Archive for the ‘Ramadan’ Category

Using definite (precise) calculations today as a means (method) to establish the months, must be accepted from the aspect of “analogy (pointing) to what is primary.” Meaning, that the Sunnah that legislated for us to use lower means, when the latter is engulfed in doubt and probabilities, i.e. [crescent] sighting, does not reject a means that is higher, more complete and more fully realises the objective. It further leads the [Muslim] nation out of severe disagreement about specifying the beginning of its fasting and its [festivals] of breaking the fast and sacrificing, towards the desired unity in its sacred symbols and acts of worship related to the most special of its religious matters, those most closely-connected to its spiritual life and entity. This [higher] means is definite (precise) calculation.

The generous Islamic Sharia, when it mandated fasting in a lunar month, legislated the natural, accessible and practical method to establish it (the month) for the whole nation. This method has no unknowns or complexity, [for] the nation at that time was unlettered: it did not write or calculate. This method is naked-eye sighting of the crescent moon:

[1] On the authority of Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ said: Fast, all of you, upon seeing it – i.e. the crescent – and end your fast upon seeing it. If it is obscured for you [by cloud or haze], then complete the term of Sha’ban as thirty [days].[1]

[2] On the authority of Ibn ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ mentioned Ramadan, saying: Do not fast until you see the crescent. Do not end your fast until you see it. If it is obscured for you [by cloud or haze], then determine for it.[2]

This was mercy towards the nation, for Allah did not task it with acting by calculation, something which it neither knew nor excelled in. Had it been tasked with that, it would have followed other nations, from the People of the Book[3] and others who did not follow its religion [Islam].

2 [Three Ways to Establish the Entry of Ramadan]

Authentic hadiths have affirmed that the entry of the month of Ramadan may be established via one of three routes:

Crescent-sighting,
Completing the term of Sha’ban as thirty days, or
Determining for the crescent.

2.1 [Crescent-Sighting]

The jurists have differed about it: is it sighting by one person of integrity, by two people of integrity, or by a large number of people?

2.1.1 [One Witness]

Those who said: the witness of one person of integrity is acceptable, used as evidence the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar, who said: The people attempted to see the crescent. I informed the Prophet ﷺ that I had seen it, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fasted and ordered the people to fast it (the month).[4]

They also used as evidence the hadith of the bedouin who testified to the Prophet ﷺ that he saw the crescent, so he ordered Bilal to announce to the people “to stand (in prayer) and fast.”[5]

They also said: “Affirming with one trustworthy witness (person of integrity) is more cautious for entry into worship: fasting a day [i.e. the 30^th] of Sha’ban is less serious than eating and drinking on a day [i.e. the 1^st] of Ramadan.”

2.1.2 [Two Witnesses]

Those who made sighting conditional upon two trustworthy witnesses (people of integrity), used as evidence what al-Husayn bin Hurayth al-Jadali narrated. He said: The Emir of Mecca, al-Harith bin Hatib, addressed us, saying: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered us to begin rituals upon seeing it [the crescent]: if we did not see it, but two trustworthy witnesses testified [that they had seen it], we began the rituals by their testimony.[6]

Thus, by analogy with most other cases of testimony, sighting is established by the testimony of two people of integrity.

2.1.3 [A Large Number of Witnesses]

As for those who made it conditional upon a large mass or numerous group of people, they are the Hanafis, applying it to the state of a clear horizon. In case of a cloudy sky, they allowed one person to testify to its sighting, because it is possible that the cloud broke momentarily, allowing one person to see the crescent whilst others did not see it. But if the sky is clear, with no haze, cloud or other obstacle or barrier preventing sighting, then how could one person see it whilst others did not? This is why they said: News must come from a great number, because a sighting by one person amidst a large mass of people, when they are all concentrating on the same thing being sought, supposing no preventative condition and sound eyesights, even if these differ in sharpness, clearly demonstrates that it is mistaken.[7]

As for the reports from Ibn ‘Umar and the bedouin mentioning establishing the crescent by an individual sighting, the ‘Allamah Rashid Rida said in his notes on [the Hanbali text] Al-Mughni [That Which Suffices], “In these two reports, it is not stated that the people were looking to sight the crescent such that only one of them saw it. Thus, the two reports do not apply to the area of disagreement, especially with Abu Hanifah. Thus, all the relevant arguments based upon the two reports are falsified.”[8]

As for the number of the large group, this is referred to the view of the ruler or judge (qadi), without determining a fixed number, according to the correct view.[9]

Amongst the obligations upon the Muslims is to seek the crescent on the 29^th day of Sha’ban at sunset, because anything necessary to fulfil an obligation is itself an obligation, except that it is a communal obligation [i.e. not an individual one].

2.2 [Completing the term of Sha’ban as thirty days]

Whether the sky is clear or cloudy, if the people try to see the crescent on the 30^th night of Sha’ban but no-one sees it, they complete Sha’ban as thirty days.

This necessitates that the establishment of Sha’ban was known from its beginning, so that the 30^th night is known in which the crescent is sought and the month is completed (as thirty days) if there is no sighting. This is a matter in which there is a shortcoming, because concern to establish the entry of the months [currently] only happens for three months: [i] Ramadan, to establish entry into fasting, [ii] Shawwal, to establish exit from it, and [iii] Dhul-Hijjah [The Month of Pilgrimage] to establish The Day of ‘Arafah [Hajj] and subsequent days. It is befitting for the nation, and for its rulers, to be precise in establishing all the months, because each one is based on other [preceding] ones.[10]

2.3 [Determining the crescent – what does it mean?]

This is to determine for the crescent when it is cloudy, or as the hadith says in authentic narrations, “If it is obscured (ghumma) over you”, “If it is obscured over you by cloud (ghaym),” or “If it is obscured over you by rain (ghaby),” i.e. there is a barrier covering it. These narrations include Malik from Nafi’ from Ibn ‘Umar, the Golden Chain and the most authentic isnad according to Bukhari, “If it is obscured (ghumma) over you, then determine for it.”

So, what is the meaning of, “determine for it” (uqduru lahu) ?

2.3.1 [Imam Nawawi’s explanation]

Nawawi said in Al-Majmu’ [The Compendium]:

Ahmad bin Hanbal and a small group said: its meaning is: Narrow it down and determine it from below the clouds. This is from ‘qadr’ meaning ‘narrowness’ as in His saying: Whoever has his provision constricted.[11] They obliged fasting after a cloudy night.

Mutarrif bin ‘Abdullah, amongst the Senior Followers (Tabi’in), Abu l-‘Abbas bin Surayj, amongst the Senior Shafi’is, Ibn Qutaybah and others said: its meaning is: Determine it according to (calculation of) the stations [of the moon].

Abu Hanifah, Shafi’i and the majority of the earlier (Salaf) and later (Khalaf) authorities said: its meaning is: Determine for it by completing the number as thirty days. The majority used as proof the narrations that we have mentioned, all of which are authentic and explicit: “Complete the term as thirty”, and “Determine for it thirty,” which explain the general narration, “Determine for it.”[12]

However, Imam Abu l-‘Abbas bin Surayj did not refer one of the two narrations to the other. Rather, Ibn al-‘Arabi quoted from him that his saying, “Determine for it,” is addressed to those whom Allah has especially-given this knowledge, and that his saying, “Complete the term [as thirty]” is addressed to the common people.[13]

A difference in addressing people according to their situation is a valid matter. It is the basis of the change of fatwa according to the changing of time, place and situation.

Imam Nawawi said in Al-Majmu’ [The Compendium]:

Whoever advocated calculation of the stations [of the moon], his view is refuted by his saying ﷺ in the Two Sahihs: We are an unlettered nation: we do not write or calculate … [to the end of] the hadith. They [the refuters] said: Furthermore, if the people were tasked with this, it would constrict them because such calculation is only known by a few individuals in large cities.[14]

The hadith that Imam Nawawi, may Allah have mercy upon him, used as proof has no proof in it because it speaks of the situation and description of the nation when he ﷺ was sent to it. However, its unletteredness is neither a necessary not desired matter: he ﷺ strove to bring it out of its unletteredness by teaching it to write, beginning from the Battle of Badr. Thus, there is nothing against the nation reaching a stage where it is writing and calculating. Scientific, astronomical calculations were known by the Muslims during the ages of the flowering of their civilisation. In our times, these have reached the degree of elevation such that man has been able to reach the moon. This is different to astral fortune-telling or the astrology that is condemned in the Sharia.

As for the other consideration that Nawawi mentioned: that only by a few individuals in large cities know the calculation, this might have been true in his time, may Allah have mercy upon him. But it is not true in our time, when astronomy is studied in various universities. The subject is served by instruments and observatories at great heights and astounding precision. It has become agreed and known internationally today that the possibility of error in scientific, astronomical determinations today is 1/100,000 of a second!

Furthermore, cities large and small have now become similar, as though they were one city. In fact, “the world –as it is said – has become a large village”! The transmission of news from one area to another, and from east to west and vice-versa, only takes a few seconds.

2.3.2 [The view of the leading Shafi’i jurists, Ibn Surayj and Qadi Abu l-Tayyib]

Abu l-‘Abbas bin Surayj, one of the Imams of the Shafi’is, took the view that a person who knows the calculation and the stations of the moon: if he knows via calculation that tomorrow is Ramadan, fasting is binding upon him, because he knows the month with evidence (daleel), so this resembles knowing it with legal proof (bayyinah). The Qadi Abu l-Tayyib[15] also chose this view because it is a means by which dominant conjecture (ghalabat al-zann) is achieved, so it resembles a trustworthy person informing him based on eye-witnessing [the crescent]. Others said: He is allowed to fast, but it is not binding upon him. Others allowed him to follow the opinion of whoever he trusted.

2.3.3 [Views of the contemporary jurists, Ahmad Shakir & Mustafa al-Zarqa’]

Some of the senior people of knowledge of our time took the view of establishing the crescent via definite, scientific, astronomical calculation. The great Hadith scholar, the ‘Allamah Ahmad Muhammad Shakir, may Allah have mercy upon him, wrote his treatise about this: Awa’il al-Shuhur al-‘Arabiyyah hal yajuzu shar’an ithbatuha bi l-hisab al-falaki? [The Beginnings of the Arabian Months: is it allowed by Sharia to establish them via astronomical calculation?] We shall return to this, quoting his view in detail.

Amongst others calling to this view in our time was the great jurist, Shaykh Mustafa al-Zarqa’, may Allah have mercy upon him.

2.3.4 [The jurists who seemingly rejected astronomy actually rejected astrology]

What is apparent from the reports that the jurists rejected geometry or astronomy, is that this was what is called ‘astral fortune-telling’ (tanjim) or ‘astrology’ (literally, ‘knowledge of the stars’ – ‘ilm al-nujum). In this, there is claimed knowledge of future unseen events via the stars. This is false, and about this is the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud and others on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas from the Prophet ﷺ: Whoever acquired knowledge from the stars has acquired a branch of sorcery, [whatever he adds to it].[16]

2.3.5 [The view of Ibn Daqiq al-‘Id]

Imam Ibn Daqiq al-‘Id said:

What I say is this: It is not permissible to rely upon calculation of the conjunction of the moon and sun, according to the astrologers, for fasting. This is because they bring forward (early) the month by a day or two before [crescent-]sighting. In considering this, there is introduction of legislation that Allah has not permitted. But as for calculation indicating that the crescent has appeared in a way that it is visible, but there exists a barrier to sighting it such as clouds, then this necessitates the obligation [of fasting] due to the existence of a legal [Sharia] cause.

Ibn Hajar commented on the above by saying:

However, the acceptance of this is suspended (conditional) upon the truthfulness of the one informing about it [the results of the calculation]. We can only certify to his truthfulness if he observes it [the crescent]. But the situation is that he has not observed it, so there is no consideration given to his statement in that case. Allah knows best.[17]

However, modern astronomy is based upon observation by instruments, and upon definite mathematical calculation. One of the widespread mistakes amongst the people of knowledge of religion in this time is the belief that astronomical calculation is [simply] the calculation of calendar-makers or the results of these, that are published and distributed amongst the people. These include prayer times and the beginnings and ends of lunar months. These calendars are attributed to different individuals, most of whom base them on old books from which they copy these timings and describe them in their calendars. It is well-known that these calendars disagree with each other: some of them number Sha’ban as having 29 days whilst others number it with 30 days, and similarly for Ramadan, Dhul-Qi’dah and other months.

Because of these disagreements, the people of knowledge of religion rejected all (these calendars), because they are not based on certain knowledge, for certainty cannot self-contradict. This (principle) is undoubtedly true, but this is not the scientific, astronomical calculation that we mean. We mean what modern astronomy has established, based on observation and experience. This modern astronomy now commands theoretical and practical (technological) possibilities that makes it possible to take humans to the surface of the moon and to despatch space probes to planets further away. The possibility of error in these calculations is now 1/100,000^th of a second. It has become one of the easiest matters for modern astronomy to inform us about the astronomical birth of the new moon, and about the possibility of its appearance in every horizon by the minute and second, if we wished.

2.3.6 Sighting: a variable means towards a fixed end

In my book, How We Engage With The Sunnah, I returned to this topic when discussing one of the foundational principles of understanding the Sunnah: Distinguishing Between The Fixed Goal and The Variable Means. I gave several examples of this, and then stated:[18]

Another matter that may be included in this chapter is what has come in the famous, authentic hadith: Fast upon seeing it (the new crescent moon: hilal) and end your fast upon seeing it; if it is obscured over you, then determine for it– and in another version: if it is obscured over you, then complete the term of Sha’ban as thirty.

Thus, a jurist may say: the noble hadith indicated a goal, and specified a means.

As for the goal from the hadith, this is clear and obvious: that people should fast all of Ramadan and neither miss a day from it nor fast a day from another month instead, such as Sha’ban or Shawwal. This is by establishing the beginning or end of the month via a means that is possible and within the capability of most people, that does not impose hardship or a burden upon them in their religion.

Sighting with the eyes was the easy and possible means for most people in that time, hence the hadith specified it. This is because if it imposed another means upon them, such as astronomical calculation – when the nation at that time was unlettered, neither reading nor writing, it would have covered them with hardship. However, God wishes ease for His People and does not wish for them hardship.[19] Furthermore, the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said about himself: Truly, God has sent me as a teacher who makes matters easy, and has not sent me as someone who makes matters difficult.[20]

Therefore, if another means is found that [i] is more capable of realising the goal of the hadith; [ii] is further away from the possibility of mistake, error and falsehood in entering the month; [iii] has become accessible and not difficult; [iv] is not regarded as a means that is hard to attain, nor is beyond the ability of the nation; [v] scientists and experts about it have appeared: astronomers, geologists, physicists – specialists at international level; [vi] after human knowledge has reached a level that enables humanity to soar to the moon itself and land on its surface, roam there and bring back samples of its rock and soil! Then why do we stagnate upon the means, which is not the end in itself, and forget the goal that the hadith has set forth?

The hadith has established entering the month via the report of one or two people who claim to have seen the new crescent moon by naked eye, at a time when this was the only possible means and appropriate to the level of the nation. Therefore, how can it be envisaged that a means untouched by mistake, error and falsehood could be rejected? A means that has reached the degree of certainty and surety; that the nation of Islam can agree upon from east to west; that can remove the constant disagreement and lack of simultaneity in fasting, breaking the fast and celebrating festivals: that can reach a difference of three days between one land and another, something that cannot be understood and is unacceptable by the logic of science as well as the logic of religion, for it is certain that one of these dates is correct and the others are mistaken, without question.

2.3.7 [Shaykh Ahmad Shakir’s view of beginning the lunar month by calculation]

It should be noted that the ‘Allamah, Great Hadith-scholar, Shaykh Ahmad Shakir – may God have mercy upon him – took this issue in another direction. He took the position of establishing the beginning of the lunar month via astronomical calculation, based on the principle that the ruling to consider sighting [of the moon] is predicated upon a reason (legal cause,‘illah) that the Sunnah itself mentioned explicitly. This reason no longer exists: therefore, its resulting effect should also be done away with. This is because it is established that a ruling both coexists and disappears with its reason (legal cause,‘illah).

It would be good for us to quote his reasoning verbatim here because of its power and maturity. He – may God have mercy upon him – said in his essay, The Beginnings of the Arabian Months:

One of the matters about which there is no doubt is that the Arabs, before Islam and in early Islam, did not know the astronomical sciences with precision. They were an unlettered nation, neither writing nor calculating. Any of them who knew something of astronomy: this was limited to basics and superficialities that he had known through observation and pursuit, or listening and reports. It was not based upon mathematical principles, nor upon definite proofs that refer to initial, certain premises. Because of this, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, made the reference for establishing the months in their acts of worship a definite, observable matter that was within the capability of every single one of them, or most of them: naked-eye sighting of the new crescent moon. This was most authoritative and precise for the timings of their rituals and acts of worship. It was the way within their capabilities by which they could reach certainty and trust, for God does not burden a soul with responsibility beyond its capacity.

It did not agree with the wisdom of the Lawgiver to make the affirmation of crescents reliant upon calculation and astronomy, for they [the Arabs] did not know any of that in their immediate context. Many of them were nomads, whom news from settlements did not reach, except occasionally. Thus, if He made such affirmation for them dependent upon calculation and astronomy, it would have been too burdensome for them. None of them knew this science, except the rare and the outlier in the wilderness via reports if these reached them. Even settled people did not know this science, except by following some mathematicians, most or all of whom were People of the Book [Jews or Christians].

Next, Muslims conquered the world, held the reins of the sciences, expanded every corner of them, translated the knowledge and sciences of the ancients and mastered them, unveiling many of their obscurities, and preserved them for those who came later. These included the sciences of astronomy, geometry and stellar calculations.

Most of the jurists and scholars of Hadith did not know the astronomical sciences, or they knew some of the fundamentals. But many or most of them did not trust those who knew these sciences and were not comfortable with such people. Rather, some of them would accuse those involved with these sciences of deviation and heresy, thinking that these sciences were used by their practitioners to claim knowledge of the unseen: astrology. Some of those people did actually claim that, thus doing a disservice to themselves and to their knowledge. Thus, the jurists were excused (vindicated). Those jurists and people of knowledge who knew these sciences were not able to define the correct stance of these with respect to religion and jurisprudence, but would only indicate such matters due to a state of fear.

Thus was their situation, for the natural sciences were not as widespread as the religious sciences and what led to them, nor were the principles (of the natural sciences) established definitely for the religious scholars.

This generous, shining, Law (Sharia), is everlasting until God gives permission for the end of this worldly life. Thus, it is a legislation for every nation and every era. This is why we see in the texts of the Book and the Sunnah subtle indications of new matters, so when these are fulfilled, the texts are explained and known, even if earlier authorities had explained them differently to their actual reality.

There is an indication in the authentic Sunnah to our present subject: Bukhari related the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, that he said: Truly, we are an unlettered nation: we neither write nor calculate. The month is like this, and like this,[21] meaning that it is sometimes twenty-nine days, and sometimes thirty.

Our previous scholars explained the meaning of this hadith correctly. Amongst the most comprehensive views amongst them is that of Hafiz Ibn Hajar:

“What is intended by calculation here is that of the positions and movements of the stars, for they did not any of that, except a very little. Therefore, he conditioned the ruling of fasting upon sighting [the moon], in order to remove hardship from them in the difficulty of determining movements. This ruling regarding fasting continued, even if there came later people who knew those [calculations]. In fact, the outward context negates conditioning the ruling upon the basic calculation.

