Islamic Thoughts

• ANALYSES
• 1 Behavior code of Muslims toward non-Muslims
• 2 September 11 (2001) attacks on America not compatible with Islam
• 3 Ways To Defuse Religious Tensions
• 4 The Value Of The Ten Commandments
• 5 Bright Spot Of The Us Constitution: Religious Freedom
• 6 Lessons from the prophet's hudaibiah treaty.
• 7 Rulers' roles in promotion of christianity.
• 8 Exploring a model definition of 'religion'
• 9 Where islam stands as a civilized religion?
• 10 Proving god's existence through experimental science.
• 11 Roles of man as necessary & God as sufficient condition.
• 12 Human kindness is a shadow of god's kindness.
• 13 Why islam is the best choice for the Africans?
• 14 In Old Age, All Roads Lead To Death.
• 15 No Creations Are Without Purposes & Uses.
• 16 Prayer Prevents People From Bad Actions.
• 17 When Haram May Be Excusable: Five-Step Conditions.
• 18 Islamization Of Some Un-Islamic Cultures.
• 19 Greater The Faith, Tougher The Test.
• 20 How Science Can Make A Difference For Muslims?
• 21 The Time Gap Reality Between Sin & Punishment.
• 22 Good & Bad Days Alternate In Cyclic Order.
• 23 Let Moon-Sighting Unite & Not Divide The Muslims.
• 24 Faith Crisis Among Some Intellectuals.
• 25 Islamic Policy Toward Animals.
• 26 Improving The Muslim Performance (Aamal) Standard.
• ARGUMENTS
• 27 How Middle Course Better Than Conservative And Liberal Extremes?
• 28 Why God Is The Best One To Be Worshipped?
• 29 Costs And Benefits Of Belief In The Afterlife
• 30 Bible Is Similar To Hadith But Different From Quran
• 31 Defaming Islam: Freedom Of Speech Or Violation Of Rights?
• 32 How Islam Compares With Democracy?
• 33 Who Is Responsible For '0' Small Pox Since 1980?
• 34 Timeliness Is The Leading Condition For Prayer.
• 35 Ten Arguments For Women's Education.
• 36 Why Physical Fitness Matters For The Muslims?
• 37 Homosexuality Vs Adultery: Which Is Worse And How?
• 38 Countering Abortionist Argument
• 39 Which Is Better: Open Or Secret Prayer?
• 40 Small Or Large Recitation: Which Is Better In Prayer?
• 41 Personal Or Social Suffering: Which Is More Painful & Why?
• 42 Cultural Slavery Vs Cultural Diffusion.
• 43 Why Should America Ban Religious Defamation?
• ASSORTMENTS
• 44 Visible Action Of Invisible God: From Author's Diary.
• 45 Optional Good Deeds Are Like Bodyguards For Compulsory Ones.
• 46 The Gravitation Law Of Performance (Not One Of Newton).
• 47 The Theory Of Relativity (Not That Of Einstein).
• 48 In Good Deeds
• 49 "Rob Peter to pay Paul" is not for islam
• 50 Muslims Cannot Be "Penny Wise And Pound Foolish".
• 51 Islam Endorses Salad Bowl & Not Melting Pot Theory.
• 52 100% Homosexuality Means Prospect Of 'O' World Population.
• 53 Sinning In Teens To 40's & Suffering From 50's To Death.
• 54 Revenge May Be Lower But Not Greater Than Harm.
• 55 Why Karl Marx Is Irrelevant Forever?
• 56 Is God The Same One For All Religions?
• 57 How God Controls Economy And Livelihood?
• 58 How Muslim Repression In Myanmar Violates Buddhist Principles?
• MISCELLANEOUS
• 59 Grim Reality of Death: Unfailing Lesson for Everyone
• 60 Religion Vs Reason: Which is More Important?

23 : LET MOON-SIGHTING UNITE RATHER THAN DIVIDE THE MUSLIM SOCIETY

Islam follows lunar calendar and uses the moon as a useful tool in the measurement of time. The fasting, one of the 5 pillars of Islam, begins with first sighting of moon in the month of Ramadan. Past this month, sighting of the first moon marks the beginning of the month of Shawal which holds Eid-ul-Fitr (one of 2 most important festivals in the Islamic calendar) on the first day. Likewise, another festival Eid-ul-Azha takes place on the 10th day of the month of ZilHajj that counts from sighting of the first moon. If the Muslims exactly follow the rules of Shariah governing moon-sighting, then they can overcome any possible confusion in finding a uniform date for these rituals and festivals and thereby moon-sighting can promote the cause of Muslim unity.

However, in practical reality, moon-sighting does not always play its unifying role as expected above. Particularly, in many Muslim-minority nations where there is no moon-sighting committee or such committee is not influential over local Muslims, moon-sighting becomes a divisive force. Then the Muslims become divided, with different groups observing Eid on different dates or the beginning and ending days of fasting are not simultaneous for all of them. Principally, two types of factors can explain this:

(i) Self-interest: There are times when some opportunist Muslims choose a convenient day whenever possible for performing their Eid. For example, if they have weekly holiday on Friday and their actual single-dated Eid-ul-Fitr borders on it (say Thursday or Saturday), they irreligiously perform this festival on Friday so that they do not have to take the day off. In another instance, there are some less observant Muslims who prefer the funs of Eidday to sacrifices of fasting and therefore wrongly decide to cut the Ramadan month short by one day by observing Eid one day ahead. Turning religious obligations into personal advantage as shown in above instances is anything but Islam.

(ii) Lack of Knowledge: Sometimes religious enthusiasts living in other parts of the world blindly follow the lead of Saudi Arabia observing fasting or Eid on the same day. Nothing can be farther from truth than this. The following simple argument will knock down the foundation of this practice. When the Muslims in Arabian peninsula perform Isha (nighttime) prayer, it is time for the Muslims in America to perform Zuhr (afternoon) prayer. If American Muslims perform Isha prayer during Zuhr time in a show of unity with their Islamic holy place, will it be a right thing to do? Certainly not.

The rules of Sharia surrounding moon-sighting do not seem to be deficient in adequacy or clarity. If these are understood properly and applied sincerely, there will be hardly any reasons for the Muslims to be divided over moon-sighting such as different groups in the same locality observe fasting or Eid on different days. It will be relevant to represent some key points in this regard. In a locality, state or other geographical area, as the Islamic tradition suggests, if a minimum of 2 reliable Muslims can witness a baby moon around sunset, all Muslims in that area should invariably observe Eid-ul-Fitr or begin Ramadan fasting the following day. Similarly, as determined by moon-sighting, the Eid-ul-Azha will be observed on the 10th, 11th or 12th day of Zilhajj month.

There is no other choice or deviation from above principles. If cloud stands in the way of moon-sighting in a particular locality, then you need to consider moon-sighting in a wider jurisdiction. For example, in case of cloudy sky in New York, moon-sighting in any nearby states will be a decisive factor. But without any traces of moon-sighting in any area of USA, you cannot observe fasting or Eid prematurely to suit your self-interest or for matching with Saudi Arabia which has a huge time difference (covering a good part of the day) with USA.