![]() ![]() "But the problem would be that we'd receive news after midnight in the UK from Morocco, and we would not know if it was Ramadan or Eid the next day until it was too late or that the moon was not on our horizon," said Sacranie. ![]() "Until the 80s, the majority of Muslims would follow Morocco because Islamic law states that if you are unable to see the moon in your country, then you should follow the sighting of the closest Muslim nation," said Sacranie, who has a special interest in moon sighting. The decision for British Muslims to follow Saudi Arabia, Morocco or their country of origin instead of local moon sighting stems from the belief that poor British weather can make it impossible to see a new crescent, explained Iqbal Sacranie, founding secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). Moon sighters would be scattered across a country, with authorities urging the public to report any sighting of the new crescent.Īnd while Muslim-majority countries, like Egypt, Iran, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Turkey and Tunisia, rely on local moon sighters to spot the new crescent, many Muslims worldwide wait for Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, to make the call.īut many still do so, or choose to follow countries closer to home, such as Morocco, leading the community and even families to be in the awkward position of starting and ending Ramadan on different days. To sight the moon, Muslims would traditionally gather in an area to observe the sunset on the 29th day of the lunar month, then wait to see if the moon is visible at the point where the sun had set. If the new moon is not visible, the month lasts 30 days and begins the following day. Each lunar year consists of 12 months that last between 29 and 30 days, depending on the new moon's sighting on the 29th of each month. Muslims follow the lunar calendar, with Ramadan being the ninth month of the calendar. Like millions of Muslims around the world, Hall will be preparing to fast for the holy month of Ramadan this week by waiting for the announcement of the new crescent. Two years ago, I had a real internal battle to figure out when I am supposed to begin fasting and if I should follow moon sightings here in the UK or somewhere else," said Hall. ![]() Yet the question of when to start and end fasting, established by the sighting of the new crescent moon, came up again when her son's Quran teacher said he would be following Morocco's moon sighting instead of Saudi Arabia's. "I just followed my local mosque to be on the safe side." "I'd see one friend celebrating Eid on one day and another on a completely different day," recalls Hall, who has since returned to the UK. The politics of Hajj quotas: 'What would Allah say to this?' Read More » ![]()
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