السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
It’s Monday 20th July 2020. My chosen topic today is ‘Reviving The Sunnah of Moon Sighting’.
Muslims have been in the UK now for over 60 years, in growing communities. In this time, we have always relied on Moon Sighting information from abroad. Whenever anyone makes a mention of trying to sight the moon here in the UK, the common answer is ‘It cannot be seen due to the weather conditions, etc.’
That might have been the case in the early days, when we did not have enough Muslims covering the country, and not enough technology to be able to communicate with one another if we had seen the moon quickly. There was no internet, and very few people had the knowledge of how, where and what time the moon should be sighted.
Each Islamic month is determined by the sighting of the moon. Trying to sight the moon and making an effort every month is a Sunnah. Unfortunately, this particular Sunnah is very rarely practised upon here in the UK, particularly with the old myth, that the moon is not visible in the UK so we have to look abroad.
However, in today’s fast moving world, things have become much easier, and are rapidly changing. It is very pleasing to report that there are a number of groups up and down the country which coordinate Moon Sighting visits on the 29th of each Islamic month. The 29th date is based mainly on sighting in the UK only.
Today (Monday) is the 29th of Ẓūl Qā’dah according to our Central Moon Sighting Committee (CMSC). Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the 29th according to UK, and also Morocco, sighting. Hence, it is an ideal opportunity to go Moon Sighting tomorrow, اِنْ شَاءَ الَّلهُ.
To link up with your local contact, please go to the New Crescent Society Facebook page, send them a direct message, and they will put you in touch with a local group, اِنْ شَاءَ الَّلهُ.
I make a humble request to all, to use their best efforts to revive this great Sunnah of Moon Sighting at the end of every month اِنْ شَاءَ الَّلهُ. If we get hundreds of locations in the UK, with hundreds of people going Moon Sighting every month, we will not need to rely on sighting news from abroad. The dream of having a local calendar in the UK, based on Moon Sighting for the UK, and uniting the whole Muslim community in the UK will become a reality, اِنْ شَاءَ الَّلهُ.
Almighty Allāh unite all the Muslims of the UK on the Moon Sighting issue, Āmeen.
جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا
Request for Du’ās
وَالسَّلَامُ Hanif Dudhwala