Determination
of the New Moon
by
Prof. ABU ZAFAR translated by SHAHID AZIZ M.Sc.
ENGLAND
(Traditionally.
the commencement of a Muslim month,
which begins with the appearance of the new moon, has been
determined by observation by eye. For some years now a debate has been going on
in the Muslim world about the use of scientific computations to determine
the moon. We produce on authoritative article below which shows conclusively
that there is nothing "un-Islamic" in the use of such modern methods.
-
Editor)
In dealing
with this topic it is wrong to call those having a different point of view from
one's own as insincere, or to issue some kind of a religious decree against
them. All the contending parties may be sincere. I am not hinting at any person or group in writing this article
but want only to bring to the public's notice some academic research I have
carried out. The Holy Prophet had this to say about observing the moon to
determine the beginning or end of the month of Ramadaan:
(1)
"We are an unlettered people; we neither write nor keep account. Some times a
month is this much and sometimes that much, so that it is sometimes
twenty-nine and sometimes thirty days" (Bukhari).
(2) "Ibn Umar
related the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as
saying: When you see it (the moon) start the fast, and when you see it (again)
end it (i.e.Ramadaan) ; if it is cloudy then estimate it" (Bukhari)
(3) "The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) said: Look for the
moon to start the fast and look for it to end it (i.e., Ramadaan).
and if it is cloudy then
complete thirty days"
(Bukhari).
Meaning of Ru'yat
("Seeing") and Fuqduru
("Estimate")
The
issue becomes clear if the words ru
'yat and faqduru Iahu meaning "seeing" and "estimate
it" are explained. Literally, ru'yat means to see with one's eyes or
sense or heart. All lexicons of Arabic (al-Munjid, Aqrab al- Muwarid,
aI-Qamus, Lisan aI-Arab, Mantaha al-Arab) contain all of these alternative
meanings. Further, Imam Raghib in the Mufradat gives
examples of the various meanings in which the Quran has used this word:
"Ru'yat (or to see) is of
many different kinds in accordance with human faculties. First, as perception
e.g., "you will surely see hell". Second
"if only you as
imagination, e.g., if only you ould see him when he was taking the unbelievers’ soul". Third, an intellect,
e.g., "you do not see what I am seeing". Fourth, as understanding, e.g., "there was no
shadow of doubt in what the heart saw" (Mufradat, Letter ra
followed by ya,
p.
208).
Therefore,
ru'yat includes seeing by eye,
by imagination by intellect, or by understanding. So, ru'yat means to gain
knowledge of a thing by any of the methods described above. The Holy Quran uses ru'yat (to
see) thirty or forty different times in such a way that it cannot possibly mean
"to see with the eye". For example
(1) "Did you not see how your Lord
dealt with Aad" (89 :6).
(2)
"Did you not see him who argued with Abraham” (2:258)
In
neither of these verses can one take "to see” to mean "to see with
the eye", for none of those who witnessed these events were alive at the
time of the revelation of the Holy
Quran. Therefore, in these verses; "to see" means to gain knowledge from historical or
technical sources. So when the Holy Prophet said, even when you see
the
moon” it means when you determine that the moon Is new, by seeing It with the
eye, or by some other method, then start and end the month of fasting.
Similarly,
the other phrase or
the
tradition, faqduru
lahu,
literally
means "estimate it". Since the early days of Islam the elders of religion have
been interpreting this phrase in two ways:
1.
Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali of Baghdad (d. 370 A.H.) famous as Imam Jasaas, writes in
Ahkam aI-Quran
(vol.
i p.236):
"Some people say that this
tradition means to rely on stages of the moon. Therefore, if the location ; such
that, had there not been cloud or dust, the new moon would have been visible,
then both (or the beginning and end of the month of Ramadaan, the order of
"seeing with the eye" would be applicable otherwise not. Others contend that if
it is cloudy then thirty days of
Shabaan
(month preceding Ramadaan) should be completed."
We. are not concerned in
here with discussion of the correctness or otherwise of either of these
interpretation. However, it is clear from this that from the very inception
there were at least some people who felt that astronomical calculations could be
relied upon. In fact both interpretations are correct because the two different
traditions (nos. 2 and 3
above) deal with two different situations. One relates to completion of thirty days for those
places where astronomers or astronomical data are not available. The other to
where such experts or data is available, so that the day and the time of
the new moon can be determined by computation.
2. Hadrat Matarrif ibn Abdullah of Basra (d. 87 A.H.), a
leading personage from the generation after the Companions, gave the same
interpretation (Hadaita
al Mujtahid lil-Qurtabi,
p. 275):
"When
the new moon is hidden by clouds then the knowledge of the movement of the sun
and the moon shall be referred to."
3. Some members of the Shafi'i school of
jurisprudence also agree with this.
