Moon
Sighting vs Moon Fighting
By Moin Moon Khan----
Illinois, US
It happened 20 years
ago in Saudi Arabia. It was around 5 AM in the
morning, when a friend of mine shook my body jarringly
and woke me up. When I opened my eyes, he told
me that a moon for Eid had been sighted, and we
needed to go for Eid prayer. I had just gone to
sleep an hour ago after eating Sehri, and now
I was commanded to go for Eid Namaz.
After 20 years,
I had to go through the same nightmare again,
but this time, in the United States, where solar
system’s knowledge is as commanding as Muslims’
commitment to learn about Ramadan’s moon
as fairly and as squarely as possible.
On October 14, 2004,
before going to bed around 10 PM, I confirmed
from my friends that the moon was not sighted
anywhere, and that Ramadan would begin on Saturday.
After all, Friday was a working day for most of
us, except for those who wanted to dedicate their
lives in moon watching as some ornithologists
specialize in bird watching and some astronomers
spend their time in monitoring the solar system.
The only difference between the moon onlookers
and the two latter professionals is that the former
do not need any qualification or experience except
the passion to track down the status of moon only
for two occasions - Ramadan and Eid. For the other
10 months, nobody knows what he or she does with
the status of moon. Their passion is so strong
that they take pride in defying the knowledge
of astronomers, who can determine the time of
the sighting of the moon for 3004.
On October 15, when
I woke up around 6 AM, I was not sure about the
status of Ramadan. But my curiosity prompted me
to find out the truth. I knew those of us who
believe in calculation, which was put together
by Brother Khalid Shaukat of moonsighting.com,
knew that the possibility of starting fast on
Saturday was plausible. However, I knew about
another group that was campaigning for Friday
as the beginning of Ramadan. A friend of mine
told me that there is another group, or maybe
the same group, that has been advocating for starting
the fast in the United States when it begins in
Saudi Arabia.
Anyway, when I woke
up a few minutes before the Fajr time, I did not
have anybody to make a phone call and confirm
about the status of Ramadan. As a result, I decided
to go on Internet and check my email that I might
have had received from local Muslim activists.
I was right. There were tons of emails, mostly
recycled. All the recycled messages were referring
to a press release issued by a major national
Islamic organization. According to the press release,
a person or a couple from Austin, Texas, sighted
the moon, and that fortunate guy or couple became
the only source of the moon sighting for the eight
million American Muslims, Indeed, a one-eyed man
should become a king among a nation of blinds.
But thousands of
Muslims are debating the validity of the source.
Muslims are analyzing it in their homes and on
the Internet. They need more information. After
all, they are individually fasting, and not the
national organizations. They can certainly withhold
the name and telephone number of the person or
the couple, for the sake of privacy. However,
in order to believe in the authenticity of the
Austinian’s statement, would it not be logical
to provide more information about his age, his
profession, and his intention? What was he doing
at the right time and in the right place? Why
was he the only onlooker? Was he in a group? Was
he driving by? Was he on a hilltop? Was he assigned
by a local Muslim group to do this or did he do
on his own? Whom did he call first? Is he a member
of the local Hilal Committee? Does he oppose calculation
theory? Does he favor starting fast in the United
States when it begins in Saudi Arabia? Do I have
any rights to ask these legitimate questions or
is it blasphemous to question his integrity?
Anyway, I decided
to start fasting. But, during the day, I found
out more than 50 percent of my fellow Chicagoan
Muslims were not as gullible as I was. They did
not fast. Indeed, I am angry, very angry. And,
I have a lot of questions:
1. What’s
the boundary of moon sighting? Is it limited to
a city, state, region, country, or centered on
Saudi Arabia or the entire hemisphere?
2. How late should
we wait for the declaration of the moon’s
sighting?
3. How many people
should confirm it?
