Month start & day start ; shouldn't we follow leaders and majority ??

An email message written as an explanation to commonly asked questions: Jazakallah khairan

From: salma k <dgv.sal@gmail.com>
Date: August 13, 2013, 10:19:20 PM GMT+05:30
To: *******
Cc: ****, RASHEED THOTTATHIL rasheed <ptrasheed@gmail.com>, manikfan <manikfan@gmail.com>

Subject: Re: [Barayil] When is Eid in Chennai


Assalamu alaikkum

I don’t know why there is so much confusion. The mail says “People claiming extra knowledge make it complex by adding their own theories of sunset-moonset difference, visibility curves, conversion of Conjunction time in UT into local times, misinterpretation of hadeeth etc thereby totally confusing all , including the Ulema”. And this is exactly what has happened.

The mail does not say we should calculate the moon rise time. If you know the time of moon rise, for those who doubt the calendar, it is for them to confirm. What they are trying to say is - At a particular time, on a particular day if you see the moon, this is how it will be and hence you can confirm the 7thphase, 15th phase, 22nd phase and then ammavasi. The time factor need not be confused with the start of a lunar day. We don’t need the time of conjunction….we need to know the DAY of conjunction. The day of the 1st phase, the day of the 2nd phase, so on and so forth. The sun always rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The moon rises in the morning, afternoon, evening, night and sahar (the last part of a day). Just as you have observed, the timing of the moon rise and set keeps varying and the beginning of a day does not depend on this time.

I think it will be better to read about the cycle of the moon for a better understanding, so that you would know why we don’t announce eid on 5th or 6th of august 2013. 5th morning was the waning stage and the last phase (urjoonil qadeem) of the moon and this was spotted at the time of sahar on the eastern horizon. The next day 6th is ammavasi or the astronomical new moon. A lunar month is between one ammavasi to the next with exactly 29/30 days. I will mail you a video of an IIT professor explaining this basic moon cycle.

The moon set /rise, time factor, is taken into account by people who believe that the day begins after sunset. Now, entering into this zone is again a big conflict.

Talking about creation of a council- it depends on who is in the council. FCNA and ISNA are neither here nor there. According to the hijra calender ramadhan began on 9th july, 8th being the astronomical new moon of shaban. And this is when FCNA and ISNA had also announced. Now 6th august being astronomical new moon, did they announce eid on 7th …no....why?...because -The criteria adopted by Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) and Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) are that the month begins, if (1) Moon is born before Makkah sunset, and (2) moon sets in Makkah after sunset.

They completed 30 days, even though according to the hijra calendar and the moon phases its only 29 days, because we could count only 28 phases of the moon.

From time immemorial until few years ago Saudi was following the hijra calendar. Its only for the past decade or 2 there has been problems. Reason – the influx of Pakistanis and Indians into the hilal committee of Saudi. People who had lived in Saudi 10/15 years back, would’nt have known that they did fast according to the calendar!

The Tamilians, Chinese and many other communities have calendars. Their calendars are luni-solar in nature. The Gregorian calendar which we are following is purely a solar calendar. Hence all these calendars are erroneous. In whichever part of the world the Tamilians/Chinese are, they follow their common universal calendar. The saddest part is that, even though we have an error proof, perfect calendar we claim we cannot follow a universal calendar. Such people don’t even understand the concept of a “calendar”. A lunar/solar day/date can be valid only for 24 hours. A day/date begins at the international dateline (180 degree longitude) and past the American continent. A single lunar day cannot begin on two/three different days. A case in point is the lailathul qadr. The surah says that 1 night is equivalent to 1000 months. The rasool (saw) said that the exact date was revealed but he was made to forget, hence he had asked to seek lailathul qadr on odd nights in the last ten days(sahih buhari 2016). If starting the month was allowed on 2/3 different days, then how could lailathul qadr be on a single night? For one set of people, if its an odd night, then for the others it would be on an even night. If we all start ramadhan on the same day, only then “1 night” will make sense. And the above hadith also implies that there is no basis for “27 aam raavu”, but still people all over observe it.

The hijra calendar should be strictly based on the phases of the moon and not according to the whims and fancies of people. “They ask you (o Muhammad) about the ahilla – phases of the moon(hilal-singular, ahilla –plural). Say:these are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for pilgrimage….”2:189. Hence a fixed calendar is possible and should not/cannot change with geography. Just like how we use a clock for the timing a calendar is possible to rely on. Different timing of salath in different parts of the world does not mean that we cannot have a single calendar. Time is based on sun and days/months are based on the rotation of the moon.

“……..and eat and drink until the white thread(light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then complete your saum till nightfall……….”2:187. The above verse (not even hadith) talks about the time of the sahar food. How many of us follow this criteria? Does anybody take their plate of food in an open space and look at the sky and eat?......no…..we have a card that is printed well in advance which shows the time and we look at the clock and finish the sahar. So what is the problem following a perfect calendar???

Why do we have eclipses? It is a confirmation if the lunar calendar is right or not. A solar eclipse only happens at the end of a lunar month on the 29th or 30th, on the day of the ammavasi or the astronomical new moon. A lunar eclipse happens in the middle of the month on a full moon day which is usually on the 14th or 15th of a month. If we are to start a month after sighting, the dates does not correspond with the eclipse. Why are we then ignoring Allah’s signs?!!!

