Q. In my home country Ramadan started two days after Saudi Arabia. I think that this is ridiculous in our present time when news travels across the world in seconds. Why could not one country rely on the sighting of the moon in another country so as to allow Muslims to be united on their religious occasions? May I also ask whether the Eid of Sacrifice could be celebrated on a day other than the one observed in Saudi Arabia?
B. Zaman
A. The new moon is normally sighted if it sets after the sun has set on the night preceding the first day of the month. There should be a difference of at least ten minutes between the two settings if it is to be sighted with the naked eye. However, if this is the case in a country like Saudi Arabia, then most probably it cannot be sighted on the same night in the areas to the east of that country, while it can be sighted in areas to its west. Its cycle makes it such that the new moon can be normally sighted throughout the world over a period of 24 hours, or a little less. This means that there can be no more than one day’s difference in the beginning of the new month. Yet we often find that Muslim countries celebrate the beginning of Ramadan or Shawwal with a difference of two days. This is normally caused by inaccurate sightings in some areas.
What happened last Ramadan was that according to astronomical data, the new moon was impossible to sight throughout Asia, Europe and North America on Monday, Oct. 3, as the moon set a few minutes before sunset on that day. On the other hand, it was very difficult, though not impossible, to sight in practically all the Arab countries. It was possible to sight only in southern Africa and southern Latin America. Nevertheless, it was announced to have been sighted in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries. If we take the case of Egypt, the practice there is that the Mufti assigns the sighting of the moon to several committees in different parts of the country. Last Ramadan, all these committees reported non-sighting on that night except the committee in Toshka, in the extreme southwest of the country. Apparently the committee had the use of a powerful telescope as well. The announcement was made on this basis. In other words, the announcement was made in rather precarious conditions. This accounts for the two-day difference in sighting the new moon. It was stretching a case in those countries where it was sighted on Oct. 3, and a case of assured sighting in those areas where the sighting was as late as Oct. 5.
The Eid of Sacrifice should be celebrated throughout the world on the same date as Saudi Arabia. It is illogical to have it later than the Day of Sacrifice during the pilgrimage.