Where is the Hijri Calendar?

Where is the Hijri Calendar?

http://www.moonsighting.com/hijri-calendar.html 

I have had discussion with various people, in different forums, about the moon sighting, naked eye sighting, calendar based on moon phases, calculations etc. Their immediate response has been, “Our deen is perfect. We don’t need any modifications to our calendar.” I reply, “Yes, our deen is perfect. That’s why it suits every generation. And no scientific and technological advancement can make Islamic things obsolete. But by insisting on the naked-eye moon sighting, we have made the Hijri calendar obsolete with no use except for starting and ending our fasts and going to Hajj. Even if we try, we cannot use the Hijri calendar for our worldly life. In doing so, we have made ourselves dependent on the Gregorian calendar so much so that we do not even realize that we are so much dependent on a non-Islamic calendar.” I will you give you an example.

Everybody these days travels by airplanes and for that they book seats, sometimes months in advance. More than often, they change planes midway. Now let’s say you want to use Hijri calendar to book your seats. You want to travel from New York to Karachi via Dubai on Shabaan 30th. Now the fun begins.

1. The agent says, “Sorry sir, we cannot book any flights on Shabaan 30th because there is no guarantee of Shabaan 30th.”

2. Then you ask the agent to book the seat on Ramadan 1st. “The agent says, “Sorry sir, we are not sure when the Ramadan 1st is going to be.”

3. Out of frustration, you tell the agent to book a flight on Ramadan 15th. And you show up at the New York airport. The agent says, “Sorry sir, but you are one day late. Today is Ramadan 16th.” But you insist it is Ramadan 15th. The agent replies, “The airline runs as per the Dubai dates. And in Dubai it is Ramadan 16th today.”

4. In frustration you cancel the ticket. And you book another flight for Ramadan 25th. This time you use United Airlines because you do not want the date confusion. You show up at the New York airport on Ramadan 25th. The agent tells you, “Sorry sir, but you came one day too early.” You dispute the date. The agent explains, “This airline is based in Chicago. They started Ramadan a day later than New York.”

5. Then you change your mind and try to reserve a seat on Emirates believing that travel via Dubai will not be as confusing since the whole trip will be based on Dubai dates. The agent explains to you your itinerary: “Sir, you leave New York on Ramadan 29th. Your connecting flight to Karachi is on Shawwal 1st. In case they did not see the moon, there will not be any connecting flights at Dubai since it will be Ramadan 30th in Dubai, and we do not fly any flights on the 30th of the month because there is no guarantee of the 30th day in any month.”

6. Since you were desperate to travel, you leave on Ramadan 29th. When you reached Dubai, you find that you reached Dubai on Shawwal 2nd. You are shocked and demand an explanation. The agent explains, “Sir, the last month there was a mistake in the moon sighting. So the king adjusted the date. Please do not worry, the king paid the kaffara on everybody’s behalf.”

7. You managed to return to the USA. But your boss wants you to go to Dubai again for a business meeting. You say, “Gee, I will rather do a video teleconference.” You schedule a conference on Shawaal 25th at 11:00 GMT and invite Mr. Khalid from Dubai and Mr. Ali from India. On Shawaal 25th you start the conference and find nobody there. Well, you discover it is Shawaal 26th in Dubai and Shawaal 24th in India.

Is that the way, our Deen Islam requires us to live in the twenty-first century? Our Ulamaa' are still hooked up on naked eye sighting, and if it is cloudy complete 30 days. Our Ulamaa' have really made a mess of Hijri Calendar, and want to still live in dark ages.

Written by ZAHEER HUSSAIN

------------------------------------------

Where is the Hijri Calendar? Another Point of View

All of us know that 28th of June is only one day in a particular year. 1st of January too is only one day in a particular year. But the Muslims all over the world today believe that Ramadan 1st or Shawwal 1st of a particular year can be 3 or 4 days!!! Why Muslims do not understand that it cannot be the intent of Shari'ah. Allah (s.w.t) made moon for the calendar and a calendar has one date for one day.

The holy month of Ramadan began on Saturday. The Prophet (s.a.w.) ordered to see the moon and fast. Observe the moon every day and you can tell the day of the month. If the Muslims had obeyed the order and seen the moon they would not have begun fasting of Ramadan on three days Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

If we see the moon everyday we can see that the moon is not seen one day in every month. On all other days it is visible if there are no obstructions. The day on which the moon is not seen is the last day of the month. All of us know that the new month must begin on the next day. The moon was not visible on Friday in the end of Sha'ban.

Had anyone seen it on that Wednesday, May 28, 2014? It was the last day of Rajab, So, Sha'ban had begun on Thursday. We were seeing the moon everyday carefully because Rasoolullah was very particular about the moon of Sha'ban. See Hadith. We could see the moon for 29 days from Thursday to Thursday. We could not see it on Friday, June 27. Did anyone see it? It was the last day or 30th of Sha'ban. So, Ramadan had begun on Saturday, June 28, 2014. Many people had seen the moon like a thin crescent on that day. It was the First day of Ramadan. Please continue observation.

We can see the moon in different shapes till 28 days and sometimes 29 days. We can see the last one on 28th of Ramadan on Friday. We cannot see it on Saturday the 29th or last day of Ramadan. So, Sunday must be the First day of Shawwal.

It is urged that all Muslims obey the Prophet (s.a.w.) and watch the moon carefully, and show the Ummah as well as the world that Muslims have a calendar. As of now, we are proving to the world that our religion is deficinet and cannot handle the world affairs, becuase we don't have a calendar, and we are dependent on Gregorian calendar, which is a form of Nasi', (month more than 30 days and less than 29 days). Nasi' is called Kufr in Qur'an (Surah 9-Ayah 37). So, using a Gregorian calendar is not proper if Muslims have to run the affairs of the world.