Eid is here

This has been an eventful month with lots of violence in the area known as the Middle East and elsewhere. In the Middle East, a band of rebels known as the ISIS or Islamic State is waging what they believe is a holy war against a few selective governments that they think are not Islamic enough for their taste. Israeli-Palestinian conflict is still going on strong and the idea of any form of a peaceful resolution is simply unattainable (right now) unfortunately. Egypt, the land of the Pyramids, has gone through a complete circle from dictatorship to populous revolution followed briefly by a democratic election and now they are back to military dictatorship. In other places greed is taking over every aspect of human life and even in places which are relatively safe (without conflicts), people are suffering in one form or another.

The fasting in the holy month of Ramadhan has finally come to an end. Celebration has already begun in many parts of the world. People who have fasted in this month, the children and those living in places with significant larger community of Muslim know the true joy of Eid.

Moving on, when exactly is the Eid year 2014 / 1435? Based on past experiences, the first day of Eid can fall on either of the three days depending on how you estimate and calculate the date and sight the birth of a new moon (moon sighting). There’s a historical precedence in the process of pre-determination of the first day of Eid. Some folks believe that this precedence is merely an optional suggestion/guideline and the expected outcome should/will still vary depending on various other astronomical/geographical/technological factors that either didn’t exist back then or were not explained clearly enough.

Last year, I blogged a bit about some of the issues related to the moon sighting. Based on my observation and despite all the challenges, I still think the best approach is to do-it-yourself moon sighting. Go out there and look for the hilal. If you are too lazy then take any of the days mentioned as the likely candidate and hope for the best.

Celebration of the Eid comes with some nice traditions that bring families and communities together (in the future, time and energy permitting, I think I’ll go deeper in the celebration of the Eid).

As of now, enjoy/ have fun.

As predicted

Saudi Arabia declared the Eid for Sunday (08/19) as I anticipated yesterday.

What about the rest of the world?

I am anticipating

A bunch of people will be going on a moon sighting trip tomorrow (Friday) after sunset. Of course, they would not see the moon. Coming back home, they would confidently assert that since the new crescent was not visible, so the Eid should be on Sunday (08/19).

As you can see from the moon sighting maps (shown below) the crescent is not going to be visible either on Friday or Saturday for most of the world. It will only be visible on Sunday. The earliest day for moon-sighting would be Saturday. And on Saturday, the moon would not be visible at all, which mean the Eid is technically on Monday 08/20/12.

Friday -- To Early to See the Moon

Saturday - The new moon would not be visible

Sunday - Moon would be visible for everyone

The local Sunni mosque got its date wrong!

The closest Sunni mosque got its starting date for the month of Ramadhan wrong.

The note on the website (on Thursday) stated that the first of the month is on Friday (today) and this will be taken as the beginning of the month of Ramadhan. They even posted a blatant lie on the website saying that they have observed the hilal/crescent or taken the news of other reports.

How on earth do people see the crescent when it was not visible at all from planet earth (not even with optical aids). The moon sighting website reported that the earliest sighting was Friday on Fiji Island. And then they are other reported observation of the hilal in other countries. I'm seeing that many of the Sunni Muslim countries taking Saturday as the first of the month of Ramadhan.

But many mosques are also sticking by the Saudi mythical claim of the moon sighting.

This reminds me of the following famous Sunni hadith.

"Verily Allah will not make my community agree on error"

Surprise! Surprise! There's so much agreement on errors that I think the hadith (above) must be a hoax.

The month of Ramadhan is starting

This message was posted on the najaf.org website

The Office of His Eminence Ayatullah Al-Udhma Seestani (long may he live) – in Najaf has issued a statement informing Momineen that the sighting of the Ramadhan moon crescent has been ascertained by His Eminence (long may he live) and that tomorrow Saturday is the first day of Ramadhan in Iraq and all Arab and nearby Islamic countries as well as African countries, Australia, New Zealand and North and South America.

As for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and related European countries the first day of the blessed month of Ramadhan will be Sunday.
We ask Allah Almighty to let this be a month of goodness and blessings upon all Muslims for ‘He is All hearing and answers prayers.’

Not a good idea

I'm abandoning the moon sighting mission. It wasn't a good idea. Maghrib is late because it's summer now. So, the sunset is pretty late. I can't really do moon sighting from home. The trees are blocking my line of sight.

I guess the best place to view the crescent would probably be on a beach or the top of the mountain.

Anyway, I just found out that the Saudis are again doing the moon sighting wrongly or they probably don't care anymore. Some are taking Friday as the first of the month of Ramadhan. There's no way you can ever see the crescent today. It's astronomical impossible except for a few places in South America and Africa.

Still waiting to see some official anouncement.

Do it yourself moon sighting

I'm going to try to see if I can sight the new crescent myself.

I'll be looking for it later in the evening, today and tomorrow. I doubt I would be seeing anything today since the crescent would not be visible today. But tomorrow, it would most certainly be visible.

I wont be using any optical aid.

The birth of the new moon is on Thursday

Based on the astronomical calculation, the birth of the new moon is on Thursday July 19th, 2012. However, the new crescent (hilal) would not be seen/sighted with naked eyes. With the help of optical aids, the possibility of sighting it on Thursday would be very slim. Based on the visibility map, displayed prominently on the moon sighting site, there are few places in South America and Africa where the moon might be seen using the optical aids.

So, the first of the month of Ramadhan would be unlikely on Friday July 20th.

The earliest to start the month would be Saturday for some people. While for others it could be Sunday.

I'll update when I hear something new.

I am not surprised

I always knew that Saudis had mediocre Mullahs. But it seems that even their astronomers are mediocre!

The society had said that people actually saw the planet Saturn and not the crescent moon that marks the beginning of the Islamic month of Shawwal.

Various news agencies such as Al-Arabiya and Aljazeera have also reported that the planet Saturn has been mistaken for the Hilal (crescent moon), and this means that what was announced as the first day of Eid al-Fitr was supposed to be a day of fasting, rather than celebrations.

ref

No more moon sightings post

Lets leave the moon sightings discussion for the next year…I am pretty sure we will be having the same conversation again



Some discussions on ShiaChat

Validity of the Approaches
Local trackings
Shia vs Sunni Sightings report

Also a good and informative page on the Islamic laws for moon sightings

http://www.islamic-laws.com/questiononhilal.htm

Saudi Arabia moon-sighting blunders

When asked about the announcement by major Muslim organizations of Kerala that the Eid was tomorrow, Manicfan said,

"I have observed the moon-sighting issue in Kerala for the past 30 years and people say they have sighted the moon on days it is not possible. The lunar dates given in the various calendars in Kerala are different. Dates cannot and should not be changed like that. Even Saudi Arabia doesn't calculate this correctly. Only the Bedouins in the Arabian deserts follow the correct calculation."

He has a website highlighting some of the blunders made by the Saudis in sighting of the moon.

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.