This is clarified by his saying in the previous hadith: If it is obscured over you by cloud, then complete the term as thirty. He did not say: Then ask the People of Calculation. The wisdom behind this is that those legally responsible are equal [in not being able to see the moon] when it is cloudy, so disagreement and dispute is lifted from them. Some people held that astronomers should be referred to in such a situation: they are the Isma’ilis. It has been quoted that some jurists agreed with them. Al-Baji said: The consensus of the pious predecessors is proof against them. Ibn Bazizah said: This is a false position, for the Sharia has forbidden delving into the knowledge of stars because it is speculation and guesswork, having no certainty or strong conjecture; furthermore, if this matter was based on such knowledge, it would be narrow because only a few people know it.”

This explanation is correct, in that what matters is sighting, not calculation. However, the interpretation is incorrect that even if people came later who knew [astronomy], the ruling regarding fasting would remain, considering sighting only. This is because the command to rely upon sighting alone came with an explicit, textual reason (cause, ‘illah): that the nation is ‘unlettered, neither writing nor calculating.’ The reason (cause, ‘illah) accompanies its resulting effect, in existence and its opposite. Thus, once the nation has exited its unlettered state and has become one that writes and calculates, i.e. it collectively has people who know these sciences; and it is possible for people – the commoners and the specialists – to arrive at certainty and definiteness in calculating the beginning of the month, and to trust this calculation as much as they trust sighting or more strongly; when this becomes their collective status and the causal reason of unletteredness has disappeared: it becomes obligatory to return to established certainty, and to establish the crescents by calculation alone. Furthermore, they must not return to sighting unless the knowledge [of calculating crescents] evades them, such as people in the wilderness or villages to whom do not reach established, authentic reports from the people of calculation.

Since it becomes obligatory to refer to calculation alone due to the disappearance of the reason preventing it, it also becomes obligatory to refer to the real calculation of the crescents, distinguishing possible sighting from impossible sighting. Thus, the first night of the true month is when the crescent sets after sunset, even if by a moment.

This view of mine is not an innovated one: that the ruling should change according to a change in the situation of legally-responsible people, for this is widespread in the Sharia, and known to the people of knowledge and others. Amongst the examples of this in this question of ours is that the hadith: If it is obscured over you, then determine for it, has been transmitted with other wordings, including: If it is obscured over you by cloud, then complete the term as thirty. Thus, the people of knowledge explained the general narration, Determine for it, by the explanatory narration, Complete the term. However, one of the great Imams of the Shafi’is, in fact their Imam in his time, Abu l-‘Abbas Ahmad bin ‘Umar bin Surayj, reconciled the two narrations by applying them to two different situations. His statement, Determine for it means: Determine it according to the [celestial] stations, and is addressed to those whom God has favoured with this knowledge; whilst his statement, Complete the term is addressed to commoners.[22]

This view of mine almost reflects that of Ibn Surayj, except that he specified it for the case when the sky is cloudy so sighters did not see the moon. He further restricted the ruling on employing calculations to a minority, based on his contemporary situation of only a few people knowing such calculation; the lack of trust in their view and calculations; the slow speed of news spreading to other cities when the month had been established in one of them.

As for my view, it generalises the use of precise, confirmed calculations: generalising it to all people, because of the facilitation in our days of the speed of spreading and receiving news. Depending upon sighting remains for the rare minority to whom news does not reach, and who do not have a reliable way of knowing about astronomy and the stations of the sun and moon.

I regard this view of mine as the most balanced view, closest to sound jurisprudence and to correct understanding of the hadiths transmitted in this regard.”[23]

2.3.8 [Qaradawi’s reflections on Shakir’s essay: the nature of Salafism]

The above is what the ‘Allamah Ahmad Shakir wrote over half a century ago – in Dhul Hijjah 1357 H, corresponding to January 1939 CE.[24] At that time, astronomy had not attained what it has today of developments by which humanity has been able to conquer space and fly to the moon. This science has reached such a degree of precision that the possibility of error is as low as one hundred-thousandth of a second.

The Shaykh Shakir wrote this whilst being a scholar of Hadith and Tradition before all else. He lived his life, God have mercy upon him, to serve the Hadith and support the Prophetic Sunnah. Thus, he was a pure Salafi man, a man who followed and did not innovate, but he, God have mercy upon him, did not understand Salafism as being stagnation upon what the Salaf before us said: rather, true Salafism is for us to follow their way and drink their spirit, such that we interpret via ijtihad for our time as they did for their time; we treat our context with our intellects, not with theirs, being shackled only by the definite matters of the Sharia, its clear-cut texts and the universals of its objectives.

2.3.9 A reply to the argument that the hadith negates calculation

I read a lengthy article during Ramadan by a respected Shaykh, Salih bin Muhammad al-Luhaydan, President of the Supreme Court, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, published in Okaz and other daily Saudi newspapers. In it, he indicated that the authentic, Prophetic hadith, We are an unlettered nation: we neither write nor calculate, necessitates the rejection of calculation and the negation of its being considered by the nation.

If this was correct, the hadith would also indicate the rejection of writing and the negation of its consideration, for the hadith encompasses two matters which point to the unletteredness of the nation, i.e. writing and calculation.

But no-one, past or present, has said that writing is a condemned or undesirable matter with respect to the nation. Rather, writing is a desirable matter, as indicated by the Qur’an, Sunnah and Ijma’ (Consensus). The first to spread writing was the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, as is known from his life and his stance regarding the captives of Badr.

It has been said regarding this that the Messenger did not legislate for us to act by calculation, and did not order us to consider it; rather, he ordered us to consider moonsighting and use it to establish the month. This statement is mistaken on two counts:

It is inconceivable that the Messenger could command the consideration of calculations at a time when the nation was unlettered, neither writing nor calculating. Thus, he legislated a means for it, appropriate to its time and place: moonsighting, that was possible for most people at his time. However, when a means is found that is more precise and accurate, and further removed from error and mistake, then there is nothing in the Sunnah that prevents consideration of it.
The Sunnah literally indicated the consideration of calculations when it is cloudy: Bukhari related in the Book of Fasting in his Sahih with his famous golden chain, on the authority of Malik from Nafi’ from Ibn ‘Umar that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, mentioned Ramadan and said: Do not fast until you see the crescent. Do not end your fast until you see it. If it is obscured for you [by cloud or haze], then determine for it (uqduru lahu). Qadara – yaqduru or yaqdiru means qaddara (to determine). From it is the saying of The Exalted, Thus We determined: how good the Determiners![25]

This qadr (measurement) or taqdir (determination) that is commanded may include the consideration of calculations for the one who is expert at it and by way of it arrives at a conclusion about which hearts are pacified as to its correctness. In our time, this has reached the rank of definite matters, as is established and known to everyone who has the least familiarity with contemporary sciences and the extent to which humanity, whose Lord taught it what it knew not, has risen.

2.3.10 [Use of calculations to negate impossible crescent-sightings]

For years, I had been calling for us to adopt definite astronomical calculation, at least for negation [of impossible sightings], not affirmation [of lunar months]. This was to reduce the extreme disagreement that happens annually about the beginning of fasting and of Eid al-Fitr, reaching an extent of three days’ difference between one Islamic country and another. The meaning of employing calculation in negation is that we remain establishing the crescent via sighting, in agreement with the view of the majority of jurists of our time, but if calculation negates the possibility of sighting and says that it is impossible because the crescent was not even born in any part of the Islamic world, it becomes obligatory to not accept the testimony of witnesses [to moonsighting] under any circumstances. This is because the reality established by definite mathematical knowledge belies them. In fact, in this situation, people should fundamentally not be asked to try to see the crescent; legal courts or houses of fatwa or religious matters should not open their doors to anyone wishing to present a testimony of seeing the crescent.

2.3.11 Imam Subki & Shaykh Maraghi: calculations can negate impossible sighting reports

This is what I was satisfied with and promoted via numerous fatwas, classes, lectures and [radio/television] programmes. Then, God willed that I should find this position explained in detail by one of the great Shafi’i jurists, Imam Taqi al-Din al-Subki (d. 756 H), about whom people said that he had reached the rank of Mujtahid.

Subki mentioned in his Fatwas that if calculation negates the possibility of visual sighting, then the qadi must reject the testimony of any witnesses. He said, “This is because calculation is definite whilst testimony and report are not definite: the non-definite cannot contradict the definite, let alone supercede it.”

He mentioned that a qadi must analyse the testimony of a witness before him, in all cases. If he sees that the senses or observation belies it, he must reject it without favour. He said, “The condition of [a testimony to be accepted as] evidence is that the testimony must be possible according to the senses, intellect and religion. Thus, suppose calculation was to indicate definitely that sighting was not possible, it would be impossible to affirm sighting religiously due to the impossibility of the matter being witnessed. The Sharia does not bring impossibilities, whereas the testimony of witnesses is subject to mistake, error and falsehood.”[26]

Then how would it have been if Subki had lived to our age and seen the progress of the science of astronomy as we have indicated?

Shaykh Shakir mentioned in his discussion that the Greatest Teacher[27], Shaykh Muhammad Mustafa al-Maraghi, the Shaykh of the famous Al-Azhar of his time, had a view, when he was President of the Supreme Sharia Court, similar to that of Subki, of rejecting the testimony of witnesses when calculations negated the possibility of sighting. Shaykh Shakir said, “I and some of my brothers were amongst those who opposed this view of the Greatest Teacher, but I now say clearly that he was upon the correct view. Also, I go further than him and obligate establishing the crescents via calculation in every situation [i.e. whether or not it is cloudy], except for one who is unable to ascertain this knowledge.”[28]

3 Realities That Should Be Agreed Upon

As well as my conclusion that calculations should be used at least to negate (false sightings), rather than to affirm (the beginnings of lunar months) as I’ve mentioned, I must emphasise three realities here about which there should be no disagreement:

3.1 [There is flexibility in this issue]

In this matter, I mean whatever is related to the affirmation of the beginning of the month, there is room and flexibility in analysing the texts and rulings of the Sharia. The disagreement of the people of knowledge in this respect constitutes flexibility and mercy for the nation. Therefore, whoever establishes the beginning of the month via the testimony of one or two people of integrity, or stipulated a large mass of people, is not far from what some authoritative jurists of the nation have said. In fact, whoever affirms the use of calculations also finds this view amongst the predecessors, from the era of the Followers (Tabi’in) onwards. Those who consider multiple horizons, and those who do not: they have their authorities and their evidence. Therefore, it is not permissible to condemn someone who takes any of these positions or interpretations, even if they regard these as mistaken, due to the principle: There is no condemnation in matters of interpretation (ijtihad).

3.2 [Mistakes in such issues are forgiven]

Errors in matters like this are to be forgiven. So if a witness who testified that he saw the crescent of Ramadan or Shawwal errs, leading to people fasting a day of Sha’ban or not fasting a day of Ramadan, then God Exalted is most worthy of forgiving them their mistake. He has taught them to pray, saying: Our Lord! Do not punish us if we forget or err.[29]

This is even true if they err regarding the crescent of the month of pilgrimage (Dhu l-Hijjah) and therefore stand at ‘Arafah on the eighth or tenth day, according to the reality of the matter: their pilgrimage (Hajj) will be correct and accepted, as established by the Shaykh of Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and others.

3.3 [Muslim unity is a desirable matter]

Efforts towards the unity of Muslims in their fasting and breaking fast, and in the rest of their rituals and practices, is always a desired matter. It is not appropriate to despair of achieving this, nor of removing the obstacles towards it. However, what must be emphasised and never forsaken under any circumstance is that if we do not achieve general, total unity between the lands of the Muslims throughout the world, at the very least we must be keen on the specific, partial unity between the Muslims in one land.

Therefore, it not permissible that we accept division between people of the same country or city, such that some of them fast today on the basis that it is Ramadan whilst others do not fast on the basis that it is Sha’ban; and at the end of the month, one group fasts whilst another celebrates Eid. This is an unacceptable situation, for amongst the agreed matters is that the command of the ruler or decision of the supreme authority removes the disagreement in disputed matters.

Therefore, if the legitimate authority responsible for affirming the crescent in an Islamic country – the supreme court, house of fatwa, presidency of religious matters, etc. – announces its decision to fast or end the fast, then the Muslims of that country are obliged to obey and follow because this is ‘obedience in goodness’, even if this goes against what is established in another country. This is because the command of the ruler here supports the view that says, ‘Every country has its own sighting.’

It has been established on the authority of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, that he said: Your fasting is on the day you all fast. Your (festival of) breaking fast is on the day you all break the fast.[30]In one version: … Your (festival of) breaking fast is on the day you all break the fast, and your (festival of) sacrifice is on the day you all sacrifice.[31]In another version: [Eid] al-Fitr is on the day you all break the fast. [Eid] al-Adha is on the day you all sacrifice.[32]Abu Dawud related this hadith under the title: Chapter: When The People Err About The Crescent.

Imam Khattabi said, “The meaning of the hadith is that error is waived from people when it is via striving (ijtihad). Hence if a people strove but only saw the crescent after thirty days and therefore did not end their fast until they had maximised the number [of fasts], and then it was proved to them that the month was of twenty-nine days, then their fast and breaking the fast has occurred: there is nothing of a burden or hardship upon them. Similar to this is regarding the Pilgrimage (Hajj), if they err regarding the Day of ‘Arafah: they are not obliged to repeat it, and their Sacrifice suffices also. This is all a lightening [of burdens] from God the Glorified and gentleness towards His servants.”

God Knows Best. Our Final Call is that All Praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds.

4 Arabic Text of the Article

الحساب الفلكي وإثبات أوائل الشهور

تاريخ النشر: سبت, 02/14/2026 – 05:10

د. يوسف القرضاوي

إن الأخذ بالحساب القطعي اليوم وسيلةً لإثبات الشهور: يجب أن يقبل من باب “قياس الأولى”، بمعنى أن السنة التي شرعت لنا الأخذ بوسيلة أدنى، لما يحيط بها من الشك والاحتمال -وهي الرؤية- لا ترفض وسيلة أعلى وأكمل وأوفى بتحقيق المقصود، والخروج بالأمة من الاختلاف الشديد في تحديد بداية صيامها وفطرها وأضحاها، إلى الوحدة المنشودة في شعائرها وعباداتها، المتصلة بأخص أمور دينها، وألصقها بحياتها وكيانها الروحي، وهي وسيلة الحساب القطعي

إن الشريعة الإسلامية السمحة حين فرضت الصوم في شهر قمري ـ شرعت في إثباته الوسيلة الطبيعية الميسورة والمقدورة لجميع الأمة، والتي لا غموض فيها ولا تعقيد، والأمة في ذلك الوقت أميَّة لا تكتبُ ولا تحسب، وهذه الوسيلة هي رؤية الهلال بالأبصار. فعن أبي هريرة أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: “صوموا لرؤيته -أي الهلال- وأفطروا لرؤيته فإن أغبي عليكم فأكملوا عِدَّةَ شعبان ثلاثين”(1)

وعن ابن عمر أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ذكر رمضان فقال: “لا تصوموا حتى تروا الهلالَ، ولا تُفطروا حتى تروه، فإن غمَّ عليكم فاقدروا له”(2)، وكان هذا رحمةً بالأمة، إذ لم يكلفها الله العمـل بالحســاب، وهي لا تعرفـه ولا تحسنه، فلو كلفت ذلك لقلدت فيه أمة أخرى من أهل الكتاب أو غيرهم ممن لا يدينون بدينها

ثلاث طرق لإثبات دخول رمـضان

وقد أثبتت الأحاديث الصحاح أن شهر رمضان يثبت دخوله بواحدة من ثلاث طرق

1- رؤية الهلال

2- أو إكمال عدة شعبان ثلاثين

3- أو التقدير للهلال

فأما الرؤية: فقد اختلف فيها الفقهاء: أهي رؤية واحد عدل، أم رؤية عدلين اثنين، أم رؤية جم غفير من الناس؟

فمَنْ قال: يقبل شهادة عدل واحد، استدلَّ بحديث ابن عمر، قال: تراءى الناس الهلال، فأخبرت النبي أني رأيته، فصام رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، وأمر الناس بصيامه (3). وبحديث الأعرابي الذي شهدَ عند النبي أنه رأى الهلال، فأمر بلالاً فنادى في الناس “أن يقوموا ويصوموا”(4)، كما قالوا: إن الإثبات بعدل واحد أحوط للدخول في العبادة، وصيام يوم من شعبان أخف من إفطار يوم من رمضان

ومَنْ اشترط في الرؤية عدلين، استدل بما روى الحسين بن حريث الجدلي قال: خطبنا أمير مكة الحارث بن حاطب، فقال: أمرَنَا رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن ننسكَ لرؤيته، فإن لم نَرهُ فشَهدَ شاهدان عدلانِ نَسَكْنا بشهادتيهما (5). وقياسًا على سائر الشهود، فإنها تثبت بشهادة عدلين

أمّا من اشترط الجم الغفير أو الجمع الكثير فهم الحنفية، وذلك في حالة الصحو، فقد أجـازوا في حالة الغيم أن يشهد برؤيته واحد، إذ قد ينشقُّ عنه الغيم لحظـة فيراه واحـد، ولا يراه غيره من الناس. ولكن إذا كانت السماءُ مصحة، ولا قَتَر ولا سحابَ ولا علةَ، ولا حائل يحول دون الرؤية، فما الذي يجعل واحدًا من الناس يراه دون الآخرين؟ لهذا قالوا: لا بد من إخبار جمع عظيم؛ لأن التفرد من بين الجم الغفير بالرؤية ـ مع توجههم طالبين لما توجه هو إليه، مع فرض عدم المانع، وسلامة الأبصار ـ وإن تفاوتت في الحدة ظاهر في غلطه (6)

وأما خبر ابن عمر والأعرابي ـ وفيهما إثبات الهلال برؤية واحد ـ فقد قال العلامة رشيد رضا في تعليقه على “المغني”: “ليس في الخـبرين أن الناس تراءوا الهلالَ، فلم يره إلا واحد، فهما في غير محل النزاع، ولا سيما مع أبي حنيفة، وبهذا يبطل كل ما بني عليهما”(7)

وأمَّا عدد الجمع العظيم فهو مفوض إلى رأي الإمام أو القاضي من غير تقدير بعدد معين على الصحيح (8). ومن الواجب على المسلمين التماس الهلال يوم التاسع والعشرين من شعبان عند الغروب؛ لأن ما لا يتم الواجب إلا به فهو واجب، إلاَّ أنه واجب على الكفاية

والطريقة الثانية: إكمال عدة شعبان ثلاثين، سواء كان الجو صحوًا أم غائمًا، فإذا تراءوا الهلال ليلة الثلاثين من شعبان ولم يره أحد، استكملوا شعبان ثلاثين

وهنا يلزم أن يكون ثبوت شعبان معروفا منذ بدايته، حتى تعرف ليلة الثلاثين التي يتحرى فيها الهلال، ويستكمل الشهر عند عدم الرؤية. وهذا أمرٌ يقع فيه التقصير؛ لأن الاهتمام بإثبات دخول الشهور لا يحدث إلا في أشهر ثلاثة فقط: رمضان لإثبات الدخول في الصيام، وشوال لإثبات الخروج منه، وذي الحجة لإثبات يوم عرفة وما بعده. وينبغي على الأمةِ، وعلى أولي الأمر فيها التدقيق في إثبات الشهور كلها؛ لأن بعضها مبني على بعض

والطريقة الثالثة: هي التقدير للهلال عند الغيم، أو كما قال الحديث: “إذا غمَّ عليكم” أو “غمي عليكم” أو “غبي عليكم” أي حال دونه حائل، ففي بعض الروايات الصحيحة، ومنها مالك عن نافع عن ابن عمر، وهي السلسلة الذهبية، وأصَحّ الأسانيد عند البخاري: “إذا غم عليكم فاقدروا له”، فما معنى “اقدروا له”؟

قال النووي في المجموع: (قالَ أحمد بن حنبل وطائفةٌ قليلة: معناه: ضيِّقوا له، وقدروه تحت السحاب، من “قدر” بمعنى ضيق كقوله: {قُدِرَ عليه رِزْقهُ} وأوجب هؤلاء صيام ليلة الغيم. وقال مطرِّف بن عبد الله ـ من كبار التابعين ـ وأبو العباس بن سريج ـ من كبار الشافعيةـ وابن قتيبة وآخرون: معناه: قدروه بحسب المنازل

وقال أبو حنيفة والشافعي وجمهور السلف والخلف: معناه: قدروا له تمام العدد ثلاثين يومًا. واحتج الجمهور بالروايات التي ذكرناها، وكلها صحيحة صريحة: “فأكملوا العدة ثلاثين”، “فاقدروا له ثلاثين”، وهي مفسرة لرواية: “فاقدروا له” المطلقة) (9)

ولكن الإمام أبا العباس بن سريج لم يحمل إحدى الروايتين على الأخرى، بل نقل عنه ابن العربي أن قوله: “فاقدروا له”: خطاب لمن خصه الله بهذا العلم، وأن قوله: “أكملوا العدة” خطاب للعامة (10)

واختلاف الخطاب باختلاف الأحوال أمر وارد، وهو أساس لتغير الفتوى بتغير الزمان والمكان والحال

قال الإمام النووي في المجموع: (ومن قال بحساب المنازل: فقوله مردود بقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم في الصحيحين: “إنَّا أمةٌ أُمِّيَّةٌ، لا نكتب ولا نحسب”… الحديث. قالوا: ولأن الناس لو كلفوا بذلك ضاق عليهم؛ لأنه لا يعرف الحساب إلا أفراد من الناس في البلدان الكبار) (11)

والحديث الذي احتج به الإمام النووي ـ رحمه الله ـ لا حجة فيه؛ لأنه يتحدث عن حال الأمة، ووصفها عند بعثته لها عليه الصلاة والسلام، ولكن أميتها ليست أمرًا لازمًا ولا مطلوبًا، وقد اجتهد عليه الصلاة والسلام أن يخرجها من أميتها بتعليم الكتابة، وبدأ بذلك منذ غزوة بدر، فلا مانع أن يأتي طور على الأمة تكون فيه كاتبة حاسبة. والحساب الفلكي العلمي الذي عرفه المسلمون في عصور ازدهار حضارتهم، وبلغ في عصرنا درجة من الرقي تمكن بها البشر من الصعود إلى القمر، هو شيء غير التنجيم أو علم النجوم المذموم في الشرع

وأمَّا الاعتبار الآخر الذي ذكره النووي، وهو أن الحساب لا يعرفه إلا أفراد من الناس في البلدان الكبار، فقد يكون صحيحًا بالنسبة إلى زمنه ـ رحمه الله ـ ولكنه ليس صحيحًا بالنسبة إلى زمننا، الذي أصبح الفلك يدرس فيه في جامعات شتى، وغدت تخدمه أجهزة ومراصد على مستوى رفيع وهائل من الدقة. وقد أصبح من المقرر المعروف عالميًا اليوم: أن احتمال الخــطأ في التقـديرات العلمـية الفلكـية اليوم هو نســبة 1 – 100000 في الثانية

كما أن البلدان الكبار والصغار الآن أصبحت متقاربة، وكأنما هي بلد واحد، بل غدا العالم، كما قيل “قرية كبرى”! ونقل الخبر من قطر إلى آخر، ومن مشرق إلى مغرب، وبالعكس لا يستغرق ثواني معدودة

وقد ذهب أبو العباس بن سريج من أئمة الشافعية، إلى أن الرجل الذي يعرف الحساب، ومنازل القمر، إذا عرف بالحساب أن غدا من رمضان فإن الصوم يلزمه؛ لأنه عرف الشهر بدليل، فأشْبَهَ ما إذا عرف بالبينة. واختاره القاضي أبو الطيب؛ لأنه سبب حصل له به غلبة ظن، فأشبه ما لَوْ أخـبره ثقة عن مشاهدة. وقال غيره: يجـزئهُ الصـوم ولا يلزمه. وبعضهم أجاز تقليده لمن يثق به (12)

وقد ذهب بعض كبار العلماء في عصرنا إلى إثبات الهلال بالحساب الفلكي العلمي القطعي، وكتب في ذلك المحدث الكبير العلامة أحمد محمد شاكر ـ رحمه الله ـ رسالته، في “أوائل الشهور العربية: هل يجوز إثباتها شرعًا بالحساب الفلكي؟”، وسنعود لنقل رأيه مفصلا

ومـن المنـادين بهـذا الرأي في عصرنا الفقيه الكـبير الشيخ مصطـفى الزرقا ـ رحمه الله ـ والذي يظهر من الأخبار أن الذي رفضه الفقهاء من علم الهيئة أو الفلك، هو ما كان يسمى “التنجيم” أو “علم النجوم” وهو ما يُدَّعَى فيه معرفة بعض الغيوب المستقبلية عن طريق النجوم، وهذا باطل، وهو الذي جاء فيه الحديث الذي رواه أبو داود وغيره عن ابن عباس مرفوعًا: “مَنْ اقتبس علمًا من النجوم اقتبس شعبة من السحر”(13)

وقال الإمام ابن دقيق العيد: “الذي أقول: إن الحساب لا يجوز أن يُعتمد عليه في الصوم لمقارنة القمر للشمس على ما يراه المنجمون، فإنهم قد يقدمون الشهر بالحساب على الرؤية بيوم أو يومين، وفي اعتبار ذلك إحداث شرع لم يأذنْ به الله. وأما إذا دلَّ الحساب على أن الهلال قد طلع على وجهٍ يُرَى، لكن وُجِدَ مانع من رؤيته كالغيم، فهذا يقتضي الوجوب لوجود السبب الشرعي”. ا.هـ

وعقب على ذلك الحافظ ابن حجر بقوله: “لكن يتوقف قبول ذلك على صدق المخبر به، ولا نجزم بصدقه إلا لو شاهد، والحال أنه لم يشاهد، فلا اعتبار بقوله إذن، والله أعلم”(14)

ولكن علم الفلك الحديث يقوم على المشاهدة بوساطة الأجهزة، وعلى الحساب الرياضي القطعي. ومن الخطأ الشائع لدى كثير من علماء الدين في هذا العصر، اعتقاد أن الحساب الفلكي هو حساب أصحاب التقاويم، أو النتائج، التي تطبعُ وتوزع على الناس، وفيها مواقيت الصلاة، وبدايات الشهور القمرية ونهايتها، وينسب هذا التقويم إلى زيد، وذاك إلى عمرو من الناس، الذين يعتمد معظمهم على كتب قديمة ينقلون منها تلك المواقيت، ويصفونها في تقويماتهم

ومن المعروف أن هذه التقاويم تختلف بين بعضها وبعض، فمنها ما يجعـل شـعبان (29) يومًا، ومنها ما يجعله (30)، وكذلك رمضان، وذو القعدة وغيرها

ومن أجل هذا الاختلاف رفضوها كلها؛ لأنها لا تقوم على علم يقيني؛ لأن اليقين لا يعارض بعضه بعضًا. وهذا صحيح بلا ريب، ولكن ليس هذا هو الحساب العلمي الفلكي الذي نعنيه. إن الذي نعنيه هو ما يقرره علم الفلك الحديث، القائم على المشــاهدة والتجربة، والذي غدا يملك من الإمكانات العلمية والعملية “التكنولوجية” ما جعله يصل بالإنسان إلى سطح القمر، ويبعث بمراكز فضائية إلى الكواكب الأكثر بعدًا، وغدت نسبة احتمال الخطأ في تقديراته (1- 100000) في الثانية. وأصبح من أسهل الأمور عليه أن يخبرنا عن ميلاد الهلال فلكيًا، وعن إمكان ظهوره في كل أفق بالدقيقة والثانية، لو أردنا

الرؤية.. وسيلة متغيرة لهدف ثابت

وفي كتابي: “كيف نتعامل مع السنة” عدت إلى الموضوع عند الحديث عن أحد المعالم الأساسية في فهم السنة، وهو: التمييز بين الهدف الثابت والوسيلة المتغيرة. وضربت لذلك أمثلة، ثم قلت: ومما يمكن أن يدخل في هذا الباب: ما جاء في الحديث الصحيح المشهور: “صوموا لرؤيته ـ أي الهلال ـ وأفطروا لرؤيته، فإن غم عليكم فاقدروا له” وفي لفظ آخر “فإن غم عليكم فأكملوا عدة شعبان ثلاثين”. فهنا يمكن للفقيه أن يقول: إن الحديث الشريف أشار إلى هدف، وعيّن وسيلة

أما الهدف من الحديث فهو واضح بيّن، وهو أن يصوموا رمضان كله، ولا يضيعوا يومًا منه، أو يصوموا يومًا من شهر غيره، كشعبان أو شوال، وذلك بإثبات دخول الشهر أو الخروج منه، بوسيلة ممكنة مقدورة لجمهور الناس، لا تكلفهم عنتًا ولا حرجًا في دينهم

وكانت الرؤية بالأبصار هي الوسيلة السهلة والمقدورة لعامة الناس في ذلك العصر، فلهذا جاء الحديث بتعيينها؛ لأنه لو كلفهم بوسيلة أخرى كالحساب الفلكي ـ والأمة في ذلك الحين أمية لا تقرأ ولا تحسب ـ لأرهقهم من أمرهم عسرا، والله يريد بأمته اليسر ولا يريد بهم العسر، وقد قال عليه الصلاة والسلام عن نفسه: “إن الله بعثني معلمًا ميسرًا، ولم يبعثني معنتًا”(15)

فإذا وجدت وسيلة أخرى أقدر على تحقيق هدف الحديث، وأبعد عن احتمال الخطأ والوهم والكذب في دخول الشهر، وأصبحت هذه الوسيلة ميسورة غير معسورة، ولم تعد وسيلة صعبة المنال، ولا فوق طاقة الأمة، بعد أن أصبح فيها علماء وخبراء فلكيون وجيولوجيون وفيزيائيون متخصصون على المستوى العالمي، وبعد أن بلغ العلم البشري مبلغًا مكن الإنسان أن يصعد إلى القمر نفسه، وينزل على سطحه، ويجوس خلال أرضه، ويجلب نماذج من صخوره وأتربته! فلماذا نجمد على الوسيلة ـ وهي ليست مقصودة لذاتها – ونغفل الهدف الذي نشده الحديث؟!

لقد أثبت الحديث دخول الشهر بخبر واحد أو اثنين يدعيان رؤية الهلال بالعين المجردة، حيث كانت هي الوسيلة الممكنة والملائمة لمستوى الأمة، فكيف يتصور أن يرفض وسيلة لا يتطرق إليها الخطأ أو الوهم، أو الكذب، وسيلة بلغت درجة اليقين والقطع، ويمكن أن تجتمع عليها أمة الإسلام في شرق الأرض وغربها، وتزيل الخلاف الدائم والمتفاوت في الصوم والإفطار والأعياد، إلى مدى ثلاثة أيام تكون فرقا بين بلد وآخر، وهو ما لا يعقل ولا يقبل لا بمنطق العلم، ولا بمنطق الدين، ومن المقطوع به أن أحدها هو الصواب والباقي خطأ بلا جدال

على أن العلامة المحدث الكبير الشيخ أحمد شاكر ـ رحمه الله ـ نحا بهذه القضية منحى آخر، فقد ذهب إلى إثبات دخول الشهر القمري بالحساب الفلكي، بناءً على أن الحكم باعتبار الرؤية معلل بعلة نصت عليها السنة نفسها، وقد انتفت الآن، فينبغي أن ينتفي معلولها، إذ من المقرر أن الحكم يدور مع علته وجودًا وعدمًا

ويحسن بنا أن ننقل هنا عبارته بنصها لما فيها من قوة ونصاعة، قال رحمه الله في رسالته “أوائل الشهور العربية

فمما لا شك فيه أن العرب قبل الإسلام وفي صدر الإسلام لم يكونوا يعرفون العلوم الفلكية معرفة علمية جازمة، كانوا أمة أميين، لا يكتبون ولا يحسبون، ومن شدا منهم شيئًا من ذلك فإنما يعرف مبادئ أو قشورا، عرفها بالملاحظة والتتبع، أو بالسماع والخبر، لم تبن على قواعد رياضية، ولا على براهين قطعية ترجع إلى مقدمات أولية يقينية، ولذلك جعل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم مرجع إثبات الشهر في عبادتهم إلى الأمر القطعي المشاهد الذي هو في مقدور كل واحد منهم، أو في مقدور أكثرهم. وهو رؤية الهلال بالعين المجردة، فإن هذا أحكم وأضبط لمواقيت شعائرهم وعباداتهم، وهو الذي يصل إليه اليقين والثقة مما في استطاعتهم، ولا يكلف الله نفسًا إلا وسعها

لم يكن مما يوافق حكمة الشارع أن يجعل مناط الإثبات في الأهلة الحساب والفلك، وهم لا يعرفون شيئًا من ذلك في حواضرهم، وكثير منهم بادون لا تصل إليهم أنباء الحواضر، إلا في فترات متقاربة حينا، ومتباعدة أحيانا، فلو جعله لهم بالحساب والفلك لأعنتهم، ولم يعرفه منهم إلا الشاذ والنادر في البوادي عن سماع إن وصل إليهم، ولم يعرفه أهل الحواضر إلا تقليدًا لبعض أهل الحساب، وأكثرهم أو كلهم من أهل الكتاب

ثم فتح المسلمون الدنيا، وملكوا زمام العلوم، وتوسعوا في كل أفنانها، وترجموا علوم الأوائل، ونبغوا فيها، وكشفوا كثيرًا من خباياها، وحفظوها لمن بعدهم، ومنها علوم الفلك والهيئة وحساب النجوم

وكان أكثر الفقهاء والمحدثين لا يعرفون علوم الفلك، أو هم يعرفون بعض مبادئها، وكان بعضهم، أو كثير منهم لا يثق بمن يعرفها ولا يطمئن إليه، بل كان بعضهم يرمي المشتغل بها بالزيغ والابتداع، ظنا منه أن هذه العلوم يتوسل بها أهلها إلى ادعاء العلم بالغيب – التنجيم – وكان بعضهم يدعي ذلك فعلا، فأساء إلى نفسه وإلى علمه، والفقهاء معذورون، ومن كان من الفقهاء والعلماء يعرف هذه العلوم لم يكن بمستطيع أن يحدد موقفها الصحيح بالنسبة إلى الدين والفقه، بل كان يشير إليها على تخوف

هكذا كان شأنهم، إذ كانت العلوم الكونية غير ذائعة ذيعان العلوم الدينية وما إليها، ولم تكن قواعدها قطعية الثبوت عند العلماء

وهذه الشريعة الغراء السمحة، باقية على الدهر، إلى أن يأذن الله بانتهاء هذه الحياة الدنيا، فهي تشريع لكل أمة، ولكل عصر، ولذلك نرى في نصوص الكتاب والسنة إشارات دقيقة لما يستحدث من الشئون، فإذا جاء مصداقها فسرت وعلمت، وإن فسرها المتقدمون على غير حقيقتها

وقد أشير في السنة الصحيحة إلى ما نحن بصدده، فروى البخاري من حديث ابن عمـر عـن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: “إنـا أمـة أمية، لا نكتب ولا نحسب، الشهـر هكـذا وهكذا… ” يعني مرة تسعة وعشرين، ومرة ثلاثين(16)

وقد أصاب علماؤنا المتقدمون رحمهم الله في تفسير معنى الحديث، وأخطأوا في تأويله، ومن أجمع قول لهم في ذلك قول الحافظ ابن حجر(17): المراد بالحساب هنا حساب النجوم وتسييرها، ولم يكونوا يعرفون من ذلك إلا النزر اليسير. فعلق الحكم بالصوم وغيره بالرؤية، لرفع الحرج عنهم في معاناة التسيير، واستمر الحكم في الصوم ولو حدث بعدهم من يعرف ذلك. بل ظاهر السياق ينفي تعليق الحكم بالحساب الأصلي

ويوضحه قوله في الحديث الماضي: “فإن غم عليكم فأكملوا العدة ثلاثين”، ولم يقل: فسلوا أهل الحساب، والحكمة فيه كون العدد عند الإغماء استوى فيه المكلفون، فيرتفع الاختلاف والنزاع عنهم، وقد ذهب قوم إلى الرجوع إلى أهل التسيير في ذلك، وهم الروافض (الإسماعيلية) ونقل عن بعض الفقهاء موافقتهم، قال الباجي: وإجماع السلف الصالح حجة عليهم، وقال ابن بزيزة: وهو مذهب باطل، فقد نهت الشريعة عن الخوض في علم النجوم؛ لأنها حدس وتخمين، ليس فيها قطع ولا ظن غالب مع أنه لو ارتبط الأمر بها لضاق، إذ لا يعرفها إلا القليل ا هـ

فهذا التفسير صواب، في أن العبرة بالرؤية لا بالحساب، والتأويل خطأ، في أنه لو حدث من يعرف استمر الحكم في الصوم ـ أي باعتبار الرؤية وحدها ـ لأن الأمر باعتماد الرؤية وحدها جاء معللا بعلة منصوصة، وهي أن الأمة “أمية لا تكتب ولا تحسب”، والعلة تدور مع المعلول وجودًا وعدمًا، فإذا خرجت الأمة عن أميتها، وصارت تكتب وتحسب، أعني صارت في مجموعها ممن يعرف هذه العلوم، وأمكن الناس ـ عامتهم وخاصتهم ـ أن يصلوا إلى اليقين والقطع في حساب أول الشهر، وأمكن أن يثقوا بهذا الحساب ثقتهم بالرؤية أو أقوى، إذا صار هذا شأنهم في جماعتهم وزالت علة الأمية: وجب أن يرجعوا إلى اليقين الثابت، وأن يأخـذوا في إثبات الأهلـة بالحسـاب وحـده، وألا يرجعوا إلى الرؤية إلا حين استعصى عليهم العلم به، كما إذا كان ناس في بادية أو قرية، لا تصل إليهم الأخبار الصحيحة الثابتة عن أهل الحساب

وإذا وجب الرجوع إلى الحساب وحده بزوال علة منعه، وجب أيضًا الرجوع إلى الحساب الحقيقي للأهلة، واطّراح إمكان الرؤية وعدم إمكانها، فيكون أول الشهر الحقيقي الليلة التي يغيب فيها الهلال بعد غروب الشمس، ولو بلحظة واحدة

