Anyone seen the moon??

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Anyone seen the moon??
Safiya
11/25/00 at 13:37:39
slm

has anyone seen the moon??

Re: Anyone seen the moon??
Saleema
11/25/00 at 17:42:43
Assalamoalykum,

Nope, not night yet over here in Houston, Texas

wassalam
Re: Anyone seen the moon??
Learner
11/25/00 at 18:58:09
Assalaamu alaikum

No ones seen the moon over here in England as of yet. Hence by default everyones going to start Taraweeh from tomorrow (sunday night).

Wassalaam

Re: Anyone seen the moon??
Sara
11/25/00 at 19:16:34
Assalam,
Here in Missouri, we got a fasting time sheet that
says Ramandan starts the 27 of this month.
Re: Anyone seen the moon??
bhaloo
11/26/00 at 00:15:15
slm

I know ISNA will not accept any moonsightings till tomorrow, and I hear there's a 90% chance that the fasting starts monday in North America, insha'Allah.

To check the latest information for North America visit, http://www.moonsighting.com

Recently ISNA reviewed its policies about moon sightings and changed the way they do things for Eid ul-Adha, they will now do it by moon sighting instead of like they have been doing in the past which is see what Saudi Arabia does.
NS
Re: Anyone seen the moon??
Arsalan
11/26/00 at 02:22:47
Assalamu alaikum,
[quote]Recently ISNA reviewed its policies about moon sightings and changed the way they do things for Eid ul-Adha, they will now do it by moon sighting instead of like they have been doing in the past which is see what Saudi Arabia does.
[/quote]Bhaloo, is that on the web site too?
Re: Anyone seen the moon??
bhaloo
11/26/00 at 10:17:17
slm

Yes it is, you might have seen a response by Chief Justice Taqi Usmani objecting to ISNA's practices for Eid ul-Adha, and ISNA has now changed their policy, this is from their website:

On Sunday, November 19, 2000, the groundbreaking Symposium on the Islamic Calendar concluded with major steps towards a solution to the moon-sighting problem. For years the Muslim Ummah has been plagued by misunderstanding and confusion regarding this issue. This symposium, hosted by ISNA, brought together the Fiqh Council of North America and the preeminent astronomers and activists in this field, including a representative from Saudi Arabia, to discuss and work together towards a solution. The summary is as follows:

Facts and Areas of Agreement:

1- Two fiqh positions exist regarding the sighting of a moon.

Ikhtilaf Al Mataale is to say that every city/area/country determines the sighting of the moon on its own for all lunar months. Ikhtilaf Al Mataale is the opinion which was adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America, by Mufti Taqi Usmani of Pakistan, and is published in the Fatawas of the leading scholar Sheikh Al Othaimeen (Fatawa Islamiya - Sheikh Bin Baaz, Sheikh Al Othaimeen, and Sheikh Al Jibreen, - DarulWatan LilNashr) of Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Al Othaimeen has written that Sheikh Ibn Taimiya also supported Ikhtilaf Al Mataale and in a recent Fatwa, Sheikh Al Othaimeen has made it even more clear that Ikhtilaf Al Mataale applies to all twelve months including Dhul-Hijjah & Eid al-Adha. Saudi Arabia itself also follows Ikhtilaf Al Mataale. Further, over 100 outstanding scholars of Shari'ah at the Annual Session of the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jordan October 11-16, 1986, adopted the resolution recommending that all Muslim countries should determine all the lunar months including Dhul-Hijjah on the same basis for both Eid al-Fitr as well as Eid al-Adha. So it is their legal verdict that the Muslims in America should sight the moon independently of any other country's decision, including Saudi Arabia, for determining all the twelve lunar months.

The other opinion is Itihad Al Mataale, which says that if someone sights the moon anywhere on earth, then it is binding on all Muslims. This view is impossible to implement because a moon can be sighted in one place and the next day has already started for people living several time zones to the east. Further, the “Lunar Date Line” typically divides the world into two parts, which see the Hilal on different gregorian dates. A declaration of the beginning of fasting would come after the day had already begun for a large percentage of the world. So Astronomy also supports the Ikhtilaf Al Matale opinion.

