Ramadan Olympics

Every year, people gather to decide on the beginning of the holy month, while a bunch of Arab and Islamic countries have declared tomorrow (Saturday, the 23rd) the first month of Ramadan, others (Jordan included) Declared Sunday as the first day of Ramadan. Adding to the already torn situation of Arab and Islamic nations

Islamically speaking, the month is declared if ONE Muslim testifies that he has seen the crescent moon (sign of a new lunar month) [The Hijri (or arabic) Calendar follows lunar months instead of solar months]

Now since the rule clearly says that if at least ONE person, has seen it. And testifies to that, then all Muslims should follow

In the old days, before the invention of Phones, Faxes, Internet and satellite communications. Every local had to stick to their local sitings (it would take days or months before getting a confirmation from somewhere else, rendering that impossible)

However, nowadays, there is NO REASON what so ever for the Islamic world to be divided over the sightings. So What if a Muslim in Pakistan saw it, the whole Islamic world should take that and consider the matter over with.

And then comes the countries and to prove their "protest" against some nation or another they decide to start the first day as they so please! Using the "no local sighting" as an excuse!

When it comes to the US, ISNA (The Islamic Society of North America) makes the decision while local mosques still control their own decision out of fellowship with their respective countries. ISNA has always been divided on the start and end of Ramadan, until they adopted the Astronomical calculations method (also adopted by Turkey and recently this year Libya, which fasted 2 days after the rest of the Islamic world a year ago)

The Fiqh Council of North America is an independent body, comprised of qualified Islamic scholars in North America. The Council communicates with experts and consultants to meet expected needs for rulings and advice in various areas of Islamic life in North America.

ISNA�s Majlis Ash-Shura, the highest policy making body of ISNA, has resolved to follow the Fiqh Council�s position on the issue of determining the beginning of the Islamic lunar months for North America.

According to the calculation criteria for determining the Islamic Lunar dates adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America, following are the dates for Ramadan and Eidul Fitr for the year 1427.
Ramadan 1427 - First day of Fasting September 23, 2006
Eidul Fitr 1427 - First day of Shawwal October 23, 2006

--source: http://isna.net/

All of that is fine until it comes to the time when ISNA goes in direct contradiction to Saudi and the rest of the Islamic world (because astronomically, ISNA comes last in the world, so all sightings would have been confirmed BEFORE it's night in North America)

ISNA Guru's would start protesting that it's an Astronomical impossibility to view the moon in those countries, while no one pays attention to anything they say, because, well if the majority of the Islamic world is one way, you can't have ISNA go the other way.

And therefore I suggest the following:

• Ramadan is to be declared by Mecca (or by the time it's night in Mecca), based on sightings from all over the world (but most accurately, areas that have been covered by darkness at the time, in other words, nations to the east of Mecca)
• Once a sighting is confirmed, Mecca announces the beginning/end of Ramadan or any other Lunar month (as ThulHijja).
• No other sightings are considered EVEN if confirmed (because the lunar calendar will go out of sync)
• People will fast and have the Eid on the same solar calendar day.
• Mecca may chose to use astronomical calculations OR actual confirmed sightings (because even though calculations are 100% accurate, they don't take into account natural phenomena like reflection, where the moon WOULD BE SEEN by reflection in the upper atmosphere in a phenomena similar to desert mirage)
• All the rest of the Muslim and Arab world will follow the ruling (You don't want people in Australia (far east) to start fasting one day late because by the time it was confirmed (in north America for example) it was already day for them

In the end I would like to say:

كل عام و انتم بخير و عساكم من عوادة







Ramadan Mubarak