وما كان قولي هذا بدعًا من الأقوال: أن يختلف الحكم باختلاف أحوال المكلفين فإن هذا في الشريعة كثير، يعرفه أهل العلم وغيرهم، ومن أمثلة ذلك في مسألتنا هذه: أن الحديث: “فإن غم عليكم فاقدروا له” ورد بألفاظ أخر، في بعضها: “فإن غم عليكم فأكملوا العدة ثلاثين” ففسر العلماء الرواية المجملة: “فاقدروا له” بالرواية المفسرة: “فأكملوا العدة” ولكن إمامًا عظيمًا من أئمة الشافعية، بل هو إمامهم في وقته، وهو أبو العباس أحمد بن عمر بن سريج جمع بين الروايتين، بجعلهما في حالين مختلفين: أن قوله: “فاقدروا له” معناه: قدروه بحسب المنازل، وأنه خطاب لمن خصه الله بهذا العلم، وأن قوله: “فأكملوا العدة”خطاب للعامة(18)

فقولي هذا يكاد ينظر إلى قول ابن سريج، إلا أنه جعله خاصًا بما إذا غم الشهر فلم يره الراؤون، وجعل حكم الأخذ بالحساب للأقلين، على ما كان في وقته من قلة عدد العارفين، وعدم الثقة بقولهم وحسابهم، وبطء وصول الأخبار إلى البلاد الأخرى، إذا ثبت الشهر في بعضها، وأما قولي فإنه يقضي بعموم الأخذ بالحساب الدقيق الموثوق به، وعموم ذلك على الناس، بما يسر في هذه الأيام من سرعة وصول الأخبار وذيوعها. ويبقى الاعتماد على الرؤية للأقل النادر، ممن لا يصل إليه الأخبار، ولا يجد ما يثق به من معرفة الفلك ومنازل الشمس والقمر

ولقد أرى قولي هذا أعدل الأقوال، وأقربها إلى الفقه السليم، وإلى الفهم الصحيح للأحاديث الواردة في هذا الباب)(19)

هذا ما كتبه العلامة شاكر منذ أكثر من نصف قرن ـ ذي الحجة 1357 هـ الموافق يناير 1939م

ولم يكن علم الفلك في ذلك الوقت قد وصل إلى ما وصل إليه اليوم من وثبات استطاع بها الإنسان أن يغزو الفضاء، ويصعد إلى القمر، وانتهى هذا العلم إلى درجة من الدقة، غدا احتمال الخطأ فيها بنسبة واحد إلى مائة ألف في الثانية

كتب هذا الشيخ شاكر وهو رجل حديث وأثر قبل كل شيء، عاش حياته -رحمه الله- لخدمة الحديث، ونصرة السنة النبوية، فهو رجل سلفي خالص، رجل اتباع لا رجل ابتداع، ولكنه -رحمه الله- لم يفهم السلفية على أنها جمود على ما قاله من قبلنا من السلف، بل السلفية الحق أن ننهج نهجهم، ونشرب روحهم، فنجتهد لزمننا كما اجتهدوا لزمنهم، ونعالج واقعنا بعقولنا لا بعقولهم، غير مقيدين إلا بقواطع الشريعة، ومحكمات نصوصها، وكليات مقاصدها

هذا وقد قرأت مقالاً مطولاً في شهر رمضان لأحد المشايخ الفضلاء (هو سماحة الشيخ صالح بن محمد اللحيدان، رئيس مجلس القضاء الأعلى بالمملكة العربية السعودية، وقد نشر مقاله في عكاظ وغيرها من الصحف اليومية بالمملكة)، أشار فيه إلى أن الحـديث النبوي الصـحيح: “نحـن أمـة أمـية لا نكـتب ولا نحسب” يتضمن نفي الحساب، وإسقاط اعتباره لدى الأمة

ولو صح هذا لكان الحديث يدل على نفي الكتابة، وإسقاط اعتبارها، فقد تضمن الحديث أمرين دلل بها على أمية الأمة، وهما: الكتابة والحساب

ولم يقل أحد في القديم ولا في الحديث: إن الكتابة أمر مذموم أو مرغوب عنه بالنسبة للأمة، بل الكتابة أمر مطلوب، دل عليه القرآن والسنة والإجماع

وأول من بدأ بنشر الكتابة هو النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، كما هو معلوم من سيرته، وموقفه من أسرى بدر

ومما قيل في هذا الصدد: أن الرسول لم يشرع لنا العمل بالحساب، ولم يأمرنا باعتباره، وإنما أمرنا باعتبار “الرؤية” والأخذ بها في إثبات الشهر. وهذا الكلام فيه شيء من الغلط أو المغالطة، لأمرين

الأول: أنه لا يعقل أن يأمر الرسول بالاعتداد بالحساب، في وقت كانت فيه الأمة أمية، لا تكتب ولا تحسب، فشرع لها الوسيلة المناسبة لها زمانًا ومكانًا، وهي الرؤية المقدورة لجمهور الناس في عصره، ولكن إذا وجدت وسيلة أدق وأضبط وأبعد عن الغلط والوهم، فليس في السنة ما يمنع اعتبارها

الثاني: أن السنة أشارت بالفعل إلى اعتبار الحساب في حالة الغيم، وهو ما رواه البخاري في كتاب الصوم من جامعه الصحيح بسلسلته الذهبية المعروفة عن مالك عن نافع عن ابن عمر أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ذكر رمضان، فقال: “لا تصـوموا حتى تروا الهـلال، ولا تفطروا حتى تروه، فإن غم عليكم فاقدروا له” (قدر يقدر – بالضم والكسر – بمعنى قدّر، ومنه قوله تعالى: {فَقَدَرْنَا فَنِعْمَ الْقَادِرُونَ} (المرسلات:23)

وهذا “القَدْر” له أو “التقدير” المأمور به، يمكن أن يدخل فيه اعتبار الحساب لمن يحسنه، ويصل به إلى أمر تطمئن الأنفس إلى صحته، وهو ما أصبح في عصرنا في مرتبة القطعيات، كما هو مقرر معلوم لدى كل من عنده أدنى معرفة بعلوم العصر، وإلى أي مدى ارتقى فيها الإنسان الذي علمه ربه ما لم يكن يعلم

وقد كنت ناديت منذ سنوات بأن نأخذ بالحساب الفلكي القطعي ـ على الأقل ـ في النفي لا في الإثبات، تقليلاً للاختلاف الشاسع الذي يحدث كل سنة في بدء الصيام وفي عيد الفطر، إلى حد يصل إلى ثلاثة أيام بين بعض البلاد الإسلامية وبعض. ومعنى الأخذ بالحساب في النفي أن نظل على إثبات الهلال بالرؤية وفقا لرأي الأكثرين من أهل الفقه في عصرنا، ولكن إذا نفى الحساب إمكان الرؤية، وقال: إنها غير ممكنة، لأن الهلال لم يولد أصلاً في أي مكان من العالم الإسلامي ـ كان الواجب ألا تقبل شهادة الشهود بحال؛ لأن الواقع ـ الذي أثبته العلم الرياضي القطعي ـ يكذبهم. بل في هذه الحالة لا يطلب ترائي الهلال من الناس أصلاً، ولا تفتح المحاكم الشرعية ولا دور الفتوى أو الشؤون الدينية أبوابها لمن يريد أن يدلي بشهادة عن رؤية الهلال

هذا ما اقتنعت به وتحدثت عنه في فتاوى ودروس ومحاضرات وبرامج عدة، ثم شاء الله أن أجده مشروحًا مفصلاً لأحد كبار الفقهاء الشافعية، وهو الإمام تقي الدين السبكي (ت 756هـ) الذي قالوا عنه: إنه بلغ مرتبة الاجتهاد

فقد ذكر السبكي في فتاواه أن الحساب إذا نفى إمكان الرؤية البصرية، فالواجب على القاضي أن يرد شهادة الشهود، قال: “لأن الحساب قطعي والشهادة والخبر ظنيان، والظني لا يعارض القطعي، فضلاً عن أن يقدم عليه

وذكر أن من شأن القاضي أن ينظر في شهادة الشاهد عنده، في أي قضـية من القضــايا، فإن رأى الحـس أو العـيان يكذبها ردهـا ولا كـرامة. قال: “والبينـة شـرطها أن يكون ما شهدت به ممكنا حسًا وعقلاً وشرعًا، فإذا فرض دلالة الحساب قطعًا على عدم الإمكان اسـتحال القول شرعًا، لاسـتحالة المشــهود به، والشرع لا يأتي بالمســتحيلات. أما شهادة الشهود فتحمل على الوهم أو الغلط أو الكذب”(20)

فكيف لو عاش السبكي إلى عصرنا ورأى من تقدم علم الفلك ـ أو الهيئة كما كانوا يسمونه ـ ما أشرنا إلى بعضه؟

وقد ذكر الشيخ شاكر في بحثه أن الأستاذ الأكبر الشيخ محمد مصطفى المراغي شيخ الأزهر الشهير في وقته، كان له رأي ـ حين كان رئيسًا للمحكمة العليا الشرعية ـ مثل رأي السبكي، برد شهادة الشهود إذا نفى الحساب إمكان الرؤية، قال الشيخ شاكر: “وكنت أنا وبعض إخواني ممن خالف الأستاذ الأكبر في رأيه، وأنا أصرح الآن أنه كان على صواب. وأزيد عليه وجوب إثبات الأهلة بالحساب في كل الأحوال. إلا لمن استعصى عليه العلم به” (21).ا هـ

حقائق ينبغي أن يتفق عليها

ومع ترجيحي للعمل بالحساب على الأقل في النفي لا في الإثبات كما ذكرت، يجب أن أؤكد هنا حقائق ثلاثًا، ينبغي ألا يختلف عليها

الأولى: أن في هذا الأمر ـ أعني ما يتعلق بإثبات دخول الشهر ـ سعة ومرونة بالنظر إلى نصوص الشرع وأحكامه، واختلاف العلماء في هذا المقام توسعة ورحمة للأمة. فمَنْ أثبتَ دخول الشهر بعدل أو عدلين، أو اشترط جمًا غفيرًا لم يبعد عما قال به بعض فقهاء الأمة المعتبرين، بل مَنْ قال بالحساب وجد له في السلف قائلاً، منذ عهد التابعين فمَنْ بعدهم. ومن اعتبر اختلاف المطالع، ومَنْ لم يعتبرها له سلفه، وله دليله، فلا يجوز أن ينكر على من أخذ بأحد هذه المذاهب والاجتهادات، وإن رآها هو خطأ، إذ القاعدة: “أن لا إنكار في المسائل الاجتهادية”

الثانية: أن الخطأ في مثل هذه الأمور مغتفر، فلو أخطأ الشاهد الذي شهد بأنه رأى هلال رمضان، أو شوال، وترتب عليه أن صام الناس يومًا من شعبان أو أفطروا يومًا من رمضان، فإن الله تعالى أهلٌ لأن يغفر لهم خطأهم، وقد علمهم أن يدعوا فيقولوا: {رَبَّنَا لا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا} (البقرة:286)

حتى لو أخطأوا في هلال ذي الحجة، ووقفوا بعرفة يوم الثامن أو العاشر، في الواقع ونفس الأمر، فإن حجهم صحيح ومقبول، كما قرر ذلك شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية وغيره

الثالثة: أن السعي إلى وحدة المسلمين في صيامهم وفطرهم، وسائر شعائرهم وشرائعهم، أمرٌ مطلوب دائما، ولا ينبغي اليأس من الوصول إليه، ولا من إزالة العوائق دونه، ولكن الذي يجب تأكيده وعدم التفريط فيه بحال، هو: أننا إذا لم نصل إلى الوحدة الكلية العامة بين أقطار المسلمين في أنحاء العالم، فعلى الأقل يجب أن نحرص على الوحدة الجزئية الخاصة بين أبناء الإسلام في القطر الواحد

فلا يجوز أن نقبل بأن ينقسم أبناء البلد الواحد، أو المدينة الواحدة، فيصوم فريقٌ اليوم على أنه من رمضان، ويفطر آخرون على أنه من شعبان، وفي آخر الشهر تصومُ جماعة، وتعيد أخرى، فهذا وضع غير مقبول

فمن المتفق عليه أن حكم الحاكم، أو قرار ولي الأمر يرفع الخلاف في الأمور المختلف فيها

فإذا أصدرت السلطة الشرعية المسئولة عن إثبات الهلال في بلد إسلامي ـ المحكمة العليا، أو دار الإفتاء، أو رئاسة الشؤون الدينية، أو غيرها ـ قرارها بالصوم أو بالإفطار، فعلى مسلمي ذلك البلد الطاعة والالتزام؛ لأنها طاعة في المعروف، وإن كان ذلك مخالفا لما ثبت في بلد آخر، فإن حكم الحاكم هنا رجح الرأي الذي يقول: إنَّ لكل بلد رؤيته

وقـد ثبتَ عـن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قـال: “صومكم يوم تصومون، وفطركم يوم تفطرون”(22)، وفي لفـظ “وفطركم يوم تفطرون وأضحاكم يوم تضحون”(23)، وبلفظ: “الفطر يوم تفطرون، والأضحى يوم تضحون”(24)، وقد روى أبـو داود هذا الحديث تحت عنوان “باب إذا أخطأ القوم الهلال”

قال الإمام الخطابي: معنى الحديث أن الخطأ موضوع عن الناس فيما كان سبيله الاجتهاد، فلو أن قومًا اجتهدوا، فلم يروا الهلال إلا بعد الثلاثين، فلم يفطروا حتى استوفوا العدد، ثم ثبت عندهم أن الشهر كان تسعة وعشرين، فإن صومهم وفطرهم ماض، فلا شيء عليهم من وزر أو عنت، وكذلك هذا في الحج إذا أخطأوا يوم عرفة، فإنه ليس عليهم إعادته ويجزيهم أضحاهم كذلك، وإنما هذا تخفيف من الله سبحانه ورفق بعباده. ا هـ

وآخر دعوانا أن الحمد لله رب العالمين والله أعلم

المراجع

(1) متفق عليه، اللؤلؤ والمرجان، 656، معنى (أغبى): من الغباء وهو الغبرة في السماء

(2) نفسه، 653، ومعنى (غم): أي أخفي وغطي بسحاب أو قترة أو غير ذلك

(3) رواه أبو داود (2342)، والدارقطني والبيهقي بإسناد صحيح على شرط مسلم، قال الدارقطني: تفرد به مروان بن محمد عن ابن وهب وهو ثقة، ذكره النووي في المجموع 6/276

(4) رواه أبو داود (2341)، والترمذي مرسلا ومسندا، وقال: فيه اختلاف (691)، والنسائي، وقال : المرسل أولى بالصواب، وابن ماجه (1652)، وفي سنده مقال

(5) رواه أبو داود وسكت عنه هو والمنذري، ورجاله رجال الصحيح، إلا الحسين بن حريق وهو صدوق وصححه الدارقطني في نيل الأوطار 4/261 ط دار الجيل بيروت

(6) ذكره في حاشية ابن عابدين نقلا عن البحر 2/92

(7) انظر التعليق على المغني مع الشرح 3/93

(8) انظر الاختيار في شرح المختار 1/29

(9) المجموع 6/270

(10) انظر: فتح الباري 6/23، ط. الحلبي

(11) المجموع 6/270، ط. المنيرة

(12) انظر: المجموع 6/279، 280

(13) رواه أبو داود في الطب (3905)، وابن ماجة في الأدب (3726)، وأحمد في المسند (2000)، وقال شاكر: إسناده صحيح، وصححه النووي في الرياض، والذهبي في الكبائر كما في فيض القدير 6/80

(14) تلخيص الحبير مع المجموع 6/ 266، 267

(15) رواه مسلم وغيره

(16) رواه البخاري في كتاب الصوم، ورواه مالك في الموطأ (الموطأ 1/ 269)، والبخاري ومسلم وغيرهما بلفظ: “الشهر تسعة وعشرون، فلا تصوموا حتى تروا الهلال، ولا تفطروا حتى تروه، فإن غم عليكم فاقدروا له”

(17) فتح الباري 4/108، 109

(18) انظر: شرح القاضي أبي بكر بن العربي على الترمذي 3 /207، 208، وطرح التثريب 4/ 111 – 113 وفتح الباري 4/ 104

(19) رسالة “أوائل الشهور العربية ” ص 7 – 17 نشر مكتبة ابن تيمية

(20) انظر: فتاوى السبكي 1/219، 220 نشر مكتبة القدس بالقاهرة

(21) رسالة “أوائل الشهور العربية” للشيخ شاكر ص 15

(22) الترمذي: وقال: حسن غريب 697

(23) أبو داود (2324)

(24) رواه ابن ماجة (1660)، من طريق حماد عن أيوب عن ابن سيرين عن أبي هريرة، قال الشيخ شاكر: (وهذا إسناد صحيح جدا على شرط الشيخين)

[1] Agreed upon [Bukhari & Muslim] – Al-Lu’lu’ wa l-Marjan [The Pearls and the Coral], #656

[2] Agreed upon [Bukhari & Muslim] – Al-Lu’lu’ wa l-Marjan [The Pearls and the Coral], #653

[3] i.e. in this context, Jews and Christians [Translator]

[4] Abu Dawud (2342), Daraqutni & Bayhaqi with an authentic (sahih) isnad according to the conditions of Muslim. [Albani rated it authentic (sahih) – U.H.] Daraqutni said, “Marwan bin Muhammad, who is trustworthy, narrated it uniquely from Ibn Wahb.” This was mentioned by al-Nawawi in Al-Majmu’ [The Compendium].

[5] Abu Dawud (2341); Tirmidhi (691), as mursal and musnad, saying: There is disagreement about it; Nasa’i, who said: The mursal narration is more correct; Ibn Majah (1652) – there is some criticism of his sanad. [Albani rated it weak (da’if). Tirmidhi said: Most of the people of knowledge act upon this hadith, saying: the testimony of one man is acceptable for fasting. This is the view of Ibn al-Mubarak, Shafi’i, Ahmad and the People of Kufa. Ishaq [bin Rahwayh] said: Fasting is not done, except with the testimony of two men. The people of knowledge did not disagree that, to end fasting, only the testimony of two men is acceptable. – U.H.]

[6] Abu Dawud [2338]. He and Mundhiri did not comment on it [i.e. its authenticity]. Its narrators are those of the authentic category (sahih), except for al-Husayn bin Hurayth who is truthful. [Albani rated it authentic (sahih) – Translator] Daraqutni rated it authentic (sahih) in Nayl al-Awtar [Attaining the Needs] 4/261, publ. Dar al-Jil, Beirut.

[7] Ibn ‘Abidin, Hashiyah [The Marginal Commentary], quoting from al-Bahr [The Ocean], 2/92

[8] See the Notes upon Al-Mughni [That Which Suffices] with Commentary, 3/93

[9] See Al-Ikhtiyar fi Sharh al-Mukhtar [The Selection in Expansion of the Chosen], 1/29

[10] The Islamic Crescent Observation Project (ICOP) has been observing the waxing and waning crescent for all the Islamic lunar months. Monthly observation results since Ramadan 1419 have been published on their website. At the time of writing, this amounts to 28 consecutive years of crescent-tracking. [Translator]

[11] Qur’an, Al-Talaq (Divorce, 65:7). Numbering of Qur’anic references is of Hafs’ reading.

