Lunar months
Solar calendars are used to predict the regular pattern of the seasons when it is best to sow crops. Lunar calendars are used to predict the tides of the sea. Most societies have created calendars to try and synthesise the two, however they are impossible to harmonise. The moon, from which the English word month derives, is not constant in its orbit and completes its cycle between 29.2 days and 29.8 days; a lunar year lasts around 354 days and falls short, by approximately 11 days, of the solar calendar. Pre-Islamic Arabs used a relatively complex system using calculations and sighting so that they could plan solar festivals and control the length of sacred months for fighting purposes. There is unanimous agreement amongst Muslims that this form of manipulation is prohibited for religious months such as Ramadan and Hajj (it is of course permissible for non religious events); the Islamic religious calendar is purely lunar and determined by the sighting of the crescent moon in compliance with the Qur'anic injunctions:
{They ask you [Prophet] about crescent moons. Say, ‘They show the times appointed for people, and for the pilgrimage.’} [2:189]
{God decrees that there are twelve months- ordained in God’s Book on the Day when He created the heavens and earth- four months of which are sacred: this is the correct calculation.} [9:36]
{It is He who made the sun a shining radiance and the moon a light, determining phases for it so that you might know the number of years and how to calculate time.} [10:5]
Sighting the moon
The celestial bodies are natural signs, which synchronise our lives to the rhythm of God's universe, it is highly praiseworthy to look for the moon each month:
"The best of God's servants are those who watch the sun, moon, stars and shadows in order to remember God." (Hakim)
The month of Ramadan, as with all religious months, lasts either 29 or 30 days; it is specifically mentioned in a mass-transmitted (mutawatir) hadith that the crescent moon determines its start and finish:
"Observe the fast on sighting it (the new moon) and break (fast) on sighting it (the new moon), but if the sky is cloudy for you, then complete the number (of thirty)." (Muslim)
Witnesses
Scholars unanimously agree that it is acceptable to determine months by the testimony of another, it is not necessary to personally observe the crescent although it is a communal obligation that some in the community try to seek the crescent each month.
"Two bedouins came and witnessed before the Prophet (pbuh) swearing by God that they had sighted moon the previous evening. So the Messenger of God (pbuh) commanded the people to break the fast." (Abu Dawud)
Another report indicates one witness is sufficient (Abu Dawud), although there is no definitive stipulation for the number of witnesses from the texts. Some scholars said the narrations merely show permissiblity and so one is the minimum required; others doubted the authenticity of the latter narration and drew an analogy with other legal claims that two witnesses are required. Others synthesised the two reports and said one witness is required to commence fasting, but two are required to stop fasting because only this is like other legal claims since testifying may serve a claimant's self interests.
Local or Global fasts
The command of the Prophet (pbuh): "observe the fast on sighting it" (sumu li ru’yatihi) unequivocally states that Muslims are obligated to fast when the crescent is witnessed, but there is ambiguity as to whether it applies to a single community or to all Muslims collectively.
Some scholars argued that a sighting in one region is not incumbent on another since the sky is different in each region, just as the position of the sun for, say, 'asr (mid afternoon prayer) in one region does not obligate others thousands of miles away to also pray 'asr since the sun in their sky is not in the mid afternoon position. A narration from one of the companions would concur with this reasoning, he said: "The moon of Ramadan appeared while I was in Syria. We sighted the moon on the night of Friday. When I came to Median towards the end of the month (of Ramadan), Ibn 'Abbas asked me about the moon. He said: When did you sight the moon ? I said: I sighted it on the night of Friday. He asked: Did you sight it yourself ? I said: Yes, and the people sighted it. They fasted and Mu'awiyah also fasted. He said: But we sighted it on the night of saturday. Since then we have been fasting until we complete thirty days or we sight it. Then I said: Are the sighting of the moon by Mu'awiyah and his fasts not sufficient for us? He replied: No. The Messenger of God (pbuh) commanded us to do so." (Abu Dawud). Scholars differed as to what are classed as separate regions.
