Moonsighting

Imam Ahmed Raza Khan on Moonsighting

Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Barelwi said about the Wahhabis over a hundred years ago: ‘To agree to the Fiqh and Fatwa of the Ghair Muqalideen is though making a thief as you’re leader[1]. So correct was the Imam that even today the Saudi Arabian government have proven themselves wrong not once but many times over in regards to moon sighting. They always seem to see the moon when according to reports from observatories no sighting was possible from anywhere in the Middle East. So according to such news when it is not from a large body of people, it will not be acceptable according to one of the conditions of moon sighting by the Hanafi school of thought. The reality of the fact that despite millions of Muslims residing there visiting there on occasions of Ramadhan and Eidain.

There was an era when lying was unheard of. Today lying and dishonesty has become very common, determining the month of Ramadhan and Eid has degenerated into gambling. Therefore, there is a great need for Ruy’at-e-Aama to remove any doubt about testimonies received.

The edicts from Imam Ahmed Raza Barelwi and Senior Ullama of Ahle Sunnat upon the issue to high light the importance of the whole approach upon moon sighting and how much care the earlier scholars took in gaining the reports from witness in regards to sighting of the crescent.

Imam Ahmed Raza on Moonsighting:

Using Telegraph, Telephone, Newspaper Calendar or just hearsay (for moonsighting), all these are unacceptable and non-reliable[2].

In regards to using telephone to confirm the sighting of the moon, Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Barelwi writes, “… In the same manner, the witness nor the observed are in the telephone and you cannot see them (in your presence) and you can only hear them and the Ulama have stated that a voice which has been concealed cannot be used as evidence in Islamic ruling as the voice can be copied[3].

Imam Ahmed Raza has related that it has been reported in the Hadith, ‘in the end times, Satan will sit between the people and say something and people will then relate that and then they will say we don’t know who said this[4].

Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Barelwi has stated that there are seven Islamic (Shar’i) methods of sighting the moon most of which are not applicable in the West today:

  1. Witness of moon sighting[5]
  2. Shahadah –alal-Shahadah[6]
  3. Shahadah-ala Qadha[7]
  4. Kitab-al-Qadhi[8]
  5. Istifaadha[9]
  6. Akmaal-e-Iddat[10]
  7. Local method of announcement[11]

The above are the religious methods of sighting the crescent, anything besides this has been invented and are wrong and not acceptable and these can also be rounded up to about seven. Imam Ahmed Raza mentioned:

  1. Story telling of the sighting of the crescent[12]
  2. Hearsay[13]
  3. Letters & newspaper reports[14]
  4. Telegrams[15]
  5. Calendars[16]
  6. Predictions[17]

Caliphah of Aala Hazrat, Sadr-ul-Shariah, Hazrat, Allama Amjad Ali Sahib (ra) has stated, ‘(a) If a Fasiq gives evidence of sighting the moon it will not be accepted, (b) the eye witness who saw the moon should not be asked unnecessary questions unless there is doubt in which case especially during Eid, when people seem to sight the moon in more cases than others, (c) If the sky is clear and until a lot of people are not said to have witnessed the seeing of the moon, in such cases their sighting will not be acceptable to the extent that it becomes clear that this many witnesses cannot be lying (d) If the Imam or Qadhi only saw the moon of Eid, then it not permissible for them to announce or celebrate the Eid on this basis only. (e) The sighting of the moon in any one place is enough for the whole world but this is only applicable to others when this is in accordance to their date and time and that it can be proven through the conditions applicable to moon sighting i.e. either the command of the Qadhi has been passed on accepting the witness of sighting or that many a groups of people come and testify that they had also seem the moon and that people of that area have begun Ramadhan or celebrated Eid accordingly. (f) To witness or confirm the sighting of the moon cannot be accepted by telegrams or telephones, through hearsay, calendars reports etc… It should be kept in mind that if the person who is said to have witnessed the sighting of the moon is not known to be pious or a sinner, even his testimony will not be accepted[18].’

Hazrat, Mufti Akhtar Raza Khan Sahib has also confirmed, ‘If the sky is clear then a large number of witnesses will be required to testify the seeing of the moon for it to be accepted… If the sighting of the moon is witnessed anywhere in any city or place in the world that is sufficient provided the news has reached the other place with the conditions then it comes obligatory upon them to act upon it accordingly… Where there is no visibility of the moon possible and none of the conditions laid down by the Fuqahah (on accepting testimony of moonsighting) are met, in such circumstances then they should complete the 30 days of the month as per the Hadith of the Holy Prophet[19].’
With the above information on the conditions of the moonsighting and the edicts (fatwa) of the elders of Ahle Sunnah wal-Jammah, it becomes quite clear as to how we are to determine the beginning of Ramadhan and Eid. To get correct information with great caution on how we do this in the modern era.
 

