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3. Following Saudi Arabia

The third opinion is that we should follow Saudi Arabia.  From the Shari’ah point of view, there is no evidence for this in the Qur’an and Sunnah.  There is only the emotional argument put up by some that:  Since Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam or it is where the Blessed Prophet lived therefore it should be recognized as the prime decision maker in such important matters.

Aside from having no basis in Shari’ah, this opinion is problematic in another way too.  What if the moon is sighted elsewhere before it is sighted in Saudi Arabia?  What are the Muslims of that region suppose to do?  If they wait for the announcement to come in from Saudi Arabia, they would be violating the directives of the ahadith which clearly state that fasting and breaking the fast should begin from the moosighting.  On the other hand, if they follow their own moonsighting, they would then be ignoring Saudi Arabia, whether it is for Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr or Eid-ul-Adha.  Therefore, to follow along with the moonsighting of Saudi Arabia is incorrect.

Since the promulgation of this opinion, Muslims from other countries have sought to do the same.  For example, Pakistan performs their own local moonsighting.  They may argue that since Saudi Arabia goes acording to its moonsighting then we will also go with our own moonsighting, we don’t need to follow any other country.  Who is to tell them there is no proof for their opinion or for your opinion.

Many of those who follow the moonsighting of Saudi Arabia also say that the Hajj takes place in Saudi Arabia; therefore, we should follow their moonsighting.  This type of argument has no evidence in the Shari’ah either.  If somebody does base the body of their claim on this evidence then prays his salah according to the timings of Saudi Arabia, everyone would understand the extent of the waywardness of this daleel.  Again, the main problem that rises in this viewpoint is that if the moon is sighted elsewhere before it is seen in Saudi Arabia then what are they to do?  The Saudi’s for sure will not follow their moonsighing; therefore, that is completely out of the question.

This opinion is centered around the argument that the day of Arafah is followed by the day of Eid.  Therefore, all Muslims of the world should celebrate the Eid following the day of Arafah in Saudi Arabia.  This argument is not only bereft of any evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah but, in fact, evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah is to the contrary.

Eid-ul-Adha was established in Islam in the 2nd year of hijra and the first Hajj in the Islamic calendar was  performed in the 9th year of hijra.  This means that for nearly seven years the Sahabah celebrated Eid and slaughtered their animals even though the Hajj had not yet begun.  If the day of Eid was associated with the day of Arafah the way some think it is, then  both would have been brought into the Shari’ah at the same time.  Never in the history of Islam has any Islamic country tried to follow the moonsighting of Saudi Arabia based on the idea that their Eid should follow the day of Arafah, except only very recently.

Even more surprising than this is that the Blessed Prophet performed the Hajj only once after it was made compulsory.  After that he remained alive for only three months.  During that time, the moonsighting of Makkah and Medina were differing (for details, see the appendix in the end).

In brief, Hajj and Eid are separate and distinct from each other and aside from that they were introduced into Islam at different times.  The Muslims who celebrate Eid, are not pilgrims and the ones who are, do not celebrate the Eid.  The fuqaha (jurists), muhaditheen, mufasireen, and mujtahedeen have never tried to associate the two together the way some are trying to in our times.

4. Following Saudia for Zhil-Hijjah only

The fourth opinion is that we follow Saudi Arabia for the month of Zhil-Hijjah and local moonsighting for the remaining eleven months.  The problems with this opinion are as mentioned above.  In addition, this opinion has no evidence (daleel) from the Qur’an and Sunnah that some months should start in a certain way while the remainder months start in a different way.

Another problem that arises with this viewpoint is that sometimes the month of Zil-Qaddah has ended with 28 days which is a clear rejection of the ahadith (it has actually occurred in the previous years).  Islamic months can only be 29 days or 30 days.

5.  Local Moonsighting for All Months

The fifth opinion is that we follow the local moonsighting alone.  This was the predominant method in the time of the Blessed Prophet and continued to be the only method used throughout the history of Islam.  A narration of Ibn Abbas in Sahih Muslim indicates that this was the prevailing method in the time of the Blessed Prophet and was a part of the teachings of the Blessed Prophet to the Sahabah . The narration goes like this:

Kuraib narrates that Umm al-Fadhl sent him to Muawiya in Sham for something.  Kuraib says I went to Sham and finished the job.  I was in Sham when the month of Ramadan began and we saw the moon the night of Friday.  When I reached Medina at the end of the blessed month, Ibn Abbas asked me about Sham.  (After answering him) He then asked me when we saw the moon.  I said: We saw the moon the night of juma.  He said: did you see it as well.  I said: Yes, I saw it too and many others saw it and we all kept fast and so did Muawiya (that is according to that moonsighting).  Ibn Abbas said: But we saw the moon on Saturday night, therefore, we will keep thirty days fast according to that unless we sight the moon on the 29th.  I said: You don’t think the moonsighting of Muawiya and his fasting is enough for you.  Ibn Abbas replied: No, this is how the Blessed Prophet taught us.  (Muslim H.1819, Tirmizi H.629, Nasai H.2084, Abu-Dawood H.1985, Musnad Ahmad H.2653 Dar-qutni H.2234)

This hadith is clear evidence.  When Ibn Abbas was informed by the person who himself sighting the moon that the people of Sham had begun Ramadan one day before, he responded that it was not only his opinion, but also the teachings of the Blessed Prophet that the moonsighting of another locality was not compulsory upon them.

Conclusion:

In summary, of the five viewpoints that have just been mentioned, only two are compliant with the Shari’ah.

1) One is the viewpoint that wherever the moon is sighted in the world, it is compulsory on all the Muslims in the world to follow it.  The only condition to this is that the moonsighting cannot be limited to any one country.  For example, it cannot be said that we will only accept moonsighting from this and this country and not other countries.  This is regardless of whether the country is a Muslim or non Muslim so as long as those who sight the moon are Muslims.  But as we mentioned before, nobody in our times has put this viewpoint into practice and the burdens of putting it into practice have also been mentioned.

2) The second viewpoint is that we follow local moonsighting.  Not only is this way easy, but it is actually a continuation of the tradition of the Blessed Prophet and of the people after him throughout the history of Islam.
 

 
APPENDIX:

During the time of the Prophet , moon sighting was always conducted locally and the people of Makkah and Medina maintained their own Islamic calendars.  One of the proofs for this can be found by carefully analyzing the seerah.

When Rasulullah performed his one and only Hajj, the 9th of Zhil-Hijjah was a Friday.  He passed away three months later in Medina on Monday, the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal.  These historical facts are established through hadith.  However, when one tries to reconstruct the Islamic calendar given those days, the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal does not fall on a Monday, any which way you try.

Based on the local Makkan moon sighting, if every month was 29 Days, 12th of Rabi al-Awwal would fall on Thursday.

Based on the local Makkan moon sighting, if every month was 30 days, 12th of Rabi al-Awwal would fall on Sunday.

The first calendar shows the least possible days for those 3 months, which would make the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal a Thursday. The second calendar shows the most possible days for those 3 months, which would make the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal a Sunday.

All combinations of 29 or 30 days can only fall between the minimum and maximum limits, which means the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal can only be between Thursday and Sunday. However, the fact that Rasulullah passed away on a Monday simply means during that time, the calendar of Makkah was different from the calendar of Medina.

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