2. Sharing the night/unity of horizons
In the previous blog, I was looking at whether
seeing with the physical eye is a requirement, or if you can use an optical
aid, or if calculations were sufficient. In this (and the next) blog, we will
go into the detail of where this must occur. In essence, this is the core
reason for the differences.
If the moon is seen in South Africa, is that
sufficient for people in London? Or must it be seen in the locality? Or does it
only count in Makkah?
Here, again there are different views:
- Sharing the horizon (“theory of differing horizons”) - two places are said to share a horizon if, by seeing it in one locale, it will be seen in the other1 (assuming that there were no obstructions like mountains...etc.) - so Harrow and Northwood for example. However, some have stretched this to include entire countries or the entire curve on moonsighting curves (not sure what this is based on though). This is the view of the majority of current scholars including Ayatullahs Seestani and Khamanei. However, it was not the view of earlier scholars other than potentially Ayatullah Tusi.
The rationale for this point of
view is that the lunar month is a time measurement which Arabs used before
Islam (not the solar month), and for them, the beginning of the month at a specific
location was based on the sightability of the moon at that location; as they
did not have a means of quick communication / calculations; and 2:189 is clear
in saying that the times of Hajj / fasting are based on lunar months that were
already in practise; therefore, this is the base position i.e. if there is no
evidence to the contrary, this would be the position. The other positions
require evidence….
In addition, the idea that the
Prophet (SAW) and Imams (AS) did not have access to the communication
techniques required to do the other options, also supports this viewpoint. If
you believe in the concept that the Prophet/Imams know unseen things e.g.
whether the moon was sightable in another location, but they did not use it –
rather did something Haram e.g. fasting on Eid, that seems impossible?
Furthermore, there is one narration3, for example, by Abu Ali bin
Rashid where he dates his letter to the 11th Imam (AS), and he says
they fasted on the Friday as the 1st of Ramadan even though from
calculations we have worked out that on the night of the Thursday it was
possible for the moon to be seen!
In the next blog we will look at the rationale for
the sharing of the night and other options.
(1) Minhaj al-Salihin by Ayatullah Seestani, page 336, issue 1044. Note, however, others believe that the unity of horizons is based on the visibility arc i.e. the unity of horizons is different each month. E.g. a few years ago, when the sighting in Frankfurt of the crescent allowed those residing in London to also start the new month, but two years later, another crescent sighting in Frankfurt did not apply to London. The difference, as explained by Ayatullah Sistani himself with the aid of the visibility curve charts, was that in the first instance there was a possibility of sighting by naked eye in London also, so the horizons would be shared by London and Frankfurt, allowing a sighting in one area to apply in another, but in the second instance there was no scientific and mathematical possibility of sighting in London, so the horizons were not shared and the sighting in Frankfurt could not apply to London. This is not clear from sources however, and does not seem to be based in any religious texts.
(2) Tahdhib al-Ahkam, vol 4: 167
