ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting

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ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
jannah
03/02/01 at 22:46:01
*******
Letter from the President of ISNA, about Eid-al-Adha
and Hajj
Muzammil H. Siddiqi, President of ISNA
February 26, 2001
www.moonsighting.com

Dear brothers and sisters:
Assalam 'alaikum wa rahmatullah.
As you know that for the last several years ISNA held
the position that Eidul Adha is to be celebrated
according to the announcement of Hajj and not
according to our local moonsighting as we do for
Ramadan and Eidul Fitr. But there were many scholars
who criticized this position. They said that this
position was not according to the Sunnah. Eidul Adha
is to be on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah according to the
moonsighting. Muslims in distant lands such as India,
Pakistan, Indonesia, Central Asia, etc., have always
been celebrating Eidul Adha according to their own
moon sighting. There is no report that Muslims waited
for the announcement of Hajj or made special effort of
find out about the Day of Hajj in order to make their
own announcements. We checked the books of Fiqh, we
did not find any support for this assertion that Eidul
Adha decision should be made on the basis of Hajj
decision. The Hadith of the Prophet -peace be upon
him- that "al-Hajj yauma yahujju al-nas" is for those
who make Hajj. Ibn Taymiyah's fatwa is about Hajj. Of
course those who go to Hajj they must go to 'Arafah
according to the decision of the authorities there,
even if that is contrary to someone's own moon
sighting. But people in far away lands are not making
Hajj. They have to make Eid prayer and make Qurbani.
They cannot have Eid on 9th of Dhul Hijjah, if the
moon was not sighted in their location and sighted in
Arabia one day before. They cannot have Udhhiyah a day
earlier.

ISNA's position was under strong criticism from the
scholars. No Fiqh Scholar from any country came to the
defense of ISNA's position. We have the North American
Shura that brings major organizations together. ICNA
and Imam Jamil al-Amin's group separated from us last
Eidul Adha because of this position. We asked the
'Ulama in Saudi Arabia whether there was a special
case for Eidul Adha. Should we celebrate Eidul Aduha
with the Hujjaj? Their answer was that there was no
special case for Eidul Adha according to Shari'ah. If
you celebrate your Ramadan and Eidul Fitr according to
your own sighting then also celebrate Eidul Adha
according to your own sighting. However, if your
decide to celebrate Ramadan and Eidul Fitr with Saudi
Arabia then you should also celebrate Eidul Adha with
the Hujjaj. But if you look for your own sighting for
Ramadan and Eidul Fitr then you should do the same for
Ramadan and Eidul Fitr then you should do the same for
Eidul Adha. They told us that we must be consistent
and should not play with this 'Ibadah according to our
own desires. There are only two positions recognized
in Fiqh: Ittihad al-Matali' (if crescent is sighted in
on locality, then all localities should follow it) or
Ikhtilaf al-Matali' (each locality should see its own
moon and decide according to its sighting). The
'Ulama' told us that we should adopt one position:
either Ittihad al-Matali' or Ikhtilaf al-Matali.' We
cannot have both or have one for Ramadan and Eidul
Fitr and another for Eidul Adha. There is no basis for
this inconsistency in the Shari'ah.

Once this became very clear in our last meeting, we
had to change our position. This issue is purely
religious, 'ibadah issue and is based on the
understanding of Fiqh. If there are some trustworthy
Ulama and Fuqaha' who can give us another position or
support our previous position, we will follow what is
right.

May Allah bless all of us to follow the rules of
Allah. Wassalam.
Muzammil H. Siddiqi
President of ISNA

The moon was not seen anywhere in North America, nor
any place in the world on February 23. Therefore,
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and Islamic
Shura Council of North America have decided that
Febraury 24 is the 30th day of Zul-Qa'dah and Febraury
25 is the first day of Zul-Hijja in North America, and
accordingly, Eid-ul-Adha will be on March 6, 2001,
Tuesday.
ISNA and Shura Council of North America have decided
that local sighting is the correct and proper approach
for Eid-al-Adha just like other months.

