Moon Sighting
or Moon Fighting?
By Dr. Mohiuddin Waseem
McAllen, TX
Once again the Muslim community
in North America got bitterly divided over the
issue of moon sighing for Eid-ul-Fitr. As a result,
two Eids were celebrated, one on Thursday and
the other one on Friday, 3rd and 4th November
respectively. None of us would have objected if
two Eids would have been celebrated at different
moon sighting zones of the United States because
after all we are living in a continent which is
far bigger than any country we know of. The US
has four different time zones and a distance of
thousands of miles from one coast to the other.
But the problem arose when two Eids were celebrated
in the same cities throughout the US leaving masses
in confusion about the validity of their Islamic
rites.
The following brief review is my understanding
on the topic:
1. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) commanded Muslims to
look diligently for the moon of Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr.
It is narrated in Sahih Bukhari that he said,
“When you see it (new moon of Ramadan) then
fast; and when you see it (new moon of Shawwal)
then break your fast”. In another hadith
from Bukhari he said, “Fast according to
its sighting and break your fast according to
its sighting. And if it is hidden (the moon on
29th) from you by clouds then complete the days
as 30”. Another narration recorded by Ahmed
and Nasai has similar wordings with added words,
“And be devout for looking for it (the new
moon)”. He and his companions looked for
the new moon themselves.
2. If the moon was not sighted by him or his companions
then he took shahada (witness) from Muslims who
were in the suburbs of Madina, that is “camel
ride distance” away. It is narrated in Abu
Dawood: “Once the people doubted the appearance
of the moon of Ramadan, and intended neither to
offer the tarawih prayer nor to keep fast. A bedouin
came from al-Harrah and testified that he had
sighted the moon. He was brought to the Prophet
(may peace be upon him). He asked, ‘Do you
testify that there is no god but Allah, and that
I am the Apostle of Allah?’He said, ‘Yes’,
and he testified that he had sighted the moon.
He commanded Bilal who announced to the people
to offer the tarawih prayer and to keep fast”.
Employing newer technologies like mathematical
calculation of moon’s conjecture, telephones
and Internet, and taking evidence of moon sighting
from distant lands within America and in some
cases far away lands like Saudi Arabia as our
own has only compounded the problem and the controversy
associated with it.
3. Many of us are obsessed with the idea of having
‘one Eid per country’ and ‘common
start and finish dates for Ramadan’ and
disregard the opinion of Prophet Mohammad’s
companions who were the first to face this question
when the boundaries of Islamic civilization expanded
1400 years ago. It is narrated in Sahih Muslim
as well as in Abu Dawood, “Kuraib said that
Umm al-Fadl, daughter of al- Harith, sent him
to Mu’awiyah in Syria. He said: I came to
Syria and performed her work. The moon of Ramadan
appeared while I was in Syria. We sighted the
moon on the night of Friday. When I came to Medina
towards the end of the month (of Ramadan), Ibn
‘Abbas asked me about the moon. He said:
When did you sight the moon? I said: I sighted
it on the night of Friday. He asked: Did you sight
it yourself? I said Yes, and the people also sighted
it. They fasted and Mu’awiyah also fasted.
He said; But we sighted it on the night of Saturday.
Since then we have been fasting until we complete
thirty days or we sight it (earlier on 29th day).
Then I said: Are the sighting of the moon by Mu’awiyah
and his fasts not sufficient for us? He replied:
No. The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him)
commanded us to do so”.
Imam Muslim made the following heading before
describing the above mentioned narration, “There
is a sighting of the moon for every town. The
sighting at one town cannot be held valid for
the other town situated at a considerable distance
from it”.
I’ll rest my case by stating that every
city in United States should have its own moon
sighting committee and we should stop making moon
behave according to our desires of “one
Eid per country” which is an impossible
task, at least for the continent America.
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