In the Name of Allaah…
A clear response by Moosaa Richardson to the blog, twitter, and facebook claims that the Saudi Government has done something to corrupt the Muslims’ month of Ramadan this year, 1434 (2013).
30 minutes of solid foundations to aid our brothers and sisters in understanding this pillar of our Religion according to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace), including:
- Islam is a perfect religion, one of ease that can be practiced by any human being, educated or uneducated.
- Part of that perfect religion is fasting begun by a moon sighting according to the Book of Allah.
- Starting a month is only done by a moon sighting or counting out 30 days according to the Sunnah.
- The disobedience of those who fast on the 30th of Sha’baan without a moon sighting (thinking to play it safe because of cloud coverage), and their INVALID fasting.
- The logical possibility of 28 days of fasting and how it has been dealt with throughout history.
- Making up a day of fasting (qadhaa’) does not indicate that anything wrong was done.
- The audacity of those who would accuse people who closely follow the orders of Allah and His Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) of causing corruption and ruining people’s fasting, etc.
- Ending the month of Ramadan spreading rumors and doubts is an indication of a failed month of worship (may Allah excuse us!)
Please spread it to help refute the many false rumors being circulated, may Allah reward you!
Jazakallah khair for this clear and concise explanation especially regarding how it is possible for the fast to be 28 days plus one make-up day. I still have one question which remains unclear: why did the Supreme Council in Saudi Arabia order the sighting to take place after 28 days this year? I can think of three possibilities and perhaps you would be kind enough to explain or refute them to lay to rest my remaining doubts.
Possibility 1 is that it is usual for moon sighting to be ordered after 28 days in Saudi Arabia when the first day of the fast has occurred after completing 30 days of Sha’ban due to lack of visibility of the moon (in which case one wonders if the usual troublemakers and misguided individuals in the Saudi press are purposely making an issue out of something which is perfectly usual). [This is correct. -Moosaa]
[Other possibilities deleted by admin]
Thank you once again for your hard work and efforts on behalf of English speaking Salafis especially in issues where the masses have been misguided such as your exposition of Yusuf Estes (may Allah guide him) and issues in which the Muslims make light such as the Harry Potter books and films. It is genuinely appreciated.
It is normal to be cautious anytime Sha’baan is a full 30 days, even moreso if it was overcast on the 30th and the previous month was 30 days, which would mean Sha’baan was expected to be 29 (but no crescent was visible). And Allaah knows best.
May Allaah accept from all of us!
Assalaamu aleikum,
Just wanted some clarification.
Do we or do we not need to make up a day of fasting this year (1434)?
Isn’t today the 29th of Ramadan (starting from last night), which means that we do NOT need to make up a day?
Lastly is eid al fitr actually 3 days long or is that a baseless claim?
Jazakum Allahu Khairan
wa ‘alaykas-salaam. We do not need to make up a day since Ramadhan is (at least) 29 days. And ‘Eed al-Fitr is one day, not three.
Jazakallah Khair for this excellent clarification. I’m residing in Jeddah and I received calls from the states Wed night our time after Maghrib stating they read such and such on Fatwa on line regarding the end of Ramadhan this was before it was announced here in our Masjid after Isha salaat. As long as some Muslim’s go out and look for i,t Am I exemp from going out to lookt? and why have many of our brothers The (Salafi’s) in the US not going out to look for it? I was under the understanding that this is what is most correct instead of waiting on the KSA’s siting although this opinion has daleel.
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakathuhu,Jazakallahu khairan for this excellent clarification,which silenced many critics.I need a clarification,could I get your permission to copy it on CD’s for circulation?
السلام عليكم
Please give some advise of common innovations that are done in Ramdan and how we are do avoid it.
Jazaakum Allahu Khairan
Respected Ustaadh.
You mentioned,
“The disobedience of those who fast on the 30th of Sha’baan without a moon sighting, and their INVALID fasting.”
Is it correct to frame this as, “The disobedience of those who fast on the 30th of Sha’baan without a moon sighting due to the presence of cloud cover and their INVALID fasting.” for better clarity instead?
Indeed I believe it is! Jazaak Allaahu khayran
Assalaam Alaikum Brother Moosa, I have read fatwa of Sheikh Albani and listened to the fatwa of Sheikh Uthaimin (rahimahumullah) and also from other scholars with regard to the unity and obeying the muslim ruler when beginning fast with the muslim body. My question is if the muslim authority ‘solely’ depends on astronimical calculations and the day of beginning of fast differ from Saudi Arabia even then do we have to unite and fast and follow our muslim ruler in this aspect. May Allah reward you.
As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,
Are we to apply this to all the months that complete thirty days? Should we be looking out for the new moon on the 28th in case there was an error and make the adjustment, or does this apply solely to Shaban/Ramadan?
This is new knowledge for me, as I have always thought that once a decision was made regarding the new month, one was kind of “stuck” with it.
JazakAllahu khairan in advance for the clarification.
Wa ‘alaykum as-salaamu wa rahmatullaah. You must understand that if -hypothetically speaking- you had two or three months in a row and it was very cloudy at the end of every month, so each month was counted as 30 days, then it is very likely that there will be a 28 day month afterwards. It is very rare, but it has happened!
Why are the astrononimcal committee or those who do the sighting not named publicaly (even if they may be considered trustworthy by some scholars) , since they are on top of the chain of narration and doing the crucial job of sighting and so must be widely known for their integrity and uprightness ?
(please refer https://www.bakkah.net/en/unnamed-reliable-thiqah-rabee-madkhalee.htm)
Witnesses in a court issue need to be known to the judge who makes the decision, and narrators of a report need to be known to all people who would accept or reject that chain of transmission. So it is based on the need. Once an appointed judge has determined a ruling, the people accept that from the judge without reviewing his process of determination. That would create chaos in a society, where every person would be reviewing the judge’s process of deliberation, perhaps re-evaluating the witnesses, perhaps disqualifying them and over-ruling his decision, etc.
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Is moonssighting affirmed by usage of telescopes valid ? since telescopes are only used when the moon is unable to be spotted and be affirmed using the naked eye.
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته
The scholars allow lenses which magnify the view, considering that part of the ru’yah (visual sighting using eyes) of a human being. And Allah knows best.