Determing the Beginning of Ramadan

Every year, towards the start of Ramadan, some Muslim communities are plunged into confusion and disarray over the issue of determination of the start of the blessed month. In some cases, this may further lead to argument and division within the community. In view of this unfortunate state of affairs, it is useful for us to acquaint ourselves with the authentic Islamic verdicts about crescent-sighting and related issues, and this article shall, Allah willing, summarize these, in order that we may thereby discard unworthy opinions which have no sound basis, and in order that we might tolerate legitimate scholarly differences of opinion.
1. Sighting or Calculation?

The start of Ramadan is determined by the sighting of the crescent-moon (hilal). The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has said, "Fast at its sighting, and terminate the fast at its sighting." [Bukhari, Muslim] This hadith is an explicit proof-text that the month is based on sighting, not on calculation.

The reasoning of the proponents of calculation is hinged on two main arguments:

1) The saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), "Do not fast until you see the crescent-moon, and do not break the fast until you have seen the crescent moon, but if conditions are overcast for you then enumerate for it." [Bukhari] The proponents of calculation cite the statement, "then enumerate for it" as evidence for the permissibility of calculation. This reasoning, however, is unacceptable on two counts :

Firstly, assuming that "enumerate" in the above hadith is in fact referring to calculation, the hadith would only indicate the permissibility of calculations in overcast conditions. Secondly, the meaning of "enumerate" is clarified by another narration of the hadith, also extracted by Bukhari, as well as by Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Hibban and al-Tayalisi, "Then complete the number of [days of] Sha‘ban as thirty." [Nasb al-Rayah, 2/437-8] This hadith clarifies beyond doubt that what is meant by "enumerate" in the first narration is to count thirty days, for the first narration is general and imprecise (mujmal), whereas the second is explicit (mubayyan), clarifying the imprecision in the first. Ibn Rushd says, "It is obligatory to refer the mujmal to the mubayyan, and this is the way of the scholars of usul, without any disagreement." [Bidayat al-Mujtahid, 1/284]

2) The saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), "We are an unlettered nation; we neither write nor calculate. The month is so-much and so-much (i.e. sometimes 29 days, sometimes 30)" [Bukhari] The proponents of calculations argue that the only reason calculations were not used by the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was that people at that time were illiterate and uneducated. Thus, they reason that since we are now educated and advanced in astronomy, there is no harm in determining the start of Ramadan purely by calculations. The refutation of this reasoning is as follows :

It is obvious that the Prophetic statement, "We neither write nor calculate" is not meant literally, for it has been established that numerous Companions did in fact write, and in the Farewell Pilgrimage, when a Yemeni man named Abu Shah asked for a written copy of the sermon, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) told people, "Write for Abu Shah." [Bukhari and Muslim] Also, Bukhari has reported that a census-like enumeration of the Muslim population was carried out in Medina, in which the total number of Muslims came to 1,500. Furthermore, we know that the Arabs at the time used to engage in trade, which inevitably requires calculation, and also that astronomical knowledge, such as recognition of the phases of the moon, and its waxing and waning, were present even in that time.

In reality, the hadith is merely stating a characteristic of this ummah, namely that their means for determining the month are simple, not requiring sophisticated science or education. Islam is a universal religion, and its regulations are meant to be equally accessible to all people, scientists as well as non-scientists. The progress of astronomy cannot abrogate the laws of Islam, for the religion was completed and perfected in the time of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) himself. [See "Sighting of the Hilal", by the Majlis al-‘Ulama’ of South Africa]

As further reinforcement of the invalidity of basing the Islamic month purely on calculation, it is worth noting that all of the four juristic schools of thought, are unanimous on this point. The Hanafi scholar, Al-Haskafi says, in "al-Durr al-Mukhtar", "The word of forecasters carries no weight, even if they are Islamically upright, according to the [Hanafi] madhhab." "Sharh al-Ghayah" states the same of the Hanbali madhhab. Sheikh Khalil, the Maliki, states in his "Mukhtasar", that the month is not established by the saying of an astronomer. Al-Ardabili, the Shafi‘i scholar states in "Al-Anwar," "[Fasting] does not become obligatory by knowledge of the phases of the moon."

