Moonsighting (9)

2. Sharing the night/unity of horizon (cont.)

In this blog, we will start looking at the sharing of the night – and why some scholars believe in this (giving the alternative view as well).

1. Sharing the night (night is defined as between sunset and the beginning of Fajr (1)) - this is based on several narrations:
• The sahih narration of Hisham ibn al-Hakm from the 5^th Imam (AS) (2), asking about those who have fasted 29 days: “If he has evidence that is from a just source that people of Egypt have fasted 30 days based on sighting the moon, then he must do qada’ of one day.” This is implying that if the month is 30 days in Egypt, it is 30 days in the whole of Egypt (not just those who share horizons – if the Imam had meant that, he would have said it – so by itlaq given he did not say it when he was in a position to say it, we can assume he did not mean that)

Ayatullah Seestani’s view on narration of Hisham ibn Hakam (and others like the mu’tabar narration of Suma’a(3)) is that the narration is actually pointing to the fact that the sighting has been confirmed by definitive (qati) widespread view of the people of Egypt. Therefore, the hadith points to the fact that it is not enough to have two witnesses seeing the moon in every situation (e.g. if these two people claim they have seen the moon whilst there were many people who could have seen it). He supports this through the narration of Suma’a:

He asked Abu Abdullah (AS) about a day on which there was a difference of opinion on in the month of Ramadan: “If the people of Egypt agree on fasting on it due to seeing it, then do Qada for that day [if you did not fast] if the inhabitants of Egypt are 500 people”

He then concludes saying that in usul al-fiqh, if there are two potential implications (the itlaq that is used to support the sharing night theory, and Ayatullah Seestani’s view), and you are sure of one (the latter view), and doubt the former (the itlaq), then you only consider that which you are sure of.

• The sahih narration of Ishaq bin Ammar (4) who asked the 6th Imam (AS) about the crescent of Ramadan when it is cloudy on the 29th Sha'ban, and he said: "Don't fast unless you see it. And if someone in another country sees it, then fast" (and similarly the sahih narration of Abd al-Rahman (5) son of the 5^th Imam (AS)) – rationale as above. However, some (including Ayatullah Seestani (6)) might argue that this is only relevant to situations where there are obstacles e.g. clouds preventing a definite sighting; and cannot be extended to where the moon is definitely not sightable in your location.

In the next blog, we will look at other narrations that support the "sharing the night" theory; and then we will look at other theories. 
 

Sources:

Fiqh works by the major maraji’

Thubut al-hilal tibqan li-qawl al-falaki by Muhammad al-Husayni (pages 3-4)

Minhaj al-Salihin of Ayatullah Wahid Khurasani, volume 1, page 296 onwards

Questions and answers about sighting the moon according to Ayatullah Seestani (Arabic) - http://www.sistani.org/downloads/helal.pdf  (this is also the source for the other footnotes below)

 
(1)   Fiqh al-Shari’ah by Sayyid Fadlallah, volume 1, Page 249 (explaining the meaning of night when talking about Maghrib prayers)
(2)   Tahdhib al-Ahkam Vol 4, 158
(3) Man la yahdhuruhu al-faqih, vol 2, page 77
(4)   Tahdhib al-Ahkam Vol 4, 178
(5)   Tahdhib al-Ahkam Vol 4, 157
(6)   Questions and answers about sighting the moon according to Ayatullah Seestani (Arabic)