The principles, myths, politics and science of moon sighting in Nigeria August 9, 2013 Imam Hasan Qasim Okikiola Islam, Ramadan Special No comments Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III A proverb of elders says you are not there, you then claimed that it was wrongly shared. This is the situation of many Muslims in Nigeria when it comes to issues on Moon sighting. While some believe that the sultan of Sokoto and Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs are doing nothing but only for them to announce the sighting both at the beginning of Ramadan and at the end of it. I prayed to Allah to continue to forgive all our sins and the ones we are planning to commit. Haven’t said this, I came across an advert on the NSCIA website inviting Muslims all over Nigeria we to participate in a day’s workshop on moon sighting, using the latest technologies. It also came to my knowledge the press release by JNI and NSCIA with the theme Termination of Ramadan Fast 1434 AH/2013 of the Christian era (CE) ‘Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is reported to have said: “Commence fasting when you sight the (Ramadan) crescent and terminate fasting when you sight the (Shawwal) crescent. But if the sky is cloudy, then, count 30 days of Sha’ban or of Ramadan as the case may be”. Therefore, in accordance with the Prophetic tradition, Muslims all over Nigeria are hereby urged to look for the new crescent of Shawwal on Wednesday, August, 7t h 2013 CE (which corresponds to 29t h day of Ramadan, 1434 AH. To this effect, members of the national Moon Sighting Committee have been deployed with appropriate gadgets to various parts of the country for easy sighting of the moon. However, other individuals who are able to sight the crescent are requested to contact, through appropriate authorities, any of the following: which include the telephone numbers of the Sultan of Sokoto,the President-General of NSCIA, the Deputy President-General (North) of the NSCIA and the Shehu of Borno the Deputy President-General (South) of the NSCIA and Aare Musulumi of Yoruba Land,the Secretary General, Prof. Is-haq O Oloyede and the Emir of Gwandu and all other Emir were published on national dallies and electronic medias . All these efforts were on the virtues of making sure all the necessary write thing are done. My presence at the workshop gave me opportunity to understand more on the shariah compliance of moon sighting. In the first lecture delivered by prof. Is-haq Oloyede as a prof of Islamic Studies said in his introduction that every year across the world, , Muslims are thrown into frenzy on account of the sighting of the moon for the month of Ramadan. More often than not, the commencement of the holy month of fasting, which constitutes a pillar of Islam, is often characterized by heated arguments that oscillate from moon sighting to moon fighting. Most of the misunderstanding underpinning sighting the moon would not have arisen if Muslims were to know their Religion as Allah recommends. This lecture is intended to examine the principles that guide the sighting of the moon, the myths that have been associated with it, the politics involved in sighting or failure to sight it and the science of it especially in the context of the 21st century when great advances in information and communication technology have made the world smaller and the universe more accessible. It is well known that since the time immemorial, the universe has been considered a stupendous phenomenon with its components affecting the course of life and living. The universe comprises billions of galaxies and one of them, for example, a spiral galaxy, is made up of at least 200 billion stars. The earth is also just one of the galaxies in the universe. It is the home of the solar system which is of importance to humanity. When we invoke the universe, we think of unlimited possibilities in terms of stars and orbits, we imagine the enormous scope especially when we realise that our earth is just like a dot compared with the sun. In the universe, the whole earth that we inhabit is like a tiny, barely visible dot on a large piece of paper. He also said that there are two issues involved in the commencement of Ramadan. It is either one sights the moon or if it is obscured by the cloud, one makes the preceding month of Sha’aban thirty days. With this principle, there should ordinarily not be any controversy but controversy persists as a result of when actually the month of Sha’aban was started and the truthfulness of seeing the real moon or not. Which day is 29th and which day is the 30th are not definite. According to the Prophet (SAW), “The month consists of twenty-nine nights, so do not fast till you have sighted it (i.e.the new moon) and if the weather is cloudy, then complete it as thirty days.” He was also reported to have said thus in the same vein: “The month of Ramadan may consist of twenty-nine days. So do not fast until you have sighted it (the new moon) and do not break the fast until you have sighted it (the new moon of Shawwal), and if the sky is cloudy for you, then complete it (thirty days)” . On the basis of the foregoing, the Islamic law has vested the power on Muslim leaders to determine the specific dates of events based on the knowledge available to them.Three principles guide this process: The sacred days for the commencement of fasting and Arafat can only be declared if the new moon is sighted. If the moon is not sighted, no declaration is made