[12] Al-Majmu’ [The Compendium], 6/270

[13] See [Ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani], Fath al-Bari [The Opening from The Creator], al-Halabi edition, 6/23

[14] Al-Majmu’ [The Compendium], al-Munirah edition, 6/270

[15] A leading Shafi’i jurist, 348-450 H / 960-1058 CE

[16] Abu Dawud in his Sunan, Book of Medicine (3905), Ibn Majah in Etiquettes (3726), Ahmad in Al-Musnad (2000). Shakir said: Its isnad is authentic (sahih). Nawawi declared it authentic (sahih) in Riyad al-Salihin [Gardens of the Righteous], as did Dhahabi in Al-Kaba’ir [Major Sins], as in Fayd al-Qadir [Emanation from the Omnipotent], 6/80. [Albani declared the narrations of Abu Dawud & Ibn Majah, having the same isnad, as sound (hasan) – see also his al-Sahihah (793). The hadith actually ends with an additional statement, “… whatever he adds to it.” – Translator]

[17] Talkhis al-Habir [Abridgment for the Learned], printed along with Al-Majmu’ [The Compendium], 6/266-7

[18] Qaradawi’s quote from his own book is from here until the end of Section 2. [Translator]

[19] Cf. Qur’an, al-Baqarah (The Heifer), 2:185 [Translator]

[20] Transmitted by Muslim & others.

[21] Related by Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of Fasting; Malik in al-Muwatta’ (1/269). Bukhari, Muslim and others also related it with the wording: The month is [always, at least] twenty-nine days, so do not fast until you see the new crescent moon, and do not end the fast until you see it. If it is obscured over you, then determine for it.

[22] See Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn al-‘Arabi’s Commentary (Sharh) on Tirmidhi 3/207; Tarh al-Tathrib 4/111-113; Fath al-Bari 4/104

[23] Shaykh Ahmad Shakir, Awa’il al-Shuhur al-‘Arabiyyah [The Beginnings of the Arabian Months], Maktabah Ibn Taymiyyah, pp. 7-17. [Translator’s Note: See also Ebrahim Moosa’s English translation of the entire essay, available online.]

[24] [Translator’s Note: It is now 90 lunar years since he wrote it, since this translation is being completed in Dhul Hijjah 1447 H.]

[25] Al-Mursalat (Those Sent), 77:23. [Translator’s Note: To further illustrate the linguistic point being made here, note that this verse is recited variously as both fa-qadarna and fa-qaddarna by the canonical reciters.]

[26] Fatawa al-Subki [Fatwas of al-Subki], Maktabah al-Quds, Cairo, 1/219

[27] Translator’s Note: The terms, al-ustadh al-akbar (Greatest Teacher) or al-imam al-akbar (Greatest Imam) were traditionally used for the Shaykh [of] Al-Azhar.

[28] Shaykh Ahmad Shakir, Awa’il al-Shuhur al-‘Arabiyyah [The Beginnings of the Arabian Months], p. 15. [Translator’s Note: See also Ebrahim Moosa’s English translation of the entire essay, available online.]

[29] Qur’an, al-Baqarah (The Heifer), 2:286

[30] Tirmidhi 697, who said: hasan gharib (sound; singly-reported). [Albani: authentic (sahih) – Translator]

[31] Abu Dawud 2324. [Albani: authentic (sahih) – Translator]

[32] Ibn Majah 1660 via the route: Hammad from Ayyub from Ibn Sirin from Abu Hurayrah. Shaykh Shakir said, “This chain of narration is very authentic according to the conditions of the two Shaykhs [Bukhari & Muslim].” [Albani: authentic (sahih) – Translator]

Tags:Allah, Astronomy, Hadith, Islam, Islam and Modern Science, Maqasid al-Sharia, moonsighting, Qur'an, Ramadan, Religion, Sharia, Sunnah
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WHO ARE THE MU’ALLAFATU QULUBUHUM (THOSE WHO ARE GIVEN ZAKAT TO BRING THEIR HEARTS NEAR) ?

April 22, 2024

the-muallafatu-qulubuhum-for-zakat-givers-collectors-and-distributors Download

WITH THE NAME OF GOD, ALL-MERCIFUL, MOST MERCIFUL

WHO ARE THE MU’ALLAFATU QULUBUHUM
(THOSE WHO ARE GIVEN ZAKAT/ALMS TO BRING THEIR HEARTS NEAR) ?

Allah (God) says in the Qur’an:

إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقـٰتُ لِلفُقَراءِ وَالمَسـٰكينِ وَالعـٰمِلينَ عَلَيها وَالمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلوبُهُم وَفِى الرِّقابِ وَالغـٰرِمينَ وَفى سَبيلِ اللَّهِ وَابنِ السَّبيلِ ۖ فَريضَةً مِنَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَليمٌ حَكيمٌ

Truly, the [compulsory] alms are only for: the poor; the needy;
those who work upon them (in alms-collection);
those whose hearts are brought near;
those whose necks are under the yoke;
those who have taken on a major debt;
in the path of God; and the child of the path [i.e. the traveller]:
an obligation from God: for God is Knowing, Wise.

(Surah al-Tawbah, Repentance, 9:60 Hafs)

TAFSIR TABARI ON THIS VERSE (SUMMARISED)

Imam Tabari (224-310 H / 839-923 CE) said:

As for “those whose hearts are brought near”: they were a group of people who were brought closer to Islam (through the incentive of being given wealth), who could not be (openly) supported. The alms benefited themselves and their close families. Such people were: Abu Sufyan bin Harb, ‘Uyaynah bin Badr, Aqra’ bin Habis and similar heads of tribes.

Similar to what we have said, has been said by the People of Interpretation.

Mention of those who said that: Ibn ‘Abbas, Yahya bin Abi Kathir, Zuhri, Mujahid, Hasan [Basri] and Qatadah. Yahya bin Abi Kathir said that such heads of tribes were given a hundred she-camels[1] each by the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace; a few others were given fifty each. Zuhri added that this phrase includes Jews and Christians who submit to God (via Islam), even if they are rich.

The people of knowledge differed about whether or not this category exists today, and whether anyone today may be given charity to bring them closer to Islam?

Some of them said: The category of “those whose hearts are brought together” is invalid today: there is no share in the compulsory alms except for those in need, those in the path of God and those who work upon them (in alms-collection).

Mention of those who said that: Hasan [Basri], ‘Amir [bin Sharahil al-Sha’bi] and ‘Umar bin al-Khattab.

When ‘Uyaynah bin Hisn came to [Caliph] ‘Umar bin al-Khattab [seeking to be given alms], ‘Umar said, “The Truth (has come) from your Lord: so whoever wishes to, may have faith; and whoever wishes to, may deny!” [Surah al-Kahf, The Cave, 18:29 Hafs] That is, there is no bringing near today.

‘Amir [bin Sharahil al-Sha’bi] said: Those whose hearts were brought near, were only during the time of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: when Abu Bakr, may God Exalted’s Mercy be upon him, came to power, incentives stopped.

Others said: “Those whose hearts are brought near” exist in every age, and they have a right to some alms.

Mention of those who said that: Abu Ja’far [i.e. Imam Muhammad bin ‘Ali al-Baqir].

Abu Ja’far [i.e. Imam Tabari, who had his own, independent Madhhab] said:

The correct saying from amongst those, in my view, is that God has made alms to serve two purposes. One of them is to fill any gaps (of need) amongst the Muslims. The other is to aid and strengthen Islam. Whatever charity is to aid Islam and strengthen its means, this is given to both rich and poor. This is because it is not given to a person due to his need for it, but is given to him in order to aid the religion. This is just like what is given to a person for the sake of sacred war (Jihad) in the way of God, for that is given to him whether he is rich or poor, and not to fill his gap (of need). Similar are those whose hearts are brought near: they are given that charity even if they are rich: such giving to them seeks to benefit the matter of Islam and seeks to strengthen and fortify it.

The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, gave to whomever amongst those whose hearts were to be brought near, after God opened the victories for him: Islam spread and its people increased in honour. Thus, there is no proof in the argument of the one who says that “Today, no-one is to be brought near to Islam (via alms), because the people of Islam, by their great number, are prevented from being reached by anyone who wishes to give them alms.” The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, gave to those whom he gave whilst they were in the condition that has been described.

TAFSIR IBN KATHIR ON THIS VERSE (SUMMARISED)

Imam Ibn Kathir (700-774 H / 1300-1373 CE) said:

As for “those whose hearts are brought near”:

[1] Some were those who were given (alms) that they may submit (in Islam).

An example is that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, gave to Safwan bin Umayyah out of the spoils (of war) at Hunayn, a battle that the latter had witnessed as a polytheist. Imam Ahmad, Muslim and Tirmidhi narrated that Safwan bin Umayyah said, “The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, gave me (wealth) on the Day of Hunayn whilst he was the most hated of people to me, but he continued giving me (wealth) until he became the most beloved of people to me.”

[2] Some were given (alms) in order that they improve their Islam (having already submitted) and for their hearts to become firm.

An example is that he distributed (wealth), on the Day of Hunayn, to a group of tribal chiefs and nobles amongst the released captives: a hundred camels each. He said, “Truly, I give to a man whilst another is more beloved to me, fearing that God will upend him (the former) on his face in the Fire of Jahannam.”

In the two Sahihs (of Bukhari and Muslim), there is on the authority of Abu Sa’id that ‘Ali sent a small nugget of gold, (encased) in its rock, to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, from Yemen: he divided it amongst four people: Aqra’ bin Habis, ‘Uyaynah bin Badr, ‘Alqamah bin ‘Ulathah and Zayd al-Khayr, and said, “I bring them near.”

[3] Some were given (wealth) because of the hope that their peers would submit (in Islam).

[4] Some were given (wealth) in order to elicit alms from those around them, or

[5] To ward off harm from the border lands around the territory of the Muslims.

The place for detailed explanation of this is the books of jurisprudential rulings (furu’).

And God knows best.

Can alms be given to those being brought closer to Islam, after the (time of) the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace ?

There is difference of opinion in this matter.

It is narrated from ‘Umar, ‘Amir al-Sha’bi and a group (of authorities) that they are not to be given (alms) after his time, because God has honoured Islam and its people, established them firmly in the land and made the necks of others subservient to them.

Others said: Rather, they are to be given (alms) because he, Blessings and Peace be upon him, gave to such people after the Opening of Mecca [i.e. when Islam had already become established] and the Breaking of (the Tribe of) Hawazin [at Hunayn]: this was a situation where alms might be needed, so these could be diverted to them.

IMAM ABU BAKR AL-JASSAS (HANAFI) & QADI ABU BAKR IBN AL-‘ARABI (MALIKI)[2]

Imam Abu Bakr al-Jassas (305-370 H / 917-981 CE) said in his Ahkam al-Qur’an (Rulings of the Qur’an), whilst discussing the premise that alms are essentially for the poor:

If it is said that “those whose hearts were brought near” would receive alms without being poor, it would be said in reply: they would not receive it as alms; rather, alms would be collected for the poor, but some of it would be given to those whose hearts are brought near, in order to repel their harm against the poor amongst the Muslims, and that the former might submit in Islam, thus strengthening the poor amongst the Muslims. Thus, they would not receive it as alms; rather, alms were collected and used for the benefit (masalih) of the Muslims. This is because wealth given for the poor may be diverted for their benefit (masalih) if the Imam [i.e. the Caliph] rules over them and decides about matters beneficial to them (masalih).

[Summarised] Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi (468-543 H / 1076-1148 CE) said in his Ahkam al-Qur’an (Rulings of the Qur’an):

THE NINTH ISSUE [regarding this verse of the Qur’an]

About “those whose hearts are brought near,” there are four views:

They were given alms because of the weakness of their certainty, until this became strong. Those who said that they were Muslims, cited the examples of Abu Sufyan bin Harb, Aqra’ bin Habis and ‘Abbas bin Mirdas. Those who said that they were non-Muslims, cited the example of ‘Amir bin Tufail. Those who said that they were polytheists with an inclination towards Islam, cited the example of Safwan bin Umayyah.
Yahya bin Abi Kathir named them as leaders of the following [ten] tribes or clans: Banu Umayyah, Banu Jumah, Banu ‘Amir, Banu Asad, Banu Hashim, Banu Fazarah, Banu Tamim, Banu Nasr, Banu Sulaym and Thaqif.
Ibn Wahb narrated from Malik that he said: Safwan bin Umayyah, Hakim bin Hizam, Aqra’ bin Habis, ‘Uyaynah bin Badr, Suhayl bin ‘Amr and Abu Sufyan were amongst “those whose hearts were brought near,” and that on the day [of Hunayn] when Safwan was given alms, he was a polytheist.

Asbagh said, on the authority of Ibn al-Qasim: “Those whose hearts were brought near” were Safwan bin Umayyah and certain men of Quraysh.
The Shaykh Abu Ishaq named them to be forty men of the Quraysh and other tribes, including leaders and others.

THE TENTH ISSUE

There has been a difference of opinion as to whether [the category of] “those whose hearts are brought near” persisted.

Some of them said: They [i.e. this category of people] disappeared. This view was expressed by a group (of authorities), and was held by Malik.

Some said: They remain, because the Imam [i.e. the Caliph] may need to bring people near to Islam. [Caliph] ‘Umar discontinued them [i.e. this category of people] because of what he saw of the might of the religion.

My view is that if Islam is strong, this category disappears; but if such people are needed, they are given their share, just as the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to give the share. For it is narrated in the Sahih (authentic hadiths): “Islam began as a stranger, and will return as a stranger, as it began.” [Sahih Muslim]

THE ELEVENTH ISSUE

If we say that this category of people has disappeared, then their share returns to all the (other) categories, or to whichever (category or categories) the Imam decides, according to the previous explanation regarding the root of the disagreement.

Zuhri said: Half of their share is to be given to those who frequent the mosques. There is no evidence for this view. The first view (mentioned above) is more correct.

[1] A hundred camels represents a lot of wealth: it is the same as the diyah (blood-money) for murder. In today’s financial terms, it would approximate up to a hundred thousand US dollars or UK pounds, or even more. (AQS)

[2] The Hanafi and Maliki schools are complementary, in the sense that they represent the schools of Reason (Ahl al-Ra’y) and Tradition (Ahl al-Hadith) respectively. A holistic approach to the Sunnah combines these complementary approaches, as per Imam Shatibi (cf. Al-Shanqiti, On Madhhabs & Taqlid, AQS, 1445/2023)

Tags:Abu Bakr al-Jassas, al-Jassas, Allah, alms, almsgiving, charity, Fiqh, Hadith, Hanafi, Ibn Kathir, Islam, Maliki, mu'allafatu qulubuhum, Muslim, Prophet Muhammad, Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-'Arabi, Qur'an, Ramadan, sadaqah, Sharia, Shatibi, Sunnah, Tabari, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Tabari, zakat
Posted in Fatwas, Hadith, Law, Qur'an, Ramadan, Sharia, Sunnah | Leave a Comment »

DO WE FOLLOW THE AUTHENTIC HADITH, OR THE CONTRARY VIEWS OF IMAM, ABOUT FASTING SIX DAYS OF SHAWWAL, THE MONTH THAT FOLLOWS RAMADAN ?

April 11, 2024

Imam Nawawi said in his Commentary upon the hadith of Sahih Muslim about fasting the six days of Shawwal:

“In it is a clear indication to support the position of Shafi’i, Ahmad, Dawud and those who agreed with them in recommending the fasting of these six days. Malik and Abu Hanifah said that it is disliked. Malik said in al-Muwatta’ , ‘I never saw any of the people of knowledge fasting these days … They said: It is disliked, in case people think it is obligatory.’ The evidence of Shafi’i and those who agree with him is this clear, authentic hadith: if the Sunnah is established, it is not to be abandoned because some people abandon it, and not even if most or all of them abandon it. Their saying, ‘in case people think it is obligatory’ is disproven by the fast of ‘Arafah, ‘Ashura and other recommended fasts.”

—

Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti said:

There is no doubt that in the compiled Madhhab of Imam Malik, there are derived rulings (furu’) that oppose some texts of the revelation. It is apparent that some of these texts did not reach him, may Allah have mercy upon him: had they reached him, he would have acted upon them. Other texts did reach him, but he chose not to act upon them due to another indication that he believed was stronger evidence.

An example of a text not reaching him is the hadith about fasting six days of Shawwal, after the fast of Ramadan. He, may Allah have mercy upon him, said in his Muwatta’ (The Well-Trodden Path),

“Truly, I never saw any of the people of knowledge and understanding fasting these days, and nothing has reached me regarding this on the authority of the predecessors (Salaf). The people of knowledge dislike this practice and fear that it is an innovation, and that ignorant and coarse people will add to Ramadan what is not part of it if they see the people of knowledge allowing it and practising it.”

Here, Malik says explicitly that fasting six days of Shawwal reached him neither on the authority of the Prophet, nor on that of any of the Salaf. There is no doubt that had encouragement from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to fast these days reached him, he would have fasted them and recommended others to fast them – it goes without saying that he would not have disliked the practice. This is because Malik would not have doubted that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was more kind and merciful towards the community than he was, for Allah has described the Prophet in the Qur’an as being kind and merciful.

If fasting those six days necessitated the problem because of which Malik disliked the practice, the Prophet would not have encouraged it and he would have considered the problem that Malik identified. But the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, avoided and dismissed the problem because he knew that the month of Ramadan is too well-known to be confused with any of Shawwal. This is similar to the recommended prayers before and after the obligatory prayers: none of the people of knowledge ever disliked them for fear that the ignorant would add to the obligatory prayers. This is due to the five compulsory prayers being well-known and not confused with others.

Anyhow, it is not for any Imam to say that a matter that has been approved by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is disliked for fear of the ignorant thinking that it is obligatory. Fasting of the aforementioned six days, and the Prophet’s encouragement of this, is established authentically from him. The hadith was transmitted by Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah via several Companions, including Thawban, Jabir, Ibn ‘Abbas, Abu Hurayrah and Bara’ bin ‘Azib, as explained by [Imam Shawkani,] the author of Nayl al-Awtar.

(Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti, Lights of Eloquence: Commentary on Qur’an, Surah Muhammad, 47:24)

NB: Both the Hafiz Ibn ‘Abdul Barr and Imam Nawawi, leading Hadith scholars from the Maliki and Shafi’i schools of jurisprudence respectively, approved fasting six days of Shawwal due to the authentic hadith, and preferred this over the view of Imam Malik.

Tags:Fasting six days of Shawwal, Fiqh, Following the Sunnah vs Following a Madhhab, Hadith, Islam, Madhhabism, salafism, Sunnah
Posted in Fatwas, Hadith, Ramadan, Sharia, Sunnah | Leave a Comment »

Ramadan Dates 1443 (2022)

April 1, 2022

SUMMARY: Naked-eye moonsighting gives the 1st day of Ramadan 1443 as Sunday 3 April 2022 for the whole world except for North America where Saturday 2 April 2022 is a possibility. Moonsighting with a telescope gives the 1st day of Ramadan 1443 as Saturday 2 April 2022: some authorities and countries have already announced Ramadan for then. (Naked-eye moonsighting in Antarctica & New Zealand might give the 1st day as Monday 4 April 2022!)

Astronomical new moon occurred at 06:24 UT (GMT) today, on Friday 1 April 2022 (29 Sha’ban 1443).

Crescent (lunar) visibility diagrams, courtesy of the UK HMNAO/IOP Moonwatch project, now hosted by UKHO:

Friday 1 April 2022 / 29 Sha’ban 1443, evening
(around the optimal time for moonsighting, about 20 minutes after sunset):

Global new (crescent) moon visibility for the evening of Friday 1 April, 2022 (29th Sha’ban 1443):

Not visible anywhere in the world, with the exception of the Americas.

