Sighting the New Moon and Muslims’ Unity
Question: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, and the Most Merciful. Assalamu Alikum Warahmatul Allahi Wabarakatuhu, We are Muslims living in the United States of America. Every year, when the month of Ramadan approaches, disputes erupt what method should be using to determine the beginning of the month of Ramadan, Shawwal, and Thil Hijja. Should we follow any specific country or any country or we should look for the Hilal locally. In some cases, Muslims in one city or even in one family celebrated these religious events in different days, creating an atmosphere of division and confusion. So to solve this problem, we got together and discussed this issue thoroughly, we consulted several scholars and then came up with the following agreement: “ In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, and the Most Merciful. In accordance with the Quran, the book of Allah, the Sunnah, the authentic teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the agreement of the companions of the Prophet, their righteous followers and the righteous generations who followed them among Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamah, and according to the advice of our knowledgeable scholars: We hereby declare that starting with this month of Ramadan 1421 Hijri (2000 CE) that: 1 – The beginning of the month of Ramadan and the month of Shawwal shall be determined ONLY by actual moon sighting and not by calculations and Astronomy; 2 – For the purpose of uniting the Muslims in the state of Oregon, all named Islamic Institutions agree to follow the method of local sighting in North America, and to start the month of Ramadan and the month of Shawwal together on the same day; 3 – Since the day of Arafa and Hajj are acts of worship associated with specific places we will follow the dates of Arafa and Eid Al Adha as observed in those places. We believe that this agreement is an initial step toward uniting the Muslim Ummah in all aspects of life. We would like to invite all other Islamic institutions in the state of Oregon as well as in other states in North America to join us in our efforts to establish an Islamic system that will serve the Muslim Ummah in the best way.” Now some people say that this agreement violated the Islamic Shariah and is against the Quran and The Sunnah, and hence it is void. They say that there are only two methods to determine the beginning of these religious events, namely the unity of Matla, and the different Matla, and Muslims should follow those two only in all of these events (i.e Ramadan, Shawwal, and Thil Hijja). And since this agreement is a mixture of those two methods, meaning taking different methods for different event, this makes it in violation of the Islamic Shariah and should be void. The other side says that this agreement did not violate the Shariah and it is within these two methods of determining the time of these religious events lawfully. For Ramadan and Shawwal it used both methods. It considers the continent of North America as one Matla so it is the method of the unity of Matla, and used the method of the different Matla as of the rest of the world. But for the month of Thil Hijja, it used the method of the unity of the Matla, where it follows the moon sighting in Saudi Arabia. It was done for the reason that Hajj is a worship that is associated with place (Arafa and other places of Hajj are in Saudi Arabia), and to join globally with other Muslims to celebrate these blessed days. So our question is, “Is what we agreed upon is against the Shariah or not?” We would like to request to please send your answer to us as soon as possible. Jazakum Allah Khairn. Wassalamu Alikum Warahmatul Allahi Wabarakatuhu, Muslims in the State of Oregon.
