Shaykh A#mad Sh#kir and the Adoption of a Scientifically-Based Lunar Calendar

Ebrahim Moosa

Islamic Law and Society, Vol. 5, No. 1. (1998), pp. 57-89.

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 SHAYKH AHMAD SHAKIR AND THE ADOPTION OF A

SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR*

EBRAHIM MOOSA
(University of Cape Town)

Abstract
The computation of the Muslim lunar calendar has been a subject of controversy for
centuries. In the twentieth century, the debate surfaced again in different parts of the
Muslim world. In Egypt, the distinguished jurist Ahmad S h a added his voice to
the debate by writing a short treatise or riscila in which he argued that a calendar
based on crescent sighting should be abandoned in favour of one based on scientific
and astronomical computation. After providing some background information on
Shlkir and the lunar debate in Egypt and elsewhere in the Muslim world, I present
an annotated translation of S h a ' s treatise.

Introduction
Biography

A H M A D MUIjAMMAD SHAKIR (1309-137711892-1958) was born in

Cairo in the family of Abi 'Ulyii', descendants of Husayn b. 'Ali b. Abi
Tiilib (d. 611680). Scion of a family of distinguished scholars, he
became renowned as a muhaddith (specialist in prophetic reports),
mufassir (commentator on the Qur'iin), faqih (jurist) and adib (man of
letters).' His father, Muhammad Shdcir b. &mad (d, 1358/1939),2
was a well-known jurist and scholar, as was his maternal grandfather
al-Shaykh H&n 'Abd al-Rkiq (d. 133611918). Ahmad and his bro-
thers studied tafsir (Qur'iin exegesis), a@dith (traditions), fiqh (positive
law), uszil al-fiqh (legal theory) and mantiq (logic) with their father.
Alynad acknowledged that his father was a formative influence on his
intellectual development.3 When his father was appointed Chief Justice
* I would like to thank Professor David S. Powers for his kind assistance in
preparing this essay, as well as the Executive Editors of Islamic Law and Society
and three outside readers for their helpful suggestions. TlhH Karln, S f i j Hendricks
and AbB Bakr Fakir deserve special thanks for giving me access to their books.
'Umar Rid2 KahhHla, Mu'jam al-Mu'allifm (Beirut: Drir Ihyl' al-Turlth al-
'Arabi, n.d.), vol. 13, 368. See also E I ~ s.v.
, ShHkir.
Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli, al-A'lam (8th ed., Drir al-'Ilm li'l-Mallyin, 1989),
156-57. Also see Muhammad ShWr, al-Qawl al-jaslfi tarjama al-Qur'rin al-karim
ilri al-lughrit al-a'jamiyya (Cairo: Matba'at al-Nahda, 134311925).
Ahmad ShHkir, Tarjama al-Shaykh Muhammad Shakir Wakil al-Azhar

O Brill, Leiden, 1998 Islamic Law and Society 5,l

58 EBRAHIM MOOSA

(qddi al-quddt) of the sharica courts in the Sudan in March 1900,

young &mad accompanied him to Khartoum, where he attended
Gordon College for at least two years, being among the first class of
pupils to be admitted to the school at its inception in 1902.4 It was at
Gordon College that Alpad Sh* was exposed to aspects of modem
scientific and technical education, including elementary science. When
his father was later posted to Alexandria as superintendent of al-
Machad al-Dini (the religious institute), A l p a d accompanied him to
that city, where his education was exclusively in the Islamic disciplines
in preparation for admission to al-Azhar.
From an early age Alpad demonstrated a predilection for hadith
studies. An index of his commitment to this discipline is his continuous
study of the Musnad of A l p a d Ibn Hanbal from 1911 until 1943,
when he published an edition of the first few volumes of the text.5 His
biographers claim that few persons rivaled his pioneering (imdma)
stature in hadith studies in the middle of the twentieth centu~y.~One of
his many teachers, Shaykh Malpniid Abii Daqiqa of Alexandria, left
an indelible impression on the young &mad, inspiring him to take an
interest in the disciplines of fiqh and usiil al-fiqh "until he attained
mastery in it."7
In April of 1909 his father's appointment as deputy rector (wakil)
of al-Azhar coincided with Ahmad's admission to that celebrated
Egyptian institution of traditional Islamic learning at the age of
eighteen. Returning to Cairo marked another important step in his intel-
lectual career, for the move gave him access to the leading religious
scholars and experts of his time. Among his peers were personalities
such as Muhammad b. al-Amin al-Shanqiti; the Moroccan hadith
Sribiqan (Cairo: DHr al-Ma'Hrif, 1953); also see Mahmgd Muhammad Shrikir,
"Ahmad Muhammad Shrikir ImHm al-Muhaddithin," foreword in Thalatha Kutub
'ani'l-Musnad li'l-Imcim Ahmad b. Hanbal, ed. Ahmad Muhammad ShHku (Cairo:
Maktabat al-Sunna, 140111990), 5.
According to Sir Harold Macmichael, The Sudan (London: Ernest Benn
Limited, 1954), 85, 120-21, Gordon College opened in November 1902 as a
primary technical school and in 1913 it provided a general secondary course and
also offered training for qHdis. (My thanks to Shamiel Jeppie for directing me to
this source.)
Mahmiid Muhammad S h u , "Ahmad ShHkir," 5; UsHma Ahmad Shrikir,
"Al-Shaykh Ahmad Muhammad Shikir: 'Alam min aCl8mal-'asr," in Hukm al-
Jrihiliyya (Cairo: Maktabat al-Sunna, 141211992), 6. Some six volumes of al-
Musnad of Ahmad b. Hanbal were edited by Ahmad Shikir and published in
136511946. A twenty volume edition of al-Musnad, of which eight volumes were
edited by Ahmad ShHkir and the remainder by Hamza Ahmad al-Zayn, was
published in 141611995 by D&r al-Hadith in Cairo.
Mahmiid Sh&ir, "Ahmad Sh&ir," 6.
' Mamiid S h a r , "Ahmad ShHkir," 5.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASEDLUNAR CALENDAR 59

