One of the murkier, computational and deleterious matters haunting the Muslim community all over the world every year is moon sighting for Eid. There are set committees in each country for moon sighting but they, though, remain hand in glove with each other. In the Indian subcontinent contentions between different committees end into unavoidable gestations keeping the masses at stakes. Whether Eid should be celebrated on a particular day or not becomes a horrible experience for all. The committees claim to be the representatives of the Muslim community. To gain media attention and publicity they cross the levels of hypocrisy and decree their nondescript fatwas on moon sighting with their remotest identities.

Such committees, though, fight with each other to over impose their decisions upon “other” creating an environment of chaos, and confusion that ultimately turns Eid into a nightmarish experience for the entire Muslim community.

The past experiences of Eid celebrations have been pathetic. Decrees of different committees advising Muslims to celebrate the festival on a said date and the others defying it through their own authentications on the non-appearance of the moon and that hence one should abstain to celebrate Eid, are the bitter experiences. The decisions whether Eid would be celebrated or not are taken in the late nights creates an atmosphere of severe confrontation and demeaning of opinion. Differences are seen amongst the families too where spouses go against each other as they celebrate Eid on different days in accordance with the firmament of each other’s “moon sighting guardians”. Hence deterrence in the institution of family and defying the ascent of this festival that unites all without any prejudice of race, sex, caste, language or place remain intact.

Moon sighting issue is, in fact, a non-issue. The need of the hour is Muslims should disagree with each moon sighting committees and look forward for a scientific method that is more accurate, objective and result oriented.

Why does Eid come every year with differences of opinion and unavoidable chaos? The smell of disagreement is seen in Muslim community in the last days of Ramdhan itself. Discussion go on, “let’s see what happens this year, what is being decided etc”, as the decree of a few committee members are monopolistic. This unending phenomenon has been seen in the past. Muslims are ready to face it in the future too. Such confrontations devour catastrophe landing the community into a catch22 situation. They have no clue whether to celebrate Eid on a said date or not and what would be the proposed consequences for disobeying the decrees of the self claimed committees.

This all happens due to lack of will power and leadership crisis in the community where crooks rule the roost to befool all. Few religious leaders have a say in the affairs of the community but they are not farsighted, neither are they desirous to accept the newfound progress. Instead they follow skepticism.

These leaders don’t unite the community but ghettoize its image for the sake of flourishing their own “business”. In the Indian subcontinent this situation is the worst. Here such communities are founded on the basis of erosion that divides the community in different sects echoing them for violent confrontation against each other. Can’t they understand the trauma of the Muslims who work in various offices, travelers, labourers etc. that manages both the ends by their untiring work pressure?

The worshippers sitting inside various mosques for Etakaaf (Special prayers) get disturbed because of the trauma that never ends while the leaders remain busy in finalizing the date to celebrate Eid. Since the last few years moon sighting committees of the Indian subcontinent hardly portray any religiousness in their approach towards the general Muslims, rather they overturn their counterparts to show off strength. The whole world, including moon sighting committee members, does acknowledge that science & technology has progressed tremendously in the present century. Scientists have reached the moon and investigated space. The scientists have sorted out various complications in this field. They have succeeded in tracking the movements of each planet as when and where they would be moving in future etc.

Moon sighting in the scientifically developed age has thus become a farce. Is it not possible to trace the moon? The scientists apply their efforts to study the planets. Can’t they do it for the moon? Because Muslims still believe in their antiques and most importantly rely on their dubious leaders instead of science, such confrontation overrules objectivity. The help from scientific methods to find out geographical and space movements besides tracing when and where Eid would be celebrated around the world seems feasible.

Islam as one of the youngest religions of the world agrees upon scientific developments. Most scientific evaluations are younger to science. When Islam dominated the world fourteen centuries ago very few scientific resources were available. In the early days there were no proper communication resources neither there was infrastructure unlike what we have today. Today’s world has turned unto a global village where each and every incident or happening reaches out to millions within a fraction of seconds due to development in science like satellites and other inventions.

If science can guess, in prior, the natural calamities, storms, tempests and tsunami and the like, then can’t it solve the complication of moon sighting? Ramadhan and Eid are meant to recollect all believers of Islam at one platform but moon sighting divides them because the committees representing “different thoughts” and sects always look for their stand at the top.

In the light of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) it is indicated that one should see the moon before celebrating Eid. Yet it is also told that one must apply modern resources (Read scientific researches) as a matter of prudence, in case there is mental growth. The prophet knew that the Arab of his time was not developed; he didn’t decree anything penurious to his followers but advised all that they should follow constructive sciences and modern developments in the matters of their faith.