A view that is completely unfounded in Sharia is for a Muslim living abroad to follow the sightings of their home country. This is neither Itihad Al Mataale nor Ikhtilaf Al Mataale. It is a religious invention that only succeeds in generating division in local communities.

2- There is a big difference between the Crescent Moon (the visible Hilal) and the Astronomical New Moon (which is not visible). The astronomical new moon causes a lot of confusion for Muslims because it is reported by newspapers and national observatories. It occurs when the moon crosses the line between the earth and the sun. As a result, it is completely invisible because the sun is behind it. The Crescent Moon is the first visible moon, the Hilal, and is only visible after sunset. This is important because in Islam the day begins after sunset and the sight of the new Hilal signals the start of the new lunar month. The astronomical new moon cannot be used to start the new Muslim month because it doesn’t coincide with the start of the new Muslim day (it can occur at any time during the 24 hour day), and it occurs about 12 to 25 hours before the Hilal is born.

3- There are many things that can be mistaken for a Hilal (Crescent moon). Consequently visual sighting can be very inaccurate. The U.S Naval Observatory concluded in a study, that if 100 people go out to sight the moon on a night when it is impossible to be seen, about 15 will claim to have seen the new moon. Errors are unacceptable in religious matters and so other methods are used to validate the sightings. Historically, the testimony of large numbers of people 50-500+ was required. Today, everyone uses some form of calculation to determine if a sighting was technically impossible. The discrepancy between countries occurs because some make their minimum cutoff for sightability of the crescent moon the astronomical new moon. Many times this results in the new month being declared a day early.

4- If the moon is not sighted in North America on a clear day, it is impossible for it to have been seen in the Middle East 8 to 12 hours earlier.

5- Authorities in Saudi Arabia are trying to improve their process of determining the new moon. Their simplistically calculated Umm Ul Qura civil calendar was never intended to predict sightability of the Hilal for religious dates. This discrepancy generates a large number of false sightings because people expect to see the moon. They are aware of the historical inaccuracies in their current system of determining the lunar months and they are trying to improve accuracy. To do so, they have established Hilal sighting committees near Makkah, Riyadh, Qassim, Hail, Tabuk and Asir, each of which include an Islamic Scholar, an Astronomer and a Government representative, plus volunteers. But it may take some time for these committees to be allowed a greater say in the final decisions. Currently the Justice department takes the sighting reports from “any Muslim”, and has often declared the start of the month when none of these official committees sighted the Hilal.

6- The direction of prayer is only evident when you look at a globe and measure the shortest distance to Makka. (This can be done with a string.) The angle of the shortest distance (the string) relative to the geographic north pole is the angle you pray relative to North. The result is that people in North America pray approximately North-East. Flat maps severely distort the image of the world and do not give accurate representation for prayer directions.

Agreed upon methodology for verifying moonsightings:

The Muslims of North America will sight the moon independently for all religious holidays & months including Eid al-Adha. A reported sighting will be disqualified under the following two criteria:

1- The general description of the moon and its location in the sky is inaccurate.

2- The moon is considered impossible to be seen under any conditions from that area. This impossibility is defined as any reported sighting that has a geocentric elongation less than 7 degrees. This is unanimously agreed upon by all astronomical scientists and the calculations for this determination will be made for each sighting before it is accepted.

Explanation:

This criteria means that the angle between the sun and moon relative to the center of the earth is less than 7 degrees. For everything below this number the moon is not visible because the small lighted portion of the moon is obscured from view by the mountains on the moon.

The Bottom line:

In North America, a pre-determined Islamic calendar is necessary to allow more people to schedule days off with their schools, and businesses. This is not an Islamic country and many can’t afford to schedule two days off to participate in the Eids. Many methods were proposed to generate such a calendar. Impressive historical performance by all of the systems presented and continual improvement leaves the door open to a long-term solution. The proposals presented at this symposium will be improved and tested for past and future reliability and will be presented to the Fiqh Council of North America for review.