scholar 'Abd A l l h b. Idris al-SanGsi; Sh&r al-'Iriiqi; the peripatetic

Syrian Salafi scholar T h i r b. Siilih b. &mad, fondly known as "T2hir
al-Ja~ii'iri;"~ and, the reformist scholar Muhammad Rashid Ridk9
Most of his teachers gave him an authorization (ijdza) to teach kdith.
In 1917 he took the '8limiyya degree, a qualification in Islamic law and
the religious sciences, from al-Azhar. After four months as a secondary
school teacher in M h i r , he was appointed as judicial functionary
(muwazzaf qadci'i) in the shari'a courts. Appointment as a judge (qadi)
to the shari'a courts followed soon thereafter, and he rapidly pro-
gressed to become deputy chief justice and then, finally, chief justice of
the Shari'a High Court (raJis al-mahkama al-'ulyd al-sharciyya) of
Egypt, a position he held at the time of his retirement in 1951.

Intellectual orientation
&mad Sh&r's scholarly work involved one of the most challenging
and perhaps least appreciated tasks in scholarship, that of editing and
publishing manuscripts dealing with hadith,fiqh and adab. He was the
proverbial scholars' scholar, preparing detailed annotations, identifying
sources and citations, and generating indices.10 Having specialized in
the skills of a hadith scholar as well as a judge-cum-jurist (qcidi-faqih),
Sh&r put forward fresh traditionalist (Salafi interpretations of issues
confronting Egyptian society in the first half of the twentieth century.
Alpad Sh* was not committed to a particular legal school within
Islamic law. In Ab@thfi Ahkrim (Studies on Legal Rulings) he said:
You will find that others have opposed me on some views. Yet, I do not
see any harm in mentioning and commenting on their views in order to
clarify my own standpoint in pursuit of the truth, not out of a passion
for polemics....But just as I respect the views of others, I also respect
my own opinion. I will therefore not concede a conviction bagin) that I
held or an opinion ( r a ' y ) I espoused, except for an unequivocal
argument and an evident proof. 11
While Ahmad Sh* cherished his intellectual independence, he was
closer to the Salafi tendency which places a strong emphasis on hadith
studies. In that sense he can be described as a promoting a neo-Salafi
trend with strong Hanbali inclinations in twentieth century Muslim

He died in 133811920.
Mahmijd Shiikir, "Ahmad ShBkir," 6.
lo Among the noteworthy editing assignments undertaken by Ahmad ShCikir
was the first two volumes of al-Jdmi' al-Sahih of al-Tirmidhi (completed by Fu'Bd
'Abd al-BBqi); Ibn Hazm's a l - M u b l l d , and al-ShBfici's al-Risrila.
l 1 Ahmad Sh&ir, AbMthfi Ahkdm (Cairo: Maktabat Ibn Taymiyya, 1986), 3.
60 EBRAHIM MOOSA

scholarship.12 Most of his editorial labours focused on reviving the

works of those considered to be the icons of traditionalism, including
al-Shftfi'i (d. 204/820), al-Tirmidhi (d. 272/892), Abii DBwiid (d.
275/889), Ibn Hanbal (d. 241/855), Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064), and Ibn
Kathir (d. 77411373). Some works were edited with the assistance of
his brother Mahmiid Muhammad Sh&ir and his maternal cousin 'Abd
al-SalBm Muhammad H h i n . He also had a close personal and
intellectual association with a prominent Egyptian Salafi scholar,
Maammad HBrnid al-Fiqi (d. 137811959), a relationship which later
deteriorated because of personal differences between the two men.13
A l p a d Sh&b also completed some editorial work initiated by Zaki
Mubirak (d. 137111952), E. Levi-Proven~al(d. 137611955) and @s&n
'Abbis, among others.
In addition to his editorial projects, Ahmad Shiikir was also a
prolific essayist, addressing issues of socio-political and socio-legal
significance affecting Egypt and the Muslim world of his day by
publishing pamphlets, monographs and essays in journals. A collection
of such essays was published in a volume entitled Hukm al-Jlihiliyya
(Governance of Ignorance) that appeared in 1992, the year of his
centenary anniversary; the essays reflect his views on controversial
issues such as legal procedures relating to marital repudiation (taliq); l4
Latinization of the Arabic script; conflicts between sharicaand secular
laws;15 the contradictions spawned in Egyptian society as a result of a
dual educational system, namely Islamic religious education and
modem secular education; demands by women for greater participation
in society; and, the impact of modernity on the moral and social values
of Egyptian society.

