An old Email message from Late:Dr.Fadl Ahmed about Islamic Calendar.

An old Email message from Late:Dr.Fadl Ahmed about Islamic Calendar.

 

On Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 8:22 PM, Ali Manikfan <manikfan@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear ****,

Salaam.

It is what greatest astronomer in our society has to say to the Muslim world. It must be published and discussed. I wanted to publish it when he was alive. But somehow it got delayed......

......Please publish it.
Wasalaam.

Ali Manikfan

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On Jan 19, 2013 12:30 AM, "Fadhl aAhmed" <fadhl_noor_ahmed@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Mr. Ali Manikfan,

When Allah ordained the fasting of whole month of Ramadan, He did not give the beginning and the end of the month of Ramadan for each future year because there was no systematically maintained lunar calendar which had a starting year, a month and a date with weekday. It was monthly-based calendar. People used to see the crescent and thought the last lunar month was over and new one started. This is why we know that our Holy Prophet was born, migrated and died in the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal but we do not know the year, the date and the weekday for these events.

        

Sometimes they used to change the number of months in a lunar year and number of days in a month. Hence Allah fixed 12 months in a lunar year so that the months of Ramadan and Hajj may not be missed. The Holy Prophet gave us the guide lines how to start and end the month of Ramadan and the last day (30 or 29) of lunar months by four authentic given below.

           The Quran and the authentic Ahadith are for all time, not limited to a particular past age. No changes are possible in them. They cannot be over-ruled by anyone by forwarding their own interpretation and their own criteria for fasting in the month of Ramadan and the last day of Hijri months by asking the Ummah to reject the Holy Prophet’s clear-cut instructions about the authentic Ahadith for observing the fast in the month of Ramadan because he was Ummi and we are educated and adopt our criterion based on modern scientific knowledge such as probability of sighting the crescent, world map of early visibility of the crescent etc. It is for the Ummah to follow our Holy Prophet or reject him and follow those who want the Ummah to disobey our Holy Prophet. The Jehad (Holy war) becomes obligatory against them and their followers.

              I have some questions about these Ahadith. Please try to reply them categorically and enlighten me. Please also ask those who are in the calendar making business to reply. They always quote Qurani Aya in their support and ignore the authentic Ahadith regarding the fasting in Ramadan.

I apologize for long e-mail. These four authentic Ahadith are as follows;

1.            “See crescent start, see crescent end fasting. If for any reason, it cannot be sighted on 29^th Shaban, complete Shaban for 30 days”.

2.            “Any one fasting on the day of Shak (doubt) disobeyed me”.

3.            “The Hadith of Abu Hurayrah in which the Prophet said, "The fast is the day you all fast, the breaking of fast is on the day that you all break fast, the day of sacrifice is on the day that you all sacrifice." It is recorded by at-Tirmidhi and the wording is his, Abu Dawud and others. At-Tirmidhi proceeded to say, 'Some of the People of Knowledge explained this Hadith to mean that fasting and breaking the fast should be done with the Jama'ah (or the majority of Muslim people)”.

4.            “Indeed we are (at present) Ummah Ummi, neither write nor calculate, the months are of 30 or 29 days”. He showed these numbers by the ten fingers of his hands.

                My questions about them are as follows;

a) Has these four authentic Ahadith been told at the same time or after intervals?

 b) If told after intervals, which came first and followed sequentially to the last one?

c)            What were the circumstances which led them to be told one after the other by our Holy Prophet?

d)            Is the last one over-rules the first one?

                I asked these Ahadith in writing in Arabic and English and sent to Sheikh Bin Baaz’s office in Riyadh, to the Members of Royal Committee of Saudi Um Al-Qura, Riyadh, of which I was the technical member. I went to the residence of Sheikh Tantavi with my Vice Dean Dr. Salimuddin Munshi at King Saud University Riyadh, both were residents of Makkah. We put the questions in his letter box meant for replies in due course. I sent these questions by registered post to Azhar University-Cairo, to Deoband School in India, to Dar Al-Iftah, Karachi. I did not get any reply.

