It’s not Eid yet!

The rest of the world (mostly Sunnis) has already celebrated the Eid, even though the moon was not sighted. Moon sighting is one of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (may the peace and blessings be upon him and his family).

The moon-sighting site has a wealth of information. It is using scientific data to visualize the moon phases and sighting possibilities across the world. According to the site, the birth of the new moon is on Monday. The birth of the new moon is not a sign that it is the Eid. Before the Eid is announced to everyone, the new moon (hilal) needs to be sighted by a few trusted individuals. I know that this approach sounds archaic and old fashion, but this is how they use to decide the day of Eid in the time of the Holy Prophet (pbuh).

The second important information from the moon-sighting site is the possibilities of the new moon being sighted/seen on earth. This is perhaps the most interesting information from everything else that is published on the website. The only places where the new moon can be sighted (with naked eyes, binoculars and using other instruments) are places like Hawaii and Chile (South America).

So if there is no possibility of the new moon being sighted on Monday anywhere else on Earth then why did a great majority of the people in the world declared Eid on Tuesday (as if the moon was either sighted or not sighted)?

It’s because the world is following Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are absolutely and without doubt wrong on this. They have either abandon the tradition of moon sighting in preference of the calendaring system or they went to see the new moon on the wrong day. Based on the scientific data on the moon sighting website, the two days where you may not see the new moon is on Sunday August 28 and Monday August 29. And that is exactly when most Sunnis might have gone to sight the new moon.