Context of the essay on the lunar calendar

From e m a d Shdck's writings one infers that he viewed modernity as
both a foe and friend of Islamic religious tradition and culture. Many
reformist scholars viewed modem science as a benefit to Islam if

l2 See Ahmad Muhammad Shair, al-Bd'ith al-hathith: sharh ikhti~dr'ullim

al-hadith (Cairo: Maktabat al-Sunna, 1415/1994), a commentary on the work of
Abo al-FidB Ibn Kathir on hadith.
l3 Ahmad Shfikir, ~alirnatal-Haqq (2nd ed., Cairo: Maktabatal-Sunna, 1408
AH), 273-74.
l4 Ahmad Muhammad S h W , Nizcim al-{aldq j?l-Islam (Cairo: Maktabat al-
Suma, 1354).
lS Ahmad Muhammad Shair, al-Sam' wa'l-td'a (Cairo: Maktabat al-Sunna,
1410/1990).
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 61

properly harnessed to alleviate the chronic social-scientific problems

that Muslims were experiencing. One issue they thought could be
remedied by science was the uncertainty created by a lunar calendar not
based on scientific criteria. In the past as well as in the present, the lack
of agreement on the beginning and end of a lunar month has caused
great confusion and consternation in not only the Middle East but also
the Islamic world generally, especially the events relating to Ramadin
and the annual pilgrimage (hajj].
In 135711939 Mmad Sh& wrote an essay (risdla) entitled Awci'il
al-Shuhiir al-'Arabiyya (Beginnings of the Arabic Months) in which he
stressed that Muslims ought to adopt a lunar calendar based on
scientific criteria. He provided detailed juristic arguments as to why it
was not merely permissible, but imperative to adopt scientific criteria in
order to establish such a calendar. The tenor of the article suggested
that the author was familiar with modem science and tried to relate it to
questions of Islamic law. A most unusual feature of the riscila was this
neo-Salafi author's willingness to innovate in ritual matters ('ibddcit)
such as fasting and pilgrimage by linking their occcurences to scientific
techniques and setting aside traditional methods of ascertaining the
lunar month. Normally, bid'a (innovation) in devotional matters is
strongly resisted if not condemned outright.16 But this essay indicates
that at least some Salafi jurists in the middle of the twentienth century
were prepared to harmonize the achievements of science and modernity
with an understanding of Islamic lawm17 This type of eclectic synthesis
was readily embraced, especially if it did not threaten to radically alter
the nature of the devotion or drastically change the juristic practice in
question.
The issue of a scientifically-based lunar calendar illustrates inter
alia two developments. First, it shows how pre-modem and modem
presumptions of Islamic law fuse and synthesize in order to create a
new hybrid. Second, it demonstrates how juristic activity not only con-
tinues to renew and reshape the practice of Islamic law, but also affects
its internal logic. Modem assumptions are grafted onto pre-modern
texts dealing with crescent sighting affecting Muslim religiosity. The
goal of a scientific calendar is to eliminate inconsistency and arbitrari-
ness in the determination of the Muslim almanac which may not have

l6 See Abii IshHq al-ShHtibi, al-l'tiscim (n.p.: D b al-Fikr, n.d.), vol. 1, 36-45.
l7 For a detailed discussion of Salafi legal reforms, see David Dean Commins,
Islamic Reform: Politics and Social Change in Late Ottoman Syria (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1990).
62 EBRAHIM MOOSA