The new crescent moon will be visible by naked eye in California, Mexico & parts of Central America, and by telescope in parts of South America. Given the ISNA Fiqh Council’s very reasonable judgment since the 1990s that North America is to be regarded as one horizon (matla’), this would lead to the 1st day of Ramadan 1443 being Saturday 2 April 2022 throughout North & Central America. If sighting by telescope is deemed acceptable, the same start date would apply to South America. However, I defer to the judgments of the relevant authorities in the Americas.

Saturday 2 April 2022 / 30 Sha’ban 1443, evening
(around the optimal time for moonsighting, about 20 minutes after sunset):

Global new (crescent) moon visibility for the evening of Saturday 2 April, 2022 (30th Sha’ban 1443):

Visible throughout the whole populated world, with the exception of Antarctica & most of New Zealand, where it will be visible the following evening.

Thus, for Oceania (with the possible exception of New Zealand), Asia, Africa & Europe,
the 1st day of Ramadan 1443, based on local moonsighting, is Sunday 3rd April 2022.

Have a blessed & peaceful Ramadan: let us pray for, and serve, our brothers and sisters in humanity!

(Imam Dr) Usama Hasan,

Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, London, UK

29th Sha’ban 1443 / 1st April 2022

Postscript: The European Council for Fatwa & Research announced on 16/02/2022 that the 1st day of Ramadan for the whole world would be on Saturday 2nd April 2022, based on “detailed astronomical calculations.” They claim that these showed that the new crescent moon (hilal) would be visible “by telescope in West Africa and the Americas” after sunset on Friday 1st April 2022. This seems to be based on the Odeh model. I agree with their approach of determining Islamic lunar dates via astronomical calculations, but we need to agree which ones we are using. ECFR are accepting telescope observations, whereas many of us prefer naked-eye sighting. NB: the Odeh model predicts a narrower range of territory for naked-eye sighting, as is clear from the following visibility maps:

Global new (crescent) moon visibility for the evening of Friday 1 April, 2022 (29th Sha’ban 1443) – Odeh model

Global new (crescent) moon visibility for the evening of Saturday 2 April, 2022 (30th Sha’ban 1443) – Odeh model

Tags:1443, 2022, hilal, moonsighting, Ramadan
Posted in Astronomy, Ramadan, Science, Sharia | Leave a Comment »

Laylat-ul-Qadr (The Night of Majesty and Destiny) and simple astronomy – some reflections

May 22, 2020

Laylat-ul-Qadr (The Night of Glory and Destiny)

& simple astronomy – some reflections

Bismillah.

Laylat-ul-Qadr (LQ – The Night of Glory, Majesty, Decree and Destiny, etc.) is in one sense the climax of the month of Ramadan / Ramzan (R).

* Some of the hadiths about its exact date, even the allegedly authentic ones, are mutually contradictory, which is why scholars try to reconcile them.

* It is night-time for half the earth at any moment; the other half is in daytime. Day and night are relative to each person’s location on earth.

* It is presumably possible for the Angels & the Spirit to descend around the half of the earth that’s in night-time for a period of exactly 24 hours, thus giving a specific date for LQ. Presumably, this would start at sunset for the first location on earth from where the new crescent moon was visible.

* Since Muslims have differed for decades about the beginning of R, and hence about its odd nights, this presents a difficulty in finding LQ in the last 5 odd nights. One solution is to look for it throughout the last 10 nights. But what if LQ falls just before your last 10 nights or just after, i.e. on your Eid night whilst others are still observing R?

* Do the Angels & the Spirit descend throughout the last 10 nights?

* MY SOLUTION: Due to considerations like these, I follow the view of the Companion, Abdullah bin Mas’ood: LQ can be on any night of the year. Or we could say: it is on every night of the year. Every night is LQ!

* This is why the hadiths say: SEEK IT in the last 10 nights of R, etc., because it would be too difficult to seek it all year long. We are prepared with fasting & worship for a whole month to help find LQ during the last 10 nights, preferably in i’tikaf (spiritual retreat). Remember, the Prophet pbuh once did i’tikaf for the whole month of R in order to find LQ.

* These are some of the many wisdoms behind the spiritual practice of Ramadan/Ramzan. May ours have been blessed, and may we have found our Night of Powerful, Glorious Destiny, had all our prayers answered and been illuminated by The Light for at least another year!

PS “Better than a thousand months” means “Better than all of time.”

(khayrun min al-dahri kullihi – Tafsir Qurtubi)

In other words, Laylat-ul-Qadr is an opportunity to transcend Time, or experience Eternity or Timelessness.

I alluded to some of these lessons about Ramadan (Ramzan) & LQ in this poem, based on the famous opening of William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence:

To break your fast with a wholesome date
And recite noble verses of Light.
To seek Infinity in your unfolding Fate
And Eternity in One Night.

Usama Hasan

22 May 2020 / 28 Ramadan 1441

Tadworth, UK.

ليلة القدر و علم الفلك:

الليل والنهار أمران نسبيان لمكان كل شخص في الأرض، وهما آيتان من آيات الله تعالى.

والأحاديث في تحديد تاريخ ليلة القدر متناقضة، حتى الصحيحة منها، ولذالك حاول علماء الحديث الجمع بينها دائماً.

فنصف الأرض في أي وقت في ظلمة اليل، والنصف الآخر في ضوء النهار.

قد تنزّل الملائكة والروح لمدة ٢٤ ساعة كل عام، فتكون لليلة القدر تاريخ معيّن. ولكن عندنا مشكلة: الاختلاف في بداية شهر رمضان يؤدي الى اختلاف في اليالي العشرة الأخيرة.

من أجل هذه الاعتبارات وغيرها، أرى برأي عبد الله بن مسعود رضي الله عنه أن ليلة القدر قد تقع في أي ليلة في السنة. ولذالك جاء في الأحاديث «إلتمسوا ليلة القدر في العشرة الأخيرة من شهر رمضان» لأن إلتماسها طول العام أمر محرج وصعب جداً على المسلمين.

فشرع شهر العبادة من صوم وصلاة وزكاة وإطعام المساكين وإعتكاف وغيرها من أعمال الخير ليسهل إلتماس الليلة العظمى في العام:

إنا أنزلناه في ليلة القدر، وما أدرىٰك ما ليلة القدر؟ ليلة القدر خير من ألف شهر، تنزّل الملائكة والروح فيها بإذن ربهم من كل أمر، سلام هي حتى مطلع الفجر.

ومعنى «خير من ألف شهر» يعنى: «خير من الدهر كله» كما ذكره الإمام القرطبي في تفسيره. فإن وجدت ليلة القدر، فكأنما خرجت من حدود الزمان ولمست قدسية الدهر وذقت معنى الخلود في جنات النعيم.

اللهم بارك لنا في شهرنا و أيامنا وليالينا، آمين.

APPENDIX: A GLIMPSE OF SOME OF THE VIEWS ABOUT THE DATE OF LQ, TO SHOW THE IMMENSE DIVERSITY ABOUT THIS IN THE ISLAMIC TRADITION

NB: where “[odd nights of the] last 10” is mentioned, even this was disagreed about, e.g.: Ibn Hazm stated that if the month has 30 days, then these odd nights are 21, 23, 25, 27 & 29 but if the month has 29 days, then the last 10 nights are nights 20-29 and hence the odd nights are 20, 22, 24, 26 & 28! This was another argument for seeking LQ in all of the last 10 nights, because in the past, we were unable to know for sure in advance how many days the month would have.

IBN KATHIR

Hadith (Tayalisi): 27 or 29

Hadith (Ahmad): LQ in last 10, odd nights: 29 or 27 or 25 or 23 or the last night of the month. The hadith has other details. IK: the isnad is hasan, but the matn has strange, weak content (gharabah) and in some versions, rejected (nakarah) content or meaning.

Hadith (Ibn Abi Asim): LQ in last 10.

Hadith (Ahmad): Seek it in the first 10 or last 10 … Seek it in the last 10 … Seek it in the last 7.

Narration: from Ibn Mas’ood and those who followed him of the people of knowledge of Kufa that it is found throughout the year, and is hoped for in every month equally. (IK disagrees with this view) Ibn Mas’ood used to say, “If you stand in prayer at night all year long, you will find LQ.”

Hadith (Abu Dawud): LQ may be throughout R.

Narration: from Abu Hanifa: LQ is hoped for throughout R. This is also a view quoted by Ghazzali [i.e. in the Shafi’i madhhab? – UH] Rafi’i declared this to be an extremely strange view.

LQ is the 1st night of R: Abu Razin.

LQ is 17th R, because it was the night before the Battle of Badr, described as being on the “Day of Decision” (Yawm al-Furqan) in the Qur’an, hence it relates to LQ as the night of decision, decree and destiny: narrated from the Prophet, Ibn Mas’ood, Zayd bin Arqam, ‘Uthman bin Abil-‘Aas, Imam Shafi’i & Hasan Basri.

LQ is 19th R: narrated from ‘Ali & Ibn Mas’ood.

LQ is 21st R: Hadith of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri in Bukhari & Muslim. Imam Shafi’i said that this was the most authentic narration on the subject.

LQ is 23rd R: Hadith of Abdullah bin Anees in Sahih Muslim – it is a very similar narration to the previous hadith (21 R).

LQ is 24th R: Hadith of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri in Tayalisi. IK: the narrators are trustworthy. Also narrated as a hadith by Bilal, but a weak isnad. Also contradicted by the next consideration:

LQ is in the first 7 of the last 10 nights: more authentic view of Bilal rA, narrated by Bukhari. Also narrated as the view of Ibn Mas’ood, Ibn Abbas, Jabir, Hasan, Qatadah & Ibn Wahb, and from the Prophet by Wathilah bin al-Asqa’.

LQ is 25th R: based on the hadith of Bukhari from Ibn Abbas from the Prophet: Seek it in the last 10 nights: in the 9 remaining, 7 remaining, 5 remaining.

IK: Most people of knowledge understood this to mean the odd nights, but others understood it to mean the even nights, e.g. Abu Sa’id (Sahih Muslim). IK: Allah knows best.

LQ is 27th R: narrated from the Prophet, several Companions, a group of the Salaf, the preferred view in the madhhab of Imam Ahmad and quoted also from Imam Abu Hanifa.

LQ is the 7th of last 10 (i.e. 27) or with 7 remaining (i.e. 22 or 23): narrated from Ibn Abbas.

LQ is 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 or last night of the month: Hadith of Imam Ahmad.

LQ is 27 or 29: Hadith of Imam Ahmad.

LQ is the last night of R: Hadith of Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i.

Tags:Astronomy, Hadith, islamic astronomy, laylat al-qadr, laylat-ul-qadr, Qur'an, Ramadan, Ramadhan, Ramzan, Sunnah, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, view of Ibn Mas'ud about laylat-ul-qadr, when is laylat-ul-qadr?
Posted in Astronomy, Physics & Cosmology, Qur'an, Ramadan, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

UK Ramadan fasting times for 2020

April 26, 2020

ASTRONOMICAL DATA FOR RAMADAN 2020

– by Imam Dr Usama Hasan, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society

Ramadan & Eid Dates 2020-2025 (approx.)

Based on Crescent Moon Visibility data for London from HMNAO’s Websurf 2.0 website

(Moon Visibility is estimated on a scale of A-F. The following dates are based on the approximation that A-C represent a visible crescent moon; D-F represent an invisible moon.)

YEAR	Beginning of Ramadan (+/- 1 day)	Eid al-Fitr (+/- 2 days)
2020	25 April	25 May
2021	14 April	14 May
2022	03 April	02 May
2023	23 March	22 April
2024	12 March	10 April
2025	02 March	31 March

Examples of dawn/sunset timings for the UK (four UK capital cities), 2020

Dates used are: 25^th April (~1^st Ramadan), 9^th May (~15^th Ramadan) & 23^rd May (~29^th Ramadan)

Date

City

Dawn
(18°)

Dawn (15°)

Dawn (12°)

Sunrise
(SR)

Sunset
(SS)

Fasting length (18°)

Fasting length (15°)

Fasting length (12°)

Fasting length SR-SS

25 April

London

03:23

03:53

04:19

05:43

20:15

16:52

16:22

15:56

14:32

9 May

02:32

03:12

03:44

05:18

20:37

18:05

17:25

16:53

15:19

23 May

***

02:31

03:13

04:58

20:58

***

18:27

17:45

16:00

25 April

Edin-burgh

02:45

03:28

04:03

05:42

20:41

17:56

17:13

16:38

14:59

9 May

***

02:23

03:15

05:11

21:09

***

18:46

17:54

15:58

23 May

***

02:19

04:46

21:34

***

19:15

16:48

25 April

Cardiff

03:35

04:05

04:31

05:56

20:27

16:52

16:22

15:56

14:31

9 May

02:44

03:24

03:57

05:30

20:50

18:06

17:26

16:53

15:20

23 May

***

02:43

03:25

05:10

21:10

***

18:27

17:45

16:00

25 April

Belfast

03:15

03:52

04:23

05:57

20:47

17:32

16:55

16:24

14:50

9 May

***

02:58

03:40

05:28

21:13

***

18:15

17:33

15:45

23 May

***

02:57

05:05

21:37

***

18:40

16:32

KEY:

18° refers to astronomical twilight, which begins or ends when the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon

15° refers to when the sun is 15 degrees below the horizon

12° refers to nautical twilight, which begins or ends when the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon

The astronomical definition of “dawn” is disputed, with various Muslim religious authorities adopting one of the three possible definitions given above.

*** in the above table means that the timing is not available, because the sun does not reach that far below the horizon. This happens every year during the summer at high latitudes, such as the UK.

NOTES:

We must emphasise that the actual dates of the beginning of Ramadan and Eid, given above, are subject to vary by one or two days, within Muslim communities in the UK, due to different community approaches to determining these dates.
If we use 18° astronomical twilight (Sun’s depression = 18 degrees) as the start of dawn, the fasting start time and fasting length are undefined for most of Ramadan 2020 in Edinburgh & Belfast. They are defined for most of the month, except towards its end, in Cardiff & London, where the fasting length is around 17-18 hours.
If we use 15° (Sun’s depression = 15 degrees) as the start of dawn, the fasting start time and fasting length are undefined for most of Ramadan 2020 in Edinburgh & Belfast, except towards its end, where the fasting length is 17-19 hours. However, dawn does occur throughout the month in both London and Cardiff, giving fasting lengths of 16.5-18.5 hours.
If we use 12° nautical twilight (Sun’s depression = 12 degrees) as the start of dawn, this results in fasting hours during Ramadan 2020 in London and Cardiff of 16-18 hours, in Belfast of 16.5-18.5 hours, and in Edinburgh of 16.5-19 hours.
If we use Sunrise as the start of fasting, this results in fasting hours during Ramadan 2020 in London and Cardiff of 14.5-16 hours, in Belfast of 15-16.5 hours, and in Edinburgh of 15-17 hours.

The HMNAO data portal is: http://astro.ukho.gov.uk/ – please note that there is no www. prefixing this resource address.

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REFLECTIONS FROM KUNAR 1990 AND HELMAND 2010 – THE TRAGEDY OF AFGHANISTAN’S WARS

November 10, 2017

With the Name of God, All-Merciful, Most Merciful

REFLECTIONS FROM KUNAR 1990 & HELMAND 2010

– THE TRAGEDY OF AFGHANISTAN’S WARS

Introduction

I am publishing this partly because I am tired of telling the same story about Kunar to dozens of journalists and academic researchers, partly because I am fed up of questions about my one-minute video message in support of British troops (2010), and partly because I hope that people may benefit and learn from the story.

I began writing this on the last day of Ramadan 1433/2012, and completed the bulk of it shortly after Eid. The recent death of two British soldiers in Nad Ali in Helmand (Matthew Smith http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19228325 and Robert Chesterman http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19227317 ) brought back vivid memories of our FCO-sponsored four-man delegation’s “Projecting British Muslims” trip to Helmand during Ramadan in August 2010, a visit that included ISAF’s Forward Operating Base at Nad Ali. As I finalise it, I’m reading about the 2,000th US soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2001.

*Update: I am finalising and publishing this on 10th November 2017 – it has been sitting in my draft folder for five years.*

Memories from the Jihad in Kunar, 1990-1

This was my second 10-day visit to Afghanistan: the first had been in December-January 1990-1991, during my second-year Cambridge University holidays, as part of a three-man fact-finding mission of senior JIMAS (www.jimas.org ) figures to Kunar. The other two people were up to a decade older than me: Abu Muntasir and Abu Aaliyah. I was fortunate to have the strongest Arabic at the time, and served as interpreter for much of the trip, although of course other mujahideen helped also.

We drove to Afghanistan from Islamabad via Peshawar and Bajaur, and spent a week at a training camp near Asadabad, Kunar, for Arab fighters run by Jama’ah al-Da’wah ila l-Qur’an wa l-Sunnah (JDSQ, “Group of Calling to the Qur’an and Sunnah”), the major Salafi organisation that controlled large parts of Kunar province as well as of neighbouring Nuristan. There were separate training camps for Arab, Afghan and Pakistani fighters – we chose the Arab one, for access to more Arabic-speaking scholars. The camp rules stated that disagreements would be solved in a last resort by referring to the fatwas of Sheikhs Ibn Baz and Albani. On our introduction to the camp, I introduced myself with my first name, upon which I was immediately corrected by a Kuwaiti mujahid: “In Jihad, we only use aliases.” Specifically, he meant aliases of the kunya type that take the form of “Abu X” meaning “Father of X.” My colleagues were fathers and already had kunyas, so I used, for the first time, my middle name that my grandfather had given me when he named me upon birth: Abu Dharr, after an austere, ascetic Companion of the Prophet. The emir of the training camp was a tall, well-built, muscular, fair-skinned, charismatic and learned Palestinian fighter called Abu Asim. In appearance and character, he reminded me of Abdur-Raheem Green, then also a senior JIMAS figure. I shed many tears upon hearing about Abu Asim’s reported death in a training accident some years later, when a weapon exploded accidentally.

Upon joining the training camp, we had to fill in a registration form, giving personal details and skills that might be useful for the jihad. The three of us all put down our computer/IT skills, and I also mentioned my mathematics and physics knowledge. A quarter of a century later, ISIS, who had turned defensive, liberating jihad into bloodthirsty terrorism, had similar registration forms, with one striking addition: asking registrants whether they wanted to be regular fighters, suicide-bombers or suicidal attackers (inghimasi).

This was Abu Muntasir’s second trip to the same region: he had trained and fought at the front line in 1989 or early 1990 also, with a close companion known as Brother Mushtaq. JIMAS’ contacts with the Afghan mujahideen had come about via salafi scholars in Holland and meetings in London that had involved Dawood Burbank (d. during Hajj 2011, may Allah have mercy on his soul) and Brother Mushtaq. Abu Muntasir later fought in Kashmir and even in Burma with Rohingya militia in the early 1990s.

Note that JIMAS (Jamiat Ihyaa’ Minhaaj al-Sunnah: The Society for the Revival of the Way of the Messenger) had earlier been called HISAM (Harakatu Islahish Shabab al-Muslim: The Movement to Reform the Muslim Youth) but had recently had a name-change after an offshoot insisted on retaining the name HISAM. During this episode, one of the suggestions for the name of JIMAS was in fact JDQS – this was directly copied from the Afghan group. The current Pakistani salafi/Ahl-e-Hadith jihadi group Jama’at-ud-Da’wah, linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, may also have based its name on the Afghan one.