Al-Fiqh: 'ala l-madhahib
al-arba' (vol.1, p.551)
states:
"An
astronomer, and any one who has faith in such computation, can rely on a
statement (of the appearance of the new moon)."
4. Imam Subki Shafi'i considered computation to be more
reliable than the evidence of two eye-witnesses. In Rad
al-Mukhtar
(vol
ii, p. 100, published in Egypt) it is said:
"In a writing of his,
Imam Subki Shafi'i has also inclined to relying on astronomers because
computation is
definite..."
5. Qazi Abdul Jabbar and the author of Jam' aI-UIum also adopted this
position. In vol. ii (p.100) of the above mentioned book we also find:
"Qazi Abdul Jabbar and
the author of Jam,' al-Ulum
have already been quoted
as saying that there is no harm in relying on astronomers."
6. In the same place the author of Quniya
is
quoted as giving the view-point of Ibn Muqatil as follows
"He
used to consult astronomers, and when a group of them concurred he used to
accept their advice."
7. Allama
Subhi Mamsani quotes Ahmad Shakir's Awail
al-Shahur in falsifatu
al-Tashri as
saying that it is a unanimously agreed principle of jurisprudence that an
effect remains only for the duration of its cause, and then it ends. He then
goes on:
"And it is on the basis
of this principle that some jurist: declared the use of astronomical computation
to be, lawful in determining Muslim months, particularly
the month of Ramadaan. The explanation Is that the tradition which commands that
only "seeing with the eye" of a new moon can he relied on, was related to a
special reason. That was that the nation being addressed was unlettered and
could not compute. Now that this nation has come out of its state of
illiteracy and is literate and can compute with certainty, it now becomes
incumbent that they should
refer to certainty (computation) to determine the new moon, and only on the
previous method where astronomical computation
is not known."
8. According to Muwahib
al.
Din, a
commentary or the Hadith collection Muwatta
of
Imam Malik, (vol ii, p.85):
'lbn
Arabi has quoted Ibn Suraij's statement
that “faqduru lahu" (estimate it) is for those who have knowledge
of astronomy, and
fakmilu aI-'Iddah:
("complete
the term" of thirty days) is addressed to the ordinary people."
There
is nothing in Islam which makes the use of knowledge for religious purposes
illegal. Here four examples are quoted. Firstly, law of heritage is a religious
matter. However, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) himself used tile science
of physiognomy to determine lineage.
Secondly,
punishment of a thief is a religious matter in Islam. However, if a thief is
apprehended by the use of fingerprints or tracker dogs this would not be
unlawful.
Thirdly,
determining times of daily prayers is a
religious matter. Scholars of the past had decreed that the use of
computation was unlawful even for this.
Yet,
today we find such timetables in every mosque and every home.
And,
fourthly. determination of the times of starting and ending daily fast is a
religious matter and yet we find that these time-tables are published months in advance. What makes
these lawful?
Indeed,
the scholars should direct themselves more to declaring the
computed timetable for prayers unlawful, rather than the determination of the
new moon by computation. For prayer has a higher place in Islam than fasting and
it is said that after death one will be questioned about prayer first!
In
this day and age, astronomical
computations are as certain as two plus two makes four, and experts can compute
times of all events related to heavenly bodies so that there is not a hair's
breadth of difference between the occurrence and the computation. The Lord, did
not create these bodies to deceive us, or so that we may ignore them. On the
contrary, they were created so that we may make use of them to determine
the calendar. “Allah has ordained stages for the moon so that you
may
be
able to compute the calendar from them" (10 5). These stages are predestined so
that there can be no deviation and this leaves no doubt in computation. That is
why the Holy Quran exhorts us to use rather than ignore them.
Time is the best
dispenser of religious decrees. When the loud-speaker was invented its use was declared unlawful for sermons,
but now it is used even for prayers. Paper currency was also declared unlawful,
yet there is not a single Muslim country without it now. Of course, there
are differences of opinion on all matters of jurisprudence; if these are going
to make us unacceptable to each other then we will have to wash our hands
of
all of these.
Indeed, as
Astronomy and astronomical computation have reached a pinnacle, and the
time when. as they improve in scholarship, all Muslims accept them is not
far, these problems will, in fact, find their own solution automatically and the world will bow its
head to the commandments of Islam. It is a sad commentary on our intellectual
state that at a time when men are landing on the moon we are involved in heated
debates on whether it is lawful to determine a new lunar month
by computation. May' Allah grant us
the wisdom to understand and act upon the Holy Quran and the traditions of
the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
The question was whether ru'yat can be applied to determine the new moon by astronomical knowledge. In the light of the Holy Quran, traditions of the Holy Prophet, and the views of the elders of religion, our honest opinion is that, because knowledge of astronomy has reached such a level of certainty. there is no danger to our faith to do so. If you disagree with us, then wait a few years, and you will find, insha Allah, that all Muslim countries will begin to have confidence in these calculations.