been the intention of the pre-modern jurists. Inconsistencies produced

by the application of pre-modem law have become more noticeable in
the modern and post-modem global village, and some representatives
of traditional Islamic jurisprudence have felt compelled to address it as
a problem. In this instance, the existing social context not only impinges
on the self-understanding of Muslims, but also forces jurists to re-read
the religious texts in order to derive new meanings that are in harmony
with the new context. Surreptitiously, a new juridical logic evolves and
transplants itself onto existing practice, without hardly any acknow-
ledgement of the occurrence of such changes-in itself a phenomenon
insufficiently documented in the history of Islamic law. Alynad Shdcir,
in the present instance, and other jurists who wrote on other issues,
consciously or unconsciously interpolated Islamic law with the tech-
nology of modernity, creating thereby a desire for regularity and
consistency in fatdwd or juridical responsa, a subject that needs to be
addressed elsewhere.
This issue of the lunar calendar occupied not only the minds of
several twentieth century Muslim jurists but also their pre-modern
predecessors. Among the latter were the Shfifi'i jurist-theologian Ibn
Surayj (d. 2351849-50) and the Shfifi'i chief justice (qddi a1-quddt) of
Damascus, Taqi al-Din al-Subki (d. 75611355). Early in this century,
around 1911, al-Shaykh Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti'i (d. 135411935),
the grand mufti of Egypt, advanced a detailed position in a monograph
entitled Kitdb Irshcid Ah1 al-Milla ild Ithbdt al-Ahilla (Book on Guiding
the Religious Community to the Verification of the Crescents), to which
was appended Taqi al-Din al-Subki's Kitcib al-'Ilm al-Manshiir fi
Ithbdt al-Shuhiir (Book on Public Knowledge about the Verification of
Months). Al-Subki's view was endorsed and re-circulated for debate
by the Syrian reformer, al-Shaykh Muhammad JamA al-Din al-Qiisimi
(d. 1332/1914).18 One figure whose views were not engaged or refuted
by either al-Muti'i or &mad Shdcir was that of the Hanbali scholar
Ibn Taymiyya (d. 72811328). In his Risdla fi'l-Hildl (Tract on the
Crescent), Ibn Taymiyya had categorically rejected the use of astrono-
mical calculation in determining the lunar month.'9 His view on this
- -

l8 al-Shaykh Muhammad Bakhit al-Mufi'i, Kitdb Irshdd Ah1 al-Milla ild

Ithbdt al-Ahilla (n.p.: Matba'at Kurdistiln al-'Ilmiyya, 1329/1911), followed by
Taqi al-Din al-Subki, al-'llm al-Manshrir fi lthbdt al-Shuhrir. See also Commins,
Islamic Reform, for further discussion on alQ8simi.
l 9 Taqi al-Din Ahmad b. Taymiyya, "RisSla fi'l-HilB1," in Majmri' Fatdwd
Shaykh al-Islam A?vnad b. Taymiyya, ed. 'Abd al-Rahmfin b. Muhammad b. Q8sim
(n.p., n.d.,), vol. 25, 126-201.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 63

topic provided a defence for many contemporary jurists who continued

to resist the adoption of a scientific calendar.
Al-Muti'i closely followed the views of the Shafi'i's, lbn Surayj and
al-Subki, as well as that of the Hanafi scholar al-Marghinini (d.
593/1197), all of whom permitted the use of astronomical criteria in
order to establish the lunar month for fasting. Al-Muticiwas of the
opinion that what appeared to be a convincing consensus of traditional
jurists favoring the naked-eye sighting of the crescent was not neces-
sarily a consensus which prohibited scientific calculation. In a report,
the Prophet mentioned sighting because it was the most common and
acccessible method of establishing the month at that time. The obliga-
tion of fasting did not stem from "sighting" the crescent, al-Mutici
argued, but rather from the "occurrence" of the month of Ramadhm2O
Specifications about times were indices predicated upon the dominant
practice. But that did not mean that the obligation associated with such
indices lapsed if these indices did not appear. If that were the case, then
it would lead to the absurd conclusion that people living in abnormal
geographical zones would not have to fulfill the ritual obligations of
fasting and prayer, since the indices, i.e., the sun and moon, are not
visible during some part of the year in those areas. Al-Muti'i was
convinced that testimonies of crescent sightings should be rejected if
they contradicted scientific evidence, namely astronomical calculations.
An older contemporary of Ahmad Shikir, al-Shaykh Tantiiwi
Jawhari (1278- 135911862-1940) made similar calls for the adoption of
results based on scientific endeavour in matters of religion.21According
to Jawhari, to attain knowledge of 'ilm al-falak (astronomy), hisrfb
(algebra) and handasa (geometry) was a fard k@ya (collective duty)
which received its sanction from the Qur'h. Therefore, some Muslims
at least had to be skilled in these sciences.Z2 It was a "disgrace,"
lamented Jawhari in the 1920's, to witness the lack of knowledge of
astronomy among Muslims in the east and west.23
The views of persons like Jawhari and Shd& favoring the adoption
of science in certain matters of religion at the beginning of the twentieth
century did not surface in Egypt without an historical context. Alpad
Sh&ir and some of his older contemporaries lived through a period in
which the Egyptian educational system had undergone a major over-

20 al-Muti'i, Irshdd, 272.

21 (supp), S.V. Djawhari.
See E I ~
22 Tantiwi Jawhari, al-Qur'dn wa'l-'Uliim al-'Asriyya (Cairo: Matba'at DBr

IhyB' al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya, 1241/1923), 28-29.