Conclusion:

ISNA is dedicated to facilitating and encouraging the development of the Muslim community in America. The moon sighting announcements will always be jointly declared with the Islamic Shura Council of North America. For the last several years, ISNA has been dedicated to educating the Muslim community through sessions at conventions, seminars, conferences, and many publications and articles, regarding the issue of moon sighting. As a result, the number of false sightings has dropped considerably. More information on moon sighting can be found at: http://www.moonsighting.com and http://www.columbia.edu/~mnd.

Ultimately we must remind ourselves of what is really important. It doesn’t matter how accurate our fasting, prayer, and Eids are from a Fiqh and scientific point of view if we aren’t willing to reach out to one another to cement our ties of brotherhood & sisterhood. It is our hope that this continuous effort will help ease the tensions that have haunted the Muslim community in the past and we can look forward to a unified future Insha’Allaah. May Allaah (SWT) help and guide us all. Ameen.



NS
Re: Anyone seen the moon??
Arsalan
11/27/00 at 00:33:41
Alhamdulillah!  It's about time they did that!!!

Jazak Allahu khairan Arshad.

Wassalamu alaikum.
Re: Anyone seen the moon??
Majzoob
11/28/00 at 07:45:58
Asallaamalekum!!

Ramadan Mubarak!!!!  Y'all.

Alot of people began fasting/Ramadan on Sunday, as this was when the moon was first Accuratley sighted by muslims - in Libya.

checkout www.ramadhan.com for related articles etc. ...

TWO that i think particularly relevent I've copied below [its a bit of read - however the bare and honest truth!! - me thinks, worth it ]

I pray that you will print out and read

m.
------------------


ARTICLE 1 ***********************
"Fast at its sight, and break fast at its sight"
 
The fasting of Ramadhan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, besides being acts of worship which regulate the relationship of Muslims with their Lord, are of the externally visible aspects of the Islamic Ummah. Muslims start fasting together on the same day and they celebrate Eid together on the same day in obedience to the orders of Allah (SWT) which unite them. They do not do this in obedience to the political decisions of the rulers, nor to the hypocritical opinions of the government scholars, which have been designed to divide them.

The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said "Fast at its sight and break fast at its sight. If it turned out to be cloudy over you, then complete Sha'ban for thirty days". He (SAW) also said "Fast at its sight and break fast at its sight it. If it (the moon) was clouded over, then complete the thirty". He (SAW) said "Indeed the (count of the) month is twenty nine. So don't fast until you see it (the moon). If it was cloudy over you estimate it."These Prophetic ahadeeth are explicit in their indication that the legal cause for the start of Ramadhan is the sight of the moon of Ramadhan and that the legal reason for Eid al-Fitr is the sight of the moon of Shawaal. The speech of the law-giver (Ash-Shari) in these ahadeeth is addressed to all of the Muslims, with no difference between those of ash-Sham and those of al-Hijaz or between those of Indonesia and those of Iraq for the words of the ahadeeth came in the general form where the plural pronouns (Sumoo and Aftiroo) indicate all of the Muslims. The word ru'yateeh (its sight) is a generic noun (ism jins) added to a pronoun, which means the sighting of the moon by any person. However there are ahadeeth that restricted this sighting to Muslims. It was narrated on the authority of Ibn Abbas that "A Bedouin came to theProphet (SAW) and said 'I saw the moon'. The Prophet (SAW) said 'Do you bear witness there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah ?' He answered 'yes'. Then the Prophet (SAW) called upon us to fast". The sighting of the moon of Ramadhan or the moon of Shawaal by a Muslim obliges all the Muslims to fast or break fast, with no difference between a country or another or between a Muslim or another because any Muslim who saw the moon is proof for any who did not see it.

