22/06/2023
WHY LOCAL MOON SIGHTING IS SIGNIFICANT IN ISLAM
*Firstly - Allah promises by the moon*
"..Verily by the Moon." (74:32)
*Secondly - They mark our months"*
1. "They ask you about new crescent moons, say they are to mark fixed times for mankind AND Hajj." (2:189)
"The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year) so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred; that is the straight usage.......Verily the transposing (of a prohibited month) is an addition to unbelief: the unbelievers are led to wrong thereby: for they make it lawful one year and forbidden another year in order to adjust the number of months forbidden by Allah and make such forbidden ones lawful. The evil of their course seems pleasing to them. But Allah guideth not those who reject faith." (9:36-37)
*Third - Moon is for the Months and Sun is for your salaah times*
"And He who made the night for rest and sun and moon for reckoning of time. This is the decree of the Exalted, the All-knowing." (6:96)
*Fourth - the Prophet commanded local moon sighting*
Kurayb repoted: I came to Syria and tended to my needs. The crescent of Ramadan appeared over me while I was in Syria and I saw it on Friday, then I came to Medina at the end of the month. Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, asked me about it and I mentioned the crescent. Ibn Abbas said, “When did you see it?” I said, “We saw it on Friday night.” Ibn Abbas said, “You saw it?” I said, “Yes, people saw it and they fasted, as did Mu’awiyah.” Ibn Abbas said, “But we saw it on Saturday night, so we will continue fasting until we complete thirty days or we see it.” I said, “Is it not enough that Mu’awiyah saw it and he fasted?” Ibn Abbas said, “No, such was the command of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1087
*Fourth - The pious predecessors said to follow local moon sighting*
Al-Tirmidhi said, “The people of knowledge act upon this tradition, that the people of every land have their own moon sighting.” Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 693
Umar (RA) said to the residents of the mountains to follow their own moon sighting, even if it differs from other regions [Ghareeb al-Hadith, Imam Abu Suleiman al-Khattabi, Vol. 2/P.103, Umm al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia]
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: {فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِسُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ الْمَهْدِيينَ}, “Follow my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Khulafa ar-Rashideen” (AbuDawud, Book 42/Hadith 12)
If Umar ra told people to follow local then the righteous generation did not do a united global moon sighting.
*What are the flaws of a Global Moonsighting/Saudi/Morocco moon sighting?*
"And He who made the night for rest and sun and moon for reckoning of time. This is the decree of the Exalted, the All-knowing." (6:96) - If we follow Saudis moon then why don't we follow Saudis sun for our daily prayers? How can the ummah change their months based on a first sighting when Allah mentions sun and moon in the same context of Month, night and day?
When Allah mentions the month, day and night. He is speaking about a location where people can see this and act upon it. So following a saudi or global moonsighting is not only against the Sunnah but against Allah's commands.
*Misconceptions by people who follow the majority argument:*
"And if you obey most of those on earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah’s path. They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but lie." [Surah Al-An’aam, ayah 116]
And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly. [Surah Yoosuf, ayah 103]
*PROBLEMS OF FOLLOW SAUDI/MOROCCO*
In Ramadaan -
A. You Start on the wrong day and don't get the same reward or blessing as a fast in Ramadan.
B. You may do Eid a day early and be MISSING a fast which is a
MAJOR SIN and requires Kaffarah.
C. Your Laylatul Qadr Odd Nights are on the wrong days so you may spend more time in Ibadah on the wrong odd nights.
D. Your Eid Salah is on the wrong day and thus you are sinful.
E. You miss the true day of Eid and do NOT benefit from its blessing.
Eid Ul Adha -
1. Yawmul Arafat (ashura) is on the wrong day so your fasts are not of a high reward and the fast will not expiate the sins of the past and upcoming year.
Abu Qatadah reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about fasting the day of Arafat and he said, “It will expiate the sins of the previous and upcoming years.” [Saḥīḥ Muslim 1162]
2. Your sacrifice is done on the incorrect day and thus your rewards are again less and are not Sunnah.
Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet said, “Whoever slaughtered the sacrifice before the prayer, he just slaughtered it for himself, and whoever slaughtered it after the prayer, he slaughtered it at the right time and followed the tradition of the Muslims.” (Bukhari, 68/454)
3. You will need to sacrifice your Qurbani again as per the below hadith.
Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet said on the day of Nahr, “Whoever has slaughtered his sacrifice before the prayer, should repeat it (slaughter another sacrifice).” (Bukhari, 68)
4. Your Eid is on the wrong day so your Eid Salaah may not be accepted and you won't benefit from its blessing.
I heard (a sahabah) him reciting the verse in Surat al-Tawbah, “They have taken their priests and rabbis as lords besides Allah.” (9:31) The Prophet said, “As for them, they did not worship them, but rather when they made something lawful for them, they considered it lawful (e.g.global moon sighting). When they made something unlawful for them, they considered it unlawful.”
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 3095
*How does this impact people afflicted with possession/magic or evil eye?*
Disobeying Allah will decrease your protection.
*Are there any organisations that follow local sighting?*
Yes, New Crescent Society have spotted the moon consistently across the UK for over 6 years.
https://www.facebook.com/newcrescentsociety/
Take a stand! Be firm on the truth IF you are true believers!....Allah will not change the condition of the people until we change ourselves..
New Crescent Society celebrates the relationship between Islam, Astronomy and faith.