23 Jawhari, al-Qur'dn, 28.

64 EBRAHIM MOOSA

haul following the initiatives taken by the father of modem Egypt,

Muhammad 'Ali (d. 1849), and the efforts of the modernist reformer,
SacdZaghliil (d. 1926). Founded by Zaghliil and his colleagues, the old
Egyptian University (al-Jimi'a al-Misriyya), also known as al-J8mica
al-Ahliyya, played a leading role in exposing Egyptians to the modem
disciplines in the humanities, science and technology. Leading Euro-
pean scholars, including such prominent orientalists as David de San-
tillana (d. 1931) and Louis Massignon (d. 1962), were invited to teach
periodically at this university. Among this select group of Europeans
was the Italian Arabist, Carlo Nallino (d. 1938), who, in 1909, one
year after the university was founded, delivered lectures to Egyptian
students on the history of Arabic literature and the Arab contribution to
astronomy.24 Nallino, who visited Egypt until the late 1930's, made a
profound impact on Egyptian intellectual circles with his book, 'Ilm al-
falak (Science of Astronomy), a collection of the lectures he d e l i ~ e r e d . ~ ~
m a d Sh&h demonstrated his familiarity with some of this orientalist
literature, especially Nallino's work on astronomy, and referred to it as
a source in his essay on the lunar calendar. Although it is difficult to
identdy m a d Sh3kir's attitude toward educational reforms in Egypt,
his willingness to cite and defer to orientalist sources indicates a certain
openness, if only for the purposes of pragmatism and expedience, since
Nallino was positive in his appraisal of Arab achievements in astro-
nomy.

*mad Shikir's approach to law

One is struck by Ahmad Shiikir's extreme ambivalence to legal
reform.26 Despite being associated with the reformist Rashid Ridi (d.
1935), he was firmly opposed to social reforms affecting women's
empowerment in Egypt and wrote scathing attacks on Western
influences in Muslim society. Sh&h argued that it was not permissible
for a woman to be a judge.27 Taking his neo-Salafi argument further,
he alleged that individual legislators and judicial officers who enforced
laws that were not based on the shari'a were in effect placing

24 'Abd al-Rahmln Badawi, "Carlo Alfonso Nallino," in al-Turtith al-Yfinrini

fll-Haddra al-lslamiyya (Cairo: D&r al-Nahda al-'Arabiyya, 1965). 320-30, esp.
324.
25 Carlo Nallino, 'Ilm al-Falak: Tacrikhuhu'Inda 'I-'Arabfll-Quriin al-Wustri
(2nd ed., Cairo: Maktabat al-D&ral-'Arabiyya li'l-Kitib, 141311993).
26 See Ahmad Shlkir, Abhathfi Ahkam.
27 Ahmad Muhammad Shlkir, "Willyat al-Mar'ati al-Qadl'," in Hukm al-
Jahiliyya, 79-103.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 65

themselves outside the fold of Islam, even though they observed the
mandatory devotional and religious rituals.28 But his anathema was
reserved for the far-reaching judicial reforms proposed by the Liberal
Constitutionalist minister of justice, 'Abd al-'Aziz Fahmi Pasha (d.
1951), whom he accused of subverting Islam to satisfy his European
o~erlords.~g &mad ShZdcir was adamant that even if secular laws did
not contradict, but, to the contrary, corresponded with sharicarulings,
such laws were to be rejected because they were "accidentally correct,
neither based on proof (dalil) and certainty (yaqin) nor founded on
sound ijtihiid (independent thinl~ing)."3~
In the light of his conservative approach to the issues mentioned
above, Ahmad Shikir's seemingly modernist interpretation of ascer-
taining the lunar calendar is both anomalous and surprising. He ad-
mitted that his conviction to adopt scientific criteria was one which he
arrived at gradually. Prior to his new view, he had objected to a com-
paratively minor amendment to the rules of crescent-sighting proposed
by al-Shaykh Muhammad b. Mustafi al-Marighi (d. 136411945), an
influential reformist and twice the shaykh of al-Azhar. Al-Mariighi,
following the view of the earlier Sh3fiCiauthority, al-Subki, proposed
that no evidence of naked-eye crescent sightings be accepted if scientific
knowledge contradicted such testimony. After acknowledging his pre-
vious error in opposing al-Marighi, Sh& went on to accept scientific
knowledge as a sufficient basis for calculating the lunar calendar. He
appeared to be convinced that the objective of Islamic law was to
establish an accurate calendar irrespective of the means of doing so.31
In this regard, he was opposed by orthodox and traditionalist quarters
in the Arab world. Al-Shaykh Abii Nasr Mubasshir al-Tiriizi al-
Husayni wrote a treatise criticising his view, entitled Bahth fi Tawhid
AwrS'il al-Shuhiir al-'Arabiyya (Discussion on Uniting the Beginnings
of Arabic Months), as did al-Shaykh Ismii'il b. Muhammad al-Arqiiri,
in a tract entitled Law Ghayruka QdlahrI. YrS UstrSdh (If Only Someone
else Said it, 0 Teacher).32 There was also disappointment in Salafi
28 Ahmad Sh&ir, Hukm, 151-52, esp. 151.
29 Ahmad ShBkir, Hukm, 132-45.
30 Ahmad Shiikir, Hukm, 150.
3J Al-Shaykh Muhammad Bakhit al-Muyi'i, Kitdb Tawfiq al-Rahman li'l-
Tawfig bayna mi Qalahu 'ulamci' al-Hay'a wa bayna mi Jd'a fi'l-AMdith al-
sahib wa aycit al-Qur'an (Cairo: Marba'at al-Sa'Hda, n.d.), 35 asserts that there is
no contradiction between astronomy and the sources of Islamic law, namely the
Qur'Bn and Mdith.
32 Bakr b. 'Abd Allah Abi~Zayd, "Tawhid Bidayfit al-Shuhiir al-Qamariyya,"
in Majalla Majmac al-Fiqh al-lslami: al-Dawra al-Thcilitha li-Mu'tamar Majma'
al-Fiqh al-Islami, vol. 3:2 (1408/1987), 820-41, esp. 827-28.
66 EBRAHIM MOOSA