Now coming to the issue of beginning a day, I would like to share what I have inferred/referred regarding the issue. The following points made me believe that an Islamic day begins from fajr, sahar being the last part of the previous day. Night cannot come first and it cannot be the beginning of a “day”.

(1) For the christians the day begins at midnight. For muslims- at the time of fajr.

(2) For jews - at the time of maghrib. This information is mentioned in more than 100 verses in the old testament of the bible, hence begining a day at maghrib is jewish tradition.

(3) “Guard strictly the prayers especially the middle prayer……..”2:238. The footnotes in all the translations refer this “salathul wustha” as the asr prayer (Buhari 6396). If an Islamic day begins at maghrib, the middle prayer should have been fajr, which is not.

(4) We say that the last prayer "of the day" is witr, which comes after isha. If the day begins after sunset then the witr prayer should have been after asr, which is not. All these, point to the fact that the day is from sunrise. Routinely, after sunset people wind up their work and prepare to go to bed. Do we begin "a day" by sleeping. I don't think so. The time after fajr prayer is the time of barkath and an islamic day can begin only with that barkath.

(5) “It is not for the sun to overtake the moon NOR DOES THE NIGHT OUTSTRIP THE DAY………”(36:40). The above verse is clear enough and this should quell all arguments. It says that the night can never overtake day and hence “day” is 1st followed by night.

(6) “By the sun and its brightness. By the moon as it follows it. By the day as it shows up (the sun’s) brightness. By the night as it conceals it (the sun)” 91:1-4. I don’t think an explanation is required. Again its clear that the moon follows the sun. Something has to 1st open up (day) to conceal .

(7) “……He brings the night as the cover over the day. Verily in these things there are proofs (ayat) for people who reflect.” 13:3. The day has to show up first and only then the night can cover.

(8) “……He brings the night as the cover over the day……..”7:54

(9) “(All that night) there is peace (and goodness from Allah to His believing slaves) until the appearance of dawn.”97:1-5. This is from the surah describing lailathul qadr, which says that the night of qadr lasts till dawn cos the next day begins from the dawn.

(10) The dua at sahar goes like this “nawaithu sawma ghadhin…..” meaning I intend to fast TOMORROW….Because a new day begins after sahar at fajr….we say “tomorrow’s fast” at the time of sahar, the last part of the previous day.

NOW…….if anybody can bring in much more stronger valid points, for beginning an Islamic day at sunset/maghrib…..i would definitely change my view….. for my arguments/ego would never ever come in the way of following my religion in its true form.

The mail I forwarded about the itikaaf is a very strong point favouring a precalculated calendar. The rasool (saw) practiced itikaf in the last 10days. He would enter a tent erected for the purpose at fajr and complete the 10days and end his itikaaf in the morning. Now this confirms the validity of 2 issues- that the day begins at fajr and that the rasool(saw) followed a precalculated calendar.

There is no hadith which says that “because the moon was sighted the rasool(saw) had 9 days of itikaaf” or “the moon was not sighted so he had 11 days of itikaaf”. The rasool(saw) knew very well in advance if the month had 29 or 30 days by simply observing the phases of the moon daily and not search for the crescent after a month had begun. Accordingly he would have entered on the 20th of ramadhan (if the month has 29 days) or 21st (if 30 days days). By looking at the changing phases of the moon from the beginning, an expert eyes can say if the month has 29 or 30 days and the rasool was one!!! From this, people can infer what was the “tradition” of our rasool(saw). Hence we definitely have to see the phases of the moon daily to begin and end the fast. We all know at that time they did not have the luxury of printing records.We no longer go out to measure the shadows for our salath. Just like how we depend on a clock, we can definitely follow a precalculated calendar. If following a calendar is not a tradition, then why do people look at the clock for the prayer timings?

Another point is that if an Islamic day begins at maghrib….then the itikaaf should have been from maghrib to maghrib , which is not.

Then comes the statement- we should follow the leader. If the leader announces the the correct beginning of the month, none of us will have a problem. If not, then people end up fasting on 1st of shawwal which is haraam. 

“It is obligatory upon a Muslim that he should listen (to the ruler appointed over him) and obey him whether he likes it or not, except that he is ordered to do a sinful thing. If he is ordered to do a sinful act, a Muslim should neither. listen to him nor should he obey his orders”. (sahih muslim 4533). 

From the above, we can understand that leaders can go wrong and that it does not make sense when people say follow your leader even if he takes the wrong path. How do we know if he is taking the wrong path? Only if we spend some time to educate ourselves. And our leaders will think twice before proclaiming things in front of an educated mass. 

Next is the issue of following the majority. “And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah”s path. They follow nothing but conjectures, and they do nothing but lie” (6:116). From the above verse, the claim that majority cannot go wrong is quelled. This is also the reason why Islam does not support democracy to rule a country. Simply because there is a possibility that the majority can go wrong. Its not the question of majority or minority, but right and wrong. We should show our unity in doing an amal in the right way.

After all these explanations, its ok even if people don’t accept what we say. But atleast DON’T BRAND US WE ARE WRONG!!!!! Its only for the past few years I have been following the calendar. I have spent hours understanding this issue. And am 200% sure as to what we are upto.

Of course, I owe a lot to Manikfan sahib & co. I never followed them blindly. I did my home work.

Suggestions always welcome…..May Allah lead us all in the right path….ameen

salma