Moonsighting
Today is 28 Ramadan. It is still Thursday, 19 October, since the Islamic date changes shortly after sunset, not midnight, so it will still be 28 Ramadan during daylight hours tomorrow. This means that Saturday, 21 October will be 29 Ramadan, and the moonsighting committee must go out and look for the crescent at sunset. If they say they have seen the crescent, it will be Eid, the first of Shawwal.
The moon will, in fact, be new at 9:14 a.m. on the 22nd, and will first be visible on the 23rd October, according to the astronomers, so if they do see a crescent on the 21st, it will be a waning crescent, not a waxing crescent.
The astronomers say that the moonsighting committee won’t be able to see a crescent on the 22nd, either; however, no Islamic month can last more than 30 days, so Eid must be on 23 October.
Astronomers say that a moon must be at least 12 hours old at sunset to be visible, so the moon may be easily visible in the West, while it is not at all visible in the East.
At the end of the first Islamic century, the Islamic world included Andalusia in the West and ran continuously to Sind in the East. If the Caliph wanted to declare the first of Ramadan or Eid for the entire Caliphate, people in Andalusia might easily see a new crescent that was quite invisible in Sind, but there was no way to convey this information throughout the entire Caliphate, so each village had to send its own moonsighting committee out, and not only might it be Ramadan or Eid a day earlier in Andalus than in Sind, the starting dates could be different in Western Andalusia than Eastern Andalusia.
But today, the rulers of most Islamic countries declare when a new month starts for the entire country, and moonsighting committees from one country can call other moonsighting committees to reach a consensus on whether the new month has started, so an entire region can celebrate Eid together.
In fact, on the 29th of Sha’ban, the crescent would have been visible in Western North America, but not in the Middle East. Still, the Gulf moonsighting committees declared that the crescent was seen, accurately predicting that it would be visible later than evening a few thousand kilometres to the West, so Ramadan started on 23 September rather than 24 September.
Since the crescent will be visible nowhere in the world on the 21st, it seems fairly safe to say that Eid will be 23 October.
The moon will, in fact, be new at 9:14 a.m. on the 22nd, and will first be visible on the 23rd October, according to the astronomers, so if they do see a crescent on the 21st, it will be a waning crescent, not a waxing crescent.
The astronomers say that the moonsighting committee won’t be able to see a crescent on the 22nd, either; however, no Islamic month can last more than 30 days, so Eid must be on 23 October.
Astronomers say that a moon must be at least 12 hours old at sunset to be visible, so the moon may be easily visible in the West, while it is not at all visible in the East.
At the end of the first Islamic century, the Islamic world included Andalusia in the West and ran continuously to Sind in the East. If the Caliph wanted to declare the first of Ramadan or Eid for the entire Caliphate, people in Andalusia might easily see a new crescent that was quite invisible in Sind, but there was no way to convey this information throughout the entire Caliphate, so each village had to send its own moonsighting committee out, and not only might it be Ramadan or Eid a day earlier in Andalus than in Sind, the starting dates could be different in Western Andalusia than Eastern Andalusia.
But today, the rulers of most Islamic countries declare when a new month starts for the entire country, and moonsighting committees from one country can call other moonsighting committees to reach a consensus on whether the new month has started, so an entire region can celebrate Eid together.
In fact, on the 29th of Sha’ban, the crescent would have been visible in Western North America, but not in the Middle East. Still, the Gulf moonsighting committees declared that the crescent was seen, accurately predicting that it would be visible later than evening a few thousand kilometres to the West, so Ramadan started on 23 September rather than 24 September.
Since the crescent will be visible nowhere in the world on the 21st, it seems fairly safe to say that Eid will be 23 October.
posted by Dubai@Random at 6:23 pm
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