The witnessing by a Muslim in any country is not more deserving than the witnessing by a Muslim in any other country. There is no value of the divisions and borders which the kuffar established in the Muslims' lands, which made it so that the Muslims of Dar'a in Syria start fasting while the people of Ramtha in Jordan do not, although there is nothing between the two cities except imaginary borders drawn by the kuffar since the Khilafah was demolished, and the rulers endeavour that they (the borders) remain.The command in the Messenger's (SAW) ahadeeth regarding the fasting of Ramadhan at the sighting of the moon is an obligation, because it is a command of a duty proved by the saying of Allah (SWT) "The month of Ramadhan, in which Qur'an was revealed as guidance to mankind and also in it are clear signs of guidance and judgement, so everyone of you who is present during the month should spend it fasting". The command of breaking the fasting at the sight of the moon of Shawaal is also an obligation. This is because the Messenger of Allah (SAW) forbade fasting on two days; the day of al-Adha and the day of al-Fitr. Since this forbiddance is either regarded as an act of Mandoub (recommendation) or an act of Fard (obligation), it indicates that the command in his saying "and break the fast at its sight" is an obligation. As for the difference between the regions in which the moon is seen at any particular time ( ikhtilaf al-matali') which some people use as an excuse, it is an issue of verifying the reality (tahqeeq al Manaat) of the situation in which the Muslims used to live, a subject which previous scholars discussed. Where the Muslims were unable to inform all the territories of the huge Khilafah state in one day of the moon's sighting, it was because the means of media at that time did not make it possible. To some of those who hold to this view we present that which was narrated from Kurayb that Umm al-Fadl sent him to Muawiyah inash-Sham. He said "I came to ash-Sham and executed her mission, and Ramadhan started while I was in ash-Sham. I saw the moon on Friday night. Then I arrived in Al-Madinah at the end of the month. Abdullah ibn Abbas asked me about things and about the moon. He said, 'When did you see the moon ?' I said 'we saw it on Friday night'. He said 'Did you seen it yourself ?' I said 'yes and the people saw it and they and Muawiyah started fasting.' He said 'But we saw it on Saturday night, so we will continue fasting for thirty days or we will see it (the moon ofShawaal)' I said 'Is not Muawiyah's sighting and fasting enough for you?' He said 'No, this is how the Messenger of Allah (SAW) commanded us."This is not a divine evidence. It is rather ijtihad by Ibn Abbas regarding the saying of the Prophet (SAW) "Fast at its sight and breakfasting at its sight." Ibn Abbas did not accept the sighting of the moon by the people of Damascus because the people of Madinah did not see it on the same day. This ijtihad disagrees with the explicit meaning of the hadeeth narrated by a group of Ansaar. The narrator said "The moon of Shawaal was covered by clouds for us, so we woke up the next day fasting. Some travellers came to Madinah toward the end of the day and they gave witness to the Prophet (SAW) that they had seen the moon the previous day. So the Prophet (SAW) ordered them (the people of Madinah) to break the fast and to go out for their Eid the following day". So the Messenger of Allah (SAW) ordered them to break the fasting on a day they thought of as part of (Ramadhan) because some people other than them saw the moon of Shawaal in a place other than al-Madinah al-Munawara, for the travellers saw the moon one day before they arrived in al-Madinah.

Today, however, the media means are available to all the states to convey the news of the moon sighting to the whole world in a few seconds. So Muslims are obliged to start fasting or to break the fasting the moment they hear the news that the moon sighting has been determined from any place on the face of the earth. Whether this sighting was confirmed through a direct sighting, binoculars, glasses, or magnifying-lenses. The valid sighting is by the eyes. There is no value in the astronomical calculations if the eye sight was not proven because there is no legal value in the astronomical calculations in determining the fasting and the breaking of the fast. This is because the legal reason for fasting and the breaking of the fast is the sighting of the moon by the eye. This is due to the saying of the Prophet (SAW) "If you have seen it fast, and if you have seen it break your fast. If it was cloudy over you estimate for it" This saying " If it was obscured" means if you did not see it by eyesight. As for his (SAW) saying "estimate it", it does not mean to refer to astronomical calculations. Rather, it means what the Prophet (SAW) explained in his saying "If it was cloudy over you, then complete the thirty".

