UNIQUE LOCATION OF HOLY CITY OF MAKKAH AND THE QIBLA

Umm Al Qura means Mother of all cities and this title is given by Allah (Subhana hu wo taala) = ( Holy is He above everything). It is the location of the most sacred place in Islam- The Kaaba. Mecca city is alternative for Kaaba( House of Worship to Allah) The First House of Worship chosen by maker of this EARTH for mankind. The holy city of Mecca has a unique location as center of Islamic world and the Muslim are commanded to face Ka’ba when offering prayer. 

Qibla is an Arabic word for the direction that should be faced when a Muslim prays. Most mosques contain a niche in a wall that indicates the qibla. The qibla has importance to more than just the salat, and plays an important part in everyday ceremonies. The head of an animal that is slaughtered using Halal methods is aligned with the qibla. After death, Muslims are buried with their faces in the direction of the qibla. 

Holy Mecca is the center of Islamic world. It is well known that in regions deep in the West of Mecca the crescent often becomes visible a day earlier than Holy Mecca but in regions deep in East of Mecca a day or two later and many changes occur in visibility of crescent at different locations on earth during 33 year cycle and at places close to polar regions visibility is not possible for months.

So the crescent sighting at Mecca and preferably the astronomical calculations for appearance of crescent over Mecca's horizon should be good enough for the whole Muslim world as information can now be conveyed within seconds.  

 
It is simply illogical to believe that the Holy Prophet (SWS) wanted that different months of Islamic calendar begin and end in different cities and countries on different weekdays with a gap of one to three days and/or having a month of 29 days in one country and the same month same year having 30 days in another!

---

A Global Islamic Calendar based on astronomical calculations for appearance of crescent in Mecca is the best way to standardize Islamic dating procedures. Visibility of moon on earth by naked eye is becoming more and more unpredictable due to global warming and pollution of atmosphere owing to industrialization and space exploration. However, until Saudi Ulema are convinced, the whole Muslim Ummah should follow the Saudi Hijri Calendar to maintain unity and unification of Hijri calendar..

The Umm al-Qura calendar has been developed at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh based on the modern astronomical data.  It is use in Saudi Arabia only for civil
purposes but for important occasions such as Holy Ramazan, Hajj etc. the practice of seeing the crescent with naked eye from Mecca, or more precisely, from the Great Mosque of Mecca (al-masjid al-haram) where the Ka'ba and the holy Black Stone (al-hajar al-aswad) are located - is being followed. 
 

PRAYER TIMINGS ARE REGIONAL – DAYS, MONTHS, YEARS AND CENTURIES ARE GLOBAL

It is fallacious to believe that just as prayer timings differ from place to place, Ramazan dates and Eid days can also differ. On the contrary just as Juma prayers are offered within 12 to 15 hours around the globe, we should be able to start and end Ramazan and other months and offer eid prayers within the same time constraint  – and not with the gap of one to three days. The day of Juma and beginning and end of Islamic months are global – not regional whereas only prayer timings are regional. 
.
BENEFITS OF RAMAZAN ARE NOT LOST DUE TO UNINTENTIONAL ERROR

In the past there were but a few errors in the announcements of Hajj and Eid dates by Saudi authorities. But Allah is very kind to us. He does not deprive us the benefit of Holy Ramazan or Hajj if we erred in determining the exact dates. 

The possibilities of errors in visibility forecasts by meteorological department or in naked eye sighting of crescent would always exist as visibility on earth is affected by a number of factors. The date and time of each New Moon can be computed exactly but the time that the Moon first becomes visible after the New Moon depends not only on location, weather and many factors and cannot be predicted with certainty.  Further earth mass is 81 times greater and diameter 4 times bigger than moon and visibility on the same day on all around the globe is not possible. In fact the moon may not be sighted in certain parts of earth for several months.  .  ..

The Qur'an constantly reiterates the view that the idea of antiquity of an idea is neither the evidence of its falsity, nor is it a testimony of its truthfulness. Antiquity affects material objects; but the eternal truths of existence never become old and outmoded. Truths like: 

God changes not what is in a people, until they change what is in themselves ... (13:11)  are true forever and ever. The Qur'an asks us to face issues with the weapon of reason and intellect. One should neither forsake a belief for fear of becoming the target of others' ridicule and banter, nor should he accept a belief just because it is upheld by some important and well- known persons. We should ourselves study and investigate the roots of all matters and draw our own conclusions.

The Government of Pakistan needs to initiate coordination with OIC and Saudi Government and make planned and sustained efforts to seek the assistance of the jurists, scholars and astronomers with a view to reaching an agreement on the unification of the Hijri Calendar. Until then we should follow the announcements at K’aba and dissolve Central and Regional Ruyiet Hilal Committees.
 

The Fiqh Council of North America adopts Hijri calendar instead of depending on local sighting.

Muslims of South Asian and Arab origin living in North America have been observing Ramazan and celebrating  Eid on different days - even in the same cities. South Asians believed in regional sighting but most Arabs either followed calendar or announcement at K'aba, 

The Fiqh Council of North America after careful research, deliberations and discussion has adopted a new position regarding the determination of the beginning of the Islamic lunar months. This position is based primarily on the following Fiqhi premises:

Sighting the Hilal (ru’yah) is not an act of ‘ibadah in itself; it is rather a means to know with certainty about the beginning of the new month related to Islamic ‘Ibadat. 

