Moonsighting (7)

In the previous blog we looked at the three main interpretations of “sighting” the moon i.e. is it physically seeing with your eye, or potentially with an optical aid, or are calculations sufficient from an usul al-fiqh perspective.

Now, I’d like to step back a moment and highlight the key issues with a more calculation-based approach. This is explicitly not what was done at the time of the Prophet (SAW), and therefore, did the Prophet (SAW) do the wrong “actual” day? Here lies a key difficulty being faced, as there are two options:

• The Prophet (SAW) did not base his view on the first of the month on astronomical calculations as they weren’t available
• Or because they are wrong

Now if it is the former, does this mean that there is no “true night of Qadr”, or that it used to be on one day (based on actual sighting) but now has changed? These questions, unfortunately are not answered in any work that I have seen. The latter implies they may have done something wrong e.g. fasted on Eid!

Another question / point to consider is the presence of miracles. If you use astronomical calculations, some of the “magic” of Ramadan and sighting the moon may be removed – and it removes the potential for a miracle by Allah…However, the counter argument might be that the months of the year are clear and fixed (refer to 2:189) so this is not really the point. In addition, you can still look for the moon, even if the date has been confirmed.

 “Inside the Mind of a scholar” focusses on the views of the scholars, so I will stop here but hopefully you will see the difficulties facing the scholars in their endeavours here. In the next blog we will look at the sharing of the night discussion.