Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

assalamoalaikum wa rehmatullah!

1} re the issue of moon sighting and ramadhan

!in england once again this year there was controversy and we ended up celebrating eid on 2 seperate days instead of just 1? what is the islamic viewpoint in regards to this. should the muslim council of britain`s judgment be enugh to determine start of ramadhan and commencement of eid? or different masajid`s in different parts of england {u.k.} should have their say in matters? 

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Answer:

Eid on separate days confusion

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 2334 Narrated by Ikrimah

Once the people doubted the appearance of the moon of Ramadan, and intended neither to offer the tarawih prayer nor to keep fast. A bedouin came from al-Harrah and testified that he had sighted the moon. He was brought to the Prophet (saws). He (saws) asked: ‘Do you testify that there is no god but Allah, and that I am the Messenger of Allah?’ He said: ‘Yes’; and he testified that he had sighted the moon. He (saws) commanded Bilal who announced to the people to offer the tarawih prayer and to keep fast.

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (saws) instructed: "Fast after you have seen it [the new crescent], and end the fast [at the end of the month] when you see it (the crescent). If it is hidden from you, then wait until the thirty days of Sha'ban have passed (to start fasting)."

Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 3.112

Different Locations

According to the majority of scholars, it does not matter if the new moon has been sighted in a different location. In other words, after the new moon is seen anywhere in the world, it becomes obligatory for all Muslims to begin fasting, as the Prophet (saws) said: "Fast due to its sighting and break the fast due to its sighting." This hadith is considered a general address directed to the whole Muslim Ummah - that is, "if any one of you sees the moon in any place, then that will be a sighting for all of the people."

According to 'Ikrimah, al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, Salim, Ishaq, the correct opinion among the Hanafiyyah, and the chosen opinion among the Shaf'iyyah, every "country" (or territory) is to take into consideration its own sighting and not necessarily to follow the sighting of others. This is based on what Kuraib said: "While I was in ash-Sham, the new moon of Ramadan appeared on Thursday night. I retumed to Madinah at the end of the month. There, Ibn 'Abbas asked me: 'When did you people see the new moon?' I said: 'We saw it on Thursday night.' He said: 'Did you see it yourself?' I said: 'Yes, the people saw it, and they fasted.' He said: 'But we saw it on Friday night. We will not stop fasting until we complete thirty days or until we see the new moon.' I said: 'Isn't the sighting and fasting (of the believers in Shaam) sufficient for you?' He said: 'No . . . This is the order of the Messenger of Allah (saws).' " This is related by Ahmad, Muslim, and at-Tirmidhi.

About the hadith, at-Tirmidhi says: "Scholars act in accordance with this hadith. Every land has its sighting." In Fath al-'Alam Sharh Bulugh al-Maram, it is stated: The [opinion] closest [to the truth] is that each land follows its sighting, as well as the areas that are connected to it."

Your Question: re the issue of moon sighting and ramadhan in england once again this year there was controversy and we ended up celebrating eid on 2 seperate days instead of just 1? what is the islamic viewpoint in regards to this.

Dear and Beloved Brother in Islam, it is indeed unfortunate that the broken and disunited Muslim Ummah today has no central leadership; and thus amongst other dissensions and differences in the Ummah, there remains a controversy every year regarding the sighting of the moon at the beginning and the end of Ramadan!

The Islamic viewpoint in this regard is very clear and very simple: if one believer bears witness to the sighting of the moon, it would suffice for the whole Ummah.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 2334 Narrated by Ikrimah

Once the people doubted the appearance of the moon of Ramadan, and intended neither to offer the tarawih prayer nor to keep fast. A bedouin came from al-Harrah and testified that he had sighted the moon. He was brought to the Prophet (saws). He (saws) asked: ‘Do you testify that there is no god but Allah, and that I am the Messenger of Allah?’ He said: ‘Yes’; and he testified that he had sighted the moon. He (saws) commanded Bilal who announced to the people to offer the tarawih prayer and to keep fast.

Your Question: should the muslim council of britain`s judgment be enugh to determine start of ramadhan and commencement of eid? or different masajid`s in different parts of england {u.k.} should have their say in matters?

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 59:

59 O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: that is best and most suitable for final determination.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 3694 Narrated by Al-Harith al-Ash'ari

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "I command you to do five things: to maintain the community, to listen, to obey, to emigrate, and to fight in Allah's Cause. He who secedes from the community as much as a span has cast off the tie of Islam from his neck unless he returns, and he who summons to what the pre-Islamic people believed belongs to the assemblies of Jahannam even if he fasts, prays, and asserts that he is a Muslim."

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 184 Narrated by Mu'adh ibn Jabal

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘Verily the Shaytaan is the enemy of a man just as the wolf is (the enemy) of a flock. He seizes the solitary sheep going astray from the flock. So avoid the branching paths; it is essential for you to remain along with the community.’

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 173 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘Verily the Ummah of Muhammad (saws), will not agree on error and the hand of Allah is upon the community; he who sets himself apart from the community, will be set apart in Hell Fire.’

The decision of when the month starts and ends is the duty and responsibility of the State, and in the absence of an Islamic State, such decisions becomes the responsibility of those who have been chosen as the authority regarding the concerns of the believing community.

If the belivers in Great Britain (or any country or community) have chosen, elected and recognized a ‘Muslim Council’, then their declaration that the crescent has been sighted would more than suffice for the believers to start or end the fasts.

It is the not the duty of individuals or individual mosques to decide these matters in their individual capacity, for such dissension causes nothing but ‘fitnah’ and discord within the believing community. If any individual or individual mosques, act in their individual capacity in opposition to the chosen, elected and recognized ‘Central’ council of the believers, it is they and those who follow them who will bear the burden of the ‘fitnah’.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan