By Padmasree M Ali manikfan

I started thinking about the difference that existed in the Eid festivals of Kerala and the Island of Minicoy in 1960s. I belong to Minicoy Island in Lakshdeep. Before 1956 the only means of transport from Kerala to the Islands which lay about 200 miles away from the coast of Kerala was the sailing vessel and the voyages took more than a week! We knew very well that the Day did not change between the Islands and Kerala. They have the same Day.

 Whenever we come to the mainland after an Eid in the Island we enquire about the Day on which they observed the Eid in Kerala. There was a difference. I used to wonder how there could be a difference in the  Day of Eid in Kerala and Lakshdeep. The Prophet had forbidden the fast on the Day of Eid and  if the Day differed people may fast on the two Days and the words of the Prophet would become meaningless! This was unbearable to me. But people told us that it was like that always. I was not satisfied with their answer.

 The ship service, which began as a part of the development program of the Islands in 1956, brought the Islands more in touch with the mainland. The Islanders got the news of daily happenings of the mainland through telecommunication. They could talk to people in the mainland through telephone. They were no more cut off from the mainland even in the monsoon.

 An unhappy incident that took place in 1965 made me worry about the difference of Eid of Kerala and the Islands. After the Eid ul Fitre of that year, the Administrator of the Islands departed for the Islands in the ship, which sailed from Calicut after the Eid celebration. When he reached an island on the next day he was surprised to see that the boats from the Island did not come to the ship to receive him as usual. The Islanders

were celebrating their Eid after the fasting of Ramadan! How could they come to the ship? The Administrator was sorry; he did not know that there would be another Eid on that day because he left Calicut after the Eid celebration! Communities observe their festivals on the same Day everywhere.

 He ordered the captain to sail the ship to Minicoy. He was running out of his time. The ship had to return according to the schedule to Calicut and then to Bombay for dry-docking for the annual maintenance work of the ship. Late in the evening when the ship reached Minicoy, he learnt through walkie-talkie that the people of Minicoy were preparing for their Eid on the morrow. People would not work and he would not be able to return to the mainland in time. So he summoned the 9 Mooppans of Minicoy to the ship to discuss and take a decision about the unloading of the cargo, which he has brought for the Islanders.

 At first the Mooppans were reluctant, but after the Administrator’s request to unload their own requirements which he had brought, the Moopan of the Wahabi movement of Minicoy agreed to unload the cargo after the Eid prayer which will be over by 9AM. They returned to the Island after the discussion late at night.

 Some people of the other group did not like the decision of the Wahabi Moopan even though all Moopans had agreed in front of the Administrator. They thought that the Wahabis were going out of the way in everything. They wanted to teach them a lesson. They planned and lodged a treacherous complaint with the police against the Khatheeb of the Wahabi mosque and he was summoned to the police station. When the police came to take him the Khatheeb was on the pulpit delivering the sermon of the Eid prayer. The police had to wait till he came out after the prayer.

 The people of Minicoy have a custom of a joint feasting after the Eid prayer. The nine villages conduct the feast separately. The men bring the provisions and the women prepare the food. On this happy occasion when they were preparing to eat, the police took away their Khatheeb to the police station. Some hefty followed them and waited outside the police station.

 During the questioning the police behaved rudely and beat the Katheeb. The companions waiting outside could not bear. One of them pulled the gun of the watchman at the door. In his rage he dashed the gun on his knee and broke it into pieces. In the pandemonium that followed the Khatheeb found his way to the crowd in his village. They have not even washed their hands after the feast when they heard the unhappy news at the police station. In a moment all were in front of Minicoy police station, which had only five constables.

 At first the people of the Wahabi group only were standing at the police station. In half an hour the rumor that the police has beaten the Khatheeb spread throughout the Island and people from all villages joined the group standing there. Now they were at a common cause. They forgot all their differences for the time being. They were sanctifying Allah chanting the ‘thakbeer’ of the Eid day celebration!

The Administrator was now in the Dak Bungalow situated near the police station. The Islanders surrounded the Dak Bungalow. Adminstrator Mr.Ramunni had served in the Nagaland. He knew the psychology of the Islanders who were similar to them. He knew very well that the Islanders were a harmless people who did not even harpoon their fishes. Ramunni wanted to come out and calm the crowd. But the officials prevented him

lest some untoward incident may happen. The frightened mainland officials around him thought that the Islanders would attack and finish them. What could five policemen do with the crowd? One gun was broken into pieces in front of them. They judged the Islanders with their experience of the mainland Maplas.

 The Islanders did not retreat even for their food or prayers. They performed the prayers and chanted the Thakbeer in the open air in front of the Bungalow. The mainland officials grew more and more panicky. In the meantime the Administrator managed to send a telegram to mainland requesting immediate assistance. Within eight hours a warship fully equipped with armed forces to deal with the situation reached the Island.

 At the sight of the warship the crowd dispersed and the people went to their houses. The place became calm and quiet. The armed troupes with all paraphernalia and their commanders in full-fledged suits landed the shore in their boats. They marched towards the Dak Bungalow and met the Administrator. They felt they were fooled. The place looked as if nothing had happened. Even the weak fencing of the Dak was intact. The angry commander enquired why they were called for. Poor Administrator had to arrest some 300 Islanders to justify his position. A case was filled against them.

 The root cause of this notorious incident is the indefinite nature of the Eid festivals of Islam. Every thing in Islam is in perfect order. I had to spend a lot of time to study and find out whether the perfect Islamic Shariah could contain such an indefinite ritual, which could create confusion and disharmony among the people. Are the festivals celebrated without fixing the date in advance? Are the festivals of Islam to be celebrated in the way we do it now? I wrote letters to the world Ulema and organizations. I examined many books and Fatwas on the subject. I got clear evidence that the Islamic Shariah does not forbid calculating and fixing the Day of Eid in advance.

 The Islamic dates are definite and the calendars could be drawn thousands of years in advance by using the lunar calculations. The dates and days of Eid could be fixed well in advance and the concerned authorities could communicate the message all over the world at the appropriate time. Islam allows calculating and fixing the prayer times indicated by the Sun’s angle and making calendars in advance. We use the watches made with calculations to know it. Then how could Islam forbid the use of calendars, which too are made with calculations of the Moon’s angles that show us the dates? The Qur’aan says: “The Sun and Moon are with calculations” (55:5).  If the calculations of the Sun are allowed the calculations of the Moon also should be allowed. I request the Ulema to issue a Fatwa on the subject without further delay.

 Islam lays great stress in observing punctuality. The prayers have to be performed at stipulated times. Jumu’a has to be performed on Friday at noon. It cannot be postponed to another day or time. The canonical prayers cannot be postponed. Thus Islam lays great stress on keeping time, days and dates. The compulsory fasting has  to commence on the first on Ramadan. The Eiidul Fitre has to be celebrated on the first of Shawwal. The Day of Arafat must be observed on the 9th and the Youmunnahar or Eidul Adha on the 10th of Zul Hajj. New year day is on the first and the Ashura  on the 10th of Muharram. From this list of religious days we can see how important the dates are in the Islamic calendar.

By Padmasree M Alimanikfan

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR

This is a book on Time. The problems involved in measuring it makes it a subject for treatment in book form and the science of measuring it that can be derived by the Qur’aan and the Tradition Of the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him) makes a discussion of the problem fruitful. There is a Tradition, which condemns the act of cursing time, as Allah (SWT) is Time.  We realize time because we live. And we measure our time through two objects of nature, the sun and the moon.  We mark one day from the non-stop flow of Time with sunrise.  Every time the sun rises only to mark the end of one day and the beginning of another.  A Day is further divided into nights and days, hours, minutes and seconds. The natural division of a day as indicated in the Qur’aan is through the declinations of the sun.

Subuh, pre-sunrise prayer, is the first prayer, thus we do not have to define a day in any other terms once more nor is there any problem in finding out when it starts and ends. When does the day begin? Our five time prayers tell us this. The first prayer is Subuh. Thus the day begins at Subh Sadik. The day neither begins with sunrise as was believed by most till the introduction of the International Date Line nor at sunset. Obviously the last prayer of the day is Esha. The week begins on a Sunday even according to the Islamic Calendar. After the Hijra when the Islamic Calendar came into being, Sunday continues to be the first day.

According to Arabic grammar while listing nouns the masculine is said first and then the feminine. Thus we have the expression ‘Lail wa Nahar’ night and day. This does not mean that night comes before the day.  In fact one Ayath of the Qur’aan states categorically Valallaylu saabikunnahari (36:40) “the night is not the forerunner of the day”. This strengthens the argument that the day begins with the daybreak.

The seven days of a week too receive sanction in the Traditions. We need not re-fix it. The Monday morning sun rises to give birth to a new week and after the passing of seven days, the sun rises the following Monday to mark the end of one week and the beginning of another. No natural phenomenon marks the beginning or end of a week. The next higher unit of time is the month. The movement of the moon marks the birth of a month. After the brief conjunction or Amavasai a part of the moon is visible to a part of the Earth. It may be day to others and so they cannot see the short-lived crescent or their land may not come under the visibility angle. However, the fact remains that the month is born. The crescent waxes and becomes a full moon. Then it wanes till it disappears totally. The plain of rotation of the moon, which is five degrees slanted, does not allow the shadow of the moon fall on Earth at every conjunction or Amavasai. And when the three come in a line the shadow of the moon falls on the earth and an eclipse occurs. Conjunction marks the end of one month and gives birth to a new one. Similarly the time taken for the earth to go one full circle around the sun is one Solar year. In lunar terms, the end of twelve months marks the beginning of a Lunar year. A Solar year has 365.2422 days. A Lunar year has 354.3671 days. However the Qur’aan does not approve of measuring the year depending on the sun. The Qur’aan orders mankind to use the Lunar year, which is free of errors, which will be explained in due course.

The point very casually made first, i.e., “After the brief conjunction, eclipse or Amavasai a part of the moon is visible to a part of the Earth” is what is explained through this book. There is much darkness around this fact. There is less light and more heat generated in this area. It is hoped that this book will throw some light for people willing to see the truth.

As the beginning of a month depends upon the birth of the crescent, it is important that we know when the crescent would be born. According to a popular Tradition the Muslims have been asked to look for the crescent before starting the fast of the month of Ramadan and before ending it. While some understand “see”[Ru’yah] literally to mean see it with the eyes, some others take it metaphorically to mean, “know”. The Author is a strong advocate of the latter interpretation. He quotes many traditions to substantiate his stand. His argument that the exact time of the birth of the crescent can be calculated well in advance lends validity to his interpretation. In fact, he has been calculating the movement of the moon before every month of Ramadan, Idul fitr and Idul Adha. He has worked out a calendar for many years backwards and forwards. Through this achievement he has not only given a very practical interpretation to a very basic Tradition on the Lunar calendar but impressed upon the educated the importance of learning this science. For those who do not have time and means to learn this he gives a series of simple formulas to confirm the dates of the lunar calendar.

The time of the moonset and sunset is given in leading newspapers. In order to find out the date of the Lunar month we will have to minus the time of the sunset with the moonset and divide the remainder by forty-eight. There are also simple ways of doing this by looking at the shape of the moon and its position on the sky at a particular time.  The author argues that at least the Ulema should learn this in order to lead the community in the right path.  Today nearly everyone is ignorant of a science, which our forefathers had mastered. He gives us simple rules like the lunar calendar cannot have 30 days consecutively more than thrice and 29 days more than twice. By applying these we can avoid mistakes in our Hilal observations.

The point that is to be highlighted is that we neither know the science of the lunar calendar nor are we conscious of this ignorance.  Far from making an effort to learn this science we pretend to know it.  The disease that we are ignorant of our ignorance is to be remedied through this book.  It is only when we know the scope of this subject that we realize how little we know.  This in-turn would either make us interested in this subject or at least dissuade us from taking our own stand based on our smatterings when we are faced with the situation of having to fix a date.

The question of deciding or rather knowing the right date is very important in Islam because a series of duties become encumbant on Muslims on certain months and dates.  What is regularly done in a month or even a date is not done on other months and dates.  The most common example for this is eating and fasting.  It is only after knowing when the month of Ramadan begins does the Muslims stop eating during the day.

The celebration of Id Ul Fitre too is linked with the appearing of the crescent of the Shavval, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar.  One should not fast on the first day of this month but celebrate Id instead.  Similarly one should not fast on the day previous to the first day of Ramadhan, i.e., on the last day of Sha’baan.  These days are the bones of contention in the Islamic world. When the month is calculated right there is great confusion in the Islamic Lunar calendar.  Missing a day in a month would amount to a day’s difference for months together in a calendar.

The Lunar calendars published in India and the same published in Saudi Arabia give at least three different dates for a day anytime in a year. While this difference, which is not ignorable, does not attract the attention of the common man and thereby does not affect his religious life during most months, it becomes the topic of discussion for the entire Islamic world at least twice, once during the beginning of the month of fasting and once more during the celebration of Id Ul Fitr.  The problem is equally serious on the eve of the month of Haj, Dulhaj the last month of the Islamic calendar.  However, as mere celebration of Idul Adha is involved to most of the people the difference in the Day of celebration throughout the world do not strike them as significant because all of them celebrate on the same date. This is because they do not know the significance of Day and Date.

The author takes strong objections to the confusion in dates created by false Hijra calendars.  The argument that the crescent of the first day should be physically seen with the eyes the night following the 29th is held strongly by both the learned “Ulema” and the common man alike.  The question of seeing the crescent does not arise the night following the 30th of a month. While one people belonging to one school of thought wait till they see the crescent to begin the month, others either go by calculations like Saudi Arabia or accept the sighting in any part of the world.  Thus the latter’s month often begins early.  The author is a strong advocate for both calculating and accepting the earliest sighting in the world.

There are two problems involved here. First of all, not all accept the fact that another must accept the sighting of one country. As sight follows from the East, a group may accept the sighting of the crescent in an eastern country. Although the same group accepts the fact that the crescent that is not visible in the local sky may be visible in a neighbouring country that is to its west within a few hours.  Accepting this possibility does not convince them that the month is born for their country too.   They are willing to believe that the month that has started in a neighbouring country has not started in theirs!  They believe that the new month need not start at the same time throughout the world. To them it can be Shaban in one country and Ramadan in another or Ramadan in one country and Shawwal in another. They do not even consider this a sin.  What is worse sometimes is that there are three dates in the world. One country delays by not one day but two in accepting the arrival of the new month. The problem does not end here, but the error continues not only throughout the month but also in determining the sighting of the crescent for the following month. Thus the error is perpetuated from year to year.

The consequence is the existence of not two but three lunar calendars in the Muslim world. The Muslims consider certain days special and certain others normal on the basis of the calendar that is printed and circulated in their society. Finally it is both the Ulemah and the false Hijra calendars printed without caring to verify the dates with the objects on the sky which are responsible for retaining the people in a month that has passed and delaying them from entering into the next month promptly.

The interesting phenomenon here is that usually the Muslim world is behind time and not ahead of it.  If one section is ahead of time another behind and the rest on time the problem would have been still more difficult to solve. Now it is only a matter of convincing the date entrants to enter on time. The first task before us is to explain the concept of time to the people.

The time difference that exists from country to country is obviously because of the rotation of the earth. It anticipates sunlight–day and avoids sunlight–night. However this hour difference does not result in two different twenty-four hour days.  It may be that Friday has started in Fiji and it is Thursday in Samoa.  But the time difference between both these points is less than twenty-four hours. In fact the maximum time difference between two distant places on earth is twelve hours. Perhaps this is the only existing time difference on earth. If the crescent of Ramadan is visible in the sky in some part of the Earth or if the crescent of Ramadan is born in the sky but not visible anywhere on Earth, it is Ramadan for the whole world. The simple logic is that there is only one day/date on Earth, only one month on earth and one year on earth. As the Moon is the clock that shows the time to the inhabitants of the Earth, it cannot show two days and consequently two month at the same time. The question of three days sounds highly fantastic and it ridicules the very idea of a calendar. The people of the Earth must be reminded of this basic fact.

Another major doubt in the minds of the people is with the possibility of predicting the movement of the Moon. Once you accept that like the Sun, the moon too moves in a definite orbit following the laws of its creator you will accept the calculations made about the movements of the Moon. One wonders how the same mind that agrees with the fact that the Sun’s movements can be calculated for years in advance disagrees with the fact that the moon’s movements can also be calculated for many years in advance. There is a reason for this contradiction. The common man does not follow the existing solar calendar just because he is convinced with it.  He follows it just because there is only one of its kinds. And how is it that there is only one solar calendar and not two or three as is the case with the lunar calendars? The first point is that it is midnight twelve (in London) and twelve noon at the Date line that marks the beginning of a day, the end of a month and the beginning of a new one and not any other happening in the sky. That the Sun has to rise and set is taken for granted. Obviously the time can be clearly checked in most seacoasts.

The duration of each month is found even in nursery rhymes. Thirty days hath September April June and November. And all the rest have thirty one excepting February alone which have only eight and a score till leap year brings in one day more. Giving a certain number of pre-fixed days to each year does not mean that year is exactly that long only. The difference in time, which we miss to tabulate in our solar calendars, shows its unpleasant shadows in terms of days’ lost. When we look at the history of the solar calendar we learn that it was altered more than once with a view to synchronizing the dates that the calendar shows and the dates that the Sun shows. Thus in 8 BC Augustus Caesar altered the Julian calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC.  He wanted to give 31 days to August, a month named after him, instead of the original 30 days. As 10 days had to be dropped from it in 1582 this calendar was renamed Gregorian calendar in memory of Pope Gregory XIII.  As the length of a day in the solar calendar is not the same, the length of a month and a year too are not the same. Thus the speed of the rotation of the earth is not a perfect guideline to measure the length of a day.

The Sun is not a dependable calendar that can be used by man who has to record history too. But the Sun is an effective watch to show the time of the day, nothing less, nothing more.

How about the Moon?  It is a perfect calendar as already pointed out. We can depend on it. We can work it backwards to arrive at the exact dates of historical events.  We can calculate forwards to know the time of Moon set and Moonrise. And this is enough to tell us when the month will begin.  As the movement of the Moon follows certain rules, it is a matter of finding out these rules. The author has tabulated a calendar that goes backwards and forwards through centuries. Further we can calculate the exact day and date of any event in history through a simple method. This calculation tallies with the known dates and days in Islamic history. For example the agreed fact in Islamic history is that the Holy Prophet (Sal) gave his historical talk to more than one lakh companions on Friday the 9th day of Zul Haj, the last month of the Islamic calendar.  We can work back to confirm this. However when we work backward, the false calendars miss a day or two.

One need not be shocked at the fallible nature of the solar calendar. In fact, we are bound to err and we are destined to keep changing our calendar if we base it on the Sun.  Is not Y2K problem inevitability?  The Sun is not meant to be a calendar.  We get this startling truth from the Qur’aan.

When the companions of the Holy Prophet (Sal) asked the Prophet (Sal) how the moon changed the phases, the Holy Prophet (Sal) replied that it was a calendar.  His answers provide clues to so many questions unsolved by our scientists up to the first man landing on the Moon and even now.  When Allah Himself has called the Moon a calendar, can there be any defect in this calendar?

The present interpretation of the various traditions of the Holy Prophet (Sal) that has resulted in two Lunar calendars as against the true one, we should clearly call it a gross misinterpretation.  There can neither be more than one Lunar calendar nor can any other object that has not got Allah’s sanction as a calendar be considered one. Thus Allah has not called the Sun a calendar but he has called the Moon. And the fact that a Calendar has got Allah’s sanction demands our consideration in that and it alone has to be accepted as the point of time reference.

The case is different with the Moon.  It’s rising that is, visibility is a problem on the first day if the sky is not clear and not within the visibility angle. The concession given by Allah is that when one cannot decide the first crescent on the 29th night he should complete 30. This is the only thing possible. However, when one observes the Moon regularly for many years the seemingly unpredictable movement of the moon becomes predictable as said in the Qur’aan: (55:5)

The argument has come one full circle. The writings of the author should be more meaningful to the beginners of this discipline against the background of what has been said. I should accept the fact that all that I have said so far and in the rest of the book is

an echo of the author’s ideas. I have enjoyed his intellectual and spiritual companionship for over a decade. The fact that a layman like me is able to write on this topic is a testimony to his influence on the educated. One only needs to listen to him patiently and with an open mind.  Patience and open mindedness is what is needed to appreciate the views of the author, Ali Manikfan, the unschooled but self-taught genius.

“Certainly the number of months with Allah is twelve in His Book since the day He created the Heavens and the Earth. Of these four are sacred. That is the right religion. So wrong not yourselves in them. And fight the polytheists all together just as they fight you all together and know that Allah is with the righteous.” (Qur’aan 9:36) From this verse of the Holy Qur’aan we know that there are 12 months in a year in Allah’s reckoning. This has been the measure of time since the creation of the universe. Allah orders us to follow this system of dating in our affairs of this world. When there are 12 months in a year, every month should have a beginning and an end and there should be clear limits, which separate one month from the other. Allah says, “Wrong not yourselves in them.” We must know the limits of the months so that we may not violate His orders by transgressing them. Allah has given us the Moon, which is a satellite of the Earth so that we may discern the months and the dates by watching her cycle that equals a month.

When the people questioned the Prophet (saw) regarding the waxing and waning of the Moon, he was asked to reply: “say they are dates for the people and the pilgrimage.”(Q 2:189). In another verse of the holy Qur’aan it is explained “And for the Moon we have appointed the Manzils (phases) till it returns to the original stage of Urjoon”(Q 38:38). The Moon has 29 visible phases commencing from the

shape of Hilal or Urjoon attaining half at the quarter and full in the middle of the month. Then it becomes smaller day by day attaining the original shape of the Hilal or Urjoon just before the end of the month.

The first Hilal sets in the western horizon just after the sunset, if the preceding month is of 29 days on the 29th of the Hijri month and the Hilal may be visible under very clear conditions. If the month is of 30 days the Hilal is not present on the 29th and may not be visible on the 30th day also anywhere in the world. The next month in such cases begins after completing 30 days for the previous month,

without seeing the Hilal.  This criterion for the Islamic Calendar is derived from the Holy Qur’aan and the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw).

All months do not begin after seeing the Hilal as generally believed by people and wrongly recorded in the books. The Prophet (saw) ordered to look for the Hilal only on the 29th of the month, not on any other day. So it is imperative that the 29th should coincide with the Ahillah of the Moon as directed in the Qur’aan. (2:189). If the Hilal is present on the 29th, the next month begins. If it is not present 30 days should be completed. After completing 30 days there is no need to look for the Hilal. The next month begins without seeing the Hilal. If the people looked for the Hilal on a wrong day this method will not give correct results, the dates will be wrong and it becomes impracticable. The concept that all months begin after seeing the Hilal with the naked eyes has no meaning. The Prophet (saw) has not given such an order.

The Prophet (saw) said in clear words that the months are of 29 or 30 days, sometimes 29 and sometimes 30 days, not alternating in a regular order or sequence. So for a people, who do not know how to calculate, a method of observation of the Hilals is necessary to discern the months. He taught them a simple method of observation. But carelessness in it would make a day of one month go into the other. When a day of Sha’baan becomes a day of Ramadan it wiould forbid us to eat on its daytime while Allah has allowed it. Allah (swt) warns us in the Qur’aan. “So wrong not yourselves in them.”

From this we know that particularly the four months, which are sacred, and Ramadan should not go out of phase with Allah’s calendar (the Moon). Now a day we have no time to look at the Moon and we have to depend on the calendars, which are not made according to the rules given in the Qur’aan. Our activities have polluted the atmosphere and the visibility has become poor and the first crescent is never seen. If a day of one month goes into the other we would commit the sin of allowing what is forbidden. Therefore a scientific study of the course of the Moon is very essential in our times in order to avoid the sin.

Moon is the calendar designed by Allah for the use of mankind. Calendar is a system for reckoning the passage of time. The principal problem in drawing up

Calendars arises from the fact that the immediate units of time, – the solar day, the week of seven days and the lunar month are not simple multiples of each other. The days eventually get out of step with the Moon and an adjustment is needed. This difficulty is usually got over by adding one or more extra days or months at

regular intervals in an extended cycle of months or years in order to adjust with the natural system. This is known as intercalation, which is not allowed in the Shariah. “Surely intercalation is an addition to disbelief. The disbelievers are led astray there-by. They allow it in one year and forbid it in another year in order to adjust the count with the period that Allah has made sacred and thus they allow

what Allah has forbidden. The evil of their deeds is made fair seeming to them. And Allah does not guide the disbelievers.” (Q 09:37) Allah orders the believers to follow the phases of the moon for their dates and calculate the passage of time basing on the natural system without resorting to intercalations, which create confusion in reckoning time.

In the days of the Prophet (saw) people did not know how day and night alternated and how the Moon waxed and waned. The Prophet (saw) was not sent to teach science and celestial mechanics. People could learn such things by their own investigations and studies. The mission of the Prophet (saw) was to teach mankind the spiritual knowledge of right and wrong, the laws of God which man cannot learn by his own efforts. So their question regarding the Ahillah (phases) was answered in a simple way, that it was meant for showing them the dates for programming their affairs of this world and to reckon the passage of their time.

We have the week of seven days that are known by names. The dates of the month stand in place of them. A date denotes a particular day of the week. A date cannot denote two days. We must be able to know in advance on what day a certain date will fall. Without this we cannot have a practicable calendar. The lunar dates shown by the phases of the moon must be predictable by calculations because the moon is subjected to certain laws, which do not change. Calendars can be drawn up basing on the phases of the moon and the dates could be used in our daily life successfully. Observation of the moon can tell us whether the calculations are correct. We should use them without making careless mistakes in reckoning the months.

In the Qur’aan we read, “He it is who made the sun radiate a brilliant light and the moon reflect a luster and ordained for it stages that you might know the ages (of the moon) and the calculations. Allah has not created this but in truth. He details the signs for an understanding people.”(Q 10:5). These verses clearly tell us that Allah has not created all these things in vain but that we may investigate and learn. The sun and the moon are means for us to reckon time, the ages. But mankind did not care to investigate into them or to learn the laws of their calculations by observing them. Instead they took them for gods and worshipped them. It was only in recent times after the revelation of the Qur’aan, that man started thinking about them.

When Allah says that the moon is for reckoning time and it contains a date system for mankind to program their affairs in this world, it cannot be a vague and baseless system. It must be perfect and foolproof without variations. We must be able to find out a day or date of a particular event in history by this calculation. It will be foolish to say that we cannot predict a date of the Hijra Calendar. It is wrong to change dates of Allah according to the whims of the people, who look for the Hilal on the wrong day and say that the Hilal is not visible. By this we ridicule the sayings of the Prophet (saw) and put the blame on him that he has not given us clear instructions to learn. He has asked us to observe the moon and find out the dates. But we foolishly look at the Hilal on the wrong day and make mistakes. Changing dates will allow what Allah (SWT) has forbidden and our actions will become useless.

It is true that the Prophet (saw) said “do not fast without seeing the Hilal and do not celebrate Eidul Fitre without seeing it.” This does not mean that the date cannot be predicted. It only means that we should not be so careless as to fast on the wrong day and celebrate Eid on the wrong day as it is done now a days. The word ‘seeing’ should not be given the literal meaning. If we take it in the literal sense the words of the Prophet (saw) will become ridiculous. The Hilal seen in one town will not be seen in the other town. Will it mean that the dates of the two towns will differ in the Islamic Shariah? Allah has already warned us against wronging ourselves in fixing the months carelessly and violating His laws.(Q 9:36).

Change of dates would violate Haram and Halal of Allah. It is a very serious matter. How can we change a date all of a sudden and postpone a sacred period? For example, if Wednesday is the first of a month, then the 5th will be Sunday. To say that 5th will be Monday is absurd. This will happen when a date is changed all on a sudden. A calendar, which is liable to such changes, cannot be used in this world.

Allah (swt) has prescribed certain laws of motion for all celestial bodies. They do not transgress the laws. Allah does not make any change in his laws. He says, “Have you not seen that Allah makes the night pass into the day and makes the day pass into the night. And he has put the Sun and the Moon into service each pursuing its course till an appointed time. And Allah is well aware of what you do.” (Q 31: 29). To say that the dates of the Islamic calendar are unpredictable and liable to change according to the seeing of the people is tantamount to the denial of the Ayahs of the Qur’aan.

From the lessons of Science learnt through the past ages we know that night passes into day and day passes into night because the globe (earth) spins on its axis. The Earth goes round the Sun. The Moon goes around the Earth. The Moon has no light of its own. It reflects the Sun’s light. The changing positions of the Moon, the Earth and the Sun causes waxing and waning of the Moon, causes

the eclipses of the Moon and the Sun. Because these things move with precision and there is no change in their laws we can predict their positions and time. We can predict the date and time of a solar or a lunar eclipse exactly. But ignorant people think that a future date of the Islamic calendar cannot be fixed! Any future date of the Hijra Calendar can be prefixed exactly. If it is necessary we can check our calculations with the observation of the Moon so that we may not make a mistake. We do this with the sun. Why should we not do the same with the Moon

too? We should not wrong ourselves by making mistakes due to our neglect of observations or calculations.

The Solar and Lunar eclipses occur when these bodies come in a line. They can be predicted by calculations.  The seasons change because of the Earth’s rotation on a slanted axis around the Sun. Allah has ordered us to reckon the time depending upon the Moon’s rotation around the Earth as seen from the Earth in relation with the Sun. Anyone with common sense can easily understand that the starting point of the month can be only from the point when these three bodies viz. Sun, Earth and Moon come in a line.

Just as we know when the shadow of an object disappears totally, the Sun must be overhead, we know when an eclipse occurs the Sun, the Earth and the Moon, must be in a line. The Qur’aan explains, “And the Moon is eclipsed and the Sun and the Moon are brought together.” (Q 75:08,09). The moon begins its course from this point and when she makes a round and reaches the line again it marks the end of a month. It takes about 29.53 (30 or 29) days.

For finding out the emerging of the Moon from the other side of the Sun after crossing the Sun, people who had no knowledge of Science and calculation in the days of the Prophet (saw) looked for the appearing of the Hilal in the evening sky. After the Moon’s last phase, which is seen just before the sunrise early in the morning, the Moon sets after the Sun. In those days the atmosphere was not congested and the first Hilal would be seen in places like Medina situated at higher latitudes. The Prophet (saw) asked them to look for the Hilal on the 29th day. If we go wrong in fixing the 29th, certainly we will make a mistake, a day of a month may go into the other and what is allowed will be forbidden and vice versa by that. (Q 09:37) This is very serious in the sight of Allah (swt).

Day has a fixed time and night has a fixed time. Our ancestors could not measure it accurately. They had no watches or chronometers and they had no need to be so accurate because they were not able to move fast. They were not so busy in the worldly affairs. Now we are able to move very fast and time has become a very important factor. An error of few seconds can cause death to millions of people. Muslims were very particular about time even in those days because they had to perform the prayers at the correct time.

Magrib cannot be prayed in the day i.e. before nightfall.  One must be sure of the nightfall. It will be difficult to know this on a gloomy day. They invented and used many devices for the purpose before the invention of the clock. Had the Muslims continued their research they only would have been the inventers of everything. But they gave up thinking and research and others followed suit. Even today, mankind does not have a perfect and foolproof date system, which is essential for recording the events of history and that, is because the Muslims have given up their calendar.

The Holy Qur’aan guides people to a perfect date system. But the Muslims want to bear witness to the world that this date system is baseless. They look for the Hilal on the wrong day and make a date disappear. A date system in which a date can disappear all of a sudden cannot be relied upon. Allah (swt) has fixed the

limits of the months when He created the heavens and the Earth. People have no right to change them. The Qur’aan explains the limits of the months. “And for the moon we have appointed stages till she returns like the old ‘Urjoon'(dried and shriveled date stalk).(Q 36:39).

“Therefore whosoever of you witness the month let him fast” (Q 2:183) and according to Hadith, those who witness should convey the message to others. Everybody is not charged with the observation of the Moon or the calculations. Those who have knowledge in astronomy can know the onset of a month by calculations. They must take up the responsibility and witness the month correctly for the others. We have many sayings of Rasulullah (saw), which explain the matter. We have to examine all of them in order to arrive at a final decision.

People of the Prophet’s time did not know astronomy. They had no knowledge of celestial mechanics. They did not know how to calculate the movements of the Moon. Their method was only naked eye observation of the Moon. The Prophet (saw) himself said, “We are a community who does not write or calculate. Our month is 29 or 30 days”.

The tradition says that the Prophet (saw) was very particular to observe the Moon, especially for Ramadan. This is because a day of Shaban cannot be made a day of Ramadan. Allah has forbidden eating in a day of Ramadan, but He has not forbidden eating in a day of Shaban. That is why the Prophet (saw) forbade beginning the fasting of Ramadan one or two days before Ramadan. He has forbidden the fasting on Youmus Shak (doubtful day). People have a wrong belief that every month has a Youmus Shak. It is only when people fall into doubt owing to clouds or some other reason that they are unable to distinguish the months.

Violation of the orders of Rasulullah is equivalent to the violation of the orders of Allah and such actions will render all our Amals (actions) useless. So it is very important that we should have clear knowledge of his orders about the ending of Shaban or Ramadan. The Prophet said, “Do not fast without observing the Moon and do not celebrate Eid without observing it”, because there are some months of 29 days and some months of 30 days. Neither every month is of 29 days nor of 30 days. So we must distinguish the months of 30 days and the months of 29 days.

The beginning of the months can be found out without calculations only by careful observation of the Moon. Mere seeing of the Hilal only on a single day, cannot

guide us to the correct beginning of the month. One must observe the waxing and waning phases of the moon carefully in order to find out the true beginning of the month. The months do not follow a simple order of alternating or a sequence. So one cannot predict by this method whether such and such month will be of 29 or 30 days.

To predict the months we must have the data of the Moon. We must learn astronomy and Lunar Sciences and the Celestial mechanics to calculate the moon’s orbit to tell the months in advance. The knowledge of Astronomy required for calculating the lunar months will come under Farz Kifaya. If no one learns this, all will fall in error and sin. The expert astronomers prepare the data of the Moon. The laymen can use these data just as they use a calculator and draw the Hijra calendars.

Astronomy and Astrology are two different categories of knowledge. Astrology is forbidden in the Islamic Shariah. There is a misunderstanding that Astronomy too comes under the banned Sciences. Even today some people regard it as a forbidden Science. Ulema of the past, i.e. before 1700 AD believed so because in those days astronomy and astrology were practiced by the same people and so they were thought to be the same kind of knowledge. But after the invention of telescope the two got separated.

Astrology remained a superstition based on mere conjectures while Astronomy developed into a Science based on experiments and facts. Rasulullah (saw) had banned the use of Astrology. People had no knowledge of real astronomy in the days of Rasulullah (saw). Some people would have thought that the banning of Astrology is applicable to Astronomy also because the same people practised these two disciplines in the days of Rasulullah (saw). This is certainly a misunderstanding. The Holy Qur’aan invites our attention to the observation of celestial objects and their movements and admires those who study them. The Hijra Calendar itself is based on this faculty of Science.

The people of the Prophet’s (saw) time could tell the date by watching the changing phases of the Moon even though they did not know celestial mechanics. They had no confusion and they did not need calendars. Their calendar was the Moon. They looked for the Hilal and found out the end of the months correctly. If the Hilal is seen or known to be present, they ended the month in 29 days. Otherwise, one day was added and the month was taken as 30 days, by this time certainly the Moon would have crossed the Sun and come to the other side. It rose before the Sun in the Eastern horizon and now it is in the West setting after the Sun.  The average measure of the month is 29.53 days. Without knowing, if they made a mistake that was regarded as forgiven by Allah, because Allah forgives our shortcomings. The mistake is not intentional. The Holy Qur’aan says: “He knows that you cannot keep its exact measures. So He has turned to you in mercy”. (Q 73:20). But the blunders committed today will not be forgiven because they are intentional and due to ignorance or arrogance.

The first Hilal in a month of 29 days can be visible in a very clear sky even when the difference of sunset and moon set is only 5 minutes at places like Medina situated at higher latitudes. It would be silly to look for the Hilal from inside a house or a hilly place where the setting sun cannot be seen on the horizon or from a place where the atmosphere is polluted. If we totally depend on the naked-eye observation method we should look for the Hilal from a suitable place. Otherwise we can go wrong. If we look for the Hilal on the 30th day instead of the 29th, certainly we will make a mistake because some times the Hilal will not be at the visible angle on the 30th. So in our busy days those who look for the Hilal should learn astronomy and know the lunar calculations. Otherwise the whole Muslim community would be led astray because the month would begin on the wrong day and this always happen in our times. It is like the blind leading the blind.

Now we have watches and chronometers and we know how to measure time. There is no need for us to look at the shadow for knowing the prayer time as our ancestors did.  We can rely on the watch and we can pray at the correct time even if we do not see the Sun. We have the data of the Sun. We have tables of prayer times prepared in advance. We know at what time the Sun would set or rise on a particular date and place. We have the same data of the Moon also. We know at what time the Moon would set or rise at a given place on earth. These are published every year by the concerned departments of Science. Even a difference of seconds will not be there in these tables because a mistake in them can create problems in navigation.

It would be foolish to change the date by saying that the Moon is not visible or the Moon has not crossed the Sun when we are able to know the exact time of its crossing. If the Qazis and the authorities had the slightest knowledge of the movements of the celestial bodies, they would not commit such blunders and the Muslims would not be misled. Allah’s religion will not be ridiculed.

At the time of the Prophet (saw), the Sahaba wanted some clarifications regarding the observation of the Hilal. They asked the Prophet (saw) various questions. What should be done if the Hilal was not seen on the 29th? He said complete 30 days (because the Moon would not have crossed the Sun by that time as it happens in a month of 30 days but it may not be at the visible angle on the 30th also and there is no need to see the Hilal on that day). How many times can this repeat? Every month is not of 30 days. So the Prophet (saw) made this clear by clapping the hands three times and saying Hakadha, Wa Hakadha, Wa Hakadha and holding the thumb and he repeated three times for making it very clear that the months of 30 days repeat only 3 times consecutively and the fourth month will be of 29 days even though the Hilal is not seen. This is in conformity with the Lunar

Data. The fourth month getting 30 days is a rare occurrence, which happens only after a hundred years.

A man of Prophet’s (saw) time would not have known this. This itself is enough to prove that Muhammad (saw) was the Messenger of Allah. Otherwise from where did he get this information, which nobody would have known in those days? Even today people are unable to realize this fact. Only those who are well versed in lunar mechanics can know this. But the most wonderful thing is that our Ulema

behave in such a way as to hide all these facts and show the world that the date system prescribed for mankind in the Holy Qur’aan and taught by the Prophet(saw) is absurd and not practicable in this world! They try to blow the light of Allah with their mouths.

The beginning of Zul Hajj 1414 H had gone wrong even at Makkah al Mukarramah because of carelessness. This is absurd in these days of science and technology. It happened only because of carelessness and lack of knowledge of the concerned authorities and people have no fear of Allah in observing His ordinance. Allah says, “O ye who believe, fear Allah as he should be feared and let not death overtake you except when you are in a state of full submission.” (Q 03:102).

In Shaban 1414 H Hilal was not seen. It had 30 days. In Ramadan the Hilal was not seen and it had 30 days. In Shawwal the Hilal was not seen and it had 30 days. Then how could Zul Qaida, which is the 4th month, have 30 days according to the instruction of the Prophet (saw)? They made Zul Qaida also a month of 30 days and miscalculated the Zul Hajj, which is also a sacred month, where strict observation of the Moon is very essential to keep in step with Allah’s Calendar. And Allah has informed very particularly that the phases of the Moon are meant for dates to program the important events such as Hajj. “They ask you about the phases, tell them they are dates for the people and the pilgrimage.” (Q 02: 18)

By postponing a date of Zul Hajj, the day of Arafa (Hajj) had changed and it fell on Friday which made it a Hajjul Akbar, a rare occasion and supposed to be very auspicious, the Sawab of which is said to be 70 times more. It was a false Hajjul Akbar. People do not know about this. More crowds gathered and it led to a stampede only to prove that Muslims are ignorant and ill disciplined.

People are so ignorant even in this age of education and literacy as to believe that the dates of Arabia and India would differe. People go to Arabia and return the same day and yet they do not understand this simple matter! How can the date be different at any two places in the world when the Friday is same for all? The Prophet (saw) has declared the Friday as the ‘Sayyidul Ayyam’ (the leader of the days). If the ‘Sayyidul Ayyam’ falls on another day (Saturday), then there will not

be any meaning to what the Prophet (saw) had said! How can the date that stands for a day differ when the day is same?

Anybody will laugh at us if they see what we are doing. Muharram 10th,  ‘The Day of Ashura’ is Sunday in Arabia. In Kerala, Maldives and Malaysia it is Sunday, same as Arabia. In Sri Lanka, it is on Monday and in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India, it is Tuesday! How can we have Ashura on different days when the Prophet (saw) said in clear words that the Muslims should observe these sacred days on the same day?  Ignorance and faithlessness among us give rise to such funny and unhappy incidents. Are we not far away from Islam?

Let us have a look at the details of the dates for Muharram 1415 H, the first month of the Islamic year. Even a child can tell that the Hijra dates are not in order. Then what is wrong with our educated grown ups, who are doctors and advocates and judges. They cannot understand this.

       Makkah         12-06-1994AD = 03-01-1415AH = Sunday

       Kerala            12-06-1994 AD= 03-01-1415AH = Sunday

       Tamil Nadu     12-06-1994 AD= 02-01-1415AH = Sunday

       Sri Lanka        12-06-1994 AD= 02-01-1415AH = Sunday

       Delhi               12-06-1994AD = 02-01-1415AH = Sunday

       Pakistan          12-06-1994AD = 02-01-1415AH = Sunday

       Malaysia         12-06-1994AD = 03-01-1415AH = Sunday

       Maldives         12-06-1994AD = 03-01-1415AH = Sunday

Afterwards again Delhi Imam ordered to postpone by one day under the pretext that he could not not see the Hilal, making Youm Ashura fall on Tuesday 21-06-1994 = 10-01-1415 and the Chairman of Kerala Hilal Committee ordered to postpone by one day in Kerala under the pretext that he could not see the Hilal and made Youm Ashura fall on Monday 20-06-1994 = 10-01-1415. This is how the authorities play with the dates of Allah’s calendar. If Muslims behave like this how would the others accept Islam as the right religion?

Such baseless actions of the religious leaders would appear ridiculous to anyone. Allah says in His book, ” Today I have perfected your religion and completed my favors upon you and I have chosen for you Islam as the religion.”(Q. 05:03). How

can the date system of the perfect religion be imperfect? It only proves that we have not cared to learn or follow the Holy Qur’aan or the Sunnah of the

Prophet (saw) though we have been with it for more than 1400 years. We are no better than the Asses who carried the books! We have false calendars in use to mislead the people. We do not know that all calendars should be same and that the dates should tally with the phases of the Moon.

A little practice in watching the moon will make anyone knowledgeable enough to tell the correct lunar date prescribed for the people in the Holy Qur’aan. The moon becomes nearly half on the seventh and full in the middle of the month. It is not

seen at the end of the month in the morning or in evening and the month is over. The Hilal is present in the evening sky just after the sunset, but not visible now-a-days due to pollution. If the Hilal is seen anywhere in the world, that is enough for all. Today it is not necessary to see because we know how to calculate and we have means to verify.

When the matter is so simple, why do some people wish to differentiate in the celebrations of Eid and sacred days saying that they have not seen the Hilal? Should everyone or every country see the Hilal? It is only because they want to show that they can change the laws of Allah, as they like. The Holy Qur’aan says: ” But the fact is that it is not the eyes that are blind but it is the hearts, which are in the breasts that are lacking the sight” (Q. 22:46)

When it is said to them that there is a mistake in the calendars and the dates are not in accordance with Lunar calendar that Allah (SWT), they say, they have been following it like this long since and their forefathers also were doing so. Regarding such people the Holy Qur’aan says, “And thus has it always been that we never sent any Warner before them to any township but the evil leaders thereof said, we saw our forefathers following a certain course and we are following in their footsteps.”(Q 43: 22)

They are not ready to follow the right path. They want to stick to their old dogmas, which the Holy Qur’aan or the Sunnah does not warrant. The example of such people is also explained in the Qur’aan. Allah says about those who do not want to look at the signs of Allah but want to see their calendars without observing the moon as commanded by the Prophet (saw). “I shall soon turn away those who behave proudly on earth in an unjust manner, from my signs and even if they see all the signs they will not believe therein and if they see the way of the righteous they will not accept it as their way. If they see the way of the wicked they will accept it as their way. This is because they have treated our signs as lies and were heedless of them.” (Q 07:146)

When they are asked to study and understand the movements of the celestial bodies they simply say, we do not know it. Why cannot they learn the sciences, which is demanded by the Qur’aan? Has Allah asked them to be among the ignorant? The Prophet (saw) said, “Acquire knowledge even if it be from China.” Why can’t some of the Alims learn Astronomy and the Celestial mechanics? The

Whole Muslim community is being misled because of their ignorance. The Khazis declare the sacred dates on wrong days without observing the Hilal as commanded by the Holy Prophet (saw) and the others are laughing at the foolishness of the Muslims.

Allah has deputed the Muslims to lead others. But they are making themselves a laughing stock. All are busy with their own affairs. No one has time even to talk about this important matter of the Muslim Ummah. The persons in charge get

salaries for conducting prayers and marriages. They are compelled to earn more money in order to cope with others. They have no time to study the religious matters. Yes, they too have to fill their bellies. But the people are not ready to pay them enough to meet their expenses so that they may be out of want to divert their full time and attention to study the matters of religion. Why can’t some of them be deputed for learning such important matters? Allah says in the Holy Qur’aan, “It is

not possible for all believers to go forth together. Why then, does not a party from every section of them go forth that they may become well versed in religion so

that they may warn their people when they return to them, that they may guard against evil?” (Q. 09:122).

So it will be better for us to depute suitable Alims to learn the subject and appoint them for computing the Hijra Calendars according to the Holy Qur’aan and Sunnah and observing the Moon to see if there is any variation in the calculation so that we may not go wrong in the months declared sacred in the Qur’aan. We cannot go according to the false calendars propagated by others and put ourselves into the wrong way by miscalculating the sacred periods and making ourselves liable to the displeasure of Allah and His Messenger.

May Allah forgive us if we have made mistakes and shower his blessings upon us

يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْأَهِلَّةِ قُلْ هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَالْحَجِّ وَلَيْسَ الْبِرُّ بِأَنْ تَأْتُوا الْبُيُوتَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهَا وَلَكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنِ اتَّقَى وَأْتُوا الْبُيُوتَ مِنْ أَبْوَابِهَا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ [البقر189 

They ask you about the phases of the moon. Say, “These are signs for the people to reckon dates and fix the periods for hajj.” Also tell them, “It is no virtue to enter your houses from their backs; real virtue is that one should refrain from incurring the displeasure of Allah; so enter your houses by their proper doors. And fear Allah so that you may gain (true) success. (Al Quran, Chapter 2, Verse189) 

What is the meaning of the word “Ahillah” 

in the above verse and how is it important for the dates (“Mawaakeeethu linnaasi wal hajj”)?

The different translations of the Qur’an render “Ahillah” to mean as “new moons” and by this, they refer to the first visible crescent in the beginning of every month.  We have examined Quran translations in eight languages. All give the same meaning. In fact, Ahillah does not mean ‘new moons’. Tafseers Tabari, Ibn Kathir, Kurtubi etc give clear explanation.  

The word ‘Ahillah’ is used in Quran only once in 2:189. It is not used again anywhere else in Quran.  Even though Ahillah is plural of Hilaal, the Quran does not use Hilaal anywhere in the Quran. If the purpose was to identify a particular crescent that appears initially every month, it was only required to mention “Al Hilal” (i.e., a phrase like, ‘they ask you about Al hilal), because by using the word “The Hilal” alone it could refer to a particular Hilal repeating in all 12 months.   In reality there is only one moon exists and therefore the word Ahilla can only mean different shapes of the moon seen to us in different stages of its travel. We call them ‘phases’ in English (refer to verses 10:15, 36:39) 

People wanted to know the significance of different shapes of the moon and they asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about it.  They were not asking about the first crescent which appears on the sky every month.    Allah ordered the Prophet (ﷺ) to tell them the purpose behind it.   So he tells them they are dates for people and Hajj.  People need dates to record and plan their activities of daily life. They were not a community like us using paper and pen. Very few of them knew that art. So their dates were not in calendars as we have today. They looked at the moon for their date. Their true calendar was hung in the sky

What is “Mawaaqeeth” ?   

 ‘Mawaaqeeth’ is plural of ‘meeqath’ which is found in many places in Noble Qur’an. It means date.  “Inna youmal fasli kaana meekathan” (78:17) (“the day of decision is a fixed date“). Therefore, the reference here clearly denotes to a ‘fixed’ and ‘determined’ date.   So, “Hiya mawaakeethu linnasi wal Hajj” means “they are dates for people and Hajj”. This tells us that we should use the phases of the moon for our dates in all purposes, whether civil or religious.   This verse forbids use of any other calendar. Unfortunately, we have abandoned this calendar and have chosen the erroneous Gregorian calendar! 

 إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَقَاتِلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ كَافَّةً كَمَا يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ كَافَّةً وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الْمُتَّقِينَ 

 [التوبة : 36

Surely the reckoning of months, in the sight of Allah, is twelve months, laid down in Allah’s decree on the day when He created the heavens and the earth; and out of these months four are sacred. That is the true ordainment. Do not, therefore, wrong yourselves, with respect to these months. And fight all together against those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity in the manner that they fight against you all together, and know well that Allah is with the God-fearing.  (Al-Qur’an Chapter: 9 verse: 36)

The above verse makes it clear that Allah has precisely determined the number of months and the dates for mankind on the very first day of the creation of the universe. And therefore, dates and months are inviolable and we have no authority to arbitrarily fix or to cause any changes to the dates and months.    In this verse it is pertinent to note that Allah categorically mentions that it is “Deenul Qayyima” meaning it is the True religion and ever-true law of Allah. Hence the sacredness of dates and days are to be completely respected by all. This is not just an issue of Ramadan and Eid, but this is an issue of a calendar system Allah intends mankind to follow. 

إِنَّمَا النَّسِيءُ زِيَادَةٌ فِي الْكُفْرِ يُضَلُّ بِهِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُحِلُّونَهُ عَامًا وَيُحَرِّمُونَهُ عَامًا لِيُوَاطِئُوا عِدَّةَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ فَيُحِلُّوا مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ زُيِّنَ لَهُمْ سُوءُ أَعْمَالِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَ  [التوبة : 37]

The intercalation (of sacred months) is an act of gross infidelity which causes the unbelievers to be led further astray. They declare a month to be lawful in one year and forbidden in another year in order that they may conform to the number of months that Allah has declared as sacred, and at the same time make lawful what Allah has forbidden. Their foul acts seem fair to them. Allah does not direct those who deny the Truth to the Right Way.  (Al-Qur’an Chapter: 9 verse: 37)

This verse further confirms the sacredness of the dates and months.  As per this verse, any kind of changes or alteration done would be considered as a grave offence in the sight of Allah since the inviolability of these months and dates are already fixed by Allah.  

هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ ضِيَاءً وَالْقَمَرَ نُورًا وَقَدَّرَهُ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ ذَلِكَ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ يُفَصِّلُ الْآَيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ  [يونس : 5]

He it is who gave the sun radiance and the moon light, and decreed the stages/places (for the waxing and waning of the moon) that you may learn the Counting of years and the calculation.   Allah has created all this with a rightful purpose (rather than out of play). He expounds His signs for the people who know. (Al-Qur’an Chapter: 10 verse: 5)

Apart from mentioning the importance of different “manzil” of the moon which help us to determine the months and years, this verse clearly informs us that Allah has created all this with a definite purpose (Haqq) and the “knowledge” so derived from this, if followed accurately, would not lead us to any confusion and chaos.  

وَجَعَلْنَا اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ آَيَتَيْنِ فَمَحَوْنَا آَيَةَ اللَّيْلِ وَجَعَلْنَا آَيَةَ النَّهَارِ مُبْصِرَةً لِتَبْتَغُوا فَضْلًا مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَلِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَ وَكُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَصَّلْنَاهُ تَفْصِيلًا  [الإسراء : 12]

We have made night and day as two signs. We made the sign of the night devoid of light, and made the sign of the day radiant that you may seek the bounty of your Lord and should learn the Counting of years and the calculation.  Thus we have expounded everything in detail to keep everything distinct from the other. (Al-Qur’an Chapter: 17 verse: 12)

The above verse mentions the importance of day and night in relation to dates and years.

وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّى عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ [يس : 39]

We have ordained (decreed) places (stages/ phases) for the moon until finally it becomes like an old date-stalk. (Al-Qur’an Chapter: 36 verse: 39)  

The above verse beautifully explains how a month in Allah’s calendar ends.   If we keep on watching the moon in the last quarter, the position (manzil) of the moon changes and its shape (phase) gets smaller and smaller  day by day, and finally, one day before the Day of Conjunction, we can see the moon which will be very thin and very close to the Eastern horizon as al urjoonal qadeem.  This is a clear indication that, on the next day the moon will not be seen (being a conjunction day). The new month begins starting from the day after conjunction day. 

In Tafsir Ibn Kathir while explaining 36:39, Imam (Rah) says: 

<<”As for the moon, Allah has decreed that it should pass through different phases. At the beginning of the month, the moon appears small when it rises. It gives off little light, then on the second night its light increases and it rises to a higher position, and the higher it rises the more light it gives — even though it is reflected from the sun — until it becomes full on the fourteenth night of the month. Then it starts to wane until the end of the month, until it appears like the old dried curved date stalk. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “This is the original stem (which connects the bunch of dates to the tree).”>>

Tafsir Ibn Kathir explains “Wal Qamara Kadarunahu manazila” as;  << “And the moon, We have decreed for it stages,) meaning, `We have caused it to run in a different orbit, from which passing of the months can be deduced, just as night and day are known from the sun.’>>

لَا الشَّمْسُ يَنْبَغِي لَهَا أَنْ تُدْرِكَ الْقَمَرَ وَلَا اللَّيْلُ سَابِقُ النَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ  [يس : 40]

The sun cannot overtake the moon, nor can the night outpace the day: each float in [its own] orbit. (Al-Qur’an Chapter: 36 verse: 40)

الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ [الرحمن : 5]

The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each (for reckoning, etc.).  (Al-Qur’an Chapter: 55 verse: 5)

فَالِقُ الْإِصْبَاحِ وَجَعَلَ اللَّيْلَ سَكَنًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ حُسْبَانًا ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ [الأنعام : 96]

(He is the) Cleaver of the daybreak. He has appointed the night for resting, and the sun and the moon for reckoning. Such is the measuring of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing. (Al-Qur’an Chapter: 6 verse: 96)     

All the above three verses quoted above clearly inform us how precisely the moon and the sun traverse.  These verses also inspire us to learn this calculation (hisab) for our benefit. 

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ‌ لَآيَاتٍ لِّأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ ﴿١٩٠﴾ الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُ‌ونَ اللَّـهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُ‌ونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ رَ‌بَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَـٰذَا بَاطِلًا سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ‌ ﴿١٩١﴾ 

“Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, there are indeed messages for all who are endowed with insight [and] who remember God when they stand, and when they sit, and when they lie down to sleep, and [thus] reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: “O our Sustainer! Thou hast not created [aught of] this without meaning and purpose. Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Keep us safe, then, from suffering through fire!” (3:190-191)

Allah hereby brings out beautifully the characteristic of a believer how he should approach the universe.  Allah mentions that “ulul albaab” (those who are gifted with knowledge) are those who think constantly about the creation of the universe and its order.  In other words, in modern parlance, we can say ‘scientists’. It is our duty to find out the truthfulness of the universe and use them for the benefit of humanity. 

Where on the Earth should the first Jumu’a of the week be performed?

How can this be fixed according to the Qur’aan and Sunnah?

The verse of the Holy Qur’aan “He merges night into day and he merges day into night” (35:13) indicates that the Earth must be a globe rotating on its axis and that the rotation would merge night into day and vice versa. The hemisphere on which the sun light falls experiences day while the opposite hemisphere experiences night. As the globe rotates, night passes into day and day into night. The first hemisphere in which the Ka’aba is situated and contains Australia, Asia, Europe and Africa enjoys daytime while the second hemisphere containing two Americas enjoys nighttime. As time proceeds from east to west on earth, the five prayers as mentioned above, must be performed at the stipulated times in succession according to the angles of the Sun at the particular place without violating the order. Thus no time in the world passes without a Muslim prayer.

In the second year of the Hijra the order to turn towards the Ka’aba, during the prayer, was revealed in the Holy Qur’aan (2: 144). Supposing the Earth to be a vast area with the Ka’aba at a particular place, imagine what will happen to the people in prayer on both the sides of Ka’aba at the last ends. A diagram will explain this better. (Diagram No2)

When all people turn towards the Ka’aba what will happen to those at the ends, if the ends are joined together as it is upon the globe? The people at the ends (A and B) will face towards the opposite directions and their backs will meet! This condition is not contradictory to the Qur’aan, which says: “Righteousness is not that you face East or West.” (2:177). At a certain place on the Earth the Muslims must necessarily face towards the opposite directions during their prayers. Where on the Earth could this happen?

The Kiblah of a town cannot be different. All Muslims in a town must face to one direction in their prayer. But as the Earth is a globe, a place where the Muslims must necessarily turn towards opposite directions while in prayer, where two days of Jumu’a are experienced and where a man crossing from one place to the other loses or gains 5 prayers of the day, is inevitable. This cannot happen on a land inhabited by people.  Such a place can be only at sea.

The Imams of the past have written down the rules for such a place. According to them it should be separated by a sea or an uninhabitable mountainous barrier, which makes the two sides approachable only by travel in which the Shariah could allow lessening of the canonical prayers. Here a traveler must change his Kiblah, his Day and his Date. This is the Meeqatul Kiblah of which we have mentioned in the beginning. The Meeqatul Kiblah is one of the Signs of Allah. It must be recognized and respected by all people. (Q.22: 32). The diagram shows how the Kiblah lines radiating from the Islamic Center, Makkah towards all directions meet on the Meeqatul Kiblah, the date line. (See the diagram 4) The Kiblah lines radiate towards all directions of the compass from Ka’aba and meet on the Meeqatul Kiblah on the opposite side of the Earth.

Since a traveler is allowed to lessen his prayers (4:101) the peculiarity of losing or gaining of the prayers during a travel across the Meeqatul Kiblah is not a problem. The diagram explains how the west and east Kiblah lines radiating from the Ka’aba meet and form a line passing from the north pole to the south pole of the Earth through the Bering Strait which is the only gap separating the two continents of Asia and America. The Kiblah lines radiating towards north and south of the Ka’aba do not cross the poles and reach the opposite side. (See diagram No. 5). It is noteworthy that the Qur’aan does not mention north and south in relation to Kiblah. It mentions East and West only.

The Meeqatul kiblah or the date line has to be zigzag to allow one Kiblah, one Day and for those who had already settled and established their Day and Kiblah when they occupied the islands near it. They were living there without knowing each other till the explorers detected them. The inhabitants on the East observe the East Kiblah and Thursday, while the inhabitants on the West observe the West Kiblah and Friday. There is one day’s difference at this place on the Earth. The Islamic Shariah forbids the change of Day, Date and Kiblah at any other place in the world. The diagram 5 shows the Kiblah lines meeting with the counterparts. When these are connected we get the Meeqatul Kiblah, the International Date Line running from north to south. This is the boundary for the West and the East on the Earth.

The Meeqatul Kiblah is exactly 9 hours ahead of Makkah. The Zuhar prayers of Thursday end and the Jumu’a prayers of Friday begin immediately from here. This is the Zero hour of the world. All calendar dates must change at the Zero hour. Days and dates of the Islamic calendar also begin here at the Zero hour at noon. Corresponding time at the Ummul Qura, the Center of Islam is “Sahar” (the last part of the night) and at London, situated on the opposite side of the Meeqatul Kiblah, it is midnight. Allah (swt) had ordered the Prophet (saw) to observe the singular Kiblah and change the Day at ‘Sahar’ time in the second year of the Hijra about 1400 years ago and the Muslims began to practice it since that time. The navigators in 1886 A.D. found out the Date Line of Islam defined at the time of the Prophet (saw). Those who established it did not know the Islamic rules! 

A day dawns first for those who live near the ‘Meeqatul Kiblah’ 9 hours before it dawns at Makkah. So they must observe all religious rites 9 hours before Makkah. In fasting and feasting also they will be 9 hours ahead. They cannot postpone any ritual saying that the Center has not yet done it. The order of time sequence in the world must be strictly adhered to. Violation of time order in performing the rituals is forbidden in the Shariah. For the same reasons a time bound prayer cannot be postponed. (2:189, 17:78, 9:37). So a gap of 24 hours (a day) must be observed between the Islands on either side of the Meeqatul Kiblah, the International Date Line. This means that those to the west observing the West Kiblah shall observe Friday while those to the east observing East Kiblah observe Thursday.

Meeqatul Kiblah is the Date line of the Islamic calendar. A Day begins depending on the Sun. “Have you not seen how your Lord spread the shadow. If He willed He could have made it still. But We have made the Sun its indicator” (25:45). The shadow shrinks as the Sun rises and vanishes at noon and then again appears in the afternoon with the decline of the Sun. It goes on lengthening till the sunset, indicating our time. Had there been no sunlight, there would have been no shadow. The Sun indicates day, night and our time. So date, which stands in place of a Day should begin with the Day. A date line cannot shift from place to place because people living on the sides of the Date line must observe different days. This is not practicable on a land.

Unfortunately some Muslim astronomers have suggested that lunar date lines should be marked on the world map for the Muslims to begin their fasting and celebrating their Eid. This would be according to the first visibility of the crescent. The so-called curved lunar date lines always keep on changing and they pass through cities, towns and even houses! They do not abide the rules of the date line. So the Lunar date lines are impracticable and meaningless. They are neither scientific nor Islamic. An example of the three lunar date lines plotted on the world map for a year indicating the appearing of the crescent of Ramadan, Shawwal and Zul Hajj of the Islamic calendar is given in the diagram 6.                  

Our knowledge of time is in relation to the rotation of the Earth with reference to the Sun. To count the number of rotations of a wheel two marks are necessary; one in the rotating wheel and one stationary, outside. When these two marks meet, one rotation is counted. In the same way to count the rotations of the Earth a mark on the Earth and a mark outside are needed. The mark on the Earth is the Meeqatul Kiblah and the external mark is the Sun. When both meet, one rotation for the Earth or one day is counted. To get the correct count we need a stationary mark outside. But our mark, the Sun is moving and the Earth too is perambulating the Sun. So we will not be able to count the number of the Earth’s rotations exactly with the help of the celestial objects, which too are in motion. We need not worry about the correct number of the Earth’s rotations because our time is not connected with that. Our days depend only on sunrise and sunset.

We record the count of days in dates. So if we calculated with the average length of a day, measured in relation to the Sun or the other objects, which too are really moving, we will make errors in calculating our old dates. So the Creator has provided us with a wonderful system to calculate our time and has asked us to use the Moon for the purpose so that we may not make mistakes and be confused in calculating our dates. “He has appointed Manzils for it (the Moon) so that you may know the count of the ages (of the Moon) and the calculations.”(Q.10: 5). We follow the instructions of the manufacturers in using of our home appliances. In the same way we must follow the instructions of the Creator in order to be on the right track.

After having defined the beginning of a Day under the light of the Holy Qur’aan and the Sunnah let us try to define the beginning of a month of the Islamic calendar. The Qur’aan has already explained that our dates and months should depend on the Moon. The Sun cannot catch the Moon. (36:40). The Earth has already caught it. It rotates around the Earth. One rotation of the Moon around the Earth with reference to the Sun is one month. As the Moon travels in its course, the change of its position in relation to the Sun creates changes in the phases of the Moon seen from the Earth. This marks the dates for the people. (2:189) The diagram No. 7 explains it.

A solar eclipse (New moon) can occur only when the Sun is in line with the Moon and the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth. Since it can happen at any part of the day, it is called the new moon day. The Islamic month ends with it and the next month begins. A month can begin only with a Day. So the next day is treated as the first day of the ensuing month. The dates of the Islamic calendar must tally with the phases or the Manzils of the Moon. (2:189, 10:5, 36:38-40). Thus a lunar eclipse should occur only on the full moon day in the middle of the month when the Moon is behind the Earth and enters into the shadow of the Earth. A solar eclipse should occur on the new moon day in the end of the month when the shadow of the Moon falls on the Earth. Since the plain of the Moon’s orbit is slanted by 5 degrees the eclipse does not occur every month. It occurs only when the crossing coincides with the end or the middle of the lunar month. So the Islamic dates that depend on the angles of the Moon in relation to the Sun can be checked on such occasions with the naked eye observations. The Days could be found out exactly by using astronomical calculations.

The Islamic month ends when the Moon competes her cycle around the Earth and this is calculated taking the Sun as the reference point to begin the cycle. When the Sun, the Moon and the Earth come in a line the cycle is complete and the next one begins. (See the diagram) This moment is known as the conjunction or new moon. The Hilal can be seen at different times at different places on the Earth, just as the sunset, many hours before and after the conjunction. Some times a solar eclipse can be witnessed at the time of the Eid prayer at some places on the Earth. (Imam Shafi, Fat’hul Barri Vol, 2)). It happens due to the error of parallax. The month should change just after the conjunction. Conjunction or new moon is calculated from the center of the Earth. During a solar eclipse the shadow of the moon falls on the Earth. The shadow crawls on the surface of the Earth with time. If one travels with it, the eclipse can be seen for a longer time. The first and the last is not the conjunction. The middle one is the conjunction. A diagram explains it better. See diagram No. 9

Our time depends upon the angles of the Sun in relation to the horizon. Our dates depend upon the angles of the Moon in relation to the Sun. The horizon has nothing to do with this. We can know our time without seeing the Sun or the shadow. There is no objection to use other means of finding out our time in the Shariah. Then why should there be any objection to use other means for finding out our dates that depend upon the angles of the Moon when the Qur’aan informs us that both the Sun and the Moon are with calculations? Can we use calculation for both, our time and our date? The Ulema should give a verdict on this issue.

The Prophet (saw) who taught the Qur’aan to the illiterate Arabs of his time taught them the easy method of finding out their time by observing the Sun. He also taught them the easy method of finding out their dates by observing the Moon. They were not in the habit of writing, calculating or recording their time. The Prophet (saw) asked them to learn wisdom, the art of reading, writing, recording and calculating. He did not forbid them to learn but on the other hand, he enjoined them to acquire knowledge in every faculty of learning from wherever it was possible.

In the days of the Prophet (saw) Arabs were using the Jewish lunar calendar, which had a fixed number of days for every month, 30 or 29 alternating and had leap years to adjust their artificial months with the natural calendar. He gave instructions to correct the dates according to the Ahillah (Manzils of the Moon) (2:189). He ordered to avoid the leap years and make the calendar fully natural. The deviation of dates from the Manzils of the Moon was not allowed because if a day of Sha’ban entered into Ramadan, Halal and Haram of Allah (swt) would be violated. Sha’ban according to the Jewish calendar always had 29 days where as it could have 30 days also and all months of Ramadan had 30 days, but Ramadan too could have 29 days according to the Moon’s phase (Ahillah). That is why the Prophet (saw) ordered to observe the Moon and correct the dates accordingly. The final amendments regarding the calendar were announced during the Hajjathul Wida.

There are 12 months in a year (9:36). We know what will happen if a date is skipped over. The Qur’aan forbids the intercalations (9:37). The observation of the Moon for long periods gives us the average number of 354.3671days for a year and 29.53059 days for a month. (29.53059×12=354.3671). Astronomers have proved that the statement of the Prophet (saw) that the lunar months have 29 or 30 days is correct.

Since the dates of the months are related to the days of the week, but not to the places, the months of the Islamic calendar should begin from the Meeqatul Qibla with the day. Now the Muslims do not practice the Islamic calendar, instead they rely and depend on the Christian dates for their daily use. So they do not have any idea about the Islamic calendar! They foolishly believe that the Islamic months will begin only when they see the Hilal with their naked eyes at the sunset differently at different places! It is wrong to say that time will wait for man and different towns could have different dates in the Islamic calendar!

The Christian Calendar

Julius Caesar had instituted his calendar in 46 B.C. Later the Christians adopted it as their calendar. It had accumulated an error of about 10 days by 1582 A.D! Pope Gregory removed 10 days and changed the rules of the calendar, and it is known as the Gregorian calendar since then.

The exact measure of the solar year was not known when Julius Caesar instituted the calendar. Even today we do not know the exact measure! It was regarded as 365.25 days. Later it was estimated that the Earth takes 365 days 5hrs 48 minutes and 49 seconds to make a rotation around the Sun according to the correction made in 1582 AD. This is 365.2422 days and this too will change whenever the accumulated error of days is corrected at an interval.

The error of 0.0078 days added up every year amounts to 15.6 days in 2000 years! This means that 15.6 days would have passed without sunrise! In a solar-based dating system the error will accumulate without our notice and days will have to be eliminated from the calendar at intervals in order to adjust with the natural system. This sort of meddling with the calendar will create confusion in calculating the passage of our time. Such a dating system cannot be good for recording the events of history.

Had the people of the past used the lunar phases for their dates to record their events, we will not have had problems in finding out the actual days on which the incidents in the past had occurred. But now we are in utter confusion. We do not arrive at the recorded date and day by calculation. The Qur’aan says,  “The Sun and the Moon are with calculation” (55:5). So both the Sun and the Moon should be used for calculating the passage of our time.

Renowned mathematicians and astronomers have calculated the date of birth of the Prophet Muhammad (saw). But all of them have gone wrong. They give different dates for the Prophet’s birth! The fact that a person cannot be born on two days indicates that there is some thing wrong with their calculations. Their dates do not tally with the historical records too. This is because the calendar had been meddled with and the omissions are not taken into account correctly.

We have a record of two events of the past recorded in two calendars. If we calculate the number of days elapsed between the two incidents according to the two calendar systems we can see what happens when a defective calendar is used to record time. The equivalent dates and days of two solar eclipses of the past are given below as recorded according to two calendars.

Solar eclipses recorded according to C.E and M.E.

1. C.E. 22-07-1990 Sunday.                            M.E. 30-12-1410 Sunday.

2. C.E. 14-07-0622 Wednesday.                         M.E. 30-12-0000 Wednesday.

          08-00-1378 years.                                     00-00-1410 years=Time elapsed.

Total N0. Of days according to C.E. 1368 x 365.25+8 = 499670.00 days

Total No. Of days according to M.E. 1410 x354.3671  = 499657.16 days

The error accumulated in C.E for 1378 years is 12.39 days. At the same time there is no error in M.E. From this we can see that the Lunar dating system is perfect. If we calculated our time without involving the Moon we would make mistakes and we would not know that there is a mistake! We will be left in confusion. It is high time that we adopted the scientific dating system and used it in our day-to-day life so that we may not create confusion for the future generations.

If we have the consensus to prepare the scientific lunar calendar based on the phases of the Moon as per the rules of the Qur’aan for the entire world, we can have the first of Ramadan on the same day for each and every Muslim on earth. Likewise we can celebrate the Eid also on the same day in all countries. Let me remind that the Holy Prophet (saw) has forbidden to fast on the Day of Eid. How is it justifiable to have fasting and feasting on the same day? If we agree that it can be so we are admitting that there can be mistakes in the calculations of Allah the Almighty also.

Observing Ramadan and Eid on the correct days which will be same for all people in the world as commanded by Allah, will lead us to the much required unity, harmony and peace of the people in various parts of the world.

Kindly think over the problem and the relevance of the Meeqatul Qibla, which is very important to define the dates of the Islamic calendar. The Lunar Date Lines suggested by some Muslim astronomers are neither scientific nor Islamic.

May Allah bless us with open minds and intelligence to find out his orders and systems, which are hidden in Nature and help us to live accordingly!

While plate tectonics is a relativily new idea, scientists have been gathering data in support of the Continental Drift theory for a very long time. In 1912, Alfred Wegener and Frank Taylor first proposed the theory that 200 million years ago the Earth had only one giant continent, from which today’s continents broke apart and drifted into their current locations. Wegener used the fit of the continents, the distribution of fossils, a similar sequence of rocks at numerous locations, ancient climates, and the apparent wandering of the Earth’s polar regions to support his idea.

The Shapes Match

The continents look as if they were pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle that could fit together to make one giant super-continent. The bulge of Africa fits the shape of the coast of North America while Brazil fits along the coast of Africa beneath the bulge.

The Plants and Animals Match

Wegener noted that plant fossils of late Paleozoic age found on several different continents were quite similar. This suggests that they evolved together on a single large land mass. He was intrigued by the occurrences of plant and animal fossils found on the matching coastlines of South America and Africa, which are now widely separated by the Atlantic Ocean. He reasoned that it was physically impossible for most of these organisms to have traveled or have been transported across the vast ocean. To him, the presence of identical fossil species along the coastal parts of Africa and South America was the most compelling evidence that the two continents were once joined.

The Rocks Match

Broad belts of rocks in Africa and South America are the same type. These broad belts then match when the end of the continents are joined.

The Ice Matches

Wegener was aware that a continental ice sheet covered parts of South America, southern Africa, India, and southern Australia about 300 million years ago. Glacial striations on rocks show that glaciers moved from Africa toward the Atlantic Ocean and from the Atlantic Ocean onto South America. Such glaciation is most likely if the Atlantic Ocean were missing and the continents joined.

The Positions Don’t Match

If the continents were cold enough so that ice covered the southern continents, why is no evidence found for ice in the northern continents? Simple! The present northern continents were at the equator at 300 million years ago. The discovery of fossils of tropical plants (in the form of coal deposits) in Antarctica led to the conclusion that this frozen land previously must have been situated closer to the equator, in a more temperate climate where lush, swampy vegetation could grow.

Why Few People Believed

Wegener’s Continental Drift theory was not readily accepted by the science community of his day. It was difficult to conceive of large continents plowing through the sea floor to move to new locations. What kind of forces could be strong enough to move such large masses of solid rock over such great distances? Wegener suggested that the continents simply plowed through the ocean floor, but Harold Jeffreys, a noted English geophysicist, argued correctly that it was physically impossible for a large mass of solid rock to plow through the ocean floor without breaking up. Recent evidence from ocean floor exploration and other studies has rekindled interest in Wegener’s theory, and lead to the development of the theory of plate tectonics.

To read an excellent historical account of Continental Drift with informative graphics, visit the U.S. Geological Survey.

