughout the U.S.A., Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Marrakech etc. Calculating sightability
with precision would allow us to make an Islamic calendar ahead of time
and provide it to Muslim communities specially in North America.

Calculations for certainty of sighting are surety (Haqqul-Yaqeen), while
claims of sighting may be (Zann) suspicion or mistake, seeing something
and believing it to be a crescent. Such kinds of claims of moon-sighting
can be very easily screened by calculations for ascertaining whether the
moon or something else has been seen. We have seen the consequences of
a few isolated sighting claims creating chaos for all night long, when
calculations were clearly showing that what has been seen can not be the
moon, and hundreds and thousands of Muslims all over North America also
substantiated nonsighting in spite of special efforts to see the moon.

Table 1 shows Gregorian dates for the first day of Islamic months with
the convention that Islamic date begins on the evening before the Gregorian
date shown. This is based on the visible crescent moon assuming North America
as one horizon (Matla').

Table 1 Islamic Calendar For North America

__________________________________________________________ _____

Month -- Year 1418 AH 1419 AH
___________________________________________________________ ____

1st Muharram 05-08-97 (Thu) 04-28-98 (Tue)

1st Safar 06-07-97 (Sat) 05-27-98 (Wed)

1st Rabi-al-Awwal 07-07-97 (Mon) 06-26-98 (Fri)

1st Rabi-al-Thani 08-05-97 (Tue) 07-25-98 (Sat)

1st Jumada-al-Oola 09-04-97 (Thu) 08-24-98 (Mon)

1st Jumada-al-Akhir 10-03-97 (Fri) 09-22-98 (Tue)

1st Rajab 11-02-97 (Sun) 10-22-98 (Thu)

1st Sha'ban 12-01-97 (Mon) 11-21-98 (Sat)*

1st Ramadan 12-31-97 (Wed) 12-20-98 (Sun)

1st Shawwal 01-30-98 (Fri)* 01-19-99 (Tue)

1st Zul-Qa'da 02-28-98 (Sat) 02-18-99 (Thu)*

1st Zul-Hijja 03-29-98 (Sun) 03-19-99 (Fri)
___________________________________________________________ ____

* very small chance that the first day of Islamic month may be on the
day before.

The calendar based on certainty of sighting would eliminate such mistaken
claims and would also reduce confusion among Muslims. This removal of confusion,
by itself, is the biggest asset that we will gain by such an Islamic calendar.


The conclusion is that an Islamic calendar based on certainty of sighting,
which matches with the actual sighting would compel us to start the Islamic
months without chaos and confusion. This criterion meets the intent of
the teachings of Qur'an and Sunnah. Benefits of this criterion greatly
surpass the consequences created by insisting to wait for sighting claims
till the last moment. Let us pray to Allah (SWT) to open our hearts and
minds to understand the benefits of this proposal that is in line with
meeting the intent of Shari'ah. Let us further pray to Allah Almighty that
He may guide us to the right path, forgive us for our mistakes and make
us united in the way He pleases, Ameen.