go to www.moonsighting.com for more info.
NS
Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
PacificBreeze
03/02/01 at 22:59:10
cool. it makes sense.
Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
Mona
03/03/01 at 16:18:40
assalamu alaikum,

i think this makes a lot of sense.  i don't uderstand the statement near the end where it said the hilal was not sighted anywhere on the world the night of 23 Feb

[quote]
The moon was not seen anywhere in North America, nor any place in the world on February 23. [/quote]

can someone explain how saudi arabia decided the beginning of thul hijjah

jazakum Allahu khair
wassalam
Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
Arsalan
03/03/01 at 16:56:32
[slm]

Sr. Mona, according to astronomical calculations, it was impossible for the moon to be sighted anywhere in the world on Feb. 23.  This is what the letter is referring to.

However, apparently there were some eye-witnesses in Saudi Arabia who claimed that they sighted the moon - and Saudi Arabia decided to have Eid on Monday because of these testimonies.

P.S. The moon was 6 hours old at Maghrib in Saudi Arabia, when it was allegedly sighted.  According to moonsighting.com, the moon is impossible to sight when it is that young.

P.P.S. How you can rectify the scientific theory of moonsighting.com and the testimony of people in Saudi Arabia who claim to have sighted the moon is a mystery, at least to me!

Wassalamu alaikum.
Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
boy
03/03/01 at 18:45:55
salaamz

a) Saudi also goes by a calculated calender but there are mistakes on it which are obvious once you notice that all evidence from every sources indicates it was impossible for the moon to be seen there this year or the past two three years.
b) Also the above press release has no mention of anyone seeing the moon. (look below)

EID AL-ADHA ANNOUNCED FOR MONDAY MARCH 5 IN SAUDI ARABIA

February 25, 2001

The (Saudi) Higher Judicial Council announced today that yesterday, Saturday February 24, 2001, was the first day of the Hijrah month of Dhu Al-Hajjah.  Therefore, the day of standing at Arafat will take place on Sunday, March 4, and Eid Al-Adha will be on Monday, March 5.


c) as mentioned earlier its not just moonsighting.com and Khalid Shaukat but numerous others in this field agree with these calculations and its a proven fact that for virtually a decade it's been 100% accurate. (like Omar Afzal)
d) also on moonsighting's page there are articles from numerous scholars that agree that it's allowed and more to the sunnah that we should go by each locality and their sighting. (below)


"It is He Who gave the sun his brightness and the moon her light, and ordained her phases precisely so that you may calculate years and dates from this." Quran: Surah Yunus Ayah 10th


NARRATOR Abdullah ibn Abbas
SAHIH MUSLIM
HADITH: No 2391
Kurayb said: Umm Fadl, daughter of Harith, sent him (Fadl, i.e. her son) to Mu'awiyah in Syria. I (Fadl) arrived in Syria, and did the needful for her. It was there in Syria that the month of Ramadan commenced. I saw the new moon (of Ramadan) on Friday. I then came back to Medina at the end of the month. Abdullah ibn Abbas asked me (about the new moon of Ramadan) and said: When did you see it? I said: We saw it on Friday night. He said: (Did) you see it yourself? I said: Yes, and the people also saw it so they observed fast and Mu'awiyah also observed fast. Thereupon he said: But we saw it on Saturday night. So we shall continue to observe the fast until we complete thirty (fasts) or we see it (the new moon of Shawwal). I said: Is the sighting of the moon by Mu'awiyah not valid for you? He said: No; this is how the Messenger of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) has commanded us.

Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
Arsalan
03/04/01 at 03:28:39
[slm]

Although I don't disagree with anything that "boy" has said, I fear that these posts may give a wrong impression to some people about the stance of the scholars on the issue of moonsighting, and also about Saudi Arabian Hilal Committee.

Know that every coin has two sides.  Whereas the hadith cited by boy is authentic, and one which is relied on heavily by those who prefer the opinion of local moonsighting, there are other ahaadith (also authentic) which suggest that one global moonsighting should be followed by the Muslims.  The issue is very complex, and is one on which the scholars have differed greatly.  Therefore, we should not promote either of the two opinions.  We may take one of them for ourselves, and follow it, but should not disregard or demean the othar one in any manner.