Visibility of Crescent

Dear Mr. Abdul Rahim

One of the first visibility criteria for determining the probability of sighting the new crescent was determined by Ibn Tariq, Khawarizmi etc and modified recently with the likes of Schaefer, Ilyas, Yallop and others. Few factors are necessary for sighting the moon which is true during the time of the Prophet (pbuh) and now. one is the angle of elongation between the Sun and moon which should be at least 9 degrees (or a moon age greater than 15 to 18 hours) Second is that the moon set should be after sunset. Khawrizmi recognized that the moonset should be at least 45 minutes after sunset. This is common sense (which is often lacking in those that argue one has to leave Magrib prayer to sight the moon). Immediately after the sun has set and till the sun has gone below the horizon for at least 3 degrees (i.e. 15 minutes), the twilight from the sun obscures any visibility of the reflected light from a young moon. Therefore it is fool hardy to look for the moon immediately after sunset or at least till 15 minutes have elapsed when looking for a very young new crescent. This is like looking for the light of torch light on the ground at noon, the brightness of the noon will prevent the ring of light from being seen. Allah (subhanawata’ala) is all knowing. 15 minutes is more than enough to perform Magrib and the two Sunnah. If the moon is much older like >24 hours, then it will be seen from around sunset as the brightness is high but it will also be seen for longer time as the moon set is longer with the longer age of the moon. So all through this 1426 years, there was never a need for the Magrib prayer to be delayed. A young moon will be see only after 15 minutes of sunset and if it is still not set and the older moon will be well seen for a longer time as the moon set is delayed. If on the 29th, the moon is clouded over, complete 30 as ordered by the Prophet (pbuh). As you rightly said Manikfan is not an astronomer. Hence he does not understand this. But then He is not a scholar of Islam, he is not a scholar of mathematics as expounded in his errors  of methods in calculation of Prophet’s birth date of birth, He is not a scholar of calendars as expounded by his erroneous methods. So I suggest you contact authentic scholars of Islam who know Islamic rulings to understand Islam and good Muslim astronomers who understand astronomy. Else you will be in the cess pool of errors filled with non defendable methods and will find no one to support you on the day of judgment. Islam came in a simple way and it remains simple. Do not make it mechanistic. Just like you would not go to a self taught non qualified person who claims to be a heart surgeon to get your heart operated if that need came along, you should not go to people who know neither astronomy, nor mathematics, nor Islamic shariah nor science nor calendarical rules for Islamic calendar. Allah guide us all to the truth. Still time for asking Allah’s mercy before the end of Ramadan to show you the true path and ask forgiveness for rejecting authentic muttawattir hadith. salams Brother 

My Reply  

(I understand later that Mr. Riyad never saw hilal, He just predicting with software of Schaefer, Ilyas, Yallop. I proved that the software is impractical and invalid )

Dear Brother

AssalamAlaikum & Eid Mubarak

Have you ever seen the Hilal of 29th or 30th or 1st? Has anyone now living seen the Hilal? Hilal is the first crescent that appears in the end of the month in the western horizon. This is seldom visible under miraculous conditions. Let those who have seen the Hilal give me the details of their observation. In the shariah we need not see the Hilal after completing 30 days for the month. We complete 30 days by fasting on Sunday. So Monday is the Day of Eid without any doubt. Let them say Monday is a day of Ramadan if they have proof for it in the Quran and Sunnah. Ramadan began on Saturday, As you know Omer bin Khathab established the Hijri Calendar for Islamic calendar system. In his calendar, not only the Ramadan, Shawal, and Dulhajj but also it was 12 months. As per your visibility system Omer (RA) and his colleagues practiced to go to western horizon every month end for fixing the dates of his calendar at time of Magrib. Oh! It is unbelievable! How many years he was practiced this way in his ruling period. You put some factors of visibility at time of Prophet SAWS and now you consider it as very easy. From were you got all this factors, is it not mathematics? Is it not the part of 29.53 days the Jewish theory (convert in to hours). Did The Prophet teach you all this things?  Now you are stating that calculability can apply only for visibility, not for the knowing the dates are 29 or 30 or first of the month.  I cannot understand what a basic theory of Islamic calendar you meant.   

A train is starting from Ernakulam to Bombay with speed of 100km per hour and it is constant speed and non stop. The distance from Ernakulam to Bombay is 1000km. But there is a tunnel in between. When train passes through this tunnel suddenly it disappears in dark no body can see any thing inside and out side of the train. Then how many hours used to reach the train at Bombay? For the answer no need to ask any mathematician or any great scholars. This is what in the case of Lunar month. The speed is constant, non stop and the tunnel is conjunction. No need to wait in the other end of the tunnel to confirm that train is coming out or not. If we did not see the train because of our physical conditions or any other diseases like blood pressure or diabetic. that does not mean train did not come out. Your quote of an Hadees of Prophet that if on the 29th the moon is clouded over complete it 30.  Do you know 29th is conjunction. It may not be seen in western horizon. Perhaps the month is 30 The 29th the last crescent of the month( urjoon ul Qadeem)  can be seen easily over the eastern horizon and it is rising up at time of Fajr. You quoted as Aisha RA. The Prophet practiced to count in Shaban more than the other months. Why he is counting in Shaban in advance. Is it enough that goes to western horizon in time of Magrib to see the hilal at the end of the month Shaban? If it is not seen, complete it as 30. Very simple.  I had also quoted some factors of visibility it is from US Naval Observatory in my last email ( the time an observer first sees that young Moon cannot be computed exactly. The time the Moon first becomes visible after the New Moon depends on many factors. The various effects are the geometry of the Sun, Moon, and horizon; the width and surface brightness of the crescent; the absorption of the Moon’s light and the scattering of the Sun’s light in the Earth’s atmosphere; and the physiology of human vision. These things all change very rapidly.) This is the present condition of visibility. I attached some animations with this letter. Go through this and just imagine you are in a space station, you want to practice fasting and prayers. What kind of mythology to be used for it. You think. Use your brain as processor, not only storage of knowledge; A donkey also can carry the books of knowledge. But only the man can think with his brain: the gift of Allah to knowing him through his creation. God Bless you           

Wassalam

Eid Mubarak

Abdulrahim

Dear All Assalamu alaikum

Brother Abdul Rahim and co should post someone Australia on Wednesday morning as they will be able to see the morning waning crescent or ‘Urjoonul Qadeem’ easily. This is a scientific fact. Due to lack of Islamic and scientific knowledge, Abdul Rahim and co will argue that the picture he has posted is the last Urjoonul Qadeem without verifying that it is visible elsewhere. Understandable is due their ignorance of moon phases and extrapolation of the moon phases seen in one place to the rest of the world. Return to the Sunnah by following how the Prophet (pbuh) had started the month which of course to the ignorant is a satanic method as per quoted on brother Abdul Rahim’s website by his mentor and master. Brother 

My Reply

Dear Brothers Assalamu alaikum I have attached the details of moon phases visible time and date in Australia according to the web site program of Paul Carlisle who has made the moon calendar for 3000BC to 3000AD and he is an authentic scientist still alive. But it is not satanic like confusing web sites of authentic scholars of Brother who are not answering any of our questions and doubts. And now only I realize the depth of ignorance of Brother in the subject and I really ashamed that I was debating all these time to a man who is nothing in the subject. If any body wants to confirm the details of moon phases time and date of any places in the world, you can directly check in the web site http://www.paulcarlisle.net/mooncalendar/ You are predicting the things with software of Schaefer and Yallop, you see the attachments it proves that the software is impractical and invalid.Your comment to the last month Urjoonul Qadeem: It will be set in Japan before sun rise but I have taken that photograph also from the UAE. In fact I really wondered that what is your base and background in this subject.  

Wassalam

Abdulrahim

What do the Fuqaha say about it?

Dating system of Islam.

A date is necessary to record the events of our daily life. In today’s world it is not possible to plan anything in advance without a date. For this purpose it is essential to have a dating system, which is predictable and free of error.

The Qur’aan argues that the Shariah of Islam is a guide for the people until the end of this world. We are now at the threshold of the 21st century. A perfect Shariah should be useful to those who live in this century as well as to those who will come in future.

Let us examine what the Qur’aan says about the dates in the Islamic Shariah. ” They ask you about the phases of the Moon. Say, they are dates for the people and the pilgrimage.” (2:189). The Qur’aan informs us in clear terms that by closely observing the Moon it should be possible to determine the dates from the changes that take place in the phases of the Moon every day due to its waxing and waning. Though the number of days in a month, which equals the Moon’s cycle in relation to the Sun, is not specified, the Qur’aan teaches its principles so that the thinking people can understand how to calculate it by careful observation and study of the Moon.  The Qur’aan says that the number of months in a year is twelve.

We have the day comprising of five prayers namely Fajre, Zuhar, Asar, Magrib and Isha and the week of seven days, fixed by the Jumu’a prayer on the sixth day at the time of Zuhar prayer once in seven Days. These days have names and they are inviolable. The days are marked by dates shown by the Moon every day. Day and date are related to each other. So, both must change simultaneously. Everywhere on the Earth, the duration of a day is 24 hours. Though the beginning and end of a day is different everywhere, the day is same. Time differs according to the distance in east-west direction.

Just as the distance from one place to the other does not change, the difference of time between them also does not change. For example, the difference of time between Saudi Arabia and India is about two and a half hours. In India the day begins two and a half hours earlier than Saudi Arabia and ends two and a half hours earlier. Where this difference becomes 24 hours, two days are experienced.

That is to say, when some people say the Jumu’a prayer, some people say the Zuhar prayer at that place. Thus they experience two Fridays there! The Islamic Shariah would not allow this withot a barrier between the two groups and this barrier should have the minimum distance in which the canonical prayers could be lessened.

The Mathla’ al Fajre or the place of Daybreak on earth

Muslim Jurists of the past have ordained that two Fridays or two days of Eid or two opposite directions for the Kiblah (the direction faced during the Muslim prayer) shall not be allowed in one town. Such places shall be separated by a sea, where the people cannot inhabit and the distance between them should be such that the Shariah could allow people to lessen (qasar) the canonical prayers.

The Muslims are ordered to face the Ka’aba during their prayers wherever they are on the Earth. Since the Earth is a globe there should be a place on it, where the people must necessarily turn towards the opposite directions in order to face the Ka’aba. This place cannot be in a habitable land. The Jurists have said that a traveler should accept the Kiblah, Jumu’a, Eid and Ramadan of a people. Thus a line separating such lands becomes necessary in the Shariah.

Whenever a Friday comes the first Jumu’a prayer on earth has to be said. It is necessary to know the place where to begin. The Hilal appears at the beginning of every month. The day on which it appears must be determined to begin a month. Since the Hilal could appear at any part of the day the beginning and end of the world-Day should be defined. The Day on which the Hilal appears is the last Day of the month and the next day would be the first day of the next month of the Islamic calendar according to the instructions of the Qur’aan and the explanations given by the Prophet (SAW). So a line marking the boundary for this purpose is imperative in the Shariah. In the Islamic parlor this boundary line on earth is called the Mathla’h’ al Fajre or the ‘Mathla’h As Shams’, the place of Day break.

The Fuqaha (Jurists) have talked about this Mathla’h’ (Date Line), but later on the people have mistaken it for different horizons of daybreak at different places on the Earth! Such Mathalia’ (horizons) have no meaning in defining the Day or Date as the Sun goes on rising everywhere continuously. The Jurists have stated that such differences need not be considered in the case of fixing the Hilal for fixing the beginning of the months, the fasting of Ramadan or the Eid Day.

What is the date line?

A zigzag line beginning from the North Pole passes through Bering Strait between Russia and America, close to Fiji and Samoa Islands separating the two and ends at the South Pole. This line serves as a boundary for the two groups of the West or the East Kiblah and different Fridays. The first Jumu’a prayer is performed in Russia and Fiji islands while the last Zuhar prayer of Thursday is performed in America and Samoa islands. The last Jumu’a prayer in the world is performed in America And Samoa islands on the next day with a difference of about 24 hours or one day! This shall be observed in fasting and Eid too in this place, but they perform it on the same Day of the week! This is natural and the Shariah allows it. This shall not happen at any other place on the Earth and it will not be permitted. The Shariah does not allow fasting for one group and feasting for another on the same Day of the week. It is forbidden (Haram) in the Shariah. This may happen at different places without knowing due to lack of communication. But with knowledge it will be Haram in the Shariah. The line, which separates the two groups, the west and the east, coincides with the International Date Line established by the non-Muslim scientists in 1886AD.

Unity of Dates is essential in the Islamic Shariah.

Among the Muslims today there is no unity in their dates. This is due to ignorance and foolishness. There are newspapers and calendars, which show different Hijra dates for the same Day! If there is no unity in dates, people cannot record the dates of birth of their children according to the Islamic calendar. Children born on the same day will have different dates of birth! How can the Islamic calendar be practicable if the Shariah permitted this? How can the Muslims fix the date for a program in advance according to their calendar, if the dates cannot be calculated? If the Hilal must be seen with the naked eyes to begin every month the dates cannot be predicted and the dates would be liable to change at the whims of the people! How could this be permissible in Islam, the Right Religion prescribed by Allah (swt) for the people?

The Islamic Calendar is perfect and all other man-made calendars used in this world today are defective and susceptible to change in the course of time. The fact that Islam has taught a dating system, which is free of error and not susceptible to any change at a time when the world had no idea about the recording of time, can be treated as evidence that Islam is divine.

Unity in Eid and Fasting is Compulsory.

Beginning the fasting of Ramadan, Eidul Fitre and Eidul Adha are observed by the Indian Muslims on different Days of the week. Is it possible to unify this as a common Day for the world? This is a question raised by many of our friends with sadness. Let us examine.

Prima facie, Fasting and Feasting cannot go together. If some people fasted while the others feasted it will be awkward and a true religion cannot allow it. Fasting is to be observed in the month of Ramadan, says the Qur’aan. A month is a measure of time and the period of Ramadan cannot be different for the people on earth. It would begin on a particular Day of the week and end on a particular Day. Days of the week are common for all. Days have names and they are known  by their names. The first of Shawwal is the Day fixed for the Eidul Fitre and the first of a month cannot fall on two Dates of the Islamic calendar.

The Day begins at a particular place on the Earth and follows gradually changing from place to place in succession. It proceeds throughout the world and remains the same until 24 hours even though some one’s night is some one’s day on the globe. The Shariah does not require fasting at night and the beginning of a fast prevails till 24 hours in the same way as the Jumu’a prayer, till 24 hours throughout the Globe. If it exceeds 24 hours the people would be observing the Jumu’a or Eid prayer for more than one day (24 hours) and the Shariah would not allow it. So celebrating the Eid for more than one Day (24 hours) is out of question. If the people of a place celebrated Eid on a Friday, all should celebrate it on that Friday.

Dates of the Islamic Calendar tally with the phases of the moon.

An observer who has witnessed many new moons and full moons can easily understand the dates prescribed for man by Allah by watching the phases of the moon. This is clearly explained in simple language in the Chapters of the Qur’aan, Yaseen and Yunus, which mention about the phases and Manzils of the Moon and the calculations. The rules of movements of the Sun and the Moon are subjected to computation (Q55: 5). The dates can be predicted by calculations.

The Islamic months are based on the cycle of the Moon. The months begin with the appearance of the first Hilal. Now we shall examine whether the Imams and the Fuqaha (Jurists) agree to have common dates for the Islamic Calendar, from the quotations from the writings of their own. Let us examine the views of the Imams of different Schools of Thought of the Muslim community regarding the observation of the Hilal to begin the months of the Islamic calendar.

1. Observing the Hilal in Hanafi, Maliki and Hambali Schools.

For those who get the information that the new month has been fixed somewhere in the world on a particular day, it is imperative that they approve it and observe Fasting or Eid according to it. Difference in the horizon is not considered here. If this principle is accepted, it is possible to observe Fasting or Eid on the same Day of the week throughout the world. Majority of the Muslims in the world today belongs to different Schools of Thought. Let us see whether they accept this principle.

The Book called Madhahibul Arba’, which has evaluated the opinions of different Schools says, “When seeing of the Hilal is confirmed in any quarter, then fasting becomes obligatory for those in all other quarters. There is no consideration for the difference of Mathla’h’ (horizon) of the Hilal with the three Imams but the Shafiys have differed.”(Madhahibul Arba’ vol 1, page 550).

Imam Shafiy also opines that all should accept the decision. He has talked about the Mathla’h’ (the Date line) of which we have mentioned above. Obviously, he has pondered upon the problem of the Kiblah and the Jumu’a changeover in the world. It is clearly seen from the writings of the Scholars, who came after the great Imams that they could not understand what Shafiy (RA) had said. They were influenced by other incorrect views, which had crept into the books. They have even rejected some of Shafiy’s statements!

2.  In Rahmathul Ummah it is written:

“They have agreed that when the Hilal is widely seen in a country, fasting becomes compulsory on all the inhabitants of the Earth.” (Rahmathul Ummah page 118)

Fasting is compulsory in the month of Ramadan. The rule for fixing the first of the month in the Shariah is seeing the first Hilal on the 29th of the out going month or completion of 30 days for it.  When 30 days are completed it is not necessary to see the Hilal once again. The next month begins without seeing the Hilal. Thefore seeing the Hilal is not the criterion for defining the months. Month is a measure of time. It cannot be different for different people just as a kilometer cannot be different.

The orders of the Prophet (SAW) to look for the Hilal on the 29th of Shaban will not have any meaning if people looked on different Days, like Friday and Saturday. Muslims of the present day do this and render the sayings of the Prophet (SAW) meaningless and ridiculous. Even after the Muslims at some place began fasting according to the rules of the Shariah, the Muslims at another place are not ashamed to look at the sky eagerly, to see the Hilal, which they never see and return disappointed to wait for one more day!

There should be a limit to this foolishness. We should know that Ramadan begins on the same Day for all in the world. The quotation in the Rahmathul Ummah means that if some people began fasting on Friday, basing on the appearing of the Hilal, or after completing 30 days for Shaban, then all must begin it on Friday. If one could not fast on that Friday owing to a permissible reason one must compensate for it by fasting one day after Ramadan.

3. In Fatawa Alamgeriyya, the famous book of the Hanafi School, it is written:

“There is no consideration for the difference of the Mathali’a (horizons) in the clear interpretation of the report of Abu Haneefa.” (Fatawa Alamgeriyya vol. 1 page 198)

4. In another famous work of this School it is said:

“If people of a town fasted 30 days based on their observation and people of another town fasted 29 days based on their observation, then those who fasted 29 are obliged to compensate for one day’s fast. There is no consideration for the difference of the Mathali’a (horizons) in the clear interpretation of the report.” (Fatawa Qadeekhan 1:198)

The exact number of days for a particular lunar month can be determined by observing the Hilals or Ahillah of the Moon and the Manzils. The number of days for a particular month of a particular year can be determined exactly by calculations even for thousands of years. But for those who do not know the methods of observation and calculation it is not possible for them to know whether the month is of 29 or 30 days.

When the people are unable to calculate or know, if some people have fasted 30 days, then the others also must fast 30 days because a particular Ramadan cannot be 29 for some and 30 for the others. But for a people who know how to observe the Moon and find out the exact date or calculate it, such a rule will not be applicable. They must fast correctly according to the appearance of the Hilal as commanded by the Prophet (saw).

The Prophet (saw)) has informed that the month will be like this and like that meaning 29 or 30 days. Every Ramadan will not have 30 days or 29 days. It will vary every year according to the cycle of the Moon, which follows certain laws. (Q 55:5). When we know that the Ramadan of 1422 H has 29 days only, according to the lunar cycle, how can we say that the people should fast for 30 days in that Ramadan?

5.  Imam Qurtubi quotes:

“I said: Tabari in his Ahkamul Qur’an says:  Followers of Abu Haneefa have agreed on that when the people of a country fasted 30 days based on their observation and the people of another country fasted 29 days based on their observation. Then the latter that fasted 29 days, must compensate for one day. But the followers of Shafiy do not see this, as the Mathla’h of two countries could be different. Proof of the followers of Imam Abu Haneefa (RA) is the divine

command, “You shall complete the number.”  Since the observation of a country confirmed the term to be of 30 days, completing the term became compulsory on them.” (Tafsir Qurtubi 2:295).

Imam Shafiy has recognized the Mathla’h’ (Date Line), but the followers were at a loss to understand what the Imam was actually referring to. That is why there is some controversy.

6. In Sharah of Fat’hul Qadeer, another famous Hanafi work, it is said:

“When it is confirmed in a city, it is binding on all people. So seeing of the west is applicable to the east as well in the clear interpretation of the Madhab.” (Sharah Fat’hul Qadeer, 2: 314).

Here the west and the east mean the people living in the west or east of a town. The rule will be same for them. But the rule is different for the West and the East on the Mathla’h’ al Fajre or the Date Line. Those who live to the East of the Date Line say the Jumu’a prayer with a gap of 24 hours (one day) and their Kiblah is towards the East. They are called the people of the East. Those who live to the West of the Date Line say the first Jumu’a prayer and face the Kiblah towards the West. They are called the people of the West. Here seeing of the West is not applicable to the East. This is what Imam Shafiy (RA) was referring to. This rule

is not applicable to those who live in a western or eastern country in relation to a place elsewhere on the Globe.

7. In Iqna the famous book of Hambali School, it is said:

“When the Hilal is confirmed at a place near or far, fasting is obligatory on all people. The ruling on those who did not see is the same as for those who saw it, even if the Mathla’h (horizons) differed, fasting is compulsory.” (Iqna 1:309).

But this would not apply to those who live on the sides of the Date line. The rules will not be same on the sides of the Date Line. For example, the people living on the Island of Samoa cannot begin the fasting with those living on the Island of Fiji even if they get the information. There is a time difference of 24 hours between them and this must be strictly adhered to. If the people of Fiji began fasting on Friday, the people of Samoa too will begin fasting on Friday but there will be a gap of 24 hours between them. Both the places begin fasting on the same Day here also. The scholars were not aware of the Date line (Mathla’h’).

8. Imam Shaukani says:

“It is the opinion of the Malikiy Scholars.” (Nailul Authar 4:269). So all Muslims must observe Fasting or Eid on the same day just as they observe the Jumu’a prayer on the same day all over the world at different times. Same day means

same Day of the week, that is to say, if some people observed Eid on Friday all must observe it on Friday. Time is different but Day is common for all. No one can contradict this.

9. Imam Sabooni, in his Tafseer Ayathul Ahkam writes:

“Hanafis, Malikiys and Hambalis opine that it is not necessary to consider the difference of the Mathla’h (horizons) and when the people of a country saw the Hilal, fasting is obligatory for the rest of the countries also, due to the saying of the Prophet (saw),”Commence fasting at its appearance and celebrate Eidul Fitre at its appearance.” This is a common address to the entire community. So any one of them saw it, wherever it may be, has seen it on behalf of them all.” (Tafseer Ayathul Ahkam).

10. In Fat’hul Barry it is written:

“When one town decides, it is binding on the people of all countries. This is the most prevalent view of Malikiy Madhab.” (Fat’hul Barry 5:601)

11. Ibn Mundir (RA), leader of the Ahlus Sunna declares: 

“This is the view of the Hanafi, Malikiy and Humbali Schools.” (Sharahus Sunnah 6:245).

12. Imam Navavi (RA) also confirms:

“These three Madhabs have the same opinion.” (Sharahul Muhaddab 6:274)  From these explanations it is clear that the followers of Hanafi, Malikiy and Hambali Schools say that the World Muslims must celebrate the Eid on a single Day basing on the first appearance of the Hilal. We have already stated that Imam Shafiy (RA) also has the same opinion. The scholars, who followed him, have expressed different opinions only because they were not aware of the Date line (Mathla’h’) about which the Imam had talked. Views expressed later by some others without having profound knowledge cannot be treated as the views of the Imams themselves.

13. In Shafiy Madhab:

“As regards the case of the people of a country when they saw the Hilal but not the others, we have already given the explanation of our (Shafiy) School and the quoting of Ibn Mundir from Ikrima, Qasim, Salim, and Ishaq ibn Rahvaihi, that the seeing will not apply to others than the dwellers of the country and from Lais, Shafiy (RA) and Ahmad Ibn Humbal (RA) that it will apply to all. He said: “I know nothing except the words of the Madaniyi and the Kufiyi that is, Imam Malik and Imam Abu Haneefa.”

14. Ibn Hajar (RA) says:

“And if the countries are far away, there are two views. According to the majority it is not obligatory and Abu Twayyib (RA) and a group have chosen it as obligatory.” This is narrated by Imam Baghvi from Imam Shafiy (RA)”. (Fat’hul Barry.Vol.6 page 601).

The difference of opinion among the scholars of the Shafy Madhab is only on the question of the Mathla’h’ being different. The Date Line or the place of day break in the world of which Imam Shafiy (RA) mentioned was not known to them because the extent of the Earth or the Mathla’h’ was not known in their days. Even the existence of America was unknown to them.

Therefore we need not worry about the contradictions of the followers of Imam Shafiy (RA). The followers of the other three Imams did not take up the subject at all because their Imams were silent on it. Certainly they too would have no objection to accept the fact that the day and date must differ on the sides of the Date Line, but not on any other place. So we can say that there is no contradiction at all. All of them agree that the Eid must be celebrated on the same Day all over the world.

15. Ahmad Ibn Yahya (RA) writes in his Al mi’yar:

“A section of Scholars says that the fasting is obligatory for those who get the information of the Hilal witnessed elsewhere. This is the view expressed by Imam Shafiy and Ahmad. I understand that this is the view of Imam Malik and Imam Abu Haneefa also.” (Al mi’yar Vol.1, page 416).

16. Imam Navavi (RA) says:

“According to the majority of them, if the Hilal is confirmed in one place it is applicable to all people of the neighboring places. It is not applicable to the people of far away places.” (Minhaj).

No Madhab or Scholar has expressed the view that it is not permissible to accept the information from elsewhere. Imam Shafy (RA) referring to the Mathla’h’ (the Date Line), said that the rule of the West is not applicable to the East. Fasting with the West is not permissible on the East of the Date Line. There is no question of a place being near or far away. The rule will differ only at the place where the West and East meet on the Earth. The Scholars were not aware of such a place and they made contradictory statements!

Observing the sequence of time in performing the rituals is compulsory in the Shariah. So those who are behind in time cannot advance. This is forbidden. This means that those who live on the East of the Date Line shall observe the rituals after 24 hours (one day) of the West, not before the West. This difference in observing the rituals is not manifest on the other Days of the week, but it becomes manifest on Fridays, Fasting days, Arafat days and Eid days. There is a difference of one day there and it is compulsory in the Shariah to observe the time order in the rituals at that place.

Imam Navavi (RA) continues further:

“Some of our followers say: Seeing of one place is applicable to the people all over the world. And on this we say that Ibn Abbas (RA) did not act according to the information of Kuraib because it is a case of testimony, which is not established by one witness.” (Sharahu Muslim, Vol. 4 p.212).

