Islamic Calendar
by Shah N. Khan
For the last several years Organization
of Islamic Countries (OIC) has been trying in vain to prescribe
a uniform basis for determining the onset of new month or year under Islamic
Lunar calendar which at present begin on different days of the week in
different countries depending upon sighting of the new crescent on earth
in
their region and often difference of a day or two takes place. The mass
of the earth is 81 times and diameter 4 times greater than the moon. The
date and time of each New Moon can be computed exactly by astronomers but
the time that the crescent first becomes visible to naked eye on earth
after the New Moon depends on many factors and cannot be predicted with
certainty.
Only a few countries, organizations like
Fiqh Council of North America and communities like Bohras rely totally
on an astronomical lunar calendar for Islamic months without any need of
actual sighting the waxing crescent with naked eye. Most often the month
of Ramadan commences according to that calendar one or two days ahead of
actual visibility of the crescent in South Asian countries though it may
be visible in some parts of the globe.
In a few countries like Saudi Arabia and
Pakistan a committee appointed by the Government decides or
recommends whether or not the new moon has been sighted. In India and other
Non-Muslim countries the Muslim religious leaders declare whether or not
new month has begun and more often than not such important festivals as
Eid, Birth Anniversaries of the Holy Prophet (sws) are held on different
days of the week with a gap of a day or two as Muslims are divided in three
broad groups:
(a) Largest one indulges in ritual of crescent
sighting on regional basis on every 29th day of the Hijri month. See the
note about Saudi practice below.
(b) Second largest one follows the announcement
at Mecca based on sighting of crescent by naked eye at Holy Ka'ba.
(c) Followers of Egyptian or the modern
astronomical Hijri Calendar who look at the printed calendar instead of
the skies. And this group is also divided among those who prepare the calendar
in advance based on astronomical data for a particular region and the other
that indicates first appearance of crescent anywhere on the earth..
According to recent reports the OIC plans
to launch an $8-million satellite within two years to take pictures of
the moon to find lunar calendar dates. It said religious scholars
would have access to accurate pictures of the shape of the moon instead
of having to rely on naked-eye sightings which have in the past created
discrepancies between Muslim countries or mistakes. Few years ago a moon
sighting committee in Saudi Arabia, had shocked millions of worshippers
when it said it got the date wrong by a day for the Haj pilgrimage.
The OIC will fund the project, which was
conceived by Cairo University's Space Science Center. "The satellite will
have a fixed camera on board that will take highly-detailed pictures of
the moon and beam them back to earth," said Professor Mervat Awad, the
center's director.The satellite, which is being built by an Italian firm,
would also be used to research asteroids, Awad added.
It was not immediately clear how many countries
would use the technology to determine religious dates. There is already
some criticism from religious scholars in Saudi Arabia, which for civil
purposes uses the lunar calendar. known as the Umm al-Qura calendar
developed at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)
in Riyadh based on the modern astronomical data. It is only for civil
purposes but for important occasions such as Holy Ramadan, Haj 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.
And on the recommendations of Ulemas the Government declares the festivals
or special occasions and adjust the calendar. As of 1423 AH (15 March 2002)
onwards, the Institute of Astronomical & Geophysical Research has modified
its rules for the Umm al-Qura calendar as follows:
If on the 29th day of the lunar month
the two following conditions are satisfied, then the next day is the first
day of the new lunar month:
(a) The geocentric conjunction occurs
before sunset.
(b) The Moon sets after the Sun.
Otherwise, the current lunar month
will last 30 days.
"The shape of the moon has to be seen from
the ground," said Osama al-Bar, dean of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
Institute for Haj Research in Saudi Arabia. Bigotry and close minded approach
is evident from the following quote:
""The earth is flat, and anyone who disputes
this claim is an atheist who deserves to be punished."_ Sheik Abdel-Aziz
Ibn Baaz, Supreme religious authority, Saudi Arabia and author of a Muslim
religious edict, 1993:
