Crescent International
True to their disruptive nature, the Bani Saud claimed that Ramadan moon was sighted in Saudi Arabia on the evening of February 17.
This has naturally created confusion in the Ummah.
There are two occasions in the Islamic lunar calendar that Muslims are anxious to observe together: the start and end of Ramadan (celebration of Eid al-Fitr).
The Saudi Beduoins have historically made false claims of moonsighting.
This year, they even brought out a telescope to try and convince gullible Muslims that they did sight the moon.
Here is the astronomical data that refutes the Saudi or anybody else’s claim about sighting the Ramadan moon tonight.
The Ramadan moon was born today (February 17) at 12:01 pm Universal time.
Muslims can calculate what this conforms to their local time.
For instance, 12:01 pm universal time is 7:01 am Toronto time.
In Saudi Arabia, it would be 2:01 pm (afternoon).
The birth of the moon is that point in the moon’s cycle around the earth when the two are perfectly aligned with the sun.
This is called conjunction.
In this phase, the moon is like a dark disk, completely invisible.
At least 18 hours or more must elapse before the moon moves away from this alignment and sufficient light from the earth’s surface is reflected to illuminate a tiny sliver of the moon’s surface.
This is what is referred to as the crescent.
At the time of sunset in Saudi Arabia today, the age of the moon was barely three-four hours.
It is impossible to sight a three-hour old moon, even with a telescope or any other instrument.
Besides, the moonset is at or before sunset.
An additional complicating factor this year is that there is a partial solar eclipse.
Scientists and astronomers are unanimous that the new moon cannot be sighted on February 17 evening anywhere in the world, except in the remote islands of the Pacific Ocean.
The time difference between those islands and the rest of the world is 16 to 17 hours.
So, practically, those islands have started a new day (February 18).
Based on this scientific information, that anyone can verify, the new moon will only become visible on Wednesday February 18.
Thus, the Saudi claim of moonsighting on the evening of February 17 is utterly false and deliberately mischievous.
While the Bani Saud are known to indulge in such mischief, the greater tragedy is that some Muslims follow Saudi claims and create divisions in communities across the globe.
Muslims have an obligation to verify such claims and understand the nature of the moon cycle so that they do not fall victim to false claims.
Ignorance is no excuse.
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