                Sheikh Al-Uthaimeen, one of the top scholars of Saudi Arabia, whom some thought at par with Sheikh Bin Baaz, came to see me in my office at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh. I was honored by his visit. He expressed his satisfaction about the Saudi Civil Hijri Calendar Taqweem Um Al-Qura based on conjunction. He asked me to provide him the prayer times for the whole year for his home town Uneiza in between Riyadh and Madinah. I provided him within few minutes from my computer program. I then asked him about the above four authentic Ahadith if they were given at the same time? He at once said yes they all came at the same time. Then he paused a little and said,”Give me some time. I will do research and let you know later”. This was his correct attitude and correct reply. This showed that these questions needed research. I then asked him to add replies for other questions (b), (c) and (d) above. He agreed. But I did not get any reply for more than two years despite many reminders. Later he went to USA for cancer treatment but did not survive. Hence I could not get his Fatwa and remained clueless.

                Moulana Ali Mian, the Head of Nadva School in India was supposed to see me in Riyadh but his wife got admitted in I.C.U. in a Kuwait hospital so he rushed directly from Jeddah to Kuwait.  I lost another opportunity to discuss my conjunction-based Saudi- Hijri calendar Taqwem Um Al-Qura and did not get his Fatwa for my calendar.

              I and Sheikh Bin Baz were in Riyadh. He did not call me or visited me or rejected the Saudi Civil Hijri calendar Taqweem Um Al-Qura which was based on conjunction. He realized that this calendar is for civil purposes and nothing to do with the religious events such as making the start and the end of Ramadan and Hajj, which were celebrated according to the first authentic Hadith given above. Nine years after my retirement in 1999 AD, the Saudi yearly Hijri calendar and its counterpart the Saudi Comparative Hijri calendar tied the sighting of the crescent to Makkah Local Time (Universal Time UT +3 hours), which our Holy Prophet never did and used local Makkah time The result is that many times the first of the Hijri months will be two days after the conjunction which is not acceptable in Astronomy. Hence the present Saudi Hijri calendar is neither religious nor scientific. Those countries who follow Saudi announcement for Ramadan are committing a big blunder.                                                                              

               In reply, please observe the following comments;

              The classical conjunction which was known to Jews, Babylonians and other nations was not the same as today’s’ Astronomical conjunction because they thought that a fixed Earth is the center of the Universe and the Moon, the Sun and the stars revolve round the fixed Earth. The Moon revolving faster than the Sun so in a lunar cycle the Earth, the Moon and the Sun will be in the same direction which they thought will happen when the earliest crescent is seen. They termed this day as conjunction. Later in (1304 – 1375) Ibn Shatir and Copernicus (1473–1543) displaced the fixed Earth from the center of the universe. The Sun became the center of the solar system with the spinning Earth going round the Sun taking the Moon along with it which revolves round the Earth. Once in a lunar cycle their centers will lie in the same plain and the Moon cannot be seen from the Earth. This is called astronomical conjunction and marks the last day of the lunar months. This is different from the above classical conjunction of Jews and other nations.

                The first Hadith clearly indicates that it depends on the certainty of sighting the crescent and is independent of any place. See crescent wherever you are and start fasting and see crescent stop fasting without regard to other regions. If the crescent is not sighted on 29 Shaban, don’t guess, doubt or calculate the probability etc. and go straight to Shaban 30 to be sure. It demands certainty. The probability always contains an element of doubt (Shak in Arabic) which is strictly prohibited by the second authentic Hadith above which states that anyone fasting on the day of Shak disobeyed the Holy Prophet. This was also confirmed by the third Hadith above. Further conformation comes from the fourth Hadith above that when the Ummah will excel in all fields of Arts and Science, they will become capable of writing and calculating. They will then know with certainty (not by probability) that the month is of 30 or 29 days. Conjunction method guarantees this certainty.

