The Wrappings of Gratitude

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Introduction

This article by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf addresses the correct methodology of moonsighting, the knowledge of which  is imperative to enable us to be well informed about the guidance and Sunnah of the Prophet (s) which should be our first and last source of guidance on this matter. By being informed of the issues does not necessarily mean we are going to challenge our mosques or imams but rather it is so that we put ourselves in the position of being knowledgeable so that we might make a well informed and fully conscious decision as to when we are beginning and ending the month of Ramadan. In regards to this, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf comprehensively deals with the issue of moonsighting, arguing that it is Sunnah to begin and end the month of Ramadan through the sighting of the hilal (crescent) and not predetermining the month through calculations, which according to scholarly opinion cannot to be used instead of physically sighting the hilal of Ramadan.

Ramadan 2009

Another important point to note is that when we refer to the new moon, the actual new moon is invisible and only appears to the naked eye once it has exceeded the ‘Danjon Limit’  Calculations can accurately inform us of the date and time when the new moon will be born and this method of determining the new moon has been in existence amongst Muslim scholars for centuries. However, the use of calculations was never intended and nor used as an alternative to sighting. This year the new moon came into existence on Thursday 20^th August and was 9 hours old in the UK at the time of sunset. At this age the moon is too young to be seen and was still invisible because it still had not moved out of alignment with the earth and the sun. This also meant it was below the Danjon limit which is the minimum elevation in degrees (the angle between the earth and moon) before the moon can be physically seen. On Friday 21^st August at sunset the moon was calculated to be 33 hours old and still below the Danjon limit, which meant that in the UK it again could not be physically sighted even if atmospheric conditions were perfect. This would complete the 30 days of Sha’ban and should make Sunday (23rd) and not Saturday the (22nd) first day of Ramadan 2009 in the UK and all of northern Europe. For countries further south including the US, parts of the Middle East and Africa it may be possible to sight the moon on Friday evening as indicated by the visibility curve diagram below.[1]

Caesarean Moon Births
Taken from his abridged version of ‘Caesarean Moon Births’, I have drawn out the key facts and arguments which summarises the debate. The full article may be read following the link below.

Shaykh Hamza contextualises the purpose of his paper, “this paper addresses the current debate over determining the beginning of the lunar month by moon sighting with the physical eye or by using mathematical calculation. It will attempt to explain the reasons for the debate, the positions taken in the past, and my own personal conclusions about the matter”.[2]

In reference to the mistakes of previous communities he refers to the words of the Prophet (s) who, “clearly warned us not to follow the Jews and the Christians in their abandonment of their own prophetic practices, and to be especially vigilant about this. Lamentably, he also informed us that many Muslims would not heed this advice and would follow their errors anyway. Predetermining our lunar months through calculation is a fulfilment of his prediction: The Prophet (s) said, “You will follow the [erroneous] ways of those before you hand span by hand span, arm’s breadth-by-arm’s breadth, to such a degree that if they went down a lizard’s hole, you would also go down the hole.””[3]

Exactly the same issue affected the Jewish community as the Shaykh describes, “going from sighting to calculation is like following the Jewish abandonment of their original tradition of having to actually sight the crescent moon with naked-eye observers. The Prophet s also said, according to a sound hadith narrated by Imam al-Tirmidhi, “What happened to the Children of Israel will also happen to my community, step-by-step….””[4]

The Qur’an is clear about following the lunar month for the determination of months, “one verse commands Muslims to fast for the month of Ramadan, which is unambiguously the lunar month known to the Arabs at that time. The verse says, “The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur’an was revealed as a guidance for humanity and clarifications of that guidance and a standard. So whoever witnesses (shahida) the month among you, let him fast” (2:185). Qadi Abu Bakr b. al-Arabi comments on this verse:”

