The International Astronomy Center has announced that sighting the crescent moon of Shawwal tomorrow, Monday, is impossible from all regions of the Islamic world due to the moon setting before the sun and because the conjunction occurs after sunset.
The center added that sighting the crescent on Tuesday is possible with the naked eye from many regions of the Islamic world, and therefore Wednesday, April 10, will be Eid al-Fitr.
It should be noted that many jurists and astronomers believe that there is no need to look for the crescent after sunset on Monday, because the moon is not present in the sky at that time, and therefore seeing the crescent is absolutely impossible on that day from those areas, and this is known in advance through definitive scientific calculations. One of the recommendations of the Second Astronomical Conference, which was attended by jurists and decision-makers from many Islamic countries, was the following: “If astronomy determines that the conjunction does not occur before sunset or that the moon sets before the sun on the twenty-ninth day of the month, then there is no need to search for the crescent.”
The jurists have agreed that there is no contradiction between this recommendation and the Sunnah of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, regarding searching for the crescent, as this recommendation only relates to cases in which we know in advance that the moon is not present in the sky based on conclusive data, and therefore searching for it while we are certain that it does not exist may seem like Marginalization of reason and science. Among the jurists who called for such a recommendation even before the conference was held was His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Muni’, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and an advisor to the Royal Court there, in addition to the fact that this recommendation is of course approved in some Islamic countries that rely on sighting the crescent as a basis for starting the month. Hijri.
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