quarters that someone of &mad Shiikir's intellectual stature had

adopted a modernist stance on this matter. In a strange twist of events,
it is alleged that Alynad ShiMr, in private correspondence with Shaykh
al-&&i, said that he had published the risala "in order to stimulate
debate among the learned" but that otherwise he did not have a firm
view on the matter.33 However, this risdla was never withdrawn from
circulation and was republished as late as 1992.
"Conservative" is also a relative term. For while Ahmad Sh&r
himself was extremely critical of modernist legal reforms, he was in
turn subjected to a vituperative critique by the Hanafi formalist scholar
and former under-secretary to the Ottoman religious institution (wakil
al-mashaykha al-Islamiyya), Muhammad Z h i d al-Kawthari (d. 13711
1952).34 In his response to &mad Shiikir's reformist attitude to the law
of repudiation (taliq), al-Kawthari accused him of having pretences of
being an independent jurist (al-mutamajhid) and advised him to desist
from writing about the disciplines of fiqh and hadith. In al-Kawthari's
words, &mad Sh&ir should realise that the two disciplines are "not
within his ken" and that "an intelligent person abandons that in which
he does not excell.''35

Recent developments
Five decades after its publication, Alynad Shiikir's riscila has received
scant scholarly attention and has not gained acceptability among
Muslim jurists. Ironically, the issue which ShiMr attempted to remedy,
namely, the unpredictable nature and arbitrary consequences of a lunar
calendar based on naked-eye sightings, continues to plague Muslim
communities all over the world annually.36 In recent years this debate
has once again been raised at the level of the Islamic Fiqh Academy
affiliated with the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).37

33 Bakr b. 'Abd Allah Abii Zayd, "Tawhid," 828.

34 See Muhammad a h i d al-Kawthari, al-Ishfaq 'ald Ahkdm al-Taldq (Beimt:
Dar Ibn Zaydiin, n.d.), 3-9, which is a response to Ahmad Shillcir's Nizdm al-Taldq
j?l-Islam.
35 al-Kawthari, al-Ishfaq, 8-9.
36 For a brief summary of lunar controverseys among the minority Muslim
community in South Africa and the context in which Ahmad Shillcir's essay on the
lunar calendar was used as a reference, see the Appendix.
37 Several attempts were made to find an acceptable solution to the problem of
the Islamic lunar calendar. In 137511955 the HHshimite Kingdom of Jordan
appealed to the Arab League to address the issue of Muslim festivals in the Islamic
world. In 138111961 the League sent a memorandum to al-Azhar requesting that it
investigate the principle of a uniform lunar calendar and prayer time-table. Over the
years several conferences or seminars have dealt with the same topic: Tunis
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 67