We also met and interviewed Sheikh Jameel-ur-Rahman, an Afghan salafi/Ahle-e-Hadith muhaddith-mujahid (scholar of Hadith and warrior), founder and emir of JDQS. Sheikh Jameel was an elderly, learned man with a long beard, dyed with henna. He was accompanied by elders who constituted his shura and by a group of younger, heavily-armed men who served as his bodyguards. Abu Muntasir conducted the interview in English: Sheikh Jameel replied in Arabic. One of the questions was whether or not the Jihad in Afghanistan was fard ‘ayn or fard kifaya, i.e. an individual or collective obligation: his reply was the former. The interview was recorded and it was many months before Dawood Burbank translated it into English for the benefit of other JIMAS members. Abu Muntasir may still have this material in his possession.

The Arab mujahidin credit Sheikh Jameel with having begun the “Jihad against the communists” in 1973, way before the Soviet invasion. Sheikh Jameel gave a talk after dawn prayers on one occasion whilst we were at the training camp, during which the camp generator failed, leaving the prayer tent in darkness. At the end of that talk, he took questions. One of the questions was about whether or not there was any dhikr to be recited during the prostration of gratitude (sajdah al-shukr) – this was related to the story of The Prophet’s disciples Ka’b bin Malik, Murara bin Rabi’ah and Hilal bin Umayyah and their missing a military expedition followed by their subsequent ostracism and eventual repentance recounted in the long hadith of Bukhari and Muslim in reference to Qur’an 9:118 (Surah al-Tawbah or Chapter: Repentance). In this heart-rending story that had been recounted by one of the younger scholar-warriors at the camp after dawn prayers the day before, Ka’b performs such a prostration of gratitude. Sheikh Jameel replied that no specific dhikr had been narrated about this prostration, and therefore any dhikr would suffice, but a young Saudi mujahid argued vehemently with him that there was no dhikr in this prostration for the same reason. Salafism in a nutshell!

Sheikh Jameel had announced an “Islamic emirate” (imarat-e-Islami) in Kunar. One day at the training camp, one of the commanders gave us the “good news” of the full establishment of Sharia in the emirate: predictably, this involved the hudud, with which islamists are obsessed: a thief’s hand had been amputated as corporal punishment for his crime.

We were holy warriors: ascetic monks and soldiers, simultaneously. With regular congregational prayer, scriptural study, physical exercise and weapons training. Being halfway up a valley, there wasn’t much food: on one day, the camp had run out of food and all we had for 24 hours was a glass of milk and an orange. Soldiers know all about the rationing of supplies. At the firing range, Abu Muntasir embarrassed our instructor by being the only one to hit the target during a sniping contest. (This reminds me of a story about Caliph Omar: he came across some people practising archery and found that they weren’t very good at hitting their target. When he enquired as to why this was the case, they replied in ungrammatical Arabic that they were learners. “Your Arabic is even worse than your archery,” the Caliph quipped!)

Around 1993/94 we heard the awful news that Sheikh Jameel had been assassinated by an Arab fighter – many salafis blamed this on forces loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (Hizb-e-Islami), who was backed by the Jamat-e-Islami of Pakistan and the Arab Muslim Brotherhood. Hekmatyar denied these accusations, but the incident was one of the many causes of tension between salafis and the Brotherhood, a tension that continues all over the world until today. A few years later at Imperial College London, I asked the Riyadh-based Syrian salafi Sheikh Adnan Arour, who had taken part in Saudi-sponsored mediation amongst the warring mujahidin groups after the fall of Kabul in 1992, about Hekmatyar’s denial of being behind Sheikh Jameel’s assassination. He replied, “Who killed him then, Ibn Baz and Albani??!”

With hindsight, it was probably for the best that the Kunar emirate had fizzled out with the death of Sheikh Jameel, otherwise the obsession with hudud might have led to a situation similar to ISIS.

Around 2004, I briefly met one of Sheikh Jameel’s sons who was studying at the Islamic University of Madinah during my only visit there, facilitated by Yasir Qadhi.

Back to Kunar: we spent a day and night at the front line, taking part in the Jihad against forces loyal to President Najibullah. The Soviets had of course withdrawn in early 1990, but most mujahideen groups fought on, firstly against Najib’s communists, and then against each other during the vicious civil war of 1992-6. The latter war helped me realise the emptiness of the Islamist dream that the mujahideen were going to establish the ideal “Islamic state” after taking Kabul in 1992.

The Saudis subsidised half the cost of mujahidin’s flights to Pakistan, but kept a record of all names. There was, of course, close co-operation amongst the US, Saudis and Pakistanis during the anti-USSR Jihad. We met a couple of Libyans at the front line who had burnt their passports, since returning mujahideen were not too welcome in Gaddafi’s police-state.

The training camp’s courtyard had a disused Soviet tank in the centre and was covered in snow: many of the Arabs, religious scholars and committed warriors, had never seen snow before and thoroughly enjoyed their first snowball fights whilst we, the British trio, looked on bemused. The Arabs were from various countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Egypt and Palestine. There was also a trio of Indonesian or Filipino fighters who kept to themselves since they didn’t know Arabic. At the camp, we received basic weapons training: Kalashnikov/M16 and also studied scripture after regular, congregational prayers. In between the prayer rows would be lines of AK-47s belonging to the warrior-worshippers. At the front line, we exchanged artillery fire with invisible communist forces, as several mountain ridges separated us. Our guns were 76mm cannon. One enemy shell, fired from several miles away, landed a hundred feet from us but we were quite safe: this taught me about the fragility of life, but not to be afraid of the ever-present danger of death. A disturbing scene throughout Kunar was the sight of large cemeteries in place of villages.

At the front line, I had hoped to use my expert Further Mathematics A-level knowledge of precise mathematical calculations of projectile motion to help with the accuracy of our shelling. (18 months earlier, I had been the only one to score 100% in our Lower Sixth Form mathematics examination at the City of London School for Boys, where I held the John Carpenter Scholarship, 1987-9, and been awarded the Mathematics Prize in the Upper Sixth Form, although a couple of Jewish friends were better mathematicians than me.) But we were only there for a day, and there were no PCs or calculators. The mujahideen’s method to ensure shelling accuracy was simple: it was piety – we were encouraged to mention and remember God in dhikr every time we fired a shell!

There were many funny incidents during our stay: a sense of humour helps in tough situations. The Kuwaiti who stopped the jeep to pick up snow for the first time: “This is not like the snow in our freezer!” (Snow and ice are synonyms in Arabic: thalj.) The young Saudi who had studied English “whilst he wasn’t religious” in Cambridge some years ago and knew the Pakistani-run Nasreen Dar store there, famous amongst Fitzwilliam and Churchill College students for selling cheap, out-of-date biscuits. This was a surreal moment for me: I had travelled thousands of miles from Cambridge to meet an Arab mujahid in the mountains of Afghanistan and talk about a shop back home. (Partly due to our salafist influence in Cambridge, Nasreen Dar eventually stopped selling alcohol. And it finally closed recently.) Abu Muntasir nicknaming the Indonesian or Filipino mujahid, “Brother One-Bullet” since he could only afford one bullet for his M16 gun (these bullets were much more scarce and therefore expensive, compared to AK-47 bullets). Abu Muntasir saying to Abul Qa’qa’ (named after a Companion of the Prophet), “They’re calling you,” when a flock of crows crowed loudly: caw! caw! The 007-style “pen gun,” disguised as a heavy ink pen that housed a bullet instead of an ink cartridge, with the pen clip as the trigger, and used for close-range assassinations. The Arabs called it the “ben gun” since there is no “p” in Arabic, and this made me think of my primary-school days spent reading Treasure Island. At the front line, I described the “man in the moon” that I could see in the full moon through binoculars. Our Arab guide there, unfamiliar with the nuances of the English language, rebuked me gently although unfairly with the teaching of the Prophet (pbuh), “Tell the truth, even if you are joking.”

My parents, siblings and extended family, plus the JIMAS group in the UK, were very supportive of our jihad trip and very proud of us. My grandfather, Sheikh Abdul Ghaffar Hasan, a very senior salafi scholar of India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, quoted to me the hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him, upon my return, “There are two eyes that will not be touched by the Fire: an eye that watches guard at night in the path of God [esp. holy war], and an eye that weeps from the awe of God.” My grandfather added, “I hope that you will qualify on both counts.” It was a quarter of a century later, prompted by a journalist’s question, that I asked my dear mother how she felt whilst I was away for a fortnight – I had remembered her tears upon both my departure and return. She told me that there were some days when she couldn’t eat, out of worry. The FATE video showing a family of a jihadi fighter at a dinner table gives some idea of how she must have felt.

JIMAS and other UK groups later sent dozens of fighters to Afghanistan and hundreds to Bosnia (1992-5). One young man from Southall spent months in Afghanistan and described fishing in the river by use of hand-grenades: the explosion would blast the fish onto the banks. One Londoner I know, currently a primary schoolteacher, spent a year or so in Afghanistan in the mid-90s, having gone there with the intention of a “sacred migration to the Islamic state” (hijrah), but became disillusioned when he heard talk of plans to attack western countries: some of the mujahideen were of course building Al-Qaeda.

So, fast-forward 20 years to 2010, almost a decade after 9/11 and the whole idea of Jihad had become utterly confused, including in the UK after the 7/7 attacks. British involvement in the war in Afghanistan was deeply unpopular amongst UK Muslims, so when the FCO offered me a trip to the country to project British Muslims, I jumped at the chance, deciding that I would also treat it as a fact-finding mission again as to what was going on there.

Ex-Taliban Mullahs at the UK Embassy in Kabul, August 2010

We flew from London to Kabul via Dubai, after having undergone two days of “Hostile Environment Training” in Shropshire provided by ex-army people. The training included practice in wearing the body armour (with ceramic plates) and helmet that we would need everywhere in Afghanistan, a simulated roadside bomb attack on the armoured jeeps in which we would travel and advice on what to do if we got kidnapped (co-operate with your kidnappers, don’t try anything silly, and hope to get rescued). Whenever I wore the body armour, I thought of the Qur’anic story of Prophet Sulayman, or King Solomon, manufacturing iron armour under divine inspiration for protection in war: modern body armour, with its light but strong material that is ever-improving due to science and technology, is the latest manifestation of the Solomonic Sunnah.

At the heavily-fortified UK embassy in Kabul, we had iftar with a couple of ex-Taliban, including Mullah Ishaq Nizami, who had once served as a junior communications minister for Mullah Omar. Nizami spoke of the need for human rights and corruption-free institution-building in Muslim-majority countries, something much stronger in western ones. He was also working with other, higher-profile ex-Taliban, including Mullah Mutawakkil and Mullah Zaeef (author of My Life With The Taliban, http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/my-life-with-the-taliban/), in negotiations between Karzai’s government and Taliban leaders. The iftar was hosted by Ambassador Sir William Patey and his staff.

Lashkar Gah ISAF Base, Helmand

The next day we flew to Lashkar Gah (“Lash”) via the formidable Kandahar Air Base. At Lash we met the Commander of Task Force Helmand, Brigadier Felton. (He had the England v Pakistan cricket test match from Lord’s on TV in the background via satellite: Sky Sports, but switched it off when we entered. This was the test match when Mohammed Amir bowled “those no-balls.”) I led the delegation in that meeting and my first question to him was about civilian casualties: his reply was that the Taliban were now killing more civilians than ISAF were, and that the new strategy under US General Petraeus was to minimise civilian casualties.

The head of the civilian mission here was Arthur Snell, formerly head of UK Prevent and now (2012) our High Commissioner in Barbados. At the Lash command centre, one poster showed a big gun with the caption: “One size fits all: Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Haqqanis and HIGs” – the latter referring to Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, i.e. the fighters still loyal to our old friend-or-foe Hekmatyar. (Hekmatyar finally laid down his arms in 2017, after almost 40 years of fighting.) Another striking recruitment poster read, “Who is fighting in place of your son?”

One striking feature at Lash was the presence of a handful of young, female soldiers. I saw a couple of male soldiers pumping iron whilst staring lustfully at a young female who was jogging in her shorts, and looking quite scared. I felt an air of fear and tension, as these young, British men and women had been transplanted into the midst of a war against a ferocious enemy: they were thousands of miles from home, and millions of miles away from any understanding of the surrounding Afghan Muslim culture. I asked the base chaplain about sexual ethics in the camp. His reply was that the soldiers were advised “not to have sex” but that if a female soldier became pregnant, she could return home immediately.

We also met the local mullahs at Lash’s rebuilt Central Mosque, including the Chief Mullah. A few years ago, a suicide-bomber had destroyed the mosque and killed the previous Chief Mullah: his shrine was next door. There was a long queue of local men waiting to apply for the Hajj programme. All of the mullahs were anti-Taliban; most were vehemently anti-Pakistan also, blaming the country for supporting insurgents. The day before we eventually left Helmand, the Chief Mullah was arrested on charges of corruption relating to the embezzlement of Hajj application fees.

Nad Ali and the death of a young, British soldier

We also spent a few days in Nad Ali, where facilities were much more primitive compared to the relative luxuries of Lash (nicknamed “Lash Vegas” by soldiers). We flew there and back by helicopter (RAF Merlin and Chinook, respectively): my first rides in a chopper.

We again met local mullahs in the main Nad Ali mosque. There was almost a riot outside because two ISAF soldiers, both Muslim (one British male, one American female), had entered the mosque: a mob became very angry at the fact that foreign soldiers and a woman had “desecrated” their place of worship: they found it very difficult to comprehend that NATO soldiers could be Muslim. Some of the mullahs accompanied us back to the base to show the public that NATO were not anti-Islam.

A Scottish army major here told me that many of the young Taliban recruits were clearly very devoted and brave fighters who believed in their Jihad, attacking NATO posts in their flip-flops, armed only with AK-47s: they stood no earthly chance against NATO’s superior firepower.

During our stay in Nad Ali, Lance Corporal Jordan Bancroft (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11068103 ) was killed. All private communications by troops were disabled whilst the MoD officially informed the family, rather than them receiving the news via friends. Back at Lash, almost everyone turned out for a moving memorial service. Bancroft’s commanding officer read a tribute to him and the chaplain read from Psalm 23 and the Lord’s Prayer. The service happened to occur at the time of the late afternoon Muslim prayer, so throughout the ceremony, the Islamic call to prayer rang out from the speakers of local mosques. The total effect was something like:

The Lord is my shepherd

God is Greatest! God is Greatest!

I shall not be in want

He makes me lie down in green pastures

I bear witness that there is no god but God

He leads me beside quiet waters

He restores my soul.

I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Come to life-giving prayer!

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil

Come to life-giving success!

For you are with me; your rod and staff they comfort me.

God is Greatest! God is Greatest!

There is no god but God.

God is Greatest! God is Greatest!

Our Father, who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

I bear witness that there is no god but God

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven

I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

Come to life-giving prayer!

As we forgive those who trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation

Come to life-giving success!

But deliver us from evil

God is Greatest! God is Greatest!

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory

For ever and ever, amen!

There is no god but God!

A friend commented that many of Bancroft’s comrades would have been offended by the Islamic prayers, that they associated with the Taliban, throughout his memorial service, but this was a poignant moment for me: here we had thousands of western soldiers and Jihadist insurgents fighting each other, with no understanding at all of their shared, Abrahamic, religious heritage that is utterly devoted to the Glory of God. As a Muslim believer in the divine origin of the Torah, Psalms, Gospel and Qur’an, the futility of the war was summed up for me in this scriptural and liturgical encounter: when will the Children of Abraham ever stop killing each other, I wondered?

Visit to a British-run training camp for Afghan police recruits

We visited a British-run camp training Afghan police to take over security roles. Helmand has a very high illiteracy rate, and the literacy levels of these police officers after training was that of 5-year-old children. As may be expected, “unlettered” nations like this rely heavily on oral tradition and word-of-mouth means of communication and education.

Visit to the British-built Lashkar Gah Prison, and the would-be suicide-bomber aged 16

We also visited a relatively state-of-the-art British-built prison, where a significant minority of the inmates were Taliban or Pakistani and there was a separate wing for women, who were probably in the safest place for them. Here we met 18-year-old Umar, a madrasa graduate from Pakistan who had served two years of his sentence ever since being intercepted before he could carry out a suicide-bombing attack. “I came for Jihad,” he told me, “… The people who sent me are not good. I won’t return to them when I’m released.” I also asked him whether or not he got to exchange letters with his parents in Pakistan. (Twenty years earlier, I had met a Pakistani fighter at the front line of the Jihad whose family home happened to be near my parents’ one in Karachi. He had given me a letter and message to convey to his family, since he hadn’t seen them for years: my mother had accompanied me when I did so, feeling the pain of another woman whose son was at war in a far-off land.) But Umar’s reply was a sign of the times: “I speak to them via mobile phone, two or three times a week.”

Another tragic story at the prison was that of the child imprisoned, mainly for his own safety, after he shot dead his own father in a fit of rage after the latter had shot dead the family’s pet goat in a fit of anger. The authorities said that there was no drug problem in the prison, but we noticed a discarded hypodermic needle lying in the yard. They also told us that they had procured TVs for the prisoners, and that all of the Taliban had gratefully accepted these, despite Mullah Omar’s fatwa banning television.

Other visits in Lashkar Gah

We met officials dealing with the problem of poppy-farming and opium-production: most of the world’s heroin supply originates in Helmand. We were shown official UN figures to this effect, which also recorded the remarkable anomaly of near-zero poppy production in summer 2001 after Mullah Omar’s decree prohibiting it: 9/11 followed soon afterwards and narcotics production resumed. Instability and war are clearly in the interests of the drug-traffickers, and the drugs trade is of course a massive source of income for warlords and insurgents.

We met a senior local judge whose work was supported by British officials: a traditional version of Hanafi Sharia law was applied, but the penal code consisted of fines, imprisonment or the death penalty by hanging: there were no floggings, amputations or stonings to death. The judge maintained that Sharia embodied justice in all matters.

We had iftar at the official residence of the Governor of Helmand, a humble and educated man who served us personally. Governor Mangal has come to the UK several times on FCO-sponsored trips. He was himself not from Helmand but from one of the other 33 provinces: bringing outsiders to govern provinces is a common practice in Afghanistan due to the tribal rivalries everywhere. I discussed with him the importance of education for the future of Afghanistan, having noticed the fledgling Helmand University in Lash, occupying two floors of a multi-storey building and reminding me of universities similarly-housed in simple surroundings in Pakistan.

We also had suhur (the pre-dawn meal in preparation for fasting) with the local head of the Afghan National Army, after which I remember seeing the familiar and reassuring sight of the Pleiades, Taurus, Orion and Sirius rising in the eastern sky. In the middle of war-torn Helmand, it was nice to be reminded that we were actually still on the same planet as our comfortable homes in the UK.

Our scheduled 3-day stay in Helmand was extended to a week due to a large sandstorm that grounded all flights – a common occurrence, during which insurgent attacks are more dangerous since air cover is not available. Back in the UK, families and civil servants were desperately worried about an official delegation being stranded in a war-zone, but we took the opportunity to benefit as much as possible from the experience. I even did a half-hour interview by phone for Edinburgh’s Radio Ramadan, discussing lunar visibility, Islamic dates and prayer-times etc.