Under the guidance of this insight the Fiqa Academy Council of North America decided that Ramadhan, Eid and Edul Azha be celebrated as per the attributes and movements of different planets in the universe instead of moon sighting, few years ago. Till then sighting the moon was the only means for Ramadhan and Eid. Various organizations and Muslim intelligentsia in the US accepted this decision wholeheartedly. India’s prominent Shia leader Maulana Kalb-e-Sadique tried to implement it in India but it was rejected at the instance. Interestingly, the Sunni Muslims of the US accepted the decision of Fiqa Academy Council of North America but Shias there rejected it straightway.

The Council had described the motive behind a uniform calendar as an outcome of the research in the space sciences. The academy zeroed upon the research and prepared a Unified Global Islamic Calendar (UGIC). To implement it this Council commenced an international meeting at Virginia on June 10, 2006. The representatives of various Islamic organizations, religious leaders, ulemas, intelligentsia, Imams of mosques and Muslim space scientists attended the meeting and agreed upon Unified Global Islamic Calendar in the religious affairs of Muslims. Once the meeting concluded, Council members remained in touch with each participating Muslim intellectual through teleconferencing to let the calendar be implemented universality.

After gaining huge support, the Council announced the dates of Ramadhan and Eid in August 16, 2006 as per UGIC. It could see the majority of the Muslim community of America agreeing upon its recommendations. Soon after gaining success in its attempt, the Council advised following aspects on worship.

• Moon sighting is not a prayer. It is rather a source to begin the prayers like Ramadhan, Eid etc.
• The Prophet had advised that moon sighting is nothing but a source to streamline prayers and accepted that he belonged to less educated atmosphere and augured that one should implement scientific developments as per their knowledge levels.

The Fiqa Academy Council of North America had following points in its decision to support their decision:

• There is no wrong in using measurement in zeroing Islamic dates.
• In the scientific age, we have state of the art technology that can be implied to decide the dates for Ramadhan and Eid.
• The Shariah has always favoured simplicity. It accepts whatever is better for the common men.
• Early decision of the dates and timing of Eid would help all to plan the festival hence saving one’s money and energy that is unnecessarily wasted due to undue confusion.
• This would help the American Muslims to unite themselves. They would also pressurize the US government to declare Islamic festivals as holidays.
• The Muslim community of America would be the pathfinder for Muslims around the world to prepare an International Islamic Calendar for them.

The decision seemed a better option for Muslims world over. But hallucinations continue each year over moon sighting. The intelligentsia and ulema should do a collective effort on this matter for an amicable understanding of the issue, which could help the masses to remain united with better spirits. If a solution is found out by the Muslim intelligentsia and implemented thereafter, everybody would be able to see the practicality of Islamic spirit depicting in Ramadhan and Eid.

The matter needs to be worked out prudently as vested ambitions aim at violating Islamic spirit that create unnecessary brouhaha encouraging discrepancies in the Muslim world that inspires the crooks to taunt and raise finger upon Islamic traditions.

Scholastic aptitude per se in the religious aspirations is a must. The community has always been critical to the innovations, though they have performed towering contributions for constructive innovations and inventions. When loudspeaker became a section of the community decreed that it was against the ethics of Islam to perform azaan on it. But soon it was accepted. Loudspeaker became boon and a need. When train was run in India, it was presumed by some Muslims that it was not permissible to perform farz namaaz inside the trains. Likewise when planes were introduced but soon all oposition vanished.

The community now faces a new kind of challenge in the form of moon sighting. The ulemas, intellectuals and space scientists should join hands and discuss the issue in camera to encourage discussions, seminars and symposia. Such attempts would help the community to have an agreeable grace to celebrate Eid in a refreshed zeal towards religiosity.

Author: Asif Anwar Alig & Abid Anwar
Source: Yunus – 10/10/07

Asif Anwar Alig was born in 1978 in India. I studied at Rauta high school in Bihar, & Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh in India. He poduced and directed programmes & documentaries for ETV. He is a regular contributor to several publications around the world and the editorial Coordinator of Vision --- the Journal of Business Perspective, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon.

Abid Anwar is a madrasa graduate but did not wish to join any madrasa as a teacher or serve any religious organization. He studied at Darul Uloom, Deoband & Jamia Urdu, Aligarh in India. He has published articles and commentaries in several Indian & International publications. He is associated with United News of India at Delhi and honorary editor of the bilingual quarterly magazine Shafa Times.