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Moon sighting expected tomorrow
It is a centuries-old blend of astronomy and religion: tonight, a group of learned men will gather on a remote hilltop, look at the sky, and decide whether Ramadan has arrived.
They will be looking for a new moon, which will signal the beginning of the holy month. It will not be spotted until tomorrow, according to scientific calculations, but the search is an important part of Muslim life worldwide.
“The moon will set before the sun today, so it will be impossible to see it,” said Hasan al Hariri, the head of the Dubai Astronomy Group, which has no plans to go out today but will go out for the sighting of the moon tomorrow.
“We’re not going out today because we know there is no moon.”
The UAE’s official moon-sighting committee will peer into the heavens from Jebel Hafeet at about sunset, starting its search on the 29th day of the previous lunar month, in accordance with tradition.
It will co-ordinate its findings with Saudi Arabia’s moon-spotters in a show of Arabian Peninsula solidarity, although the Saudi standards are slightly different, counting a sighting as legitimate if the moon is seen around sunset, even if it disappears after dark.
This year, Saudi Arabia is encouraging lay people to participate as well, Mr al Hariri said, which should increase the number of observations made and increase accuracy, but also leave open the possibility of mistakes by untrained eyes.
“The trouble is when people go out for a moon sighting, you inevitably get one person who claims to have seen the new moon, even if it’s impossible on that day,” he said.
Politics also play a major role in the announcement of Ramadan or Eid. Sometimes countries with political tensions will purposely announce Ramadan on different days.
Syria and Lebanon, for instance, not only neighbour each other but share the same longitudes and latitudes, yet their sighting declarations usually do not align.
Libya also has been known to go against the current, announcing Ramadan either before or after Saudi Arabia.
Last year Iran and Oman began Ramadan a day after the UAE and other GCC countries, while Nigeria announced the end of Ramadan one day before the others.
The science behind a moon sighting has been known to mankind for centuries.
Because certain factors are constant – such as the Earth’s rotation, the moon’s orbital period and the amount of time it takes the Earth to circle the Sun – precise predictions can be made about moon phases.
The Islamic year is based on the lunar calendar, which means each moon cycle represents a month. A new month begins with a new moon, reaches its midpoint with a full moon and ends with a waning moon.
In Islamic tradition, determining the beginning of a month required a committee of learned, reliable men to go into the desert, where the sky is clear, or on to a hilltop, in search of the new moon.
The new moon must be visible to the naked eye, and whoever claims to see it must give a sworn statement to the committee. Then the committee will announce the arrival of a new month.
Typically, every Muslim country or community sets up a moon-sighting committee, and people usually have no qualms about going out to remote areas or onto a hill to investigate whether the new moon is visible.
The arrivals of Ramadan and Eid are particularly anticipated by Muslims as these determine when they can begin their fast and end it with the arrival of Eid, the three-day celebration after the end of Ramadan.
Today many Muslim countries and communities try to follow the old tradition, preferring to ignore the science that determines when a moon sighting is impossible.
Once the new moon has been sighted, Muslims who will fast the next day begin their rituals and preparations shortly before sunrise. Most Muslim countries have unique traditions in announcing the hour when the fast will begin, the hour being called imsak.
In Syria, for example, each neighbourhood appoints a man to walk the streets about an hour before dusk, and with the aid of a drum and a powerful voice, he wakes people from their sleep for their final meal of the day.
Then, just before dawn, the sound of a cannon fired three times announces the moment when fasting Muslims must cease to eat or drink. Later, when it is time to break the fast, the same cannon fires three times, immediately followed by the sunset call to prayer to announce iftar.
In the UAE, the call to sohour, the pre-sunrise meals, happens the same way as the call to prayer, broadcast from mosques everywhere in the country at the same time.
http://www.thenation al.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/2009082 0/NATIONAL/708199818 /1425/GENERAL1