                                The fourth authentic Hadith above refers to Nizam (laws) of Allah. We know that everything in the universe obeys the Nizam (laws) of Allah. The Hijri months are based on the motion of the Moon going round the Earth which goes round the Sun taking the Moon with it. In doing so they all obey Nizam (Laws) of Allah. We in Science and Astronomy discover those laws. This gives conjunction as the last day of lunar months. Since Hijri calendar is basically a lunar calendar, the conjunction will also be the last day of the Hijri months. Hence a Hijri calendar based on the Nizam of Allah (conjunction), is not only scientific but also conforms to Quran and Sunnah and being independent of the time and the place of observation ( a necessary condition of Authentic Hadith (1) given above is suitable as a Unified Civil Hijri calendar for the civil purposes for the whole Ummah.

                It is true that Islam was first accepted by Ummi but not Jahil. Our Holy Prophet was also Ummi but not Jahil. He had the full support of all=knowing Allah the Al-Mighty and gave a Nizam (Islam) to the world which is second to none. You will finde had the backing He had the backin in history that many Ummi people have achieved things which the most educated people in their time could not achieve. Even the educated people may be Jahil. Examples are George W. Bush of USA, Tony Blare of UK, Hitler etc. to name few.

                Please notice the Arabic word “la” in this Hadith. which in English means “at present”. For past time Arabic uses “Lum”, just as “Lum Ya lid w alum yu lad” in Sura Ikhlas which means neither born nor gave birth. For future “Lun” is used. If our Holy Prophet would have used “Lun” inplace of “La” in the fourth authentic Hadith, then the Ummah will remain Ummi till the Doomsday. It clearly indicates that when the Ummah in future (with God’s Grace) will excel in all the fields of Arts and Science, they will know how to write and calculate with certainty (not by probability) the end of the lunar months. The conjunction in Astronomy which is the Nizam Allah gives us with 100% certainty the last day of the lunar or Hijri month according to the 4^th authentic Hadith. I just made conjunction-based Saudi Hijri civil calendar for day to day need of the govt. and the public on the request of the Saudi govt. which was nothing to do with the religious events such as marking the dates for the beginning and the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and two Eids. These occasions in Saudi Arabia were continued to be observed by the announcement of Majlis Qudha Al-Aala (the Higher Religious Council of Saudi Arabia) after accepting the witnesses of the sighting of the crescent by the pious people according to the first authentic Hadith given above. It may even be used for marking the beginning and the end of Ramadan and two Eids etc. but it needs Ijtehad (General consensus of the majority which does not clash with Quran and Shari’a). If adopted, the whole world will celebrate the Ramadan and the two Eids on the same date and weekday but not at the same time as the Earth is round. In absence of Ijtehad, people may continue to sight the crescent at their respective regions for these occasions according to the first authentic Hadith above. The only precaution to be taken is that if the pious people report seeing the crescent on a conjunction (29^th) day it must not be accepted thinking that they got confused by seeing some extended light of a setting star at the horizon. There is nothing in Quran or Shari’a to celebrate these occasions by any other man-made criteria on the same date and weekday and reject the advice of our Holy Prophet.

                If there is no universal Ijtehad then the Muslims may have Ijtehad country-wise and follow the conjunction-base Hijri calendar. When the Ummah will develop sufficient awareness of astronomical knowledge and Ahadith at all levels (Ulema + educated Muslims), they will revert back to conjunction-based Hijri calendar which is the Nizam of Allah and conforms to four authentic Ahadith given above.

Dr. Fadhl N. M. Ahmed,

Ex. Director General, Institute of Astronomical Researches, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh-Saudi Arabia.

Ex. Chairman, Department of Astronomy and Director of King Saud University Observatory, Riyadh- Saudi Arabia.

e-mail: fadhl_noor_ahmed@yahoo.com