“If two places are far apart, there are two prevalent views from the two sides. First (most accurate) of them is that it is not obligatory on the other countries. The second view is that it is obligatory. Swymiri has supported this. Qadhi Abu Twaiyiba, Darimi, Abu Ali and others have corroborated it. They respond to the Hadith quoted by Kuraib from Ibn Abbas(RA) thus: “Seeing of the Hilal at another country was not acceptable to him without the testimony of two just persons,” (Sharahu Muhaddab 6-273).

To accept the decision of another country the testimony of two just persons are required in the Shariah on the basis of this tradition. This is again when there is a doubt about the onset or outgoing of Ramadan. Today we can communicate by telephone and confirm it. So there is no evidence for those who argue that India should not celebrate the Eid on the same Day with Arabia. Such information will not apply at the Mathla’h’ al Fajre or the Date line. Imam Shafy (RA) has estalished this.

Imam Navavi (RA) says in his Sharahu Muslim:

“Nearness is measured as that distance within which Salah cannot be performed as Qasar, (lessened)”. (Sharahu Muslim 4- 22).

The distance between the two places through which the Date Line passes, should be such that the Shariah would permit Qasar in the Salah. There should be travel between such places

In Sharahus Sunna by the famous scholar Imam Bagvi (RA) it is said:

“Ibn Mundir said that the most of the Fuqaha say: When it is confirmed by news of the people that a country among the countries has seen it before them, then compensating for what they have not fasted is compulsory. This is the view of Imam Malik, Imam Shafiy, Imam Ahmad, Imam Abu Haneefa and others.” (Sharahus Sunna, 6- 245).

Readers will now realize that none of the Imams of the four schools consider the difference in Mathla’h or difference in Ramadan. They have declared that it is obligatory on all Muslims to act according to the information that the Hilal has been confirmed at some place on the Earth.

Views of the Salafi Scholars:

After those who follow the Madhabs, it is the Salafiys that represent the other groups of the Muslim community. Salafiys have no objection to act on the Hilal witnessed elsewhere on the Earth. Let us examine what the Salafiy scholars say:

1. Shaikhul Islam Ibn Taimiyya (RA) writes:

“The basic principle here is getting the news about the Hilal. According to the saying of the Prophet: ‘Begin the fasting at its appearance’. “When one gets the information that it has appeared it is binding on him as well without any restriction as to the distance.” (Majma’ fatawa. Vol, 25 page 107).

2. The renowned Salafi Scholar Imam Shaukani (RA) writes:

What is reliable is the decision of the Malikiys and a group of Zaidis. Their Imam Mahdi has chosen it. Imam Qurthubi has quoted this from his Shaikhs. “When the people of a country see it, it is binding on the people of all countries.” (Nailul Autar 4-269).

3.In Adduraril Mudie’a, another work of Imam Shaukani(RA) it is said: (published by Ihyaul Turasul Islam of Kuwait) 

“When one country saw it, it is binding on all the other united countries. He has based this on the clear Ahadith, which impose fasting at its appearance and celebrating Eid at its appearance.  It is an address to the entire community. Therefore if one of them saw it anywhere he has seen it on behalf of all.” (Addurar.1-134).

Please note that the word Ra’a for seeing has two meanings; 1. Seeing.  2. Knowing. This word is used extensively in the Qur’aan in both the meanings. It only means that when the advent of Ramadan is confirmed at a place by observing the Hilal or after completing 30 days for Shaban or knowing the time of appearing of the Hilal by other means, it is binding on all people in the world. The month of Ramadan would commence on a particular Day of the week and all should agree that it has begun on that Day.

4. The renowned scholar Ibn Khudama writes:

“When the people of a country saw the Hilal, fasting is obligatory on all countries.” (Mugni: 3-5). See some of the evidence he produces. “Muslims are unanimous in that the fasting is obligatory in the month of Ramadan and if it is proved by strong testimony that the Day belongs to Ramadan, then fasting on it is compulsory on all Muslims. Fasting is obligatory for all, just as it is obligatory for the neighboring countries.”

5. Shamsuddin Muquaddis (736 AH) writes:

“When seeing is confirmed at a place near or far, fasting is obligatory for all countries. The rule of those who did not see it is just as of those who saw it even if the Mathla’h (horizons) differed.”(Kitabul Furoo’a).

6. In Arraulathunnadiyya it is written:

“The evidence to say that fasting is obligatory on all is the clear Ahadith ordering to fast at its appearance and to celebrate Eidul Fitre at its appearance. This is an address to the entire community. So if one of them saw it, wherever it may be, that seeing is enough for all of them.” (Arraulathynnadiyya 1-38).

7. In Fiqhussunnah it is written:

“Majority of the Scholars asserts that there is no consideration for the difference of Mathla’h (horizons). When people of a country saw the Hilal, fasting is compulsory for all countries on the words of the Prophet (saw), “fast at its appearance and celebrate the Eidul Fitre at its appearance”. This is an address to the entire community. So if anyone among them saw it, wherever it may be, that seeing is for all of them.” (Fiqhussunnah 2-436)

8. Tuhfathul Ahvadiyya, a commentary of Turmudi, quoting the view of Imam Shaukani (RA) establishes that if the Hilal is seen somewhere on the Earth it is binding on all those who received that information (379/3).

9. In Kithabul Insaf it is stated: (re-published by the special interest of the King of Saudi Arabia)

“When the people of a country see the Hilal, fasting is obligatory on all mankind” (Insaf. 3-273).

10. Ibn Majishoon (RA) says:

“The witnessing will be binding only on the people of the country in which the witnessing is confirmed except that it is confirmed with the Grand Imam, then it will be binding on all of them because in his sight all countries are like one country. Then his decree will be executed all over.” (Fat’hul Barry 5: 601, Bidaya 1: 228).

11. In Nailul Ma’arib, the revered Imam Shaybani says:

“Fasting of Ramadan becomes obligatory on the appearance of its Hilal on all mankind and the rule for those who did not see it is that of those who saw it even if the Mathla’h (horizons) differed.” (Nailul Ma’arib, 1-66)

12. Shaikhul Islam Mansoor Ibn Yunus (RA) says:

“When the people of a country see the Hilal or when its appearance is confirmed in a country, fasting becomes obligatory on all mankind because of his (SAW) saying, ‘fast at its appearance’, is an address to the entire community.” (Raudul Mar’i’ 1-46).

13. Allama Abbas Karara says:

“When the Hilal is confirmed in any quarter, fasting becomes obligatory for the people in all quarters.” (Addeen P.56).

This is the opinion of the majority of the Salafiy Scholars now living in the Gulf countries. The Saudi government is following this principle for long. When the Ramadan fasting and the Eid are fixed the Hilal is not necessarily seen in Saudi Arabia, they consider the Hilal of America or other places for this purpose. Though some of them are against using the calculations they have no objection in accepting the information of the Hilal of another place. Hambali Madhab is prevalent there.

Viewpoint of the Shiyas

Shiyas follow their own calendar. From the works of renowned Shiya scholars it is clear that the Shiyas too have no objection in observing the Fasting and the Eid on the basis of the information of the Hilal confirmed somewhere in the world. (Nailul Autar 4:269).

What does the Qur’aan say?

The basic principle of the Qur’aan is that the maximum unity should be ensured in all areas. The Qur’aan strongly deprecates disunity and admonishes to create unity in the matter of Fasting and Feasting on the basis of the principles discussed above. The Qur’aan gives favorable guidelines and enjoins unity.

According to the Ayah, “Let those who witness the month observe fasting in it.”  It is compulsory for the people to fast in the period of Ramadan, which may be 29 or 30 days from a certain Day to a certain Day of the week based on the cycle of the Moon. Those who missed one day due to a reason should compensate by fasting after Ramadan. It says, “You must complete the number”. We have already seen that in the matter of fasting, the Hanafi, Shafiy, Malikiy and Hambali Scholars have clarified that it is not necessary to consider the difference of the Mathla’h (horizon).

The Qur’aan says that the Lailathul Qadre is one Night through 24 hours during which the Earth revolves in darkness. But in India we see that the Lailathul Qadre

is observed on 3 Days. This means that it occurs in three Nights. The Lailathul Qadre cannot be three different Nights in the world. The Qur’aan talks about one Lailathul Qadre only.

What was the Prophet’s Practice?

From the report of Abu Hurairah (RA): From Abu Umair:  “A Caravan came to the Prophet (saw). They said: Yesterday we have seen the Hilal. The Prophet asked the people to break the fast and go to their prayer place next morning.” (Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maja, Nassaye).

From the report of Ibn Majah:

“It is said that the caravan arrived at the end of the day. The Prophet did not ask them about the distance. He asked them to break the fast without any enquiry (about the distance) even though the caravan came from a distant place.” Prophet (saw) said: “Fasting is on the Day you fast, Eid-ul-Fitre is on the Day you observe Eid-ul-Fitre, and Eid-ul-Adha is on the Day you observe Eid-ul-Adha.” (Turmudi).

The meaning is that the Day for observing the religious rites such as Jumu’a, Arafat, Ashura, Fastings, Eidul Fitre and Eidul Adha should be common for all in the world. The special rites of such Days should be performed on one Day throughout the world, at different times according to the distance. For example if it is a Friday all must do it on Friday. If Makkah is taken as the Center, those to the East observe all the rituals before Makkah. They extend up to 9 hours. Those to the West observe the rituals after Makkah. They extend up to 15 hours. The Shariah demands that the order of time sequence must be strictly adhered to.

From Ayisha (RA)

“Eid-ul-fitre is on the Day when people celebrate the Eid-ul-fitre. Eid-ul-Adha is on the Day when people celebrate Eid-ul-Adha.” (Abu Dawood, Ibn Maja).

In another report we can see that:

“Your Arafat Day is on the Day of your standing on the Arafat.”

These Ahadith declare the unity of the Days of Fasting and Feasting. It should be one Day for all people living in the world. The weekly Eid of Jumu’a is performed on one Day throughout the world. Then why cannot the annual Eid be performed on one Day all over the world? Why should people disagree in celebrating the Eid on one Day all over the world as commanded by the Prophet (saw)?

From Ibn Umair: “The Prophet said: When the Hilal appears, begin fasting and when it appears celebrate the Eidul Fitre.” (Bukhari, Muslim).

It is on the basis of this Hadith that the Imams of the 4 Madhabs and Imam Shaikhul Islam, Ibn Taimiyya ® have declared that when the Hilal appears at any place on the Earth, it shall be the basis for the beginning of the month on the Earth, for all people who come to know about it.

There is only the following narration of Kuraib on which some people argue that the Hilal, which occurs in one place is not applicable to another place.

No one says that it is prohibited to consider the Hilal confirmed at another place. The view that it is not applicable to the others is due to a misunderstanding of the Hadith of Kuraib. But those to the East of the Mathla’h’ (Date Line) shall not fast the next morning with those to the West. It will be prohibited there, because the Days and the directions of the Qibla differ at that place on the Earth. If the people of the West fasted on Friday, the people of the East also should fast on Friday, but there will be a gap of 24 hours’ difference there between the West and the East. This shall not be overlooked.

Hadith of Kuraib

Kuraib says: Ummul Fadle (RA) sent me to Muaviyah in Sham on an errand for her. I reached Sham. I fulfilled her request. While in Sham Ramadan began and on the eve of Friday we saw the Hilal of Ramadan. Then I came to Medina by the end of the month. Ibn Abbas (RA) questioned me and enquired about the Hilal. He said, “When did you see the Hilal?” I said  “We saw it on the eve of Friday”. Then he said,  “Did you see it?” I said,  “Yes, the people saw it and they fasted and Muaviyah too fasted.” Then he said, “but we saw it on the eve of Saturday and we will continue fasting until we complete thirty or we see it.” Then I said, “Is not Muaviya’s seeing and his fasting enough for you? He said  “No, That is what the Prophet (SAW) ordered us.” (Muslim)

COMMENTS

1. Due to ignorance of the scientific facts certain scholars had interpreted that Ibn Abbas ® did not accept Kuraib’s statement because it was a distant place. Rising of the Moon differs every year and every month at every place. Mostly all places in Kerala may come in one Mathla’h’. But at times even Kozhikode and Kasargode would differ. The Hilal seen at one place may not be visible at another place. This does not mean that date of the two places would differ except on the Mathla’h’ (the Date Line). Ibn Abbas ® knew very well that Friday of Sham is Friday for Medina too. So if Friday is the first of Ramadan for Sham then Friday must be the first of Ramadan for Medina also. Ibn Abbas ® cannot be ignorant of this. He was aware of the saying of the Prophet (saw) that: “If two Muslims bear witness, you begin fasting or celebrate Eid.”  Then why did he reject Kuraib’s statement that Sham began fasting on Friday?

2.  Sham (Syria) is about 1000 km away from Medina. Will those who interpret that Ibn Abbas ® did not accept Kuraib’s statment because of the difference in the Mathla’h’ argue that Makkah and Ryadh which are situated about 1000 km apart should observe the Eid on different Days? The argument that within such and such distance the Mathla’h’ should differ at times is baseless.

3. Imam Shaukani ® has given a scholarly explanation to this Hadith in his Nailul Autar. His explanation is quite satisfactory. An important comment in it says: Ibn Abbas ® has referred the sayings of the Prophet. “Fast at the appearing of the Hilal and celebrate Eidul Fitre at its appearing, if it is overcast complete thirty.” that was the command. It does not say that the appearing of the Hilal should be calculated on the basis of such and such distance or that the witnesses should be within such and such distance.

4. Imam Shaukani ® also gives a scholarly reply to this Hadith in his work Addurari. “The manner in which some scholars interpret the Hadith of Kuraib narrated by Muslim and others is not correct, because Ibn Abbas did not express anything to mean that the Prophet (saw) has ordered them not to act upon the seeing of other regions other than theirs, but he meant that the Prophet (saw) ordered them to complete 30 or see it. This was his thinking. By seeing he meant the seeing of that region is a mistake in understanding the Hadith. People fell into arguments and error till hey were divided into more than eight factions on this issue.” (Addarari. 1: 143).

5. Kuraib said that they saw the Hilal of Ramadan on the eve of Friday. But Ibn Abbas® says that he saw the Hilal of Ramadan on the eve of Saturday. There is a contradiction here. The Prophet’s order is to look for the Hilal on the 29th of the month, not on any other Day. So Ibn Abbas ® looked for the Hilal of Ramadan on Friday evening, which was the 29th of Shaban and he saw it. He began fasting according to it on Saturday.

We cannot say that Ibn Abbas® looked for the Hilal of Ramadan on the first of Ramadan instead of 29th of Shaban! He was one of the most knowledgeable persons among the Sahaba. ®. He knew very well that Friday of Medina and Sham was same and that the 29th of Shaban too should be Friday at both the places. So the eve of Friday should be 28th of Shaban for the people of Sham too.

The big question now in front of us including Ibn Abbas® is, how did Kuraib look for the Hilal of Ramadan on Thursday which was the 28th of Shaban and how could he see the Hilal on the 28th? It was certainly not possible to see the Hilal on the 28th of the month! Most probably Kuraib and others had seen some thing else and mistook it for the Hilal. Now it was not proper for Ibn Abbas® to act according to Kuraib’s statement.

He needed another witness to support Kuraib’s statement that Ramadan began on Friday at Sham. The Hadith does not record that anyone else had appeared before Ibn Abbas® to support Kuraib. Ibn Abbas® had no other alternative but to reject Kuraib’s unfounded statement.

He knew very well that the Ramadan should commence on the same Day at all places and he wanted to verify whether the statement of Kuraib that Ramadan began on Friday was correct and reliable. That is why he had to question Kuraib. If he had learnt from the Prophet (saw) that the months could begin on different Days at Medina and Sham and the celebration of the Eid could be on different Days, then there was no need for him to question Kuraib and waste his valuable time. He need not bother about Sham and their seeing. He could have simply said without an enquiry “like this the Messenger of Allah has commanded us, and Sham is far away”.

His enquiring into the matter, when he heard that the people at Sham had begun Ramadan one day before proves that the Sahaba® had learnt from the Prophet (saw) that the months should begin on the same Day at all places and the Eid should be celebrated on the same Day all over the world.

It is reported that Ibn Abbas® asked Kuraib to fast the 31st.day. This is because Ibn Abbas® was sure that Ramadan began on Saturday that year and that there cannot two days of the first of Ramdan (Friday and Saturday) in a year. This proves that the people of Sham had made a mistake and they began fasting one day earlier unknowingly. The fast of Kuraib on Friday was actually in Shaban. So his fast is not valid. Since that Ramadan had 30 days according to the correct observation of the Manzils of the Moon, Kuraib must fast one day more and that is why Ibn Abbas ® ordered him to fast (See Bulugh al-Maraam’s commentary Sulus Salam for details).

Some of the Shafiy scholars explain this hadith.

Imam Navavi® quotes: “Some of our followers say: If the Hilal is seen at one place it is binding on all people on the Earth. Certainly Ibn Abbas® did not accept Kuraib’s information because of lack of evidence. An evidence cannot be confirmed by one person.” (Sharah Muslim: 4-212)

Imam Shaukani®’s interpretation is quoted and accepted in Turmudi’s explanatory work Tuhfathul Ahvadiyya (vol.3, P 379). “Ibn Abbas® rejected Kuraib’s statement for want of witnesses.”

Renowned works in Hanafi Madhab explain: “Kuraib is the only witness. For a

Qadi to enforce a decree one witness is not sufficient” (Sharah Thuhfathul Qadeer. 2-314).

Scholars of Malikiy Madhab: The scholars of the Malikiy Madhab also have expressed similar views. (Vo1 30 P211. Areelathul Ahvadi of Ibn Arabi)

Renowned scholars of Hambali Madhab explain:

“Kuraib’s Hadith informs us that they did not celebrate Eidul Fitre depending on Kuraib’s words. We also say the same. The question is whether compensation for the lost fast of the first day of Ramadan became compulsory. That is not mentioned in the Hadith.” (Mugni 3-5)

In short there is no mention in any Hadith that the information of the Hilal seen elsewhere should be rejected or that the Prophet (saw) has specified the limits to accept the witnesses. The reason is that there would be difference in the appearance of the Hilal and it should not be determined according to the distance. Moreover, it changes every month. Moonrise and moonset for every day for any given place can be determined exactly by calculations. We can see in the practice of the Prophet (saw), the directions to the effect that the differences in moonrise shall not be considered in the case of determining the onset of the month.

DOUBTS AND EXPLANATIONS

Doubt- 1

On the Earth there is difference in day and night. When it is night in America it is daytime here. When the Hilal is seen at some place it may be mid-day elsewhere. How can one commence fasting then?

Explanation:

This is a question raised to establish that the problem is complex. No one argues that fasting should start as soon as the Hilal is seen at some place on the Earth. We do not start fasting or celebration of Eid as soon as we see the Hilal! We start only the next morning after the expiry of that night. Fasting is to be observed from dawn to dusk. Thus based on the appearance of the Hilal on the Earth, people at all places should commence fasting or celebration from the next morning when the Day begins. They should not wait expecting the announcement of their Qadi, who would see the Hilal once again and decide. The Qadi has no right to decide independently. He should use the common sense and base on the first appearance of the Hilal in the world. If the information is delayed, that Day should be regarded, as the first of Ramadan and the lost fast should be compensated by fasting one day after the Eid ul Fitre. This is the law of the Shariah.

There are places on the Earth where days and nights are experienced for almost six months. Muslims live there also. For them seeing the Hilal is impossible. Those who raise such questions should not think that Islam is not practicable everywhere in the world. Does it mean that the Muslims living there need not fast or celebrate Eid because they do not see the Sun or the Moon? The Sun and the Moon are for calculating time. The Sun indicates the Day and the Moon indicates the Date. Even if we do not see them both we can know our Day and Date by other means

that Allah has provided for us. The people who live at such places should calculate and observe the rituals. They should use the common sense and calculate time and dates taking Makkah as the center, and Makkah should base the Date on the first appearing of the Hilal on the Earth, or on the Ahillah of the Moon.

Doubt – 2

Should we not unify the prayer of Zuhar and Asar etc. also?  Should we not say the Zuhar prayer when Zuhar prayer is said in Makkah?

Explanation:

This is a childish question. The Prophet has never said that the Zuhar prayer is when they say Zuhar prayer or that the Asar prayer is when the people say Asar prayer. Islam does not decree uniformity in this regard even among the people of a given locality. The people who raise such questions do not understand that the Earth is a globe and the small units of time must differ everywhere on the Earth. Islam is the right religion and a right religion cannot order the people to do foolish and impossible things. Zuhar prayer may be performed from the time of the sun’s decline till the time of Asar prayer. For the other prayers also there is allowance. Can we say that the same duration can be permitted for the Eid prayers, two different Days? Is it the same difference when we perform Eid prayers on two different Days? In daily time-bound prayer remembering Allah is more important and so declares the Qur’an. In Eid prayer the unity of the Muslims is more important. Sayings of the Prophet (SAW) make it clear.

Imams of the four Madhabs and Salafi scholars like Ibn Taimiyya say that it is essential to observe fasting and the Eid on the basis of the first occurrence of the Hilal on the Earth without considering the difference in the appearance of the Hilal. Those who find it difficult to say that it is obligatory, as suggested by these scholars, should at least show tolerance to say that it is not prohibited or Haram. In fact it is Haram to oppose the unity and fast when their brothers are feasting. The Prophet (SAW) has forbidden the fast on the Day of Eid of the Muslim Community. An Eid cannot be on both Monday and Tuesday. The Eid can fall only on one Day of the week.

When we examine the Qur’aan, the Sunnah, the Hadith and the works of the Imams and Scholars we can see that the uniformity in the Days of fasting and Eid is a must. The disunity that prevails today is absurd and illegal according to the laws of Shariah because there is no evidence what so ever to allow two or three Days of Eid in the world. The Prophet (saw) has not allowed it.

Unification of the Eid Day is only an indicator towards the goal of unity of the Muslim Community.  The only way to bring about this unity is by reviving the practice of the Islamic calendar, which has almost disappeared from the world. If we educate the Muslims about the Islamic calendar they will understand that there cannot be two dates for one day in the Islamic calendar and everyone will argue that the Eid must be performed on a single day in the world. We have to do more work to bring the quarrelling factions of the Muslims to hold fast on the rope of Allah (SWT). All praise is to Allah. May Allah help us in the venture! He is our savior.

Oh Allah! If we have erred or if we have forgotten in our duty forgive us our shortcomings.

Beginning the fasting of Ramadan, Eidul Fitre and Eidul Adha are observed by the Indian Muslims on different Days of the week. Is it possible to unify this as a common Day for the world? This is a question raised by many of our friends with sadness. Let us examine.

Prima facie, Fasting and Feasting cannot go together. If some people fasted while the others feasted it will be awkward and a true religion cannot allow it. Fasting is to be observed in the month of Ramadan, says the Qur’aan. A month is a measure of time and the period of Ramadan cannot be different for the people on earth. It would begin on a particular Day of the week and end on a particular Day. Days of the week are common for all. Days have names and they are known  by their names. The first of Shawwal is the Day fixed for the Eidul Fitre and the first of a month cannot fall on two Dates of the Islamic calendar.

The Day begins at a particular place on the Earth and follows gradually changing from place to place in succession. It proceeds throughout the world and remains the same until 24 hours even though some one’s night is some one’s day on the globe. The Shariah does not require fasting at night and the beginning of a fast prevails till 24 hours in the same way as the Jumu’a prayer, till 24 hours throughout the Globe. If it exceeds 24 hours the people would be observing the Jumu’a or Eid prayer for more than one day (24 hours) and the Shariah would not allow it. So celebrating the Eid for more than one Day (24 hours) is out of question. If the people of a place celebrated Eid on a Friday, all should celebrate it on that Friday.

Among the Muslims today there is no unity in their dates. This is due to ignorance and foolishness. There are newspapers and calendars, which show different Hijra dates for the same Day! If there is no unity in dates, people cannot record the dates of birth of their children according to the Islamic calendar. Children born on the same day will have different dates of birth! How can the Islamic calendar be practicable if the Shariah permitted this? How can the Muslims fix the date for a program in advance according to their calendar, if the dates cannot be calculated? If the Hilal must be seen with the naked eyes to begin every month the dates cannot be predicted and the dates would be liable to change at the whims of the people! How could this be permissible in Islam, the Right Religion prescribed by Allah (swt) for the people?

The Islamic Calendar is perfect and all other man-made calendars used in this world today are defective and susceptible to change in the course of time. The fact that Islam has taught a dating system, which is free of error and not susceptible to any change at a time when the world had no idea about the recording of time, can be treated as evidence that Islam is divine.

The history of the Jewish calendar traces back until the second millenium BCE. At these times, a luni-solar calendar seems to have been in use already, in which the decision of intercalating a month was made according to observations. Only four months had names (Abib, Ziv, Bul, Ethanim)(1), the other months having been designated with their numbers. In 587 BCE, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebukadnezar II. and many Jews deported to Mesopotamia, where, influenced by the Babylonian month names, the Jewish months got their names. After the Persian king Kyros had defeated the Babylonian Empire, the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem, were a small state was created, which consisted of the city itself an some area around it. This state was part of Persia and later of the Seleucid(2) Empire and Egypt. This is the period known as the time of the Second Temple (538 BCE until 70 CE).

Not only intercalation, but also the beginning of each month was determined by observation. A calendar council gathered on the 30th day of each month and consulted witnesses, which had to report on the visibility of the moon’s crescent. Had the crescent been visible, the actual day was declared to be the first day of the new month. Otherwise, the new month began only with the following day. The decision was published and sent to all communities by fire signals. But, according to reports from the second century CE, Samaritans gave false signals, causing many Jews to fall into error. The message was therefore carried to the communities by messengers, but with many Jewish communities too far away to be reached in time, the actual date became uncertain. Therefore, the Jews celebrated all feasts on two consecutive days, making sure, that any feast was observed. Only Yom Kipur was observed only on one day.

