Thread by @ClassicalMuslim

MOONSIGHTING & EID THREAD

For anyone interested in the endless debates about local moonsighting please read Imam an-Nawawi's commentary on the relevant hadith in Sahih Muslim (translation by my Sheikh's student). It makes clear the necessity for LOCAL moonsighting.

I've been fighting this battle for the 14 years I've been a Muslim & at last some mosques in the UK (where I am) are adopting it. To the naysayers still not convinced after reading the text, pls consider:

1. If we don't pray dhuhr when Saudi do, why begin Ramadan when they do?

2. How did Muslims before mass communication (only really in the last 60 years of our 1400 year history) know which month it was unless they had a local calendar? It's not just for Ramadan. Every civil society needs a calendar (sighting every a month) in order to organise itself.

3. Since a universal lunar calendar is impossible (the moon rises globally at different times) why follow Saudi specifically? The moon rises in S. America first. Also, why do the hadiths say Mecca & Medina had different calendars (1-2 days apart)? Medinans didn't follow Meccans.

It's tragic if we only know the paganised solar calendar even though Allah explicitly told us that He created the moon "so that you might know the number of years and how to calculate time". [10:5] It has a cosmic, sacred purpose. I don't think we should treat that lightly.

Please all of you do try to keep a local calendar. Memorise the Islamic months and know your temporal coordinates as Allah intended inshallah!

PS: if you know any converts please invite them to your place for Eid. This can be an isolating time some. Trust me. I know. Wassalam.