[1] Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1940) Risala dar Ruyat-e-Hilal. Bombay, India. P-6

[2] Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1996) Fatawa Africa. FaisalAbad, Pakistan. P-167

[3] Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-367

[4] Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-391

[5]A person sees the crescent moon himself and this one witness who should be an adult, sane and non-sinner’s sighting is acceptable if he states, ‘I saw the crescent of the Holy month of Ramadhan on so and so evening or even if he does not state that I bare witness and even if he doesn’t state how he saw the moon, from which angle and how high it was etc. This will be in that instance when then sky is not clear on the 29th of Sha’baan and it is cloudy. In the usual state of the clear sky any such person has come from the jungle or high place then that one witness will be sufficient otherwise it will be examined if the people of that area actually try to sight the moon and these in the majority or are they lazy and neglectful and such a circumstance two witnesses will be required otherwise the sighting should be witnessed by such a large body of people that it cannot be doubted that all of them will gather upon an error… And the same applies to the rest of the eleven months but if the sky is clear during the two Eids and the Muslims do not observe the sighting of the moon and that there are no two witnesses from the jungle or a high place then a large body of witnesses will be required to confirm the sighting … Imam Raza has further related, ‘When there is no Sultan (head of state) who can delve into the Islamic Issues then all these religious duties fall into the hands of the Ullama and it is necessary upon the Muslims to go to them when in need of religious rulings and the Ullama should be seen as religious ruling bodies and judges. If the Muslims cannot agree on one scholar then each district should follow their local Ullama. And if there are many scholars in that district then then the one with the most knowledge in the religious affair (Ahkaam-e-Shariat) should be followed and if they are equal in knowledge then they should draw a name from the lot …  Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-421

[6] Shahadah –alal-Shahadah: This is when the witnesses did not see the moon but the actual witnesses confirmed the sighting before them. This is used for the purpose when the actual persons who sighted the moon cannot travel. This should be done in the follow way, the actual witness should say to the other witness, ‘Become a witness upon my witnessing and I bare witness that during so and so month in the year saw the crescent on the eve of so and so day.’ The secondary witnesses will then state the report in the following word, ‘I bare witness that so and so who is the son of so and so made me a witness upon that so and so who is the son of so sighted the crescent during the year on the eve of the following date and this so and so person stated that I should become a witness of his witnessing the sighting of the crescent.’  …  Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-421

[7] Shahadah-ala Qadha (If a ruler in any other city brings forth witnesses to the Islamic Judge (Qadhi) and presented his proof and there were at least two sane adults present to witness the sighting. If the witnesses before the Muslim Ruler or Qadhi and if there is no Qadhi then a Mufti will have to analyse the sighting and the witnesses will have to say, ‘We bare witness that the ruler of such and such city had people come before him who had witnessed the sighting of the moon on the eve of such and such date.’  …  Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-421

[8] Kitab-al-Qadhi (Here the station of the Qadhi is one who has been stationed by the Sultan who has sent new officially to another Qadhi of moonsighting) …  Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-421

[9] Istifaadha … In the City where there is a Qadhi on duty from whom the ruling of the sighting is determined … And it is obvious in the dark city where there is no Qadhi or Mufti or there is no Mufti but there is no observance of Islamic laws, as there are many self-made, inexperienced and especially amongst the Wahhabis and the Ghair Muqallideen and some lenient uneducated Sunnis who like to show their moderates. There may be a capable Mufti but the community does not obey him and these people announce Ramadhan and Eid whenever they like according to their whims. The likes of such people or their authority will not be acceptable as in reality there is no obedience from them of the religious code or conduc …  Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-421

[10] Akmaal-e-Iddat: When the month is completed with 30 days and the crescent becomes visible even when there is no official ruling on its sighting and we know that there is no month which goes beyond 30 days in any month. The Holy Prophet said, ‘If it is cloudy, then complete 30 days.’ Bukhari and Muslim have reported this on the authority of Hazrat Abdullah b. Umr ……  Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-421

[11] Allama Shaami has also said that the firing of the cannon in the city can also be seen as evidence of the sighting of the crescent (and beginning of Ramadhan) …  Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-421

[12] e.g., some people come from somewhere and informed others that the moon was seen on so and so date and by calculation from that date on today will be. It should be noted that this is not a witness of sighting the moon that he himself had seen it and nor is it Shahadat-alal-Shahadah. Such heresy, singular stories are not credible according to the shariah even though the people maybe righteous and reliable and not of the ignorant, who often believe heresy, without clarification of his identity and nor is he known to him, these people reply on any such statements …Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-429

[13] The news of the moonsighting has spread across the city, the ignorant accept the news as authentic and reliable and when asked about the news, it is said, ‘we heard it’, no one tells of where the actual news has come from or the actual news reporter who may have been one or two in number who had passed the news on, and this is mere ignorance  …Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-429

[14] Letters and newspaper reports. It is said that we have received a letter or it is written in so and so newspaper. Durr-e-Mukhtar has stated, ‘Letters will not be accepted (as evidence for moon sighting)  …Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-429

[15] Telegrams. This type is even more unreliable than a letter, as a letter written is a confirmation of the writer and here it is not written by the sender  …Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-429

[16] Calendar: Use of a calendar to calculate the actual date is not acceptable  …Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-429

[17]Prediction: e.g. If the moon was lit up and was out for a while yesterday and thus it is the 15th and because it was not visible on so and so date the month will be 30 days, such predictions are not even calculated and to act upon such information is ignorance. It is reported that the Holy Prophet said, ‘One of the signs of the end of times is that the moon will seem bigger.’ Reported by Tabrani on the authority of Abdullah b. Abbas   …Khan. Ahmed Riza. (1991) Fatawa Rizwiyyah, Gujraat, India. Vol-10, p-429

[18] Ali. A. (1998) Bahar-e-Shariat,Delhi, India. vol-5, p-56

[19] Khan, A. R. Fatawa-e-Markazi Dar-ul-Iftaa. Bareilly, India. P-214