The Jewish state gained independence again in 140 BCE, and by the end of the century a Jewish kingdom had evolved. Soon the throne was disputed giving the Romans possibilities to get involved. In 63 BCE, Palestine was occupied by Roman troups led by Pompeius. The Jewish state remained formally independent, but in fact had to obey Roman orders. In this time, the Sanhedrin was created, which became the highest authority on problems whithin the Jewish state, including the determination of the calendar, which was observation-based, yet.

Following quarrels between Greek and Jewish inhabitants of Palestine, a full-scale Jewish uprising developed in 66 CE. The Romans sent Vespasian to suppress the rebellion. After Nero’s death a civil war broke out in the Roman Empire itself, which Vespasian could win, becoming emperor in 69 CE. Vespasian’s son, Titus, took over the lead of the Roman troups in Palestine. Eventually, Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in 70 CE. The Sanhedrin was re-created by the end of the first century CE and was now led by a patriarch. With the Jews now having communities almost all over the world then known, a regular scheme for the calendar became necessary. With such rules, anyone could determine the date regardless how far he lived from Jerusalem.

After the uprising led by Bar-Kokhba (132 CE) persecutions against the Jews reached an intensity which made it almost impossible to communicate the beginnings of months and years. Now, computational rules were being established concerning the calendar, and in the beginning fourth century CE the beginnings of the months were determined by calculation, the report of witnesses having become a mere formality. There was some opposition against this practice within the Sanhedrin, and Jews in Babylon and Alexandria were told to continue to celebrate the feasts on two days, which is done by the Jews in the diaspora until today.

When Constantine became Roman emperor, the Christian religion de facto became the official religion in the empire. It was forbidden to exercise the Jewish religion at all, including to do calculations in connection to the Jewish calendar. This led, in 359 CE, to patriarch Hillel II. publishing rules for computing the calendar which had been regarded as a secret until then (3). The 19-year leap year cycle was fixed to the present order, while the era and some rules for determining New Year were set only until the 10th century. The era used until the 11th century was the era of the Seleucids, starting in 312 BCE, while from the 10th until the 16th century, the Jewish Creation era came into use, which starts in 3761 BCE.

Eleven days that never were

by Ben Snowden

September 2, 1752, was a great day in the history of sleep.

That Wednesday evening, millions of British subjects in England and the colonies went peacefully to sleep and did not wake up until twelve days later. Behind this feat of narcoleptic prowess was not some revolutionary hypnotic technique or miraculous pharmaceutical discovered in the West Indies. It was, rather, the British Calendar Act of 1751, which declared the day after Wednesday the second to be Thursday the fourteenth.

Prior to that cataleptic September evening, the official British calendar differed from that of continental Europe by eleven days—that is, September 2 in London was September 13 in Paris, Lisbon, and Berlin. The discrepancy had sprung from Britain’s continued use of the Julian calendar, which had been the official calendar of Europe since its invention by Julius Caesar (after whom it was named) in 45 B.C.

Caesar’s calendar, which consisted of eleven months of 30 or 31 days and a 28-day February (extended to 29 days every fourth year), was actually quite accurate: it erred from the real solar calendar by only 11½ minutes a year. After centuries, though, even a small inaccuracy like this adds up. By the sixteenth century, it had put the Julian calendar behind the solar one by 10 days.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered the advancement of the calendar by 10 days and introduced a new corrective device to curb further error: century years such as 1700 or 1800 would no longer be counted as leap years, unless they were (like 1600 or 2000) divisible by 400.

If somewhat inelegant, this system is undeniably effective, and is still in official use in the United States. The Gregorian calendar year differs from the solar year by only 26 seconds—accurate enough for most mortals, since this only adds up to one day’s difference every 3,323 years.

Despite the prudence of Pope Gregory’s correction, many Protestant countries, including England, ignored the papal bull. Germany and the Netherlands agreed to adopt the Gregorian calendar in 1698; Russia only accepted it after the revolution of 1918, and Greece waited until 1923 to follow suit. And currently many Orthodox churches still follow the Julian calendar, which now lags 13 days behind the Gregorian.

Why So Difficult?

Since their invention, calendars have been used to reckon time in advance, and to fix the occurrence of events like harvests or religious festivals. Ancient peoples tied their calendars to whatever recurring natural phenomena they could most easily observe. In areas with pronounced seasons, annual weather changes usually fixed the calendar; in warmer climates such as Southern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, the moon was used to mark time.

Unfortunately, the cycles of the sun and moon do not synchronize well. A lunar year (consisting of 12 lunar cycles, or lunations, each 29½ days long) is only 354 days, 8 hours long; a solar year lasts about 365¼ days. After three years, a strict lunar calendar would have diverged from the solar calendar by 33 days, or more than one lunation.

The Muslim calendar is hence the only purely lunar calendar in widespread use today. Its months have no permanent connection to the seasons— Muslim religious celebrations, such as Ramadan, may thus occur at any date of the Gregorian calendar.

The phases of the moon have nonetheless remained a popular way to divide the solar year, if only because a 365¼-day year doesn’t exactly lend itself to equal subdivision (the 71¼-day month has yet to find favor among menologists). To compensate for the difference in the solar and lunar year, calendar makers introduced the practice of intercalation—the addition of extra days or months to the calendar to make it more accurate. The semilunar Hebrew calendar, consisting of twelve 29- and 30-day months, adds an intercalary month seven times every 19 years (which explains the sometimes confusing drift of Passover—and consequently Easter— through April and March).

Best of All Possible Calendars?

Despite its widespread use, the Gregorian calendar has a number of weaknesses. It cannot be divided into equal halves or quarters; the number of days per month is haphazard; and months or even years may begin on any day of the week. Holidays pegged to specific dates may also fall on any day of the week, and vanishingly few Americans can predict when Thanksgiving will occur next year.

Since Gregory XIII, many other proposals for calendar reform have been made. In the 1840s, philosopher Auguste Comte suggested that the 365th day of each year be a holiday not assigned a day of the week. The generic “Year Day” would allow January 1 to fall on a Sunday every year. Needless to say, this clever solution was not widely embraced.

The French Revolution also saw an attempt at the introduction of a new calendar. On October 5, 1793, the revolutionary convention decreed that the year (starting on September 22, 1792—the autumnal equinox, and the day after the proclamation of the new republic) would be divided into 12 months of 30 days, named after corresponding seasonal phenomena (e.g. seed, blossom, harvest).

The remaining five days of the year, called sans-culottides, were feast days. In leap years, the extra day, Revolution Day, was to be added to the end of the year. The Revolutionary calendar had no week; each month was divided into three decades, with every tenth day to be a day of rest. This straightforward calendar, however, perished with the Republic.

By M. Ali Manikfan

All of us are familiar with the word “Meeqat” in connection with the Hajj pilgrimage. As you know, the Meeqat is a fixed place or a station at which the pilgrims don the ‘Ihram’, that is the pilgrim’s garment.

Now I am trying to explain about another Meeqat, which is very important for the Muslims, that is “The Meeqatul Kiblah”. The former Meeqat which we already know is connected with a place and this ‘Meeqat’ is connected with a place as well as time, where a traveler going round the Earth has to change his Kiblah (the direction to turn during prayer) from east to west or vice versa, his day and his date and the time when the world has to change her day, – for example from Thursday to Friday.

We must have a universal date line, for the Islamic world to calculate the dates of the Islamic calendar, which is based on the movement of the Moon. (Qur’aan 2:189). The date line of the Islamic calendar should be marked in the light of the Holy Qur’aan and the Sunnah, and this will be with reference to the Ka’aba, which is situated in the Ummul Qura, the mother of towns, that is Makkah al Mukarramah. The Ka’aba is the Kiblah of the Muslim prayer, the direction to which a Muslim must turn during his prayer.

I like to name this date line, which would be established, as ‘The Meeqatul Kiblah’.

What is the use of such a date line?

We calculate time in relation to the rotation of the Earth with reference to the Sun, which is the largest and brightest object that all of us can see in the sky. The Qur’aan says that all celestial bodies float in their orbits in space (Q.36: 40) under certain calculations. So the Sun too is moving according to the Qur’aan. We know our time only in relation to the Sun.

Perhaps the most important thing in our life is time. The time lost cannot be regained. So our time must be spent with utmost care. For this we should plan our affairs in advance and carry out the programs chalked out using a reliable calendar in which the dates should never change. Islam gives certain rules to guide us in this venture. Islam teaches us how to manage time by appointing 5 prayers that must be performed in a day, punctually at the fixed timings. The prayer timings were measured in the days of the Prophet (saw) using the shadow of an object cast by the Sun. The watches of the present day were not available to them.

The Zuhar prayer is performed when the shadow disappears or when it is shortest and the Sun is on the meridian, after the first declination of the Sun, – that is when the Sun has passed 90 degrees, the Asar prayer, after the shadow equals the object, – that is when the Sun has passed 135 degrees, the Magrib prayer, after sunset, – that is when the Sun has passed 180 degrees, the Isha prayer when the glare of the setting Sun has disappeared, – that is when the Sun has passed 202.5 degrees and the Fajre prayer, when the first rays of the rising Sun appear, – that is when the Sun has passed 337.5 degrees if the Sun is taken to be at 0 degree at the beginning on one’s horizon at sea level. (This is the basis of time. This will be correct on the day of equinox, on the equator. The other details are not given here.) The Qur’aan explains this in the verse 17:78 (see the diagram No: 1)

It will be interesting to note that the period of night 9hours equals the distance from the Kiblah to the Meeqatul Kiblah. The last time to confirm the onset of Ramadan at Makkah, the Center of Islam is their Sahar time (last part of the night). At this time the last sunset of the day takes place at Central America and it is noon at the Mathla’h, (the date line) where the first Jumu’a prayer is performed. The distance from the Kiblah to Central America is 9hours. Thus the Kiblah (Ka’aba) is placed in the middle of the world.

Our time is dependent upon the Sun’s angle in relation to our horizon. We have converted all these angles to our watches. We can tell the Sun’s angle in hours, minutes and seconds without looking at the Sun or its shadow. There is no difficulty in telling our time even when the Sun is not visible for days together because its movement is subject to certain calculations. The Qur’aan says: “The Sun and the Moon are with calculation” (55:5)

We cannot record the count of our time in minutes or hours because the figures will grow too long. Pages will be required to write them down. So we have devised a method and use the date, which is comprised of days, months and years to make the recording easy. A date stands in place of a particular day of the week, month and year. A day has 24 hours and a week 7 days, which have numbers or names having the same meaning in different languages. They are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, Jumu’a and 7th day in the Islamic calendar and in English Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and all people in the world recognize this. The most important day for the Muslims is the Jumu’a or Friday on which all Muslims in a town must perform the Jumu’a prayer at noon in congregation. There is no Zuhar prayer on Friday.

Where on the Earth should the first Jumu’a of the week be performed? How can this be fixed according to the Qur’aan and Sunnah?

The verse of the Holy Qur’aan “He merges night into day and he merges day into night” (35:13) indicates that the Earth must be a globe rotating on its axis and that the rotation would merge night into day and vice versa. The hemisphere on which the sun light falls experiences day while the opposite hemisphere experiences night. As the globe rotates, night passes into day and day into night. The first hemisphere in which the Ka’aba is situated and contains Australia, Asia, Europe and Africa enjoys daytime while the second hemisphere containing two Americas enjoys nighttime. As time proceeds from east to west on earth, the five prayers as mentioned above, must be performed at the stipulated times in succession according to the angles of the Sun at the particular place without violating the order. Thus no time in the world passes without a Muslim prayer.

In the second year of the Hijra the order to turn towards the Ka’aba, during the prayer, was revealed in the Holy Qur’aan (2: 144). Supposing the Earth to be a vast area with the Ka’aba at a particular place, imagine what will happen to the people in prayer on both the sides of Ka’aba at the last ends. A diagram will explain this better. (Diagram No2)

When all people turn towards the Ka’aba what will happen to those at the ends, if the ends are joined together as it is upon the globe? The people at the ends (A and B) will face towards the opposite directions and their backs will meet! This condition is not contradictory to the Qur’aan, which says: “Righteousness is not that you face East or West.” (2:177). At a certain place on the Earth the Muslims must necessarily face towards the opposite directions during their prayers. Where on the Earth could this happen?

The Kiblah of a town cannot be different. All Muslims in a town must face to one direction in their prayer. But as the Earth is a globe, a place where the Muslims must necessarily turn towards opposite directions while in prayer, where two days of Jumu’a are experienced and where a man crossing from one place to the other loses or gains 5 prayers of the day, is inevitable. This cannot happen on a land inhabited by people.  Such a place can be only at sea.

The Imams of the past have written down the rules for such a place. According to them it should be separated by a sea or an uninhabitable mountainous barrier, which makes the two sides approachable only by travel in which the Shariah could allow lessening of the canonical prayers. Here a traveler must change his Kiblah, his Day and his Date. This is the Meeqatul Kiblah of which we have mentioned in the beginning. The Meeqatul Kiblah is one of the Signs of Allah. It must be recognized and respected by all people. (Q.22: 32). The diagram shows how the Kiblah lines radiating from the Islamic Center, Makkah towards all directions meet on the Meeqatul Kiblah, the date line. (See the diagram 4) The Kiblah lines radiate towards all directions of the compass from Ka’aba and meet on the Meeqatul Kiblah on the opposite side of the Earth.

Since a traveler is allowed to lessen his prayers (4:101) the peculiarity of losing or gaining of the prayers during a travel across the Meeqatul Kiblah is not a problem. The diagram explains how the west and east Kiblah lines radiating from the Ka’aba meet and form a line passing from the north pole to the south pole of the Earth through the Bering Strait which is the only gap separating the two continents of Asia and America. The Kiblah lines radiating towards north and south of the Ka’aba do not cross the poles and reach the opposite side. (See diagram No. 5). It is noteworthy that the Qur’aan does not mention north and south in relation to Kiblah. It mentions East and West only.

The Meeqatul kiblah or the date line has to be zigzag to allow one Kiblah, one Day and for those who had already settled and established their Day and Kiblah when they occupied the islands near it. They were living there without knowing each other till the explorers detected them. The inhabitants on the East observe the East Kiblah and Thursday, while the inhabitants on the West observe the West Kiblah and Friday. There is one day’s difference at this place on the Earth. The Islamic Shariah forbids the change of Day, Date and Kiblah at any other place in the world. The diagram 5 shows the Kiblah lines meeting with the counterparts. When these are connected we get the Meeqatul Kiblah, the International Date Line running from north to south. This is the boundary for the West and the East on the Earth.

The Meeqatul Kiblah is exactly 9 hours ahead of Makkah. The Zuhar prayers of Thursday end and the Jumu’a prayers of Friday begin immediately from here. This is the Zero hour of the world. All calendar dates must change at the Zero hour. Days and dates of the Islamic calendar also begin here at the Zero hour at noon. Corresponding time at the Ummul Qura, the Center of Islam is “Sahar” (the last part of the night) and at London, situated on the opposite side of the Meeqatul Kiblah, it is midnight. Allah (swt) had ordered the Prophet (saw) to observe the singular Kiblah and change the Day at ‘Sahar’ time in the second year of the Hijra about 1400 years ago and the Muslims began to practice it since that time. The navigators in 1886 A.D. found out the Date Line of Islam defined at the time of the Prophet (saw). Those who established it did not know the Islamic rules! 

A day dawns first for those who live near the ‘Meeqatul Kiblah’ 9 hours before it dawns at Makkah. So they must observe all religious rites 9 hours before Makkah. In fasting and feasting also they will be 9 hours ahead. They cannot postpone any ritual saying that the Center has not yet done it. The order of time sequence in the world must be strictly adhered to. Violation of time order in performing the rituals is forbidden in the Shariah. For the same reasons a time bound prayer cannot be postponed. (2:189, 17:78, 9:37). So a gap of 24 hours (a day) must be observed between the Islands on either side of the Meeqatul Kiblah, the International Date Line. This means that those to the west observing the West Kiblah shall observe Friday while those to the east observing East Kiblah observe Thursday.

Meeqatul Kiblah is the Date line of the Islamic calendar. A Day begins depending on the Sun. “Have you not seen how your Lord spread the shadow. If He willed He could have made it still. But We have made the Sun its indicator” (25:45). The shadow shrinks as the Sun rises and vanishes at noon and then again appears in the afternoon with the decline of the Sun. It goes on lengthening till the sunset, indicating our time. Had there been no sunlight, there would have been no shadow. The Sun indicates day, night and our time. So date, which stands in place of a Day should begin with the Day. A date line cannot shift from place to place because people living on the sides of the Date line must observe different days. This is not practicable on a land.

Unfortunately some Muslim astronomers have suggested that lunar date lines should be marked on the world map for the Muslims to begin their fasting and celebrating their Eid. This would be according to the first visibility of the crescent. The so-called curved lunar date lines always keep on changing and they pass through cities, towns and even houses! They do not abide the rules of the date line. So the Lunar date lines are impracticable and meaningless. They are neither scientific nor Islamic. An example of the three lunar date lines plotted on the world map for a year indicating the appearing of the crescent of Ramadan, Shawwal and Zul Hajj of the Islamic calendar is given in the diagram 6.                  

Our knowledge of time is in relation to the rotation of the Earth with reference to the Sun. To count the number of rotations of a wheel two marks are necessary; one in the rotating wheel and one stationary, outside. When these two marks meet, one rotation is counted. In the same way to count the rotations of the Earth a mark on the Earth and a mark outside are needed. The mark on the Earth is the Meeqatul Kiblah and the external mark is the Sun. When both meet, one rotation for the Earth or one day is counted. To get the correct count we need a stationary mark outside. But our mark, the Sun is moving and the Earth too is perambulating the Sun. So we will not be able to count the number of the Earth’s rotations exactly with the help of the celestial objects, which too are in motion. We need not worry about the correct number of the Earth’s rotations because our time is not connected with that. Our days depend only on sunrise and sunset.

We record the count of days in dates. So if we calculated with the average length of a day, measured in relation to the Sun or the other objects, which too are really moving, we will make errors in calculating our old dates. So the Creator has provided us with a wonderful system to calculate our time and has asked us to use the Moon for the purpose so that we may not make mistakes and be confused in calculating our dates. “He has appointed Manzils for it (the Moon) so that you may know the count of the ages (of the Moon) and the calculations.”(Q.10: 5). We follow the instructions of the manufacturers in using of our home appliances. In the same way we must follow the instructions of the Creator in order to be on the right track.

After having defined the beginning of a Day under the light of the Holy Qur’aan and the Sunnah let us try to define the beginning of a month of the Islamic calendar. The Qur’aan has already explained that our dates and months should depend on the Moon. The Sun cannot catch the Moon. (36:40). The Earth has already caught it. It rotates around the Earth. One rotation of the Moon around the Earth with reference to the Sun is one month. As the Moon travels in its course, the change of its position in relation to the Sun creates changes in the phases of the Moon seen from the Earth. This marks the dates for the people. (2:189) The diagram No. 7 explains it.

A solar eclipse (New moon) can occur only when the Sun is in line with the Moon and the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth. Since it can happen at any part of the day, it is called the new moon day. The Islamic month ends with it and the next month begins. A month can begin only with a Day. So the next day is treated as the first day of the ensuing month. The dates of the Islamic calendar must tally with the phases or the Manzils of the Moon. (2:189, 10:5, 36:38-40). Thus a lunar eclipse should occur only on the full moon day in the middle of the month when the Moon is behind the Earth and enters into the shadow of the Earth. A solar eclipse should occur on the new moon day in the end of the month when the shadow of the Moon falls on the Earth. Since the plain of the Moon’s orbit is slanted by 5 degrees the eclipse does not occur every month. It occurs only when the crossing coincides with the end or the middle of the lunar month. So the Islamic dates that depend on the angles of the Moon in relation to the Sun can be checked on such occasions with the naked eye observations. The Days could be found out exactly by using astronomical calculations.

The Islamic month ends when the Moon competes her cycle around the Earth and this is calculated taking the Sun as the reference point to begin the cycle. When the Sun, the Moon and the Earth come in a line the cycle is complete and the next one begins. (See the diagram) This moment is known as the conjunction or new moon. The Hilal can be seen at different times at different places on the Earth, just as the sunset, many hours before and after the conjunction. Some times a solar eclipse can be witnessed at the time of the Eid prayer at some places on the Earth. (Imam Shafi, Fat’hul Barri Vol, 2)). It happens due to the error of parallax. The month should change just after the conjunction. Conjunction or new moon is calculated from the center of the Earth. During a solar eclipse the shadow of the moon falls on the Earth. The shadow crawls on the surface of the Earth with time. If one travels with it, the eclipse can be seen for a longer time. The first and the last is not the conjunction. The middle one is the conjunction. A diagram explains it better. See diagram No. 9

Our time depends upon the angles of the Sun in relation to the horizon. Our dates depend upon the angles of the Moon in relation to the Sun. The horizon has nothing to do with this. We can know our time without seeing the Sun or the shadow. There is no objection to use other means of finding out our time in the Shariah. Then why should there be any objection to use other means for finding out our dates that depend upon the angles of the Moon when the Qur’aan informs us that both the Sun and the Moon are with calculations? Can we use calculation for both, our time and our date? The Ulema should give a verdict on this issue.

The Prophet (saw) who taught the Qur’aan to the illiterate Arabs of his time taught them the easy method of finding out their time by observing the Sun. He also taught them the easy method of finding out their dates by observing the Moon. They were not in the habit of writing, calculating or recording their time. The Prophet (saw) asked them to learn wisdom, the art of reading, writing, recording and calculating. He did not forbid them to learn but on the other hand, he enjoined them to acquire knowledge in every faculty of learning from wherever it was possible.

In the days of the Prophet (saw) Arabs were using the Jewish lunar calendar, which had a fixed number of days for every month, 30 or 29 alternating and had leap years to adjust their artificial months with the natural calendar. He gave instructions to correct the dates according to the Ahillah (Manzils of the Moon) (2:189). He ordered to avoid the leap years and make the calendar fully natural. The deviation of dates from the Manzils of the Moon was not allowed because if a day of Sha’ban entered into Ramadan, Halal and Haram of Allah (swt) would be violated. Sha’ban according to the Jewish calendar always had 29 days where as it could have 30 days also and all months of Ramadan had 30 days, but Ramadan too could have 29 days according to the Moon’s phase (Ahillah). That is why the Prophet (saw) ordered to observe the Moon and correct the dates accordingly. The final amendments regarding the calendar were announced during the Hajjathul Wida.

There are 12 months in a year (9:36). We know what will happen if a date is skipped over. The Qur’aan forbids the intercalations (9:37). The observation of the Moon for long periods gives us the average number of 354.3671days for a year and 29.53059 days for a month. (29.53059×12=354.3671). Astronomers have proved that the statement of the Prophet (saw) that the lunar months have 29 or 30 days is correct.

Since the dates of the months are related to the days of the week, but not to the places, the months of the Islamic calendar should begin from the Meeqatul Qibla with the day. Now the Muslims do not practice the Islamic calendar, instead they rely and depend on the Christian dates for their daily use. So they do not have any idea about the Islamic calendar! They foolishly believe that the Islamic months will begin only when they see the Hilal with their naked eyes at the sunset differently at different places! It is wrong to say that time will wait for man and different towns could have different dates in the Islamic calendar!

The Christian Calendar

Julius Caesar had instituted his calendar in 46 B.C. Later the Christians adopted it as their calendar. It had accumulated an error of about 10 days by 1582 A.D! Pope Gregory removed 10 days and changed the rules of the calendar, and it is known as the Gregorian calendar since then.

The exact measure of the solar year was not known when Julius Caesar instituted the calendar. Even today we do not know the exact measure! It was regarded as 365.25 days. Later it was estimated that the Earth takes 365 days 5hrs 48 minutes and 49 seconds to make a rotation around the Sun according to the correction made in 1582 AD. This is 365.2422 days and this too will change whenever the accumulated error of days is corrected at an interval.

The error of 0.0078 days added up every year amounts to 15.6 days in 2000 years! This means that 15.6 days would have passed without sunrise! In a solar-based dating system the error will accumulate without our notice and days will have to be eliminated from the calendar at intervals in order to adjust with the natural system. This sort of meddling with the calendar will create confusion in calculating the passage of our time. Such a dating system cannot be good for recording the events of history.

Had the people of the past used the lunar phases for their dates to record their events, we will not have had problems in finding out the actual days on which the incidents in the past had occurred. But now we are in utter confusion. We do not arrive at the recorded date and day by calculation. The Qur’aan says,  “The Sun and the Moon are with calculation” (55:5). So both the Sun and the Moon should be used for calculating the passage of our time.

Renowned mathematicians and astronomers have calculated the date of birth of the Prophet Muhammad (saw). But all of them have gone wrong. They give different dates for the Prophet’s birth! The fact that a person cannot be born on two days indicates that there is some thing wrong with their calculations. Their dates do not tally with the historical records too. This is because the calendar had been meddled with and the omissions are not taken into account correctly.

We have a record of two events of the past recorded in two calendars. If we calculate the number of days elapsed between the two incidents according to the two calendar systems we can see what happens when a defective calendar is used to record time. The equivalent dates and days of two solar eclipses of the past are given below as recorded according to two calendars.

Solar eclipses recorded according to C.E and M.E.

1. C.E. 22-07-1990 Sunday.                           M.E. 30-12-1410 Sunday.

2. C.E. 14-07-0622 Wednesday.                M.E. 30-12-0000 Wednesday.

08-00-1378 years.                                       00-00-1410 years=Time elapsed.

