Most newspapers print the timings when the moon rises and sets each day. Since these times can be predicted accurately, can we calculate and find out the dates of the Hijri calendar accordingly?
Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi,
Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi went to the Hawza-e ‘Ilmiya-e Qum, Iran where he attended the dars-e kharij lectures of Ayatullah Wahid Khurãsãni. He also obtained an MA degree in History in 1991 from Simon Fraser University (Vancouver).
This is an issue hotly debated among the Muslim scholars all over the world. I myself have been following the debate and also observing the scientific method for the last ten years. There are some aspects of the Islamic calendar which can be surely based on the scientific data; however, there still are issues which science has not been able to solve for us as yet.
At this stage, science is able to provide for us all the details about the movement and position of the moon around the earth: it can precisely predict when the birth of the new moon will occur, at what angle and at what location in relation to our earth.
We are also told by the experts that when and where the moon will be visible; and where it cannot not be sighted. For example, we are told that the first sighting of the crescent is possible only sixteen hours after the birth of the new moon. Experts can also give us a graph showing the location where the sighting will be possible.
For the last `idd, we were told that the sighting will only be possible for those who are west of the Atlantic Ocean. This was proved correct by the sighting of the moon in North America (I saw it myself in Dallas, TX) on Monday, the 19th of February, 1996.
I personally have confidence in such predictions based on the scientific data. BUT the problem lies in the following: (a) the 16 hour criterion by the experts is based on the observation done by the scientists in North America and Europe during the last 90 years. (b) reliable witnesses in the Middle East have claimed the sighting of the moon when the new moon was just 9 hours old.
When I look at this situation, I am faced with two possibilities: EITHER the sixteen hours criterion is valid only in the western hemisphere and that it might be possible to sight the moon of an age lesser than sixteen hours in desert areas where the atmosphere is much more clear. OR the reliable people in the Middle East have seen something but not the moon!
In conclusion, although I trust and have faith in the scientic data regarding the sighting of the crescent, we still need further confirmation from the scientific world about the universality of the sixteen hours criterion for moon sighting. When this criterion becomes universal, then it will be definitely possible for us to predict the beginning of the Islamic months well in advance. Insha Allah, we will reach to that stage of certainty sooner rather than later. Amin.