Moon Sighting:

Before we go into scientific and technical discussion on CRESCENT VISIBILITY, let us explore what are the requirements set by Quran and Sunnah.

Holy Quran states, "They ask thee concerning the crescent moons, say they are but the signs to mark fixed periods of time in the affairs of men, and for pilgrimage......2:189". In other places the word "Qamar" and its "manazil"as well as "Hisaab" are used.

Hadith of Prophet (SAW) states, "Keep the fast after seeing the Hilal and complete the fast after seeing the Hilal (of Shawwal). Note the word 'Ruyah' in this Hadith meaning seeing with eyes. Also see Fathul-Bari notes of explanation of this Hadith. The Sunnah is 'seeing' and not mere knowledge of moon's existence above the horizon. Based on this Hadith, Muslims in North America have taken strong position in favor of "Physical Sighting" as a requirement of moon-sighting.

Committee For Crescent Observation (CFCO): In late 1970s and 1980's when Muslims in North America realized that the news of moon-sighting received from Middle East were against the basic rules of moon's physical observation, they form CFCO which includes Ulema, Muslim Scientists, (Astronomer, Mathematician) and trained observers. Since its founding, over 15 years ago, CFCO has been collecting the actual sighting information for every month from volunteers across North America, and from authentic sources around the world. The algorithm developed by CFCO for calculating the visibility is continuously improved by the data collected for crescent observation for the past several years. By now, the CFCO has almost perfected these calculations, which has been substantiated by actual sightings. Muslim scientists of CFCO with the efforts of correlating sightings with calculations are now in a position to calculate ahead of time, whether the moon can be sighted on the evening of 29th of a month or not. This is very effective tool to screen out the sighting claims made by sincere Muslims when they mistakenly identify something else for crescent.

What is New Moon versus Crescent Moon: Everyone knows that the new crescent appears every 29 or 30 days (never fewer or more). Moon is circling earth in a counter clockwise elliptical orbit. The exact time when moon passes between the center of the earth and center of the sun, called "conjunction" can be precisely calculated. This moment of time is also called "New Moon" in astronomy. This is the time given in news papers for New Moon, and shown as black invisible moon. At this time the moon is invisible, and it remains invisible for about 16 hours before that time and 16 hours after. This 32 hours of disappearance of moon has been noted from times immemorial. After the moon passes over conjunction (in the plane between earth and sun) it takes about 16 to 23 hours for the moon to get away from the sun (Angle of separation of moon from sun), such that the crescent can be seen from earth. This angle of separation must be at least 10 to 12 degrees, and the altitude of the moon above horizon must be high enough above the glare of the sun (at least 10 degrees at sunset) for the crescent to be seen. Khalid Shaukat of CFCO says that while no crescent can be seen before 16 hours with a naked eye, it may still be up to 23 hours in certain season before the crescent is visible.

CFCO findings proved that the moon age (16-23 hours) does not mean that it can be seen from all locations of the world. On April 11, 1994, a 26 hour moon was not visible in Los Angeles. On July 9, 1994, a 23 hour old moon set in London five minutes before sunset. This Eid, a real example, when new moon was 7 to 10 hours old in North America at sunset time on Friday, February 7, 1997, angle of separation and altitude were not sufficient enough to make it visible. In many areas of Western USA the horizon was quite clear and many trained observers did not see it despite their continued efforts. The crescent on the next day was big and high, because it was 31 to 34 hours old in North America; it was 12 degrees higher than where it was yesterday;nd it stayed 52 minutes longer (after sunset) above the horizon. But since it was not seen on the previous day, it was still first day crescent, and first of Shawwal (Eid) was on Sunday, Feb. 9, 1997.

Claims of sighting that constitute the first actual appearance of the crescent can be decide on the basis of science, Shariah, and Common sense. In large geographical areas like USA/Canada, the east coast sighting can be verified later on the west coast. This is important because in large areas with hundreds of Muslims trying to see the moon, reliance can not always be placed on one or two witnesses who claim, in error, to have seen the crescent. It is not uncommon these days that some shiny curved piece of cloud is mistaken for a crescent.

Hadith says that at least one or in case of Eid at least two witnesses are required. However, because of prevalence false sightings, all the major Fuqaha (Abu Hanifa, Shafei, Malik, and Hanbal) and later Abu Yusuf required a large number of witnesses, in some cases 50 and many more. The reasoning of these learned scholars was clear; if a large number of observers are known to be looking for the moon, and only one or two claim to see it, what explanation can be given except that one or two witnesses were in error.

Alhamdu lillah for the last 3 or 4 years encouraging signs are emerging, as the CFCO organized lectures, slide shows, conferences, and workshops in ICNA and ISNA's annual conventions. More and more people, including Masajid's Imams, board of directors of various organizations, and even Islamic Shura Council of North America are taking keen interest in understanding and following CFCO and other Muslim astronomers. Since 1994, four major Muslim organizations in North America decided that they will coordinate their efforts of decision on moon sighting. They have taken CFCO's astronomer Khalid Shaukat as their consultant to screen false claims. These four organizations are:

Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
The Ministry of Imam W. Deen Mohammad
Jamaat Community of Imam Jamil Al-Amin

Let us hope and pray to Allah (SWT), that He helps us understand the requirements of Quran and Sunnah to fulfil the religious obligations with ease, preparedness, and maximum possible accuracy. May Allah accept our efforts and keep us on the right path.

Ameen!