Resolving intricacies of moon sighting?

The problem of moon sighting, especially that of the Ramadan crescent, has been a perennial issue in parts of the country. The exact date for the commencement of fasting and specific days for the celebration of the eids  have remained contentious for decades. Recently, prayer times are subject of heated controversy which affect the Muslims […]

The problem of moon sighting, especially that of the Ramadan crescent, has been a perennial issue in parts of the country. The exact date for the commencement of fasting and specific days for the celebration of the eids  have remained contentious for decades.
Recently, prayer times are subject of heated controversy which affect the Muslims thoughts, unity and effective da’awah and education methodology. It is highly imperative for the Muslims to address the challenges of lunar moon sighting and explore various modalities for determining accurate five daily prayer times.
On this issue recently, a non-government organization,  Astro-Qibla Initiative, organized a one-day (Sunday 22nd May, 2016) national workshop on “Contemporary Issues and Challenges on Prayer Times and Moon Sighting” at the Dialogue Computer Institute, Kaduna.
Registered in July, 2013, the Astro-Qibla Initiative was conceived to create awareness and educate the Muslim ummah on the correct prayer time; determine accurate Qiblah direction (Ka’aba) for existing and new masajids (mosques) and above all “to unify sighting of the crescent by Muslims using tools and experts in astronomical, historical and geographical methods derived from Islamic perspectives”.
The event was chaired by the Emir of Gumel, Alhaji Ahmed Muhammad Sani, and attended by emirs, traditional title holders, religious and community leaders including members of the academia, da’awah workers, Jumu’at imams, representatives of Islamic organisations and institutions across the country.
The chairman of Astro-Qibla Initiative, Malam Salihu S. Abubakar said the organisation was formed to offer contribution to the Muslim Ummah in the areas of determining the Islamically-enshrined times for prayer, commencement of Ramadan fast and celebration of Eids.
He said the workshop was to appreciate the use of shari’ah complaint modern methods for achieving the said objectives and urged the participants to get the message to a wider scale. The workshop featured presentations on “The Shari’ah and Scientific Aspect of Prayer Time” in Hausa language by Malam Murtala Nasir Al-Misri. An English version of the lecture was presented by Malam Simwal Usman Jibril.
In his paper, “The Shari’ah and Astronomical Views of Moon Sighting”, Professor Usman A. El-Nafaty of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria noted with dismay the level of disparity in moon sighting and lack of unity in Muslim lunar calendar which, according to him, affects the commencement of the Ramadan fast annually.
The professor recalled an incident about 10 years ago saying that globally Muslims started the 2005 Ramadan fast on four solar days/dates instead of one lunar day/date.  In Nigeria, according to him the majority of the Muslims started their fasting on Monday Oct. 3 while some also started on Sunday, Oct. 2.
While the Muslims in Saudi Arabia, Middle East started on Tuesday October 4; the Muslims in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Turkey, Africa, Europe, Americas started on Wednesday October, 5 and the Muslims in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Central Asia began the 2015 fast on Thursday Oct. 6.
He said the Eid al-Fitr of 2005 was celebrated on the same pattern of four different days/dates across the globe; Nov. 2 Wed: Nigeria, Libya Nov. 3 Thurs.: S. Arabia, M East, Indonesia, EU, USA (ISNA) Nov. 4 Friday: S. Africa, UK, Canada, USA, India, Pakistan Nov. 5 Saturday: Northern India, etc.
On the discrepancies, the workshop submitted that Muslims should develop the habit of looking for the crescent every month and that “Nigeria should develop a coordinated structure and streamlined system of crescent sighting and adopt a Fiqh criteria for analyzing/accepting crescent sighting reports”.
Explaining the phenomenon, in his Hausa version presentation on “The Shari’ah and Astronomical Views of Moon Sighting”, Malam Salihu Muhammad Yakub attributed the discrepancies to human error in moon sighting.
In a book, “Moon Sighting: Issues and Suggestions”, Hafiz Suleiman Wali noted that “many objects observed at Maghrib in the western sky resembled and could be mistaken for the new moon. This is especially the case if there are scattered and overlapping clouds in the western sky as is often the case in Nigeria”.
What is clear from the workshop is that there is need for training to impart skills for detecting/sighting of a new moon.
The question on the minds of many Muslims however revolved around the Islamic ruling on the use of the knowledge of astronomy in appreciating the sighting of new moon.
Many scholars argued that the commencement and termination of fasting should solely depend on the confirmation of the sighting of a new moon. Imamul Bukhari (R.A) reported on the authority of Ibnu Omar (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W) said: “The month consists of 29 nights, so do not fast till you have sighted it (i.e. the new moon), and if the weather were cloudy, then complete it as 30 days.”
In the narration of Muslim, the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “The month of Ramadhan may consist of twenty-nine days. So do not fast until you have sighted it (the new moon) and do not break fast, until you have sighted it (the new moon of Shawwal), and if the sky is cloudy for you, then complete it (thirty days).”
As the new moon is about to be sighted, I pray may Allah let us observe the month in His blessing. Ramadan kareem.

Gwandu can be reached through: [email protected]