Others scholars disagreed and said it is religiously more precautionary to go with a global sighting since the generality of the Prophet's (pbuh) direct command to fast (sumu) implies all Muslims since there is no qualification and this as a form of evidence is more authoritative than the practice of a companion.
Calculations
Physical sighting of the moon is agreed as the method of starting and completing the months in the Islamic calendar since the sacred texts are unambiguous on this point. Some scholars allowed the use of astronomical calculations should the crescent be obscured on the 29th day. The reason scholars have allowed it is based on the narration:
"When you see the new moon, observe fast, and when you see it (again) then break it, and if the sky is cloudy for you, then calculate it (fa qduruu lahu)." (Muslim)
Most scholars interpreted the ambiguity of 'fa qduruu lahu' as meaning complete 30 days as implied in the hadith above; the detail of one clarifies the ambiguity of the other. However, a minority understood the hadiths were directed towards two different groups; calculate it to those skilled in astronomy and complete 30 to those that were not. Certainty is what starts and finishes the month, therefore if one has certainty that the moon could be sighted, even though it has not been seen, a calculation can be considered as equivalent. Calculations are never favoured over sighting, however, since the hadith are clear that calculations are conditional on there being an obstruction in the sky.
Concluding remarks
Muslims agree on a lunar calendar that starts and finishes with the physical sighting of the new moon. There is legitimate difference as to whether a sighting is valid globally or merely regionally. It is not peculiar to modern times for Muslims to fast and celebrate Eid on different days. Improved communication may exacerbate the problem as people may be confused as to why their community is not celebrating Eid when a different region on the TV is celebrating it. Muslims may benefit from agreeing a United Islamic Calendar (see moonsighting.com) to avoid confusion in our rapidly shrinking global village. God know best.
Example, Eid al Fitr 2015/1436
(maps care of moonsighting.com)
The moon was reliably sighted in Chile on Thursday sunset therefore many Muslims in the UK, using the opinion of global sightings, celebrated Eid from then through til Friday sunset - Islamic days lasting from sun down to sun down.
However, those that used regional sightings waited until the following sunset for the moon to be sighted in Morocco - the closest Muslims country on the same longitude and considered the same region - celebrating Eid from Friday sunset until Saturday sunset.
A small number of Muslims that rely purely on local sightings in their immediate location had to wait until Saturday sunset to be able to see the moon and so celebrated Eid from then until Sunday sunset. This group of Muslims would also have started fasting later than others due to their method of sighting the moon; a lunar month can never be less than 29 days or more than 30 days.
All of the above are completely valid methods of identifying the time in Islamic Law and so all should be recognised as such. Unity does not mean celebrating Eid on the same day, but accepting and respecting valid difference. Differences in Eid are common in the UK since there is no official Muslim organisation to favour one method over another, whereas in Morocco, for example, everyone celebrates Eid on the same day since the religious officials agree on a preferred method.
The only confusing, and invalid, position by some in the UK is to blindly follow Saudi Arabia. Saudi celebrated Eid from Thursday sunset until Friday sunset based on a witness in Saudi; this claim, as evident from the map, is impossible! There would be no harm for Saudi to declare Eid based on a sighting from South America, but they claimed a local sighting. Many Muslims in the UK watching TV - many tune in to Saudi since it contains the holy cites of Mekkah and Medinah - follow Saudi. Whilst, in principle, following Saudi is acceptable it is not acceptable to follow false claims. This is not the first year that Saudi officials have been wrong, they have consistently proven untrustworthy either deliberately or by mistake. Therefore, should the administration continue in its current form, Saudi should not be followed when in contradiction of Islamic Law. Perhaps Saudi have fallen into the error of previous nations and tried to sythesise a solar calendar with a lunar one, since they use an 'Islamic Calendar' for official business and not a Gregorian one like the rest of the World.
Further Reading
https://www.zaytuna.edu/download.php?f=sample_pages.pdf