Total N0. Of days according to C.E. 1368 x 365.25+8 = 499670.00 days

Total No. Of days according to M.E. 1410 x354.3671  = 499657.16 days

The error accumulated in C.E for 1378 years is 12.39 days. At the same time there is no error in M.E. From this we can see that the Lunar dating system is perfect. If we calculated our time without involving the Moon we would make mistakes and we would not know that there is a mistake! We will be left in confusion. It is high time that we adopted the scientific dating system and used it in our day-to-day life so that we may not create confusion for the future generations.

If we have the consensus to prepare the scientific lunar calendar based on the phases of the Moon as per the rules of the Qur’aan for the entire world, we can have the first of Ramadan on the same day for each and every Muslim on earth. Likewise we can celebrate the Eid also on the same day in all countries. Let me remind that the Holy Prophet (saw) has forbidden to fast on the Day of Eid. How is it justifiable to have fasting and feasting on the same day? If we agree that it can be so we are admitting that there can be mistakes in the calculations of Allah the Almighty also.

Observing Ramadan and Eid on the correct days which will be same for all people in the world as commanded by Allah, will lead us to the much required unity, harmony and peace of the people in various parts of the world.

Kindly think over the problem and the relevance of the Meeqatul Qibla, which is very important to define the dates of the Islamic calendar. The Lunar Date Lines suggested by some Muslim astronomers are neither scientific nor Islamic.

May Allah bless us with open minds and intelligence to find out his orders and systems, which are hidden in Nature and help us to live accordingly!

We need a point of reference a Dateline on the Earth itself to count its rotation, which marks the day. This point would mark the beginning of the day. Towards the west of this point the new day begins while towards the east the old day is ending. As the point of reference would have two days meeting, it cannot be on land where people live. Further, this point ought to be a line running from North to South of the Earth. Now the whole

life has to continuously pass through the sea avoiding land. When we search for such a point on Earth we find it between Russia and Alaska. Interestingly this is the place where the International Date Line runs across. The day begins with this line that comes straight to the Sun at noon. So the day begins on earth at 12noon on the date line. At London, which is to the opposite of this live, it is 12midnight. Our concern here is with the time of the birth of the day on Earth, which is at 12 noon. It is with reference to this that we calculate the time in 24 hours. The universal say is from noon to noon, calculated at the Dateline or midnight to midnight, calculated at London 0 degree Greenwich. The point that is here underlined is that the people of Fiji to the west of the Dateline pray the first Jummah of Friday while people of Samoa to the east pray the last Luhar of Thursday.

The outline of kiblahs too arises here. The people of fiji pray towards the west and the people of samoa towards the east. When the Islamic dateline runs through land there would be two days, jummah and luhar and two kiblahs in the same place. One should interpret the statement of imam Shafee that there can be no two jummahs in the same town against the concept of the Islamic dateline. The learned imam was suggestions that the Dateline should not pass through land.

The exact date of the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) birth has not been determined so far and we do not know the correct date of his birth according to the Christian calendar. Historians and astronomers who had worked on this subject in the past have given various dates for the Prophet’s birth. Even the famous Encyclopedia Britannica gives doubtful dates and puts a question mark as to the year of his birth. From this it will be clearly known that the world is not sure of the date on which the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who claimed to be the last of the prophets, was born. 

The commonly accepted date for the Prophet’s birth is 20th April 571 AD. It is said that the famous astronomer Mahmood Pasha of Egypt, who lived in the 19th century, calculated this date. The other dates given by them are 20th August 570 AD and 29th August 570 AD. Calculations reveal that these date do not tally with the date recorded according to the Arabic calendar, which was same as the Hebrew calendar. The date of the Prophet’s birth according to that calendar is Monday the12th of Rabiul Awwal of the Elephant Era.

The historic records say that the Christians had build a church in order to attract the Arabs, but the Ka’aba attracted more attention than the newly built place of worship and Abraha, the Governor of Yemen, came to Mecca to destroy the Ka’aba, the long revered place of worship of the Arabs. He brought an elephant to facilitate the task. But his plans were foiled and all ended in a disaster. The Holy Qur’aan refers to this event in the chapter 105. It is recorded that the Prophet was born after 55 days of the event, which is said to have taken place on the 17th of Muharram in the year 570 AD.

The examination of the scientific records of the phases of the moon for the year 570 AD reveals that this date is Monday the 5th of May 570 AD. The moon was eclipsed on Tuesday the 6th of May 570 AD just before the infant Muhammad (pbuh) completed the first day of his life on the Earth!

According to the songs remembered since time immemorial, it is Monday, the 12th of Rabiul Awwal of the Arabic calendar. At that time their calendar had a fixed number of days for the twelve months; Muharram, Safar, Rabiul Awwal, Rabiul akhar, Jamadul awwal, Jamadul akhar, Rajab, Sha’aban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Zul ka’ad, and Zul hajj.

The twelve months of the year had 30 or 29 days alternating from Muharram to Zulhajj with an occasional leap year in which Zulhajj got 30 days, in order to adjust with the natural system. In this artificial lunar calendar, which was same as the Hebrew Calendar, the dates need not necessarily tally with the phases of the Moon. The full moon occurred on the 12th or13th and the new moon on the 28th or 29th in the Arabic calendar as against the 14th or 15th for the full moon and the 29th or 30th for the new moon in the Islamic calendar in which the dates must tally with the phases of the Moon.

The Arabic calendar is better than many others of its kind, because the error accumulated in 2000 years in it is only one day. The Jews use this calendar even today.

Islam does not accept even this minute error in recording time. A mistake in recording historic events can create a lot of confusion to the posterity. The error in calculating the date of the Prophet’s birth is only due to this confusion. It had baffled even the renowned astronomers and their calculations have gone wrong. People are made to believe a falsehood about the Prophet! How can Islam, which is the perfect code of life for mankind, tolerate such a serious mistake? So Islam has prescribed an error-free perpetual dating system for the people. The last Prophet in his last days during the Hajjathul Wida gave instructions to reform their calendar.

During the Hajjathul Wida he laid down rules and regulations for the Islamic Calendar. He made the seven days of the week and the dates, which represented them, and the months, which depended on the lunar cycle, sacred and inviolable. He named the months in which war is forbidden (Ash-hurul hurum) as Zul Qaid, Zul hajj, Muharram and Rajab. The Qur’aan explains this automatic cease-fire arrangement in the verse 9:36. All wars must cease in these months and this will allow a warring people enough time to think of the after effects of a war. The Prophet abolished the use of a leap year and ordered them to use the dates of the natural calendar, which depended strictly on the Manzils (the phases) of the Moon. He wanted the calendar to be fully natural so that there will not be any adjustments and confusion in future. All other calendars need periodical adjustments and this is known as intercalation (Nasie), which is forbidden in the Qur’aan. (9:37)

         The Gregorian calendar, now in vogue in the world for recording the dates of events in history is not scientific. It accumulates errors in course of time and the accumulated days have to be removed at intervals. Whenever this is done, the method of calculation would change and the calendar must be renamed. The present calendar was known as the Julian calendar in the beginning. In 1582 AD the Pope Gregory 13 reformed it after removing 10 days, which had accumulated in that calendar by then. It was renamed as the Gregorian calendar.

The calculation methods in Julian and Gregorian periods are different. So if the date calculations are made without taking the intercalations into consideration, the results would be wrong and this is serious. Telling a lie about the Prophet who forbade falsehood is not a simple thing in the sight of Allah (swt). If we tell his date of birth, we must tell the truth. Otherwise we should admit that we do not know. In a recent publication under the Board of Islamic Publications, the book entitled “The Prophet Muhammad in the Indian context” the Prophet’s date of birth is given as on 20 or 22 April 571 AD. This clearly shows that people have no idea about the dates. They ignore the fact that a person cannot be born on two dates.

The commonly accepted date for the Prophet’s birth 20 or 22 April 571AD must correspond to 12th of Rabiul Awwal of the Arabic calendar. But according to the records, the year of the Elephant is 570, not 571AD. We can check whether this date is correct by simple calculations. The date of the Prophet’s demise is recorded correctly, for he was famous when he passed away, on Monday the 8th of June 632 AD corresponding to the 12th of Rabiul Awwal in the Arabic calendar. The span of the Prophet’s life can be calculated under two calendars. The number of days calculated according to both the calendars should be same if the dates are correct. It should be remembered that the 12th of the Arabic calendar corresponds to the 14th of the Islamic calendar.

Demise: 08 – 06 – 0632 AD = 12 – 03 – 0011 AH Monday

Birth: 20 – 04 – 0571 AD = 12 – 03 – 0053 BH Monday

* He passed away on Monday in the middle of Rabiul Awwal (full moon)

* Hijra took place in Rabiul Awwal after 53 years of the Elephant Era.

Now this has to be converted in to days to see whether both are equal. The number of days in the Christian and the Arabic year is 365.25(365.2422 true figure to be used for long periods) and 354.3671 days respectively.

Therefore:

AH – 64 x 354.3671   = 22679.49 days

AD – 61 x 365.25 + 50   = 22339.25 days

Difference                        = 340.24 days

This difference should not be there because the number of days of the Prophet’s life in this world cannot be different when measured by different calendars. This difference of 340.24 days is because the dates in one of the calendars are not correct. The Arabic dates are the original dates remembered from time immemorial and the Julian date for the Prophet’s birth is by calculation. Therefore the mistake must be in the calculation of the Julian date for the Prophet’s birth.

Now we can examine the Prophet’s date of birth (05 – 05 – 0570 AD) which we have arrived at by following the ancient historic records.

Demise: 08 – 06 – 0632 AD   = 12 – 03 – 0011 AH

Birth: 05 – 05 – 0570 AD   = 12 – 03 – 0053 BH

03 – 01 – 0062 years = 00 – 00 – 0064 years

Now let us convert this in to days so that both could be compared

62 x 365.2500 + 31 +3  = 22679.500 days according to Christian era

  64 x 354.3671 + 00 +0  = 22679.494 days according to Muslim Era.

The absence of disparity proves that both the dates are correct.

Now we can cross check this by using another method of calculation and see if we can get the same date. The Prophet’s migration (Hijra) to Madeenah is an important event in the history. This is called the Hijra and Hijra Era began with this incident. The Prophet was 53 years old at that time. We can take the date of Miladunnabi of 1999 for this calculation.                       

         Date of Miladunnabi of 1999 = 27-06-1999AD = 14-03-1420AH                          

Hijra Era attained 1420 lunar year on 27-06-1999. So the Prophet’s age on this date would be 1420 + 53 = 1473 lunar years. This subtracted from the date 26-06-1999 should give the Prophet’s date of birth according to Christian calendar. To enable this, 1473 lunar year must be converted in to Christian calendar. 

Therefore: 1473 x 354.3671/365.2422=1429.1413 yrs.

1999-06-27 – 1429.1413yrs (0.1413 x12 to convert into months)=1.6956

1429-01-21 0.6956 months x 30.43 (convert into days)=21.167days.

Tuesday     = 0570-05-06 – minus the error of one day existing in the CE By deducting 1day to correct the error existing in the Christian calendar we get the true date as, 0570 – 05 – 05AD Monday.

These calculations prove beyond any doubt that the last Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (pbuh) was born on MONDAY the 05th of MAY 0570 AD according to the Christian Calendar.

The aims of this section are two fold. The first aim is to demonstrate the validity of the lunar calendar. And the second but incidentally the very important aim is to find out the right dates for various events in the life of the Holy Prophet (sal).

The Holy Prophet (sal) was born on Monday, 14-03-53BH. Conventionally it is believed that the Prophet (sal) was born on 12th Rabiul avval (12-03-53). There is no controversy over the day Monday. When we check up the equivalent date in the solar calendar it is 05-05-570, a Monday. As 12-03-53 was a Saturday he could not have been born on 12-03-53. On the strength of the historical evidence pointed out earlier and from what the calendar shows it becomes clear that the Holy Prophet (sal) was born on 14-03-53BH a Monday. Of  the thirteen important events quoted here for date fixation, nine of them took place on a Monday. Further the confirmed and accepted date of the demise of the Holy Prophet (sal) is 14-03-11AH, a Monday. The Holy Prophet (sal) was born and died on the same day: 14-03 a Monday. He was born and died on full Moon day of Rabiul Avval.

With 14-03-53AH = 05-05-570AD, Monday as the point of reference we can count the number of days the Holy Prophet (sal) lived in this world, pausing at eleven events in between his birth and death. This account should tell us how long he lived.

He received the first revelation Wahi on 27-09-13BH = 01-09-609, Monday. This historical event took place exactly 14365 days after the birth of the Holy Prophet (sal). The Prophet (sal) was 40 years and 190 days old according to the Lunar calendar and 39 years and 125 days old according the Solar calendar. A Lunar year is 354.3671 days long and a solar year is 365.2422 days long. The general statement that the Holy Prophet (sal) received Prophet hood at forty should not be taken literally. The first Wahi being in the eighth month of Ramadan, the Holy Prophet (sal) who was born in the third month of Rabiul Avval could not have been exactly forty during his first Wahi. The two dates of the two calendars given can be verified by dividing the days by the length of the year:

       14365 / 354.3671 = Lunar years

       14365 / 365.2422 = Solar years

The readers may convert the days into the Lunar and solar months through the above simple method and count the years from birth to death.

The third important event in the life of the Holy Prophet (sal) was his departure from home on

       27-02-00BH   = 18-09-621AD, a Friday

The time gap between the first Wahi and this event was 4400 days. The general belief is that the Prophet (sal) preached in Makkah for 13 years.  As the objective of this book is to make the world Muslim community time conscious, it is but proper to know the exact time gap between the events.  The prophet (sal) preached in Makkah for 12 years and 147 days according to the lunar calendar and 12 years and 17 days according to the solar calendar.  One can calculate with his calculator to find this out.  This is not to call the earlier historian wrong. Usually fractions are rounded off to the nearest zero for convenience of speech.  Thus roughly speaking it is 13 years.  However, as this section attempts at date fixation even a day counts.

The Holy Prophet (sal) proceeded to the Thour cave and hid there for 3 days.  Then he proceeded to Quba on 01-03-00BH = 21-09-621AD Monday.  That month of Safar had 29 days.

27-02-00, Friday 28 Saturday.

29 Sunday and 01-03-00BH Monday.

 He traveled for 8 days (Monday to Monday) and reached Quba on 08-03-00BH = 28-09-621AD Monday.  He stayed a week in Quba and reached Medina on 15-03-00BH = 05-10-

621AD Monday.  Although Hijrath started the moment the Holy Prophet (sal) left his home 01-01-01AH was exactly 300 days after.  Much took place during the 0 year.  If we could calculate the progress of time in terms of days there will be no confusion.  The Prophet (sal) lived in Medina from 15-03-00BH.  However, as the month was Rabiul Avval, there were nine more months for the New Year.  A calendar is a continuum.  It is man who has to describe his activities with reference to time that is always on the move.  There is a general misconception that the Islamic Lunar calendar started with the Hijrath of the Holy Prophet (sal).  An artificial lunar calendar was in vogue during the pre-Islamic period.  The number of days in a month was fixed and the difference that arose at the end of a year was adjusted by the introduction of a leap year.  It had twelve months.  Muharram was the first month and Dul Hajj was the last.  When the Holy Prophet (sal) reached Medina he did not change the calendar.  He did not call the 1st day in Medina 01-01-01 AH.  He accepted the sanctity of the order of the month as man followed this Allah given order right from the start.  So the first of the first month of Muharram of the first year was 01-01-01AH.

The Holy Prophet (sal) waited for the year to finish and the count of years started from one when the New Year was born.  As Islam saw rapid growth only after the Hijrath it is but natural to begin the count of the year afresh.

However, historians should not forget to add the 300 days while calculating the life span of the Holy Prophet (sal).  And they will have to understand the reason for the delay of nine months before the new Islamic Lunar calendar came into vogue.  01-01-01AH = 15-07-622AD was a Thursday.  193 days later during an Asar prayed the order for the change of Kiblah was given on 17-07-012AH = 24-01-622 AD, a Monday.

The order to fast was sent 27 days later on 15-08-01AH = 21-02-623AD, a Monday.  The historical battle of Badre was fought 32 days after on 17-09-01 AH = 25-03-623 AD a Friday.  9 years and 42 days later the baby boy of the Holy Prophet  (sal) Ibrahim (R) expired on 30-10-10AH = 27-01-632 AD, a Monday.  The well-known Hajjathul wida took place 38 days later on 09-12-10 AH = 06-03-632AD, a Friday.  Finally the Holy Prophet (sal) died 93 days after on 14-03-11AH = 08-06-632AD a Monday.

Of the thirteen events listed nine of them took place on a Monday.  The first day of the first month of the first year was a Thursday.  His departure from home, the battle of Badre and the Hajjathul Wida fell on a Friday.

The Holy Prophet (sal) lived from 14-03-53BH = 05-05-570AD, a Monday to 14- 03-11AH = 08-06-632 AD, a Monday. He lived for 22680 days and a few hours in all.  When we calculate the days in terms of Lunar years we get:

     22680 /365.2422 = 62 years and 35 days

One has to be careful when telling how long the Holy Prophet (sal) lived.  If you follow the Lunar year you have to say 64 years.  If you follow the Solar year you have to say 62 years.  If you say 63 years, then you are falling in line with the historians who have missed the 300 days from the lunar calendar.  It is high time we set right our dates too.

Calendars

A calendar is a system for reckoning the passing of time. The principal problem in drawing up calendars arises from the fact that the solar day, the lunar month and the tropical year – the most immediate natural time units- are not simple multiples of each other. In practice a solution is found in basing the system either on the phases of the Moon (lunar calendar) or on changing of the seasons (solar calendar). The difficulty that days eventually get out of step with the Moon or the seasons is got over by adding in (intercalating) one or more extra days or months at regular intervals in an extended cycle of months or years.

The earliest Egyptian calendar had a year of 12 months with 30 days each, though later 5 extra days were added at the end of each year so that it approximated the tropical year of 365.25 days. In classical times, the Greeks came to use a lunar calendar in which 3 extra months were intercalated every eight years (the octannial cycle). Through about 432BC the astronomer Meton discovered that 235 lunar months fitted exactly into 19 years (Metonic cycle), this becoming the basis of the modern Jewish and ecclesiastical calendars.

The Roman calendar was reformed under Julius Caesar in 46BC fixing the year at 365 days but intercalating an additional day every fourth year (this giving an average 365.25 day-year). The Christians, who called it Anno Domini, adopted this Julian calendar and it continued in use until 16th century when it had become about 10days out of step with the seasons, the tropical year in fact being less than 365.25 day-years.

In 1582 AD Pope Gregory 13 ordered to omit 10 days from that year and not to give a leap year for century years unless divisible by 400 so that there would be no recurrence of any discrepancy in future. But since the error of one day occurs in

about 127 years, this adjustment will not make it fully error-free. This calendar was called the Gregorian calendar.

This Gregorian calendar was only slowly adopted particularly in non- catholic countries, the reform waiting until 1752 AD in England and its American colonies by which time 11 days had to be dropped. But in spite of all these defects it is still in civil use throughout the world even today. Various proposals for further reforms of this calendar have come to nothing.

The Hijri Calendar

At the time of the advent of the last Prophet of God Muhammad Musthafa (pbuh) the Jews were using the artificial lunar calendar. The Arabs too used it. The Prophet was born on the 12th of Rabiul Awwal according to the Jewish calendar. The Prophet did not approve this artificial lunar calendar for the Muslims. Muslims observed the lunar calandar based on the appearing of the crescent. In his last days the Prophet gave orders to revive the ancient natural lunar calendar fixing the months at 29 or 30 according to the appearing of the crescent, the dates tallying with the phases of the Moon as commanded in the Qur’aan. He banned the use of leap years and ordered to fix the months according to the appearing of the crescent so that the calendar would be totally natural, scientific and free of error. In this system the dates can be calculated up to infinity forewards or backwards. The common people can check the dates with the phases of the Moon. It does not require any formula. It is a perpetual calendar for mankind.

Calculation of the Hijri calendar

It is very easy to make the Hijra calendar. The data of the phases of the moon is easily available and this is the only requirement to draw the calendar. The expert astronomers prepare data of the phases of the moon. The laymen could check the data with the naked eyes by observing the phases of the moon.

The phases of the moon from BC 5000 to AD 5000 are available from U. S. Naval Observatory. The data for a century is published in the Ephemeris also. The newmoon date is the last date of the Islamic month. The months have 29 or 30 days according to the phases (Manzils) of the moon. An example is given below.

1990 Phases of the Moon

Universal Time

   NEW MOON FIRST QUARTER    FULL MOON LAST QUARTER

   d  h  m      d  h  m      d  h  m      d  h  m

             JAN.   4 10 40   JAN.  11 04 57   JAN.  18 21 17

JAN.  26 19 20   FEB.   2 18 32   FEB.   9 19 16   FEB.  17 18 48

FEB.  25 08 54   MAR.   4 02 05   MAR.  11 10 58   MAR.  19 14 30

MAR.  26 19 48   APR.   2 10 24   APR.  10 03 18   APR.  18 07 02

APR.  25 04 27   MAY 1 20 18   MAY 9 19 31   MAY   17 19 45

MAY   24 11 47   MAY   31 08 11   JUNE   8 11 01   JUNE  16 04 48

JUNE  22 18 55   JUNE  29 22 07   JULY   8 01 23   JULY  15 11 04

JULY  22 02 54   JULY  29 14 01   AUG.   6 14 19   AUG.  13 15 54

AUG.  20 12 39   AUG.  28 07 34   SEPT.  5 01 46   SEPT. 11 20 53

SEPT. 19 00 46   SEPT. 27 02 06   OCT.   4 12 02   OCT.  11 03 31

OCT.  18 15 37   OCT.  26 20 26   NOV.   2 21 48   NOV.   9 13 02

NOV.  17 09 05   NOV.  25 13 11   DEC.   2 07 50   DEC.   9 02 04

DEC.  17 04 22   DEC.  25 03 16   DEC.  31 18 35

Hijra Calendar for the Year 1410- 1411AH (From Rajab to Jumadil Akhir)

Rajab first on 27-01-1990

Shaban first on 26-02-1990

Ramdan first on 27-03-1990

Shavval first on 26-04-1990

Zul Quaida first on 25-05-1990

Zul Hajj first on 23-06-1990

Muharrsam first on 23-07-1990

Safar first on 21-08-1990

Rabiul Avval first on 20-09-1990

Rabiul Akhir first on 19-10-1990

Jumadil Avval first on 18-11- 19990

Jumadil Akhir first on 18-12-1990

Anything that happens globally can only be recorded at the Universal Time (UTC). As the Sun passes above the International Date Line (IDL), the old Universal day ends and the new day begins. But locally the old days may not have been completely off the earth. London GMT at that time is 12 midnight. But at the same time the last hour of the night in Makkah would be 3 am. An important point to note here is that the new day on earth will not begin until the day of Makkah is set. Similarly, the day will be set in the earth only after the dawn of the new day in Makkah. There is no need for more proof that the day begins at dawn. Similarly, the day in Makkah is the Universal day of Earth.

https://youtu.be/1R0TSDKZprM

What was the Prophet’s Practice?

From the report of Abu Hurairah (RA): From Abu Umair:  “A Caravan came to the Prophet (saw). They said: Yesterday we have seen the Hilal. The Prophet asked the people to break the fast and go to their prayer place next morning.” (Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maja, Nassaye).

From the report of Ibn Majah:

“It is said that the caravan arrived at the end of the day. The Prophet did not ask them about the distance. He asked them to break the fast without any enquiry (about the distance) even though the caravan came from a distant place.” Prophet (saw) said: “Fasting is on the Day you fast, Eid-ul-Fitre is on the Day you observe Eid-ul-Fitre, and Eid-ul-Adha is on the Day you observe Eid-ul-Adha.” (Turmudi).

The meaning is that the Day for observing the religious rites such as Jumu’a, Arafat, Ashura, Fastings, Eidul Fitre and Eidul Adha should be common for all in the world. The special rites of such Days should be performed on one Day throughout the world, at different times according to the distance. For example if it is a Friday all must do it on Friday. If Makkah is taken as the Center, those to the East observe all the rituals before Makkah. They extend up to 9 hours. Those to the West observe the rituals after Makkah. They extend up to 15 hours. The Shariah demands that the order of time sequence must be strictly adhered to.

From Ayisha (RA)

“Eid-ul-fitre is on the Day when people celebrate the Eid-ul-fitre. Eid-ul-Adha is on the Day when people celebrate Eid-ul-Adha.” (Abu Dawood, Ibn Maja).

In another report we can see that:

“Your Arafat Day is on the Day of your standing on the Arafat.”

These Ahadith declare the unity of the Days of Fasting and Feasting. It should be one Day for all people living in the world. The weekly Eid of Jumu’a is performed on one Day throughout the world. Then why cannot the annual Eid be performed on one Day all over the world? Why should people disagree in celebrating the Eid on one Day all over the world as commanded by the Prophet (saw)?

From Ibn Umair: “The Prophet said: When the Hilal appears, begin fasting and when it appears celebrate the Eidul Fitre.” (Bukhari, Muslim).

It is on the basis of this Hadith that the Imams of the 4 Madhabs and Imam Shaikhul Islam, Ibn Taimiyya ® have declared that when the Hilal appears at any place on the Earth, it shall be the basis for the beginning of the month on the Earth, for all people who come to know about it.

There is only the following narration of Kuraib on which some people argue that the Hilal, which occurs in one place is not applicable to another place.