Oh Muslims!Disunity on the sighting of the moon is but one of many problems that face the Muslims due to the absence of the Khilafah state, which looks after the affairs of Muslims by the rule of Islam, and unifies them under the flag of La ilaha Il Allah Muhammad dur rasul ullah. So Muslims have to adhere to al Hukm Sharia' in their fasting, in their breaking of the fast and all their actions, even if their rulers did not adhere to it. For there is no obedience to creation in disobedience to the creator. So if the news of the moon sighting for Ramadhan from anywhere on the face of the earth reaches them they must start fasting and if the news of the moon sighting of Shawaal by any Muslim from any where on the face of the earth reaches them they must break their fasting.

The true fundamental solution of all the Muslims' problems is in your power, which is the serious work with the sincere workers to resume the Islamic way of Life by re-establishing the Khilafah state, and appointing a Khalifah who unifies their states and implements the Sharia of Allah (SWT) upon them so they carry with him the message of Islam by Jihad to all mankind, so that the word of the kafireen becomes low and the word of Allah (SWT) becomes high. Thus they live with honour and dignity in the dunya and attain the pleasure of Allah (SWT) and His reward in the Akhira. Allah (SWT) says

"And say: work (righteousness), soon Allah will observe your work and His Messenger and the believers. And soon youwill be brought back to the knower of what is hidden and what is open.Then he will show the truth of what you did".

25th Shabaan 1419
14 December1998
Hizb-ut-Tahrir
Source:  Hizb-ut-Tahrir


ARTICLE 2********************
Unity of the moon rising times and disunity of the rulers
 
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim

Every year the issue of the start and breaking of the fast occupies the minds of the Muslims. And just before Ramadhan the sincere ones embark upon explaining the Shari'a rule regarding that matter and the need for Muslims to fast together and break their fast together so that the Ummah unites in this momentous act of worship, and so that this unity in the start and breaking of the fast might sends a clear message to the guardians of the partitions of Sykes-Picot which created artificial borders in the lands of the Muslims. And every year the legal and judicial assemblies discuss this matter and stress the need to adopt the unified sighting of the moon and stress its obligation and they point to the decree of the Islamic studies assembly in Cairo 1966 which passed a number of resolutions among which is the following:

'There is no consideration for the difference in the moon rising times even if the regions are distant from each other on condition that they share the same night and this applies to all of the Arab countries'.

Even the Mufti of al-Quds wrote about this subject a number of times in the 'Al-Quds' newspaper in which he confirmed the unity of the moon rising times. In one of his articles the following was mentioned:

'On this occasion I would like to make reference to the decision of the supreme fatwah council in Palestine which stressed the adoption of the opinion regarding the unity of the moon rising times. Adhering to a unified moon rising times straightens the bonds between Muslims and resolves differences and discord which used to take place in the majority of times and it removes all ambiguity, chaos and confusion and frees people from subservience and political whims, and finally it reassures the Muslims about the correctness of their worship'.


Based on his confirmation of this opinion he said:

'We have announced these opinions a number of times before, from nineteen years ago until now'.

Subhan'Allah! How can opinions which have been stressed nineteen times go to dust? Not only that, how these people turn their back to the opinions and they attack vehemently those who act upon these opinions by determining their fasting with the one first started the fast and determining their breaking of the fast with the one who first broke the fast as discord, division, confusion and as a breakaway from the obligatory obedience to the people in authority (Uli al-Amr) and rebelling against the community of Muslims. They forget that they themselves said that people should adopt the unity of moon rising times and that it straightens the bonds between Muslims and resolves differences and discord, and removes all ambiguity, chaos and confusion and frees people from subservience and political whims.

Rather, the Mufti of al-Quds after all of this did not adhere to the fasting of the people of Yemen and he attacked the one who fasted with the one who fasted first and who will break fast with the one who breaks the fast first, which is contrary to his opinion. He took them out from the community of Muslims as mentioned in the 'Al-Quds' newspaper [31/12/1999]:

'Indeed, the one in authority (Waliyy al-Amr) regarding this matter is the high mufti or judge, it is not allowed to go against his opinion because this constitutes going against the community of Muslims...each citizen should uphold his opinion for himself because the opinion of the Imam resolves the dispute'.