Shaykh Mustafii al-Zarqfi', the leading Jordanian jurist and former

professor of Islamic law at Amman University, tried to persuade the
Islamic Fiqh Academy to adopt a lunar calendar based on scientific
cal~ulation.~~ Another prominent figure, Shaykh Yosuf al-Qardfiwi, the
Qatar-based Egyptian jurist, also made an appeal for the adoption of
scientific criteria for the purposes of the lunar calendar.39 The furthest
the Academy went was to say: "it is mandatory to accept sighting.
However, one may get assistance from astronomical calculations and
observatories to more fully implement the saying of the Prophet and
scientific facts."* As yet there is no credible consensus among contem-
porary jurists to support the idea of a calendar based on astronomical
new moon.
(138311963); Cairo (138511966); Kuala Lumpur (138911969); Kuwait (139311973);
Istanbul (139811978); and Makka (140111981).
38 Mustafi Ahmad al-Zarqi', "Hawla i'timid al-hisib al-falaki li-tahdid
bidiyat al-shuhtir al-qamariyya: ha1 yajiizu shar'an aw 18 yajtiz?" in Majallat
Majma' al-Fiqh al-Islami: al-Dawra al-Thdniya li-Mu'tamar Majma' al-Fiqh al-
Islami, vol. 2:2 (1407/1986), 927-36; also see al-Shaykh Musfafa Kamil al-T&i,
"Nazarit Islamiyya fi Tawhid Bidiyat al-Shuhtir al-Qamariyya," in Majalla
Majma' al-Fiqh al-Islami, vol. 3:2 (1408/1987), 845-73, who approves of a
calendar based on scientific calculation.
39 Ytisuf al-Qardiwi, Kayfa Nata'amal maca alSunna al-Nabawiyya (2nd ed.,
Hemdon, Virginia: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 141111990), 154-57;
Muhammad Fathi al-Durayni, "Ikhtilif al-ma@li' wa-athamhu fi thubiit al-ahilla,"
in al-Fiqh al-Islami al-Muqaran ma'a al-Madhdhib (5th ed., Damascus: Manshtirit
Jimi'at Dimashq, 141511995); Mohammad Ilyas, "New moon's first visibility:
review of astronomy and current Islamic calendrical practices," Islamic Culture 1
(1982), 43-59; idem, "New moons first visibility 2: lunar date line (LDL) calcula-
tions, sighting and calendar," Islamic Culture, 2 (1983), 87-112; idem, "Inter-
national Islamic calendar and its new presentation," Islamic Culture, 4 (1991), 11-
34; idem, Astronomy of Islamic Times for the Twenty-first Century (London:
Mansell, 1988); idem, Islamic Calendar, Times and Qibla (Berita Publishing:
Kuala Lumpur, 1984); idem, "La calendrier de l'H6gire: Une crise scientifique," in
Islam Today (L'Islam Aujourd'hui) in Journal of the Islamic Education, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation, April 1985, 114-16; David King, Astronomy in the
Service of Islam (London: Varorium, 1993); Abdul Latif Samian, "An analysis of
the growth and decline of Islamic astronomy," Islamic Culture, 4 (1991), 34-62;
Mohammad Ilyas, "Moon sighting for Ramadan: the need for a common view,"
Arabia: The Islamic World Review, May 1986, 81-82; Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, "The
Islamic lunar calendar," Arabia: The Islamic World Review, July 1987, 50-51; also
see Maulana Yaqub Qasmi, An Overview of Crescent Moon Sighting, trans. Ayyub
Pate1 (Dewsbury: Islamic Research Institute of Great Britain. 1993); Mawihib FB-
khtiri, "Al-Shuhtir al-'arabiyya wa dartirat i'timid al-hisib al-falaki f i tahdidihi,"
al-Fikr al-Islami, vi (1393/1973), 64-68; George Saliba, "The role of the astrologer
in medieval Islamic society," Bulletin &Etudes Orientales, XLIV (1992), 45-67.
* Islamic Fiqh Academy: Resolutions and Recommendations, "Resolution No
(6) Concerning Unification of the Beginning of Lunar Months," 1406-140911985-
1989, 31; also see "Resolution No (11) Concerning the Questions Submitted by the
International Institute of Islamic Thought in Washington," 36-42, esp. 41; for the
Arabic text of resolution 6 see Majalla Majma' al-Fiqh al-Islami, vol. 3:2
(1408/1987), 1075.
68 EBRAHIM MOOSA

Among the difficulties that a scientific lunar calendar poses is the

need to ensure that it is acceptable to Muslims all over the world. Those
who do subscribe to it should agree to the adoption of some conven-
tions by consensus. With regard to time, for instance, the International
Date Line is used as a standard convention. What will the date line be
for the Islamic lunar calendar? One suggestion is that since the
Gregorian calendar is universally acceptable it would make sense to
synchronize the Islamic lunar calendar with the Gregorian one. Another
proposal is to use Makka as the date line for the lunar calendar given
its centrality in Islamic faith and practice. This is also the view of
m a d S h a . If this view were to be adopted, then scientists could
prepare a lunar calendar for countries east and west of Makka, which
would enhance predictability and accuracy, even though celebrations
might occur on different days of the Gregorian calendar. These are
some of the issues to be debated once the principle of a scientifically-
based lunar calendar is accepted. Whatever the intricacies of the debate,
Mmad ShZkir's opinion on this subject deserves scholarly attention
and therefore this translation is provided.