No one says that it is prohibited to consider the Hilal confirmed at another place. The view that it is not applicable to the others is due to a misunderstanding of the Hadith of Kuraib. But those to the East of the Mathla’h’ (Date Line) shall not fast the next morning with those to the West. It will be prohibited there, because the Days and the directions of the Qibla differ at that place on the Earth. If the people of the West fasted on Friday, the people of the East also should fast on Friday, but there will be a gap of 24 hours’ difference there between the West and the East. This shall not be overlooked.

The Criteria for Islamic Calendar 

The best way to find out the end of the present month or the start of the new month is to keep watching the moon phases as per 2:189.   The moon has waxing and waning phases as it traverses in the sky (10:15) and this movement is accurate and precisely fixed by Allah (55:5).   If we keep watching these different phases of the moon, we can easily find out the correct week-day in which the new month starts. We can observe that, at the last stage of the moon in a month, the illuminated part of the moon becomes thinner and thinner and at last it becomes so thin and so close to the Eastern horizon around Fajr time, which Noble Qur’an 36:39 describes as “al Urjoonal qadeem”.  Seeing this last visible phase, the observer is assured that moon will not be seen on the next day. This day is the Day of conjunction and it is the last day of the month. This conjunction (new moon/ black moon) is also a phase of the moon. 

According to the Sharia  as well as Astronomically, the Universal day in  which Conjunction takes place has to be considered as the Last day of the month and the new month must start from the fajr of the following day, irrespective of the time of Conjunction and/or the sunset-moonset  difference at Makkah or anywhere else.

An Islamic Calendar has to be a global calendar and therefore, a dateline is a mandatory to start a day globally, similar like a Friday starts in New Zealand side of dateline and the day of Friday progresses as we go westward.  The same concept should be followed in designing a Global Islamic calendar where the Friday will have one Islamic date in every country.  

There are people who say that the day starts at New Zealand side because of the International Dateline (IDL), which is fixed by the British and that IDL has no basis in Islam.  There is no substance for such an argument because the existing IDL is universally accepted due to the geographical speciality of the region that makes the dateline to go mainly through the sea.   It is also to be noted that, an Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar constituted by a group of “solar days” and as stated above we have an established system of beginning of a solar day from the east of the IDL from where the Muslims start their Friday prayer.  Therefore, there is no harm to accept the current dateline as the dateline for an Islamic calendar also.

In lunar calendar, when it is said that a new month starts the next day immediately after the day of conjunction, some hypothetical questions could be asked concerning the possibility of people in the eastern region close to IDL has to enter a new month even before conjunction happens in the world.  Similarly, the people on the western region close to IDL have to wait one more day even after observing the conjunction on a particular day.  

Here we must note one point.  The ‘day’ and ‘date’ of conjunction is always recorded similar to the birth of a person in the world.  For instance, the Prophet (ﷺ) was born in Mekkah on a Monday; however, this particular moment may be a different day for people in another part of the world like USA.  But, we know that the day of birth is recorded as Monday everywhere in the world with reference to day (Monday) in relation to the place of birth.  

Based on the above, as an example, if moon birth (conjunction/ new moon) occurs over New Zeeland side of IDL on a Friday, and then the day of conjunction will be Friday even though the people across the IDL on Canadian side observe the same event on Thursday. We must keep in mind that the time of conjunction is not the one that determines the beginning of new month, but the day of conjunction with reference to the place of conjunction which should determine the first day of new month.   In the above case, the new month begins on Saturday for all as the day of conjunction is Friday with reference to the place (Geographical Position – GP.) of conjunction. 

If moon birth (conjunction/ new moon) occurs over Canadian side IDL on a Friday, and then the day of conjunction will be Friday even though the people across the IDL on New Zeeland side observe the same event on Saturday. Here also, the actual day of conjunction is Friday with reference to the place of conjunction. Therefore, people in the eastern side of IDL (New Zeeland) has to enter new month even before the actual conjunction takes place on the other side of the IDL.

In all cases, it is to be clearly noted that, everyone enters into the new month only on the next day after the “day of conjunction” with reference to the place (GP) of conjunction.

It is admitted that the current IDL was altered certain times in the past by certain countries/ islands by jumping across to the other side of the IDL.  This was done by individual countries/ islands for commercial and political benefits.   Any country/ island that are close to the IDL, renaming their days and dates cannot go against the concept of IDL and their individual decision has no bearing on other countries. 

Assalaamu Alaikkum wa Rahmathullaahi wa Barakaathu hu 

Hijri Committee of India (HCI) has been engaged in researching and propagating an Islamic Lunar Calendar, to be applied universally for the whole mankind, for the last 4 decades.  During the last 19 years it has published true Hijri Calendar which has dates exactly tallying with the phases of moon, as directed in Noble Qur’an 2:189. 

In this regard, it is pertinent to note that, the original ‘Ummul Qura Calendar’ of Saudi Arabia, followed until 1420H, was fully in accordance and compliance with the noble Qur’an, authentic  Sunnah, and established scientific facts. We are proud to mention that, the criteria implemented for ‘Ummul Qura Calendar’ until 1420H was the same criteria HCI has found out after studying the issue thoroughly.  

But,  during 1420H  this criteria of Ummul Qura was modified to accommodate i)  the conjunction to occur before Magrib at Makkah and ii) that the Moon must set at least after a minute of sun-set at Makkah on the Day of Conjunction in order to start the new month on the following day. These modifications were unfortunately incorrect.  The Universal day in which Conjunction occurs does not end with the Magrib at Makkah. The Muslims in many countries in the West of Saudi Arabia do not pray their Asr prayer, when at Makkah, Magrib is finished. Therefore, these modifications, in fact, tainted the accuracy of Ummul Qura Calendar.  

The correct criteria to be followed should be to consider the Universal day in which Conjunction takes place as the last day of the month and the new month to start on the following Universal day, at Fajr, irrespective of the time of Conjunction and/or the Sunset-Moonset difference at Makkah or at elsewhere. 

Alhamdulillah, by using  this error-free perfect criteria, we can tabulate Hijri Calendars for thousands of years, forwards as well as backwards,  with only one date for a day of the week, as envisaged in Islam similar like Jummah prayers are conducted, within 24 hours  on the Universal day of Friday, throughout the world. Just like if Eid falls on a Friday, it too will be celebrated on the same Friday throughout the world.   

Islam is a collective social order in which all individuals are supposed to live as an indivisible whole and follow the same single prescribed way, observe and participate in religious activities with complete unity.  Unfortunately, during the last many years, the Muslim world falls in utter confusion at every starting of Ramadan and Eid. By reverting back to the criteria followed till 1420H for Ummul Qura Calendar, all the confusion prevailing in the Ummah could be cleared, and it will show to the world that Islam is truly perfect and complete as mentioned in Noble Qur’an.  

In this context, please note, the Jews have somehow cunningly introduced some of their traditions, like, start of the Day (24-hours period) is at Magrib and that Muslims must start the new month only on seeing the hilaal on the Western sky after sunset etc.  Though there is no support in the Sharia for these traditions, enemies of Islam got them impregnated into Islam as if they are part and parcel of Islam!! By similar mischievous, shrewdness tactics the enemies of Islam were trying to create confusion in future generations to such an extent to aspire doubts and confusion on the historical recordings of Islam itself.   

Visibility of Hilaal with naked eye on the West or probable visibility of Hilaal (by computation), both cannot be taken to determine the start of any month.   It goes against Sharia since they violate ‘natural order’. Under both circumstances, setting Hilaal (on the West) is taken into account, ignoring the fact that the moon has already risen in the East in the morning itself and hence, by the time it gets visible in the West, the day-light part of ‘the first day’ would have already lost, which is very important considering that it (day-light part) would be the first day of fasting (in case of Ramadan) or celebration time of Eid (in case of Shawwal). 

Relying on moon sighing by naked eye may result in the new month to start 2 to 3 or more days, which unscientific and un-Islamic.   If we follow such naked eye sighting (Imkane Ruyi’ah), the Full Moon may occur, in a particular month itself, on 13th , 12th , 11th, or even on 10th for people in the different regions, which gives a very wrong, distorted and  tainted picture of Islamic calendar.  

We are providing herewith supporting evidences, derived from Holy Quran and the Sunnah, explained under different topics, which will conclusively prove that our claim is 100% in conformity with Sharia principles.   We earnestly request our readers to evaluate all the issues discussed and appreciate the need to revert back to the original criteria used for the Ummul Qura Calendar till 1420H. Though the concept we are presenting here  may not be in line with general belief prevailing among majority of Muslims, we request our readers to understand that majority has never been the yardstick to gauge Truth in Islam and that, what really matters is whether it is in  compliance with the Principles of Sharia.  

There may be repetition of the certain points under certain topics due to the reason that each topic is handled and explained independently in order to facilitate readers to get detailed information about each topic and to avoid cross references.  Please bear with us.   We sincerely welcome all comments, feedback and suggestions from our readers.  If any further clarifications are required, feel free to contact: editor@mooncalendar.in.  

Note:  The E-book is so designed with hyperlinks for easy navigation) 

Assalaamu Alaikkum 

We are giving below evidences from Quran and also from authentic hadeeths to prove 

that the 24-hour  period in Islam starts at Fajr and not at Magrib. 

From Noble Quran:

a)  In Verse 2:238, we are asked to guard strictly the As salawaat  (five obligatory prayers),

 especially the  "salawaathul wusta" (mid prayer). 

All the mufasirs  have said that the "salawaathul wusta" it is Asr  prayer. It is reported in Sahih Muslim,

Muwatta Maaliki,  Abu Dawud,  Nasaie, Tirmudhi & Mussanad Ahmad.

 If Asr has to be the mid prayer, the day must start at Fajr and not at Magrib.

b)  In Surrah Yasin (36) verse 40, it is said, "nor does the night  outstrip the day"

which means that Day is the fore runner and  Night  will not outstrip the day

 c)  Surrah Al A'raf (7) Verse 54 says that "HE (ALLAH) brings the night  as a cover

     over the day

 d)  Surrah Ar Ra'd (13) Verse  3 also says the same thing: "HE brings  the night as a

      cover over the day.

        ( In c  & d above, it is  clearly mentioned that it is  day which is the first part and

          the night follows and comes to cover the day.)

 e) In Surah As Shams (91) Verses  1-4 also say that it is the sun or  day which precedes

      the moon or night.

 f) In Surrah Ad Duha it is written that "By the forenoon (after sunrise), By the night

     when it darkens." which also says that it is  the day-time which comes  first and not the night.

We are also giving below the Arabic Text from Ibn Katheer  explaining Surah As Shams

quoting, Ibn Abbas (RA) where Ibn Abbas (RA) clearly  says that " ' Al-`Awfi reported from

Ibn `Abbas (RA) that he said, (By the moon as it Talaha.) "It follows the day.'' Qatadah said,

"`as it Talaha (follows it)' is referring to the night of the Hilal (the new crescent moon).

When the sun goes down, the Hilal is visible.''

قال مجاهد: { وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا } أي: وضوئها. وقال قتادة: { وَضُحَاهَا } النهار كله.

قال ابن جرير: والصواب أن يقال: أقسم الله بالشمس ونهارها؛ لأن ضوء الشمس الظاهر هو النهار (1) .

{ وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلاهَا } قال مجاهد: تبعها. وقال العوفي، عن ابن عباس: { وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلاهَا } قال: يتلو النهار. وقال قتادة: { إِذَا تَلاهَا } ليلة الهلال، إذا سقطت الشمس رؤي الهلال.

The above explanation shatters the wrong belief that the Sahaba (RA) started

 the month after seeing the hilaal.  They (RA) knew very well that the day starts

at Fajre and that if they (RA) waited for the hilaal to appear in order to start the month, they will lose the fasting of the first day of Ramdaan and also that they will be forced  to fast on the Eid day. 

  g)  In Surrah Al Haqqah (69) , verses 6 & 7 it is said, " And as for Aad', they were destroyed by  furious violent wind ! Which Allah imposed on them for seven nights and Eight days in succession, ...."

Only if the 24-hour period starts at Fajre you will get 7 nights and 8 days in succession.  If we take Magrib as the start of the 24-hour period, it will be 7 days and 8 nights in succession !!!!

Let us now refer the Hadeeth.

From Hadeeth:

1) Witr:  A day consists of 5 prayers.  We have been ordered to end them  with Witr (Sahih

Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasaie).

Hadeeths also ask us to pray Witr between Isha & Fajr (Sahih Bukhari,

Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasaie).  This also indicates that

the day's last Farz prayer is Isha & Fajr is the first Farz prayer.

2)  The Prophet (Sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) used to start Ithi'kaaf from Fajr

    onwards  - Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawud, Nasaie, Tirmidhi, Ibn Maaja &

Musnad Ahmad.

3) It is also reported in the hadeeths that the Prophet (Sallallaahu

    alaihi wa sallam) used to come out of Ithi'kaaf after Fajr on the Eid     Day (Tirmidhi, Ahmad, Haakim)

4) During Hajj if a pilgrim cannot be at the Arafath, his Hajj is not completed.  

In an authentic hadeeth, the Prophet (Sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) has asked

a pilgrim to be at Arafath before the Fafre of 10th Zul Hijjah so that he has observed

the essential part of the Pilgrimage of staying  at Arafath on the 9th Zul Hijjah. This

hadeeth categorically prove that the 24-hour period starts in Islam at Fajre and not at Magrib. 

It is the Jewish tradition to start the month after sunset.  You may be surprised to note 

that even the Muslim countries follow the Jews in starting the 24-hour period !!!

May Almighty Allah keep all of us in the Right Path.  AAmeen

Evidences to prove that 1-1-1 H was on a Thursday (the next day of Eclipse/Conjunction)

 Evidences to prove that 1-1-1 H was on a Thursday (the next day of Eclipse/Conjunction)

from: Chief Editor, Hijri Committee of India editorhijri@gmail.com

date: Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 10:32 PM

subject: Evidences to prove that 1-1-1 H was on a Thursday (the next day of Eclipse/Conjunction)

Dear Br. Khalid Shaukat

Assalaamu Alaikkum Wa Rahmathullaahi wa Barakaathu hu

In your last mail, you have asked how Umar (RA) knew about the solar eclipse as it was not seen 

in Arabia. We are happy that you have accepted that the Eclipse was there on Wednesday and 

it goes without saying that eclipse occurs on the the Day of Conjunction (to put it in simple language) 

and that it is the last day of the month.

They (RA) were true followers of the Prophet (Sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) who lived

100% as per Quran and observed the moon-phases which Quran 2:189 says are the dates

and who found-out "Urj Oonil Qadeem" which Quran 36:39 says as the last visible phase of the 

moon and who easily identified the day of conjunction (the last day of the month).

They (RA) were not like majority of present-day Muslims who look at moon only on  

3 or 4 times a year.  They (RA) were also not like majority of present-day Muslims who missed 

the first fast of Ramdhaan nor they (RA) ever fasted on the Eid Day like majority of present-day 

Muslims.

Just imagine without computers or calculators how much difficult it would be for us to findout 

on which week-day was the date - 1st of Muharram 1417 H. ( We challenge anyone to findout correctly

without using computer or calculators, on which week-day was 1-1-1417 H with the dates of 

conjunction in each month.  Then tell us who is "illiterate")  

Umar (RA) and the Companions (RA) were competent enough to pin-point the 1st of Muharram 

of 1 Hijri year to Thursday. They (RA) did it by back-tracking the dates of more than 200 months.  

It shows how much they (RA) were well-versed with recording accurately the start and end of each month 

for nearly 17 years.  Allaahu Akbar !! Almighty Allah  bestowed them with immense knowledge on the subject. 

Masha Allah !!

Now a days many Muslims, by not studying the hadeeth properly, are branding them (RA) 

as illiterate and as the ones who do not know calculation  !!! What a pity !!!   

You have also asked, " where Al Biruni has recorded the 1-1-1 H as Thursday".

We are giving below the relevant parts from "Islam - An Historical Introduction" 

Edited by Gerhard Endress (translated by Carole Hillenbrand) where he has quoted  

from Al Biruni's  book " Al Aathaar al Baaqiya". 

You can also see the relevant portion of English translation of  "Al Aathaar al Baaqiya" (translated

by C. E. Sachau, London at the end of this mail along with Eclipse data. 

QUOTE

FOLLOWING DATA HEREUNDER PROVES THAT 1ST MUHARRAM WAS STARTED ON THE FOLLOWING DAY OF "CONJUNCTION/NEW MOON/ECLIPSE". 

1-1-1H  = 15 JULY 622 THURSDAY, (FOLLOWING DAY OF CONJUNCTION).

ISLAM - An Historical Introduction, 2 Edited, GERHARD ENDRESS translated by CAROLE HILLENBRAND

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS

ISBN 0 7486 1620 9 (paperback)

Appendix - 3. The Islamic calendar

Now the most authentic date, which involved no obscurities nor

possible mishaps, seemed to be the date of the Hijra of the Prophet, viz. of his arrival

at MadÈna on Monday, the 8th of the month RabÈÆ I [20th September 622], whilst the

beginning of the year was a Thursday (1st Mu˙arram = 15th July 622]. Now he

adopted this epoch, and fixed thereby the dates in all his affairs. This happened in the

year 17 after the Hijra. (Al-BÈrËnÈ [973–c. 1050]: al-åthÅr al-bÅqiya [‘The Chronology

of Ancient Nations], edited by C. Edward Sachau, Leipzig 1878, pp. 29–30, transl. by

C. E. Sachau, London 1879, pp. 33–4.)

                Data on Eclipse of  14 th July  622

PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE (NEW MOON) on Jul 14  05:26 UT

Excerpts from English Translation of  "Al Aathaar al Baaqiya"

Links:

Extract_pages_from_Islam_-An_historical_introduction-2ED0.pdf

PHASES OF THE MOON: 601 TO 700 NASA 

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/phase/phases0601.html

eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov-Moon_Phases_601_to_700.pdf

UNQUOTE

We are sure all are now convinced that 1-1-1 H was 

on a Thursday.

Umer (RA) who  formulated the the Hijri Calendar himself  started the Muharram of 1H on the  

following day on which  Conjunction/Eclipse took place.  Then, how can one start the new 

Hijri month after seeing the hilaal on the west sky, now??

Every one will agree that  Umar (RA) and the Sahaba (RA) present at that time

 would never go against the instructions of the Prophet (Sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam)

who taught them about Sharia. 

This itself proves that the starting of new month after seeing the hilaal is a Bid'ah !! 

Prophet (Sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) never practiced it nor the Sahaba (RA). 

WHY SHOULD PRESENT-DAY MUSLIMS FOLLOW A BID'AH ?????

Why Br. Mohamed Ilyas, Br. Omar Afzal, Br. Mohamed Odeh, Br Sultan Alam, you,

to name a few, and the rest propagating this Bid'ah and helping Iblees in his 

devious attempt ??

PLEASE STOP PROPAGATING THIS BID'AH.  Enough is enough. May Almighty Allah 

forgive  sins, errors and faults of all of us. Aameen

Repeating the same mistake again and again is a heinous sin.  ITHAQULLAH !!

It was during the period of Ottoman 1-1-1 H was changed from Thursday to Friday. Why??

Who manipulated this important data of  Islamic history? For What purpose?

We are of the opinion that those who inserted the Jewish tradition of starting 

the month after seeing the hilaal did this manipulation. By this 

deceitful adulteration they wanted to justify and make millions adopt 

a Jewish tradition as Islamic  and thereby mislead  millions of Muslims 

for generations and generations.

Iblees has indeed succeeded in his attempt and has successfully misled and still misleading

Muslims, by making possible a twist of just one day.  We seek refuge in Almighty Allah 

from the cunning Iblees.

In the name of Almighty Allah, we request all who read this mail to make use of what 

all resources they have to warn innocent Muslims about this trap of Iblees and to 

make them adopt the correct calendar which has dates tallying with the moon-phases 

as directed in Quran 2:189.

In order to have a calendar, directed in Quran 2:189,  we must consider 

as the last day of the month, the Universal Day in which the  Conjunction/Eclipse

 takes place, just like Umar (RA), and have to start the new month on the following

day, at fajr, irrespective of the conjunction time or the sunset-moonset 

difference at Makkah / anyother place.

May Almighty Allah keep all of us in the Right Path. Aameen

May Almighty Allah forgive all our sins, errors and faults and may He, the

Almighty provide all of us with a  place in Jannathul Firdouse.  Aameen

Months of 29 & 30

On Jul 19, 2014 3:11 AM, "Ali Manikfan" <manikfan@gmail.com>; wrote:

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

The months of 29 and 30 were fixed on the day of creation says the Qur'an. The dates which denote the days of the week are inviolable just as the days.

Today the science has proved that the statement of the Qur'an is correct. The dates are based on the stages and phases of the moon which moves with precision. (not on the disability of hilaal, which is quite uncertain)

The phases for any required month can be produced exactly by science. A month of 30 days has 29 phases and 29 has 28 phases visible to the naked eye. Just by counting everyday the months can be easily identified by any illiterate person.

Today we have them in our mobile phones.

At the time when Qur'an was revealed the people did not know the calculation, "He appointed stages for the moon for you to know moon ages and the calculations" said the Qur'an and Rasoolullah said, we are illiterate, we do not write and we do not record. See the moon and fast. So, they saw the moon and found out the true dates just as they saw the sun and found out their times.

Jews and Arabs at that time were using the artificial lunar calendar which was based on beginning the month after the hilaal was visible. Their artificial dates were always one or two days behind the true lunar date, This was not a matter of concern for them.

Rasoolullah was born on Monday the full moon of Rabiul Awwal. But the records showing 12th of Rabiul Awwal proves they followed the artificial lunar calendar.

Fasting of Ramadan was prescribed in second Sha'ban they encountered in Medina.

Ramadan is the ninth month and the fasting cannot be in Sha'ban or Shawwal in the right religion. Rasoolullah ordered them to see the moon and find out.

Their method of seeing the hilaal and beginning the month on the next day would not give the true lunar dates. Some of the Bedouins knew how to find out the true dates by observation.

When Islam spread far and wide people interpreted Qur'an and Hadith differently and the old method of Arabs got revived again and they began to see the hilaal and begin the month after seeing it.

Old dates in places other than Haramaen are one or two days behind the true lunar date. Today even the Arabs have forgotten the right method under the force of civilization.

We must revive the old knowledge till people realize that the calculated date and observed date are same.

Hilaal becomes visible to the naked eye only on the first day of the month. It is never seen on the last day of the month.

So, beginning fasting or celebrating Eidul Fitr after seeing the crescent is definitely not the Sunnah of Rasoolullah and the Sahaba.

Hilaal seen belongs to the day it is seen. "Fahuwa lilailathin ra'aithumoohu" makes it clear.

Our method of seeing the crescent and beginning the fasting on the following day contradicts Qur'an and Sunnah.

We must return to Qur'an and Sunnah.

Rasoolullah was very particular to correct the dates of Sha'ban, We did not do it. We had different dates in Sha'ban and we believed that the dates being different is Islamic.

Date stands for day and they cannot be separated as seen from the following equation.

01-09-1435H=Saturday

01-09-1435H=Sunday

01-09-1435H=Monday

Saturday, Sunday and Monday are three different days and the figure 1 cannot represent 3 different days. It is absurd.

By observing the stages and phases of the moon we can identify the dates easily as seen in the diagram.

The months contain the week days. Sun and moon are together in one manaazil once in every month. On the day of conjunction rising or setting of the moon cannot be viewed from earth due to proximity. It is the last day of the month, which may be either 29th or 30th of the month.

Conjunction day of Rajab 1435H was Wednesday. Sha'ban began on Thursday. Conjunction or last day of Sha'ban was Friday and Ramadan began on Saturday. Conjunction/last day of Ramadan is Saturday and Shawwal begins on Sunday. All places having Sunday will be in First of Shawwal.

When a month begins on Thursday, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th will be the same day Thursday. It is easy to remember without writing.

The moon's travel per day is about 12°. In a week the moon is on the meridian at sun set of 7th day. The moon will be half or a little less. 84-90 degrees. In a fortnight both are in opposition and it is full moon. Now waxing is over and waning begins. In a week it is on the meridian at sun rise and in another week they are again in conjunction and the month is over.

Just as in our perambulation of the Kaba we come near and go far the moon also comes near and goes away from earth making differences in the orbit. This makes the months of 30 and 29 days. Observation for a few months will make one perfect in predicting the dates.

Regards,

Wasalaam.

Ali manikfan

Ummul Qurrah calendar …….. till 1420 H:

Original Ummul Qurrah calendar followed by Saudi Arabia till 1420 H:

Dr. Fadhl Ahmed formulated for Saudi Arabia  Ummul Qurrah calendar for 130 years – from 1300 to 1429 H,  based on the criteria of “Universal Day in which Conjunction takes place as the last day of the month and the new month to start at Fajr on the following Universal Day” – the very same criteria followed by Hijri Committee of India.

Saudi Arabia  were following this original Ummul Qurrah till 1420 and the dates were exactly tallying with moon-phases, as directed in Noble Qur’aan (2:189).  In 1420 some conditions like, ” conjunction to occur before Magrib, in order to start the new month on the following day” was introduced. This impractical, unscientific condition is contrary to Sharia.  Hence, from 1420 certain months were started on wrong days of the week.

 Dr. Fadhl Ahmed passed away during 2013. But, before his demise he had formulated a 2000 year universal Hijri Calendar based on the same original criteria which can be purchased from amazon from the following link.  http://www.amazon.com/Years-Civil-Hijri-Comparative-Calendar/dp/1477443606

May Almighty Allaah reward him immensely for his efforts.  Aameen!