And when he was asked in the same paper:

'You used to concentrate on the adoption of unity of the moon rising times, so why will you not follow Yemen which fasted on Wednesday i.e. a day before us? He replied: 'Yemen was the only country which announced that they had seen the moon on Wednesday night at the time when the neighbouring countries had announced that it was impossible to see the moon. This made us doubt the authenticity of what Yemen had announced and it is the right of the mufti or judge to refuse the testimony of a witness whose sayings he doubts...'.

Allah (swt) says:

'O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger he has achieved a great achievement' [TMQ 33:70]

Is it speaking the truth when a Muslim is taken out from the Muslim community because be adopted a Shari'ah rule whose soundness and consideration you confirm for 19 years! Also, leaving the community means disobeying the Imam of the home of justice, i.e. the Khaleefah of the Muslims due to his (saw) saying: 'Whosoever comes to you when your affair is united under one man and he wishes to divide your staff or divide your community, kill him'. So the Muslims cannot be a community unless the Imam of the home of justice exists, who is the Khaleefah. As for today there is no community of Muslims due to the presence of those rulers who have suspended Islam, divided the Ummah, and destroyed the lands and servants of Allah (swt). So is it part of speaking the truth to consider the community of Muslims to be contracted to those rulers. There is no obstacle to the Muslims returning as a community except them and their masters from the Kafir colonialists.

Is it part of speaking the truth to reject the sighting of the Muslims in Yemen due to doubt?! Has the Shar'a requested you to be absolutely definite about the sighting of the moon?!!! If Allah (swt) has obligated us to be definite about the moon sighting then the Messenger of Allah (saw) would not have fasted according to the testimony of a bedouin by the mere knowledge that he bears witness that there no god but Allah (swt) and that Muhammad (saw) is His Messenger. And 'Eid would not have been established by two witnesses because certainty (Qat') is not obtained by one or two witnesses. Furthermore, 'Saudiyyah' which doubted the sighting of Yemen, its judicial court ordered people to look for the moon of Ramadhan this year on Monday and Tuesday [28-29 Sha'ban 1420 AH] according to the calendar of Makkah. How can they order the Muslims to look for the moon of Ramadhan on those two days and then you say that they declared it was impossible to see the moon? This report about the Sa'udi judicial court has been mentioned in the 'Ash-Sharq al-Awsat' newspaper [dated 7/12/1999]. Then you say:

'The opinion of the Imam resolves the disputes'.

So where is the Imam so that the dispute may be resolved by his opinion?!!! Is it not a great injustice to say regarding those rulers' that their opinion resolves the dispute? The dispute among the Ummah will not be resolved unless they are removed and a Khilafah state is established on the ruins of their power. As for the issue of obeying those in authority in response to the saying of Allah (swt):

'O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger, and those in authority from amongst you' [TMQ 4:59]

Allah (swt) has linked the obligatory obedience to those in authority with His (swt) obedience and the obedience to His Messenger (saw). Because they deserve the obedience of the Ummah by their obedience to Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw). If they do not obey Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw) they do not have the right to be obeyed by the Ummah. Mu'az narrated: I said: O Messenger of Allah. What do you think if we had leaders who do not follow your Sunnah and do not adopt your order; in what do you order regarding their affair? The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: There is no obedience to the one who does not obey Allah 'azza wa jall.'

Furthermore, who has put those rulers in charge of our affairs? Is it not obvious that all the Muslims' rulers have not been given the Bay'ah (pledge) by the Ummah and no one has commissioned them with her affairs, even the one who came by rigged elections and falsified the will of the Ummah and claimed that the Ummah has given him Bay'ah with a 99.9% or some thing close to that, thus disdaining and scorning of the Ummah? There are those who shortened this path and blatantly seized the right of the Ummah with respect to the authority. Moreover, those people in authority whom Allah (swt) has obliged us to obey, must be from amongst us and not from other than us, where the issue of the Muslims' rulers referring to Kufr and fighting Islam and the apostasy of some of them is well known and famous. So after that, can it be said that they have authority over our affairs and so obedience to them is obligatory?!!!