and the lunation is assumed to be 30 days. It is only the decreed days as officially declared by the Leader that are valid in the eyes of the law. An individual does not just sights the moon, he draws the attention of the leader to it who makes a declaration on behalf of the Muslim community. In theory, all months are 29 days but if the moon is not cited, a month becomes thirty days. Therefore, The inhabitants of the world do not necessarily sight the moon on the same day. In Islamic Jurisprudence, the sighting of the moon is the sabab (cause)for the commencement of Ramadan and its application is hukm (ruling). Without the sabab, the hukm is null and void. Muslims also do not have to calculate the beginning of the astronomical new moon as it is a clear violation of the commandment of the Prophet (SAW) that Ramadan be started after sighting the new moon or after completing the 30 days of Shawaal. The 30days counted is in the realm of calculation and occasioned by invisibility which might be due to non conjunction on the eve(28th) of or early on 29th OR due to obstruction by the cloud. It has to be admitted that the obstruction does not imply that the crescent did not appear to indicate that the night in which it is seen is the last day of the preceeding month. For the makers of calendars the conjunction of the moon is the end of the month and the crescent appears on the first of the new month. The commandment on starting Ramadan on sighting the new moon is directed to all Muslims all over the world. An individual Muslim may not have to sight the moon by himself but when it is announced it has been sighted by a Muslim, it becomes obligatory to commence Ramadan. In this respect, those who argue that they have to sight the moon by themselves have no legal basis. As narrated by Ibn Umar (RA), “During the time of the Prophet (SAW), the companions went looking for the new crescent. So I told the Prophet (SAW) that I saw it. So, he fasted and told the companions to fast.” It is also quoted thus: “The Muslims did not begin fasting since they did not see the moon. Then a man, from out of Madina, came and told the Prophet (SAW) that he had seen it (the moon). The Prophet (SAW) asked him if he was a Muslim to which the man answered in the affirmative. The Prophet (SAW) then said, “Allahu Akbar! One is enough for all Muslims”. The Prophet (SAW) fasted and asked all the people to stop eating and start fasting.” Myths are commonly-held, but usually false, beliefs about individuals and phenomena. Largely products of man’s emotions and imaginations, myths have been associated with the sighting of the moon such that practices alien to Islam are associated with it. Some people have taken astrology from astronomy and considered it to be Islamic. It is a myth that everyone has to personally sight the moon as earlier indicated though there are some Muslims who still hold on to this myth. Others select those to accept their sighting as binding. For example one may say one would accept sighting from any part of Nigeria, but what natural barrier exists to make sighting in Republic of Benin inapplicable? Does our not been able to sight it mean nonexistent of the crescent? Is it not expected that dates be used for global reckoning? Does it violate any Hadith if we rely on the authentic report of any credible Muslim authority from any part of the world? If this global sighting is endorsed Ramadan would commence at the respective dawn that follows the reported sighting. Besides, since Muslims now adopt Makkah time as a variant of the Greenwich time, there are people who for political and strategic reasons do not want to confer on Saudi Arabia what is perceived to be its status. Some Muslims are simply disenchanted with the pro-American politics of Saudi Arabia that they say that hosting the two holiest cities does not confer the capital of the Islamic world on the country. Such people would be quick to point out how the headquarters of the Islamic world had been in Turkey and Iraq in the past. It is therefore not unlikely for countries that consider themselves rivals to Saudia Arabia to throw the baby out with the bath water and cut their nose to spite their face. While it is common practice for the reasons stated earlier to look towards Saudi Arabia, it is also not out place to be inspired by wherever the moon is first sighted, internationally. It does also not mean that every month must first be sighted in Makkah, rather the visibility is mobile. There is therefore the possibility of 9th of Dhul hijah being based on the sighting elsewhere other than in Saudi Arabia. Scientifically, it takes about 27 days and 8 hours for the moon to complete one revolution around the Earth. However, as previously stated, the period between two new moon ones is 29½ days. The reason for this variation is that while the moon revolves around the Earth, the earth itself revolves around the sun. So when the moon completes one full revolution around the earth and comes to the same point it had started, the position of the sunlight changes and the Moon’s shape, as we see it, has changed. The first day of the Islamic calendar is the day after the night on which the new moon is sighted or conjuncts. The occasion was used to sheld more light on the reality truth about sighting moon, with the practical using the latest equipment to teach the participants.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 21:06:58 +0000
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