As far as the fact that Saudi Arabia always seems to sight the moon when according to astronomical data such a sighting is impossible, let's give the brothers in Saudi Arabia some benefit of doubt.  Some of the people in the Hilaal Committee are very well trusted scholars, i.e. scholars who are not afraid to tell the truth even if it means making King Fahd angry!  I know this for a fact.

Then how do you resolve the scientific data conflicting with the actual reported moonsightings?  

Like I said, it's a bit mysterious.  But there IS one explanation that I have come across.  This is, by no means, an answer to this puzzling mystery.  But it may provide a hint.  This explanation was given by someone who is an expert in astronomy, as well as a scholar.

He said that there may be a phenomenon which occurs in the sky like the phenomenon that occurs in the desert when someone sees water far away, even though there is nothing there.  In other words, a mirage.  

This means that to the naked eye, a mirage of the moon may appear on the sky, even though there is no physical moon there!  Or perhaps it's a reflection of some sort.

Allahu Ta'aala a'lam.  I would be careful before I mistrust the scholars in Saudi Arabia.  Granted many of them are puppets, but not all of them are.  And believe me, in the case of the Hilaal Committee, there are many who are trustworthy.

Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah.
Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
BrKhalid
03/04/01 at 5:38:29
Asalaamu Alaikum ;-)

[quote]The issue is very complex, and is one on which the scholars have differed greatly.  Therefore, we should not promote either of the two opinions.  We may take one of them for ourselves, and follow it, but should not disregard or demean the other one in any manner.[/quote]

If only we could all do this. Well said Br Arsalan

Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
meraj
03/04/01 at 6:28:24 AM
slm,

hey boy! welcome aboard ;-D

ma'salaam :)
Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
boy
03/04/01 at 11:20:44 AM
salaamz.

its not about mistrusting the Saudi Ulema...or demeaning them in this instance at all...even if they are wrong its perfectly fine if its just for Saudi Arabia. As we all know that scholars get good deeds written after them even if they are wrong. It's just that thats for Saudi and if we haven't seen the moon and on top of that numerous Muslims who have researched this for 10, 20 even 25 years state in unanimity that this was impossible....the case is pretty strong.

And I disagree with you on the issue that scholars debate it...scholars anywhere from Sheikh Uthmayeen and Taqi Usmani agree that you should go on local moonsighting. So I don't see how going with this ruling at all is discrediting Saudi Ulema but Sheikh Uthmayeen agrees that this is the best way and we should do this without any doubt. (q&a is below...go to moonsighting.com site to get more info)

Q: Should we abide by the local sighting in determining the Eid-al-Adha or should we follow the pilgrims' schedule, knowing that North America sighting of crescent may come a day before Saudi Arabia's sighting?

A: "You should abide by the city you're living in."

Q: This means that we will fast the 9th of Zul-Hijja of North America and pray Eid on 10th Zul-Hijja of North America!

A: "Yes, and this is what you should do without any (Haraj) or mental anxiety."
Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
humble_muslim
03/04/01 at 3:28:01 PM
AA

After many years, my take on this is that there are two points of view, and that no-one except a very few scholars can really tell which view is better.  Commoners like me should remain quiet and accept what is going on in order to defuse fitnah.

However, I am still perplexed by the notion that the moon is often seen when it "should not" be seen.  Let's agree with Arsalan about the reasons for that!

BTW, we in Massachusetts are doing Eid monday.  What about the rest of you ?
NS
Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
meraj
03/04/01 at 3:31:42 PM
slm,

birmingham, alabama... monday inshallah:)
Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
bhaloo
03/04/01 at 5:56:50 PM
slm

Dr. Siddiq's Mosque (ISNA's president, and its about 24 miles north of here) is doing it on Tuesday, but the mosque I go to is doing it on Monday.  
Re: ISNA Announcement on Moonsighting
Arsalan
03/04/01 at 6:01:44 PM
College Station - Monday
Austin - Monday
Houston - split!


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