As long as it has been established that it is not obligatory to obey the Muslims' rulers today and that they do not have any right to obedience, then their decisions regarding the appointment of judges and muftis whom they call 'Uli al-Amr' with which they describe themselves also, does not bind the Muslims to anything. On the contrary, those muftis and judges should fear Allah (swt) and absolve themselves from the sin and injustice of the rulers because Allah (swt) has ordered them to reject the Taghut and change the oppressive rulers and not give them legitimacy for their rule.

Even though we recognise the announcement of the muftis and judges regarding the sighting of the moon of Ramadhan or 'Eid, this is not because of their description as employees or because it is obligatory to obey them, rather it is because of their description as Muslims. Therefore, it is not allowed for the Fatwah Council in Palestine, which announced on behalf of the Mufti of al-Quds who adopted the unity of the moon rising times. The council is not allowed to disown what it had adopted and announced frequently to the people through the tongue of the mufti using pretexts which are not recognised by the Shari'ah in any way whatsoever.

How long will the Muslims remain under subordination and political whims? And how long will the likes of such Ulema continue to follow the rulers in their sin and misguidance, content with their breaking up of the Ummah even in this great act of worship in which Allah (swt) has decreed that the Muslims be united according to the saying of the Messenger of Allah (saw) as narrated by Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of 'Abdullah b. 'Umar (r.a.) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) mentioned Ramadhan and said: 'So do not fast till you have sighted it (i.e. the new moon), and if the weather were cloudy, then complete it as thirty days'. And his (saw) saying as narrated by Bukhari on the authority of 'Abdullah b. 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah (saw) 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 thirty days'.

These hadith are explicit in indicating that the fast becomes obligatory by the sighting of the moon and likewise the breaking of the fast is made obligatory by sighting the moon. Going against this is a clear sin because the order to fast or break the fast has been linked to an indication (Qareenah) which has made it decisive. So the order to fast according to the sighting of the moon has been linked to an order to fast in Ramadhan which is fard due to the Qur'anic text. And the order to break the fast due to the sighting of the moon has been linked to the prohibition of fasting on the day of Fitr as mentioned in the authentic hadith as narrated by Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurayrah: that 'The Messenger of Allah (saw) forbade fasting on two days, the day of al-Adha and the day of al-Fitr'.

Therefore, we call upon the Muslims to make the unity of their fast and the breaking of their fast a message to the Muslims' rulers and those who follow them which clarifies to them that this Ummah is one Ummah despite the borders and barriers which have been placed by the Kafir. Just as we appeal to them to work for the establishment of the Khilafah state which will unite the Ummah in all of its affairs and remove the shame and disgrace from her and wipe from the faces of the Muslims the trace of weakness and inferiority and advance in the fields of honour and Jihad to make the Kafir colonialists and their tools forget the incitement of the Shaytans and make the word of those who disbelieve the lowest and the word of Allah (swt) the highest.

'O you who believe! Answer Allah and His Messenger when he (the Messenger) calls you to that which will give you life, and know that Allah comes in between a person and his heart. And verily to Him you shall (all) be gathered.' [TMQ 8:24]

Hizb ut-Tahrir

Al-Quds
26 Ramadhan 1420 AH
2 January 2000 CE
Source:  Members of Hizb ut-Tahrir



Re: Anyone seen the moon??
proudtobemuslim
11/30/00 at 10:59:14
Assalam-u-Alaikum,

As is usual in Pakistan, things got all confused regarding the sighting of the moon.  

In the northern areas near Peshawwar some of the people started fasting on Monday.  i dunno whether it was based on the fact that they actually saw it or somehting else Wallahu 'Alam.  The Sighting committee declared Ramadan a starting on Tuesday.

I have heard stories that like people having sighted the moon and reported it to the comittee but the government would not accept it and there would be fights etc. etc.

*sigh*

Wassalam-u-Alaikum
Uzer


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