Ramadan: Varsities launch astronomy course to support moon-sighting in UK

A new project which aims to provide Muslim communities across the UK with the skills to host local astronomy hubs and moon gazing events has been launched. The Moonsighters Academy, a collaboration between the Universities of Leeds and Cambridge, is an innovative, nine-month public engagement programme, combining online and in-person training with outdoor astronomical observations. […]

A new project which aims to provide Muslim communities across the UK with the skills to host local astronomy hubs and moon gazing events has been launched.

The Moonsighters Academy, a collaboration between the Universities of Leeds and Cambridge, is an innovative, nine-month public engagement programme, combining online and in-person training with outdoor astronomical observations.

The Islamic calendar is based on lunar cycles and the start of each month is marked by the sighting of the first crescent moon. The sightings also mark the start and end of Ramadan, Islam’s holiest season.

As earlier Muslim communities in the UK couldn’t establish regular lunar observations, often due to cloud cover, they tended to outsource their calendar to different countries.

However, as different countries see the crescent moon on different days, this resulted in communities within the UK not being able to celebrate Eid on the same date. Even within the same families, some may be fasting while others feast.

The project’s aim is to enable Muslims to conduct their own lunar observations in the UK, which could help reduce the friction that can arise when mosques observe Ramadan or Eid on different dates. 

The project is inspired by Cambridge PhD candidate Imad Ahmed, whose research focuses on the Islamic lunar calendar debate in the UK, and who co-leads the curriculum design for the Moonsighters Academy. He’s also director of the New Crescent Society.

Imad said: “My hope is that Muslim communities across the UK will end up having a coordinated way of celebrating religious festivals that all of them can share in.

“By having a community of astronomers capable of conducting their own lunar observations here in the UK, we’ll be able to stop relying on words from abroad and eliminate much of the confusion that surrounds key milestones in the Islamic calendar.” (University of Leeds)