Reflection: three decades of brutal war in Afghanistan

During this trip, talking to many experienced people helped me build up a picture of the tragic story of Afghanistan over the past century, a story of which I had been entirely oblivious when joining the Jihad as a well-intentioned but naïve undergraduate in 1990. Here is a rough timeline:

1919-1973: A monarchy rules Afghanistan. (In the mid-90s, I saw the copy of the Qur’an used in the early 20^th-century initiation ceremony of the King of Afghanistan into Freemasonry on public display at the United Grand Lodge near Holborn – and no, I am not a freemason!) By the end of this phase of history, the royals are living in obscene luxury whilst most of the people are in abject poverty. Hence, it is no surprise when …

1973: A coup overthrows King Zahir Shah. Many of the various political factions and warlords are in touch with the neighbouring Communist superpower USSR, vying for influence and funding.

1979: The USSR invades to support the Marxist-Communist coup of 1978. Warlords and tribal leaders announce a Jihad against the “atheist, communist enemy.” The Jihad is backed heavily by the Pakistani, Saudi and US governments. Thousands of Jihad fighters (mujahideen) flock to Afghanistan from all over the Muslim-majority world. The Soviets commit many massacres: between 600,000 and 2 million Afghans, mainly civilians, die in the war.

1989: The Soviets withdraw, defeated by a combination of mujahideen operations and US-supplied Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that erase Soviet mastery of Afghan airspace; the Jihad continues against Afghan communist forces.

1992: Kabul falls to the mujahideen.

1992-6: A vicious civil war ensues, as the various Afghan mujahideen warlords fight for power: Hekmatyar (backed by Pakistan’s Jamat-e-Islami), Massoud, Mujaddedi, Rabbani, Sayyaf, Dostum, etc. The Saudis attempt to broker peace, with limited success. The warlords commit many massacres, notably including the regular, heavy shelling of Kabul by Hekmatyar’s forces, said to be far worse than any Soviet bombardment.

1996-2001: The Taliban emerge and rapidly take over most of the country, disarming the warlords. Civil war continues as the Northern Alliance fights the Taliban. Both sides commit atrocities. Massacres of Afghan Shias almost lead to war between the Taliban and Iran. (Religious sectarianism is a serious problem in Afghanistan, as in many countries: in the Lash prayer-room, I found a polemical Shia text deeply offensive to Sunnis; no doubt, reverse cases are in abundance too.)

2001-12: The US-led invasion force removes the Taliban from power after 9/11 and continues fighting Al-Qaeda. NATO and the Taliban (the latter allied with Al-Qaeda, the Haqqani Network and remnants of Hekmatyar’s fighters) commit many atrocities in over a decade of fighting.

Conclusion: hope from Helmand?

Back in the UK, I was asked by a video-wall company to record a short message of support for British troops in Afghanistan who were obviously missing their families back home. I obliged, wording it carefully with the hope that we could help end the war, leave the Afghans with the peace and freedom to rebuild their devastated country, and bring our troops home as soon as possible. With UK combat troops set to withdraw by 2014, that hope is closer to fruition. And with it being an open secret that NATO is negotiating with the Taliban and GIROA (Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan), the talks being hosted in Qatar, the seeds of peace and mediation efforts that we saw in 2010 seem to have also borne some fruit.

But what next for the Afghans? I had asked many people this question whilst in the country, and of course everyone was very uncertain. One thing they generally agreed upon was that the country was caught between brutal, religious extremists and corrupt, secular politicians, with most people simply wishing to get on with their lives in peace: sadly, a familiar story in Muslim-majority nations.

Wherever we had driven in Helmand, children had mostly waved at our prominent, armoured jeeps but a few boys would always hurl pebbles at the convoys. During one of our excursions in Lash, I had watched a very old woman slowly cross a busy road. (She reminded me of my Indian-Pakistani grandmothers and great-grandmothers). It struck me that this woman had probably been in Helmand all her life, and would have lived through most of the history described above, including three decades of near-constant war. What’s more, there were probably millions of men and women like her in Afghanistan: all touched by war and death, yet determined to achieve the best for themselves and their families. The old woman’s enduring, wrinkled face was a tribute to humanity’s courage, faith and perseverance in the midst of constant tragedy: a message of hope from Helmand.

London, UK

30^th September 2012 (minor edits & publication: 10th November 2017)

Tags:Abu Aaliyah, Abu Muntasir, Afghanistan, Ahl-e-Hadith, Albani, anti-communist, Armistice Day, British embassy Kabul, Chief Mullah, FCO, Governor Mangal, Hadith, Helmand, Ibn Baz, ISAF, Islam, Jihad, jihadism, jihadist, JIMAS, Jordan Bancroft, Kabul, Kandahar, Kunar, Lance Corporal, Lash, Lashkar Gah, Mullah Ishaq Nizami, Nad Ali, NATO, Qur'an, Remembrance Day, Remembrance Sunday, salafi, salafism, Sheikh Jameel ur Rehman, Sir William Patey, Taliban, Usama Hasan, Wahhabism
Posted in Around the World, Biographies, Hadith, History, Ramadan, Reflections, Sharia, Spirituality | Leave a Comment »

UK Ramadan fasting times for 2017

May 22, 2017

Bismillah. As I’ve written about before, there are different views on excessive fasting hours in the summer at high latitudes such as the UK. I am not going to repeat those, but try to provide the scientific, astronomical data, information and knowledge to help support others to come to their own conclusions.

In this post, I give the dawn, sunset & possible fasting times for 2017, when mid-summer occurs towards the end of Ramadan: the average fasting times are slightly shorter than last year (2016), when they were maximum in the 33-year lunar/solar cycle, but not by much.

*I urge mosque timekeepers (muwaqqits) or others who develop fasting timetables to be transparent about the method they are using, and not vague references like “fiqh according to Madhhab X” because there are many views in every Madhhab. E.g. using an 18-degree or even 15-degree rule gives no timings for most of the UK. Fasting timetables in the UK summer should clearly state what method is used to arrive at the beginning time of fasting. Many timetables have excessive gaps between ‘dawn’ and sunrise of 2-3 hours with no sensible justification, since this is merely one possibility amongst many others and is indeed the most difficult for people. Indeed, with the summer midnight being at 1am BST, some of these timetables are forcing people to fast from soon after midnight. With the sunset-sunrise night length being 6-8 hours across the UK, the most reasonable view within this paradigm in my view is that of the last 1/6th, 1/7th or 1/8th of the night, giving a fasting time beginning an hour before dawn. However, other approaches are even more preferable. Over to others for discussion and to arrive at their own conclusions.*

Examples of dawn/sunset timings for the UK, 2017 (four UK capital cities)

This data is taken from HMNAO’s Websurf 2.0 website, and was reproduced with permission by the ASCL in their Ramadan 2017 guidelines. I have used the four UK capital cities, with three dates for each, roughly corresponding to the beginning, middle & end of Ramadan.

Date

City

Dawn (AST)

Dawn (15D)

Dawn (NAUT)

Sunrise

Sunset

Fasting length (AST)

Fasting length (15D)

Fasting length (NAUT)

27 May

London

***

0220

0305

0454

2103

***

18:43

17:58

10 June

***

0139

0245

0444

2117

***

19:38

18:32

25 June

***

0122

0243

0444

2122

***

20:00

18:39

27 May

Ed’burgh

***

0201

0441

2140

***

19:39

10 June

***

0428

2157

***

25 June

***

0428

2203

***

27 May

Cardiff

***

0232

0318

0506

2115

***

18:43

17:57

10 June

***

0152

0257

0456

2129

***

19:36

18:32

25 June

***

0136

0255

0457

2134

***

19:58

18:39

27 May

Belfast

***

0245

0500

2143

***

18:58

10 June

***

0159

0448

2158

***

19:59

25 June

***

0134

0448

2204

***

20:30

AST refers to astronomical twilight, when begins or ends when the sun is 18 degrees below the horizonKey:

15D refers to when the sun is 15 degrees below the horizon

NAUT refers to nautical twilight, when begins or ends when the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon

The astronomical definition of “dawn” is disputed, with various Muslim religious authorities adopting one of the three possible definitions given above.

*** in the above table means that the timing is not available, because the sun does not reach that far below the horizon. This happens every year during the summer at high latitudes, such as the UK.

NOTES:

As confirmed by HMNAO, there is always a possible error of 1-2 minutes in sunrise and sunset timings: although we can calculate exactly the position of the sun relative to our horizons, refraction of the sun’s rays can introduce an error: the sun may be below the horizon but we see it just above, due to refraction. (This does not always happen, of course: hence the error will be zero, one or two minutes.) This means that technically, mosque prayer timetables may wish to add 2 minutes to sunset timings and subtract 2 minutes from sunrise timings, just to be safe about the timings of the sunset and dawn prayers, and for breaking the fast. However, this might also be hair-splitting: I recommend making these adjustments, but would not worry if they are not made.
If we use astronomical twilight (Sun’s depression = 18 degrees) as the start of dawn, this does not occur at all during Ramadan 2017 in any of the four capital cities. Therefore, the fasting start time and fasting length would be undefined.
If we use (Sun’s depression = 15 degrees) as the start of dawn, this does not occur at all during Ramadan 2017 in Edinburgh or Belfast. Therefore, the fasting start time and fasting length would be undefined in those cities. However, it does occur in London and Cardiff, giving fasting lengths of 19.5-20 hours during the month.
If we use nautical twilight (Sun’s depression = 12 degrees) as the start of dawn, this results in fasting hours during Ramadan 2017 in London and Cardiff of 18-19 hours, and in Belfast of 19-20.5 hours. We only get defined fasting hours at the beginning of Ramadan for Edinburgh, of 19.5-20 hours.
Hence, it should be obvious that some ijtihad is required, eg a fraction of the night or a lower angle of the Sun below the horizon to designate the “beginning” of dawn. Another option is sunrise-sunset fasting rather than dawn-sunset, as done by some of the Sahaba (Tafsir Ibn Kathir & Ibn Hazm’s Al-Muhalla), or other, non-literalist options that I have described elsewhere.

NB: Our local latitude determines the lowest angle the Sun will dip below the horizon at mid-summer (~22 June). This angle can easily be calculated by subtracting 66.5 degrees (the latitude of the Arctic & Antarctic Circles) from the local latitude.

E.g.:

Within the Arctic Circle (66.5 deg or higher latitude), lowest Sun angle = zero or higher: the sun doesn’t set at all in the “land of the midnight sun.”

Edinburgh (56.0 deg lat): lowest Sun angle at midsummer = 56.0 – 66.5 = 10.5 deg below the horizon

Belfast (54.6 deg lat): lowest Sun angle at midsummer = 54.6 – 66.5 = 11.9 deg below the horizon

London & Cardiff (both 51.5 deg lat): lowest Sun angle at midsummer = 51.5 – 66.5 = 15 deg below the horizon

*NB: even using these angles of 10.5 deg, ~12 deg, 15 deg & 15 deg for Edinburgh, Belfast, London & Cardiff respectively will give very long fasting hours, as the table of timings above demonstrates.

Btw for Paris (48.9 deg lat): lowest Sun angle at midsummer = 48.9 – 66.5 = 17.6 deg below the horizon, so using the 18-degree rule gives no timings for Paris or anywhere north of it either at midsummer.

Have a blessed Ramadan 1438 / 2017!

Usama Hasan, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, UK

Tags:2017, Arctic Circle, Astronomy, Belfast, calculations, Cardiff, Edinburgh, England, Fasting, fatwa, fatwas, high latitudes, HMNAO, ijtihad, Islam, islamic astronomy, land of the midnight sun, latitude, London, Northern Ireland, Ramadan, Royal Astronomical Society, Science, Scotland, Sharia, summer, UK, Wales, Websurf
Posted in Astronomy, Fatwas, Ramadan, Science, Sharia | 2 Comments »

UK Ramadan fasting times for last year (2016)

May 22, 2017

In the first of these posts, I am including the dawn, sunset & possible fasting times from last year (2016) because then, mid-Ramadan coincided with mid-summer, hence giving the longest average fasting lengths in the 33-year cycle as the lunar years move through solar years.

Examples of dawn/sunset timings for the UK, 2016
(four UK capital cities)

This data is taken from HMNAO’s Websurf 2.0 website, and was reproduced with permission by the ASCL in their Ramadan 2016 guidelines. I have used the four UK capital cities, with three dates for each, roughly corresponding to: beginning, middle & end of Ramadan.

Date	City	Dawn (AST)	Dawn (15D)	Dawn (NAUT)	Sunrise	Sunset	Fasting length (AST)	Fasting length (15D)	Fasting length (NAUT)
07 June	London	***	0147	0248	0445	2114	***	19:27	18:26
22 June (midsummer)		***	0117	0241	0443	2122	***	20:05	18:41
06 July		***	0156	0256	0452	2118	***	19:22	18:22
07 June	Ed’burgh	***	***	***	0429	2154	***	***	***
22 June (midsummer)		***	***	***	0427	2203	***	***	***
06 July		***	***	***	0437	2158	***	***	***
07 June	Cardiff	***	0159	0300	0457	2126	***	19:27	18:26
22 June (midsummer)		***	0131	0254	0456	2134	***	20:03	18:40
06 July		***	0209	0308	0504	2130	***	19:21	18:22
07 June	Belfast	***	***	0209	0450	2156	***	***	19:47
22 June (midsummer)		***	***	***	0447	2204	***	***	***
06 July		***	***	0219	0457	2200	***	***	19:41

Key:

AST refers to astronomical twilight, when begins or ends when the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon

15D refers to when the sun is 15 degrees below the horizon

NAUT refers to nautical twilight, when begins or ends when the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon

The astronomical definition of “dawn” is disputed, with various Muslim religious authorities adopting one of the three possible definitions given above.

*** in the above table means that the timing is not available, because the sun does not reach that far below the horizon. This happens every year during the summer at high latitudes, such as the UK.

NOTES:

As confirmed by HMNAO, there is always a possible error of 1-2 minutes in sunrise and sunset timings: although we can calculate exactly the position of the sun relative to our horizons, refraction of the sun’s rays can introduce an error: the sun may be below the horizon but we see it just above, due to refraction. (This does not always happen, of course: hence the error will be zero, one or two minutes.) This means that technically, mosque prayer timetables may wish to add 2 minutes to sunset timings and subtract 2 minutes from sunrise timings, just to be safe about the timings of the sunset and dawn prayers, and for breaking the fast. However, this might also be hair-splitting: I recommend making these adjustments, but would not worry if they are not made.
If we use astronomical twilight (Sun’s depression = 18 degrees) as the start of dawn, this did not occur at all during Ramadan 2016 in any of the four capital cities. Therefore, the fasting start time and fasting length were undefined.
If we use (Sun’s depression = 15 degrees) as the start of dawn, this did not occur at all during Ramadan 2017 in Edinburgh or Belfast. Therefore, the fasting start time and fasting length were undefined in those cities. However, it did occur in London and Cardiff, giving fasting lengths of 19.5-20 hours during the month.
If we use nautical twilight (Sun’s depression = 12 degrees) as the start of dawn, this resulted in fasting hours during Ramadan 2016 in London and Cardiff of ~18.5 hours, and in Belfast of just under 20 hours at the beginning and end of Ramadan, but not in mid-Ramadan (mid-summer). We had no defined fasting hours throughout Ramadan 2016 for Edinburgh.
Hence, it should be obvious that some ijtihad is required, eg a fraction of the night or a lower angle of the Sun below the horizon to designate the “beginning” of dawn.

E.g.:

Within the Arctic Circle (66.5 deg or higher latitude), lowest Sun angle = zero or higher: the sun doesn’t set at all in the “land of the midnight sun.”

Edinburgh (56.0 deg lat): lowest Sun angle at midsummer = 56.0 – 66.5 = 10.5 deg below the horizon

Belfast (54.6 deg lat): lowest Sun angle at midsummer = 54.6 – 66.5 = 11.9 deg below the horizon

London & Cardiff (both 51.5 deg lat): lowest Sun angle at midsummer = 51.5 – 66.5 = 15 deg below the horizon

*NB: even using these angles of 10.5 deg, ~12 deg, 15 deg & 15 deg for Edinburgh, Belfast, London & Cardiff respectively will give very long fasting hours, as the table of timings above demonstrates.

Btw for Paris (48.9 deg lat): lowest Sun angle at midsummer = 48.9 – 66.5 = 17.6 deg below the horizon, so using the 18-degree rule gave no timings for Paris or anywhere north of it either, at midsummer.

Usama Hasan, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, UK

Tags:2016, Arctic Circle, Astronomy, Belfast, calculations, Cardiff, Edinburgh, England, Fasting, fatwa, fatwas, high latitudes, HMNAO, ijtihad, islamic astronomy, land of the midnight sun, latitude, London, Northern Ireland, Ramadan, Science, Scotland, summer, UK, Wales, Websurf
Posted in Astronomy, Fatwas, Ramadan, Science, Sharia | Leave a Comment »

UK Ramadan dates, 2017-2025

May 22, 2017

Bismillah.

Ramadan dates 2017-2025 (approx.) for the UK

Based on Crescent Moon Visibility data for London from HMNAO’s Websurf 2.0 website

(Moon Visibility is now calculated very accurately on a scale of A-F. The following dates are based on the approximation that A-C represent a visible crescent moon; D-F represent an invisible moon.)

NB: The following dates may vary by 1 or 2 days because even with a visible crescent moon, there are intra-Muslim disagreements over how far this applies geographically.

YEAR	Beginning of Ramadan	Eid al-Fitr
2017	27 May	26 June
2018	17 May	16 June
2019	07 May	05 June
2020	25 April	25 May
2021	14 April	14 May
2022	03 April	02 May
2023	23 March (~ Spring equinox)	22 April
2024	12 March	10 April
2025	02 March	31 March

Tags:Astronomy, calculations, crescent, dates, Eid, Eid al-Fitr, England, Fasting, Great Britain, hilal, HMNAO, Islam, islamic astronomy, moon, Northern Ireland, Ramadan, ru'yah al-hilal, ru'yat al-hilal, ru'yat-e-halil, ruyat-e-hilal, Scotland, UK, visibility, Wales, Websurf
Posted in Astronomy, mathematics, Physics & Cosmology, Ramadan, Science, Sharia | 1 Comment »

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Archive for the ‘Ramadan’ Category

2.3.10 [Use of calculations to negate impossible crescent-sightings]

2.3.11 Imam Subki & Shaykh Maraghi: calculations can negate impossible sighting reports

NB: Both the Hafiz Ibn ‘Abdul Barr and Imam Nawawi, leading Hadith scholars from the Maliki and Shafi’i schools of jurisprudence respectively, approved fasting six days of Shawwal due to the authentic hadith, and preferred this over the view of Imam Malik.

ASTRONOMICAL DATA FOR RAMADAN 2020

– by Imam Dr Usama Hasan, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society

Ramadan & Eid Dates 2020-2025 (approx.)

Examples of dawn/sunset timings for the UK (four UK capital cities), 2020

Examples of dawn/sunset timings for the UK, 2017 (four UK capital cities)

Examples of dawn/sunset timings for the UK, 2016 (four UK capital cities)

Ramadan dates 2017-2025 (approx.) for the UK

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Examples of dawn/sunset timings for the UK, 2016
(four UK capital cities)