2. Can calculations be used as a guide?

We have already established that calculations alone cannot be used to determine the start of an Islamic month. However, at the same time, Islam does not ask us to divorce reason. So, given that astronomy today can accurately establish the time of birth of the new moon, and the time interval when it is absolutely impossible to see the crescent-moon due its not yet being present, there is no harm in using this astronomical basis to reject a claimed sighting which cannot possibly be correct. Indeed, this is similar to rejecting the claim of someone who claims to have seen the crescent-moon on the twentieth night of Sha‘ban! Shatibi said, in "Al-Muwafaqat", "Anything which is not in keeping with the principles of the shari‘ah or rational concepts is not to be relied upon." And, Ibn Hajar said, in "Sharh Nukhbat al-Fikr", "Among the associated circumstances by which fabrication [in hadith] can be recognized are [things] which detract from the value of the narrator, and [others] which detract from the value of the narration, such as it being in contradiction to the text of the Qur’an, or mass-narrated sunnah, or decisive ijma‘ (consensus of scholars), or clear common sense."

So, if a sighting is reported when it was absolutely impossible for it to have occurred, it will be rejected, even if the one reporting it is an upright Muslim, although in that case we will attribute the error to genuine misjudgment which does not diminish his Islamic uprightness and acceptability as a witness. Verdicts in this vein have been given by the renowned Shafi‘i mujtahid, Taqi al-Din al-Subki, as well as by numerous recent and contemporary scholars, among them ‘Ali Tantawi, Ahmad Shakir and Muhammad Sanbheli.

3. How many people?

Having established that the month’s start is determined by moon sighting, we turn now to the issue of how many people must see the crescent in order for fasting to be obligatory.

2.1 According to the Hanafis: If the sky is clear, the testimony of at least two upright Muslim men, or one man and two women, is sufficient to establish the start of Ramadan [Ibn ‘Abidin, "Daw’ al-Shams", 2/49], but if the sky is cloudy then the testimony of a single, upright person will be accepted. [Sarakhs i, "Al-Mabsut", 2/139]

2.2 According to the Malikis: The testimony of no fewer than two upright Muslims is necessary to establish the start of Ramadan. [Ibn Rushd, "Bidayat al-Mujtahid", 1/286]

2.3 According to the Shafi‘is : the testimony of a single upright Muslim man is sufficient for the start of Ramadan. [Nawawi, "Al-Minhaj"]

2.4 According to the Hanbalis: The Hanbali text, "Al-Muntaha" states, "[Fasting of Ramadan] is obligatory at the sighting of its the crescent-moon. If it is not seen on the night [before] the 30th of Sha‘ban, in spite of the sky being clear, they shall not fast, but if clouds or dust obscure [the sky] it is obligatory to fast [the next day] as a precaution . . . . The report of a sane, adult, upright [Muslim] is accepted [in sighting], even if it be a woman, and even if the wording of testimony is not used." (All the schools are in consensus that for the crescent-moon at the end of Ramadan, two sightings are required.)

The differences above arise from giving priority to different narrations on the matter, based on factors relating to the authenticities of the reports and on different methodologies of usul in reconciling different narrations. The narrations are:

i) Abu Dawud has reported that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Fast at its sighting, and terminate fasting at its sighting. But, if [conditions] are overcast for you, then complete thirty [days]. But, if two witnesses testify then fast and terminate fasting [as the case may be]."

ii) Tirmidhi has reported that a Bedouin came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said, "I saw the crescent-moon tonight." The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked him, "Do you testify that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger?" He said, "Yes." The Prophet said, "O Bilal! Make adhan amongst the people, for they should fast tomorrow."

iii) Abu Dawud has reported that people were in the last day of Ramadan, when two Bedouins stood up and testified to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that they had seen the crescent-moon, whereupon the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) ordered people to break their fast.