““Month” here actually refers to the crescent moon of the months and was called “the month” (al-shahr) due to everyone knowing of its arrival (li shuhratih). Hence, God has obliged us to fast upon the sighting of the crescent moon (inda ru’yatih). The Prophet’s words [also add clarity]: “Fast upon sighting the crescent moon, and end the fast upon its sighting. And should it be obscured, then complete thirty days of Sha’ban.” Thus, he obliged us to complete thirty days of Sha’ban should the crescent moon be hidden, and thirty days of Ramadan should Shawwal’s crescent be hidden. This is in order that we enter our [time-dependent] acts of worship with certainty and end them with certainty. Another hadith is even more elucidating: “Do not fast until you see the crescent moon, and do not break the fast until you see it.””[5]

“The Spanish master of the sciences of Islam, Ibn Abd al-Barr, says: Ibn Surayj relates that Imam al-Shafi’i said, “Whoever is schooled in the ability to determine the course of the stars and the mansions and phases of the moon, and it is clear to him from his knowledge that the crescent moon will appear on a given night, but then, it is obscured by clouds, then, in that case, it is permissible for him to consider it time to fast and sleep with the intention [of fasting the next day], and he will be rewarded.””

“However, what we have found authenticated in his own books is that he considered the month of Ramadan to be valid only by a widespread sighting or sound testimony or completion of thirty days of Sha’ban….This is, in fact, the school of all of the scholars of the Hijaz, Iraq, Greater Syria, and the West. Among those who confer are Malik, al-Shafi’i, al-Awza’i, Abu Hanifah and his students, and all of the people of hadith, except for Ahmad b. Hanbal and those who conferred with him.”[6]

“It is clear that none of these men understood the opinion that allowed calculation to mean bypassing the actual sighting; rather, they understood calculation to be permissible only if the visibility factor was obscured by atmospheric conditions.”[7]

The above paragraph is quite clear that none of these eminent scholars considered, understood or interpreted the use of calculations as an alternative method to physical moonsighting and to following the Sunnah of the Prophet (s). May we all be granted refuge from the pitfalls of ignorance an innovation in our religion. Ameen.

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[1] See visibility curves for Friday 21^st August 2009 which indicate where in the world the moon is likely to be visible on this evening. http://www.crescentwatch.org/cgi-bin/Cw/cw.cgi?action=2

[2] Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Caesarean Moon Births, Abridged (2006). All quotes are taken from this article and all references drawn from it. The article may be found at http://www.zaytuna.org/forms/cesarean%20abridged3.pdf

[3] Abu Abd Allah Muhammad b. Ismail al-Bukhari, Sahih al-BukharÏ (Beirut: al-Maktabah al-Asriyyah, 2005), 612, no. 3456.

[4] Muhammad habib Allah al-Jakani, Zad al-Muslim fi ma ittafaq alayh al-Bukhari wa

Muslim (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1981), 1:382-4.

[5] This hadith is agreed upon by Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim. In fact, the hadith, “Fast upon sighting it, and break the fast upon sighting it, and should it be obscured, then complete thirty days of Sha’ban,” is considered multiply transmitted and has the authority of any verse in the Qur’an by consensus. See: Muhammad b. Jaffar al-KattanÏ, Nazm al-mutanathir min al-hadith al-mutawatir (Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-Salafiyyah, n.d.), 129.

[6] Ibn Abd al-Barr, al-Istidhkar (Cairo, Aleppo: Dar al-Wagha, 1993), 10:15-9. Ahmad b.Hanbal’s position is that of Ibn Umar. Neither permitted calculating with mathematics but understood the Day of Doubt, on which the Prophet (s) prohibited fasting, to be the 30th day of Sha’ban, if the previous night was clear. If it was cloudy, however, Ibn Umar and later Imam Ahmad understood the command, “faqduru lah” to mean, “consider it a month of twenty-nine days, and fast the following as a precaution. Ibn Umar would sometimes end up fasting thirty-one days of Ramadan. Only a handful of scholars interpreted it this way. The majority considered it prohibited to fast on the Day of Doubt, based upon the hadith, “Whoever fasts on the Day of Doubt has disobeyed Abu al-Qasim, Muhammad.”

[7] My emphasis