Ru’yah as a means was indicated and used by the Prophet –peace be upon him- because he himself said that the Ummah at that time was not literate and did not know how to write or to calculate (complicated astronomical data). 

Some classical jurists were willing to accept the calculations. 

Some classical jurists refused to allow calculations in this matter because in their time astronomy and astrology were not quite distinct sciences. Jurists were suspicious that astronomical predictions may not be based on exact science but on whims, conjectures, magic etc.

During the last century an increasing number of Muslim jurists indicated that calculations could be used to negate erroneous reports of crescent sighting. Some jurists were of the opinion that calculations could also be used as a positive method to determine the new Islamic lunar months. 

There are now many Muslim astronomers who have been working for many years to develop a global lunar Islamic calendar. Fiqh Council particularly appreciates the efforts of its consultants Dr. Imad ad-Dean Ahmad, Dr. Khalid Shaukat, Dr. Muhib Durrani and Dr. Ahmad Salamah. 

Dr. Salah Soltan and Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Shah also presented scholarly papers to give thorough evidence from Fiqh Perspective that the use of calculations is not against the Sunnah of the Prophet –peace be upon him. 

The Fiqh Council of North America considered the following factors in making its decision:

Use of calculations in determining the Islamic dates is not against the Sunnah. 

Sure astronomical methods are now available to determine Islamic dates of Ramadan and the two Eids. 

Shari’ah is based on ease and considers the convenience of people. 
Announcement of Islamic dates ahead of time will reduce a lot of hardship, chaos and confusion that happen every year at the time of the beginning of Ramadan and the two Eids. 

Announcement of Islamic dates will help Muslims to plan their activities, to take day off from their work, students can take day off from their schools and many other benefits will result from this. 

Announcement of these dates will also remove unnecessary financial burdens from the Muslim community in North America. 

Muslim of America will become more united in their celebrations. 

Muslims of America can also work to have their Islamic holidays officially recognized. 

The Muslim community of North America will lead a way towards the development of a unified global Islamic calendar for the whole Muslim world. 

Fiqh Council will continue working with the Imams and scholars of the communities to develop a consensus in this matter. It is, however, hoped that whether some of us agree or disagree with this position, we shall all recognize the validity of ikhtilaf in this issue and that the Ummah should be united in brotherhood despite any legitimate fiqhi differences. 

Brief Explanation:

A.   Discussion of a number of research papers led to the conclusion that the use of calculation both in negation as well as affirmation of the beginning of the new Islamic Lunar months has a firm basis in the Qur’an and Sunnah as well as in the opinion of some classical and contemporary jurists. 

B.    The new moon (i.e. time of conjunction) is when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun closest to the Sun-Earth line. This time of conjunction is precisely predictable by astronomical calculation.

C.   The conjunction before 12:00 GMT would give enough time to the new moon to be visible somewhere on the globe before the end of the night in North America.

Comments and Conclusion:
Almost all the conclusions of Fiqh Council of North America are  on the same lines as the rulings given in Egypt during 10th Century CE. It was noted that in some parts of the globe specially deep in the West of Mecca the crescent tends to appear a day earlier than Holy Kaaba but in some parts deep in East of Kaaba a day or two later. 

The holy city of Mecca has a unique location as center of Islamic world and the Muslim are commanded to face Ka’ba when offering prayers. So Holy Kaaba must be the International date line for Islamic lunar calendar. And the crescent sighting at Kaaba or preferably the astronomical calculations for appearance of crescent over Makah's  horizon are good enough for the whole Muslim world as information can now be conveyed within seconds.

We can ignore earlier sighting deep in West of Mecca because the advice of the Holy Prophet (sws) was apparently for crescent's appearance in Arabia as it was addressed to the people of Arabia whom he himself defined as illiterate. Obviously the population of Muslims of that age who were not literate and did not know how to write or to calculate (complicated astronomical data was confined to Arabia..  So that advice cannot be said with certainty to be applicable to Muslims all over the world for all times to come. 

Therefore, A Global Islamic Calendar based on astronomical calculations for appearance of crescent in Makkah is the best  way to standardize Islamic dating procedures. Visibility of moon on earth by naked eye is becoming more and more unpredictable due to global  warming and pollution of atmosphere because of industrialization and space exploration. In the first two days after New Moon, the new  crescent Moon appears very low in the western sky after sunset, and must be viewed through bright twilight. It sets shortly after sunset within a few minutes or seconds. The sighting of the lunar crescent within one day of New Moon is usually difficult but possible at some locations as the crescent at this time is quite thin, has a low surface brightness, and can easily be lost in the twilight. 

 We need to examine this issue with the reason and logic. However, until Saudi Ulema are convinced, the whole Muslim Ummah should follow the Saudi Hijri Calendar to maintain unity and unification of Islamic calendar so that each month begins on the globe on the same day instead of a gap of 1 - 3 days. After all they do that when they go for Haj and Umra during Ramzan. ...