4. Is a sighting in one area binding on Muslims in other areas?

This is a point on which scholars have differed. According to the Shafi‘i school, the sighting is not binding beyond 81 km, as stated by both Rafi‘i and Nawawi. The authentic view of the madhhab is that it is binding on a strip of thickness 81km in either direction of the place of the sighting. This strip extends from the North Pole to the South Pole. The verdicts in the standard classical references for the Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali schools state that one sighting is binding on the whole world. [See "Fath al-Qadir", "Mukhtasar Khalil" and "al-Mughni" respectively.] However, the Maliki scholar, Ibn Rushd has cited consensus of the scholars that the obligation of fasting based on a sighting in another area is not observed for places which are very distant from one another, such as Spain and Arabia. ["Bidayat al-Mujtahid", 1/288] This verdict was also explicitly stated by the Hanafi scholars al-Kasani, al-Zayla‘i and al-Kashmiri. Sheikh Muhammad Burhanuddin Sanbheli says, "Contemporary scholars in general have gone by [the view of different sightings for] different rising-places [of the moon]." [Qadaya Fiqhiyyah Mu‘asarah, p. 94]

The primary evidence for a sighting not being binding on distant places is the hadith narrated by Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Nasa’i, in which Kurayb traveled to Syria and encountered the start of Ramadan there on a friday. When he returned to Medina, he informed Ibn ‘Abbas that he had seen the crescent-moon on the night of friday, and that the people in Syria, including Mu‘awiyah the governor, had fasted on friday. Ibn ‘Abbas replied that they (in Medina) had seen the crescent-moon on saturday, and that they would not stop fasting until they either saw it again, or had completed thirty days. Kurayb asked, "Will you not suffice with the sighting of Mu‘awiyah?" Ibn ‘Abbas replied, "No, that is how the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) commanded us." The hadith is quite clear in this respect, and although it does not state the limit beyond which a sighting is not binding, this latter issue becomes a matter of ijtihad for the scholars.

Rational evidence which supports this view is that just as Muslims around the globe will not pray Zuhr simultaneously, rather each area will pray based on their perspective on the sun, similarly, it is not necessary for them all to start and end fasting simultaneously. Zayla‘i reports, in his commentary on "Kanz al-Daqa’iq", that Abu Musa, a Hanafi jurist, was asked by some Muslims in Alexandria about someone who climbed the minaret, and could therefore see the sun for a long time after it had [apparently] set for the people below : is it permissible for him to break his fast? The reply was, "No, although it is permissible for the people below, for each is held responsible based on his own circumstances."

As for the argument that following a single sighting worldwide is in the interests of unity, this is weak, for we have seen already that the Pious Predecessors themselves differed about the start and end of Ramadan, and they are the best of generations. This difference did not cause disunity amongst them, and so there is no reason why it should for us. Rather, the disunity we see today arises from other causes, such as ignorance, intolerance and fanaticism. Furthermore, it is not practically possible for Ramadan or ‘Id to coincide exactly for all the Muslims, due to the fact that day and night occur at different times around the globe.

And Allah, the Flawless, knows best.

[References : "Tanbih al-Ghafil wal-Wasnan ila Ahkam Hilal Ramadan" by Ibn ‘Abidin; "Fath al-Qadir" by Ibn al-Humam; "Nasb al-Rayah" by Zayla‘i;

"Bidayat al-Mujtahid" by Ibn Rushd; "al-Mughni" by Ibn Qudamah; "al-Siyam" by Wahbi Ghawiji; "Sighting of the Hilal" and "Answer to al-Azhar’s Fatwa" both by Majlis al-‘Ulama’ of South Africa; "Qadaya Fiqhiyyah Mu‘asarah" by Sanbheli.]

Here is the hadeeth in question, from the chapter on fasting in Sahih Muslim, and also in the corresponding chapter of Sunan Et-Termidhy. The translator is Abdul Hamid Siddiqi.

Book 6, Number 2391:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

Kurayb said: Umm Fadl, daughter of Harith, sent him (Fadl, i.e. her son) to Mu’awiyah in Syria. I (Fadl) arrived in Syria, and did the needful for her. It was there in Syria that the month of Ramadan commenced. I saw the new moon (of Ramadan) on Friday. I then came back to Medina at the end of the month.

Abdullah ibn Abbas asked me (about the new moon of Ramadan) and said:

When did you see it? I said: We saw it on Friday night. He said: (Did) you see it yourself? I said: Yes, and the people also saw it so they observed fast and Mu’awiyah also observed fast. Thereupon he said: But we saw it on Saturday night. So we shall continue to observe the fast until we complete thirty (fasts) or we see it (the new moon of Shawwal). I said:

Is the sighting of the moon by Mu’awiyah not valid for you? He said: No; this is how the Messenger of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) has commanded us. Yahya ibn Yahya was in doubt (whether the word used in the narration by Kurayb) was Naktafi or Taktafi.