The Translation4'
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace
Beginnings of the Arabic Months: Are astronomical calculations
permissible according to Islamic law (shar')? A free and new scientific
investigation. 42
by Ahmad Muhammad S h a r

This year (1357/1939), the Supreme SharicaCourt in Egypt established

that the month of Dhti al-Hijja began on Saturday (20 January), hence

4 1 I found it necessary to undertake certain editorial measures in order that the

translation would read more smoothly, while remaining loyal to the author's ideas
and order of presentation, wherever possible. All emendations are indicated by
means of a footnote. In the Arabic version of the text the author cited only the title
and page number of references. Bibliographical references provided in this transla-
tion have been checked against later editions of the titles cited, and all relevant
information has been included. Additional bibliographical sources, as well as
annotations, have been provided by the translatorleditor. Text between brackets
contains the comments, interpolations and additional bibliographical references
provided by the translator.
42 Ahmad Muhammad ShSkir, Awli'il al-Shuhlir al-'Arabiyya: Hal Yajlizu
Sharcan Ithblituhd bi'l-his& al-Falaki? BaNhun Jadidun 'Ilrniyun Hurr (Cairo: Da
al-IstiqSma, 141211992).
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 69

'Id al-AdhB (the Festival of Sacrifice) was on Monday (30 January

1939).
A few days later al-Maqtam magazine reported that the Saudi
Arabian government had decided that not Saturday, but Sunday (21
January), was the first of Dhii al-Hijja. As a result the pilgrims went to
'Arafa on Monday and the 'Id was, as a consequence, on Tuesday (31
January 1939).
Al-Baldgh newspaper in its Friday, 21 Dhii al-Hijja (10 February
1939) edition, carried a report from its Bombay correspondent in India,
dated 1 February, which said: "The Muslims in Bombay this year
celebrated 'Id al-AdhB on Wednesday contrary to what was announced
in other Muslim countries." This meant that for Indian Muslims, the
first of Dhii al-Hijja, was neither Saturday nor Sunday, but Monday.
This happens in most months in which Islamic festivals occur. In
some Muslim countries crescent-sighting results in some people sight-
ing it while others are unable to do so. As a consequence, the religious
festivals differ from one Muslim country to another: some countries
fast while others do not, some celebrate the Festival of Sacrifice, while
on that very day others observe a fast, assuming it to be the day of
'Arafa.
The learned scholars ('ulamdJ) and jurists have written some excel-
lent treatises on how to establish the crescent. These are found in
Qur'ih commentaries, prophetic reports (sg. hadith, pl. a@dith) as well
as in manuals of law and other ancilliary sources. Scholars are virtual-
ly unanimous that the rule in establishing the lunar month is by sighting
the crescent with the naked eye. They say that calculations of the
phases of the moon or calculations made by astronomers have no
validity. The exception is the ShBfiCischool which approves [such
calculations] by a person who calculates (hasib) or by an astronomer
(munajjim) in accordance with his/[her] astronomical calculations. The
Shiifi'i school also permits non-specialists persuaded by the veracity of
calculations or astronomy to follow the opinions of specialists. Alter-
nately, some jurists say that it is permissible to follow the opinion of the
one who calculates but not that of the astr0nomer.~3
Since the invention of the telegraph and telephone and, subsequently,
the radio, there have been repeated discussions [among scholars] in
recent years as to the permissibility of using speedy forms of com-
munication to relay crescent sightings from one part of the world to

43 AbG Zakariyya Yahyi b. Sharaf, al-Majmric. Sharh al-Muhadhdhab (2nd

ed., Cairo: Dir al-Fikr, n.d), vol. 6, 279-80; [See E I ~s.v.
, Hilil].
70 EBRAHIM MOOSA

a n ~ t h e rMuslim
.~ countries have virtually all become one in being able
to receive messages from anywhere in the world regarding the sighting
or non-sighting of the crescent. Most people view the confusion in
important legal matters as intolerable when it affects a year and date of
a month. Therefore, they have attempted to rid themselves of this
confusion and find alternative means for the unity of their [religious]
expression
I remember that last year [I9381 or perhaps the previous year, a
detailed inquiry (suJal mufassal) from India on this topic was directed
to the senior scholars of al-Azhar [university]. A copy of this inquiry
was circulated among a leading group of learned scholars, each of
whom was expected to reply according to his view and knowledge. A
copy was sent to my father, and I do not know what finally happened
to the inquiry. As for my father, illness prevented him from either
dictating or writing [a response], may Allah heal him.
I wrestled with this investigation for a long time after I had arrived
at an opinion, hoping that it was correct. Then, this year [I9391 a
controversy arose over the day of 'Arafa, which is the supreme day of
pilgrimage (yawm al-hajj al-akbar) and the greatest of Islamic festive
seasons. The month of DhC al-Hijja is the most crucial of months in
terms of its religious sigmficance. For surely the ninth day, the day of
vigil (wuqafi at 'Arafa, has a limited duration for the fulfillment of a
pillar of the hajj and occurs only once a year. Most people have the
opportunity to perform the pilgrimage only once in their lifetime and
they fear that in the case of an error in determining the real day of
wuqaf they may fail to fulfil their religious obligation. This contro-
versey prompted me to write a treatise on determining the crescent and
to circulate this opinion [for comment] among intellectuals (ah1 al-'ilm
waJl-nazar),jurists (fuqahcT'), experts in prophetic reports (muhaddith-
an), and others-in different parts of the world.

[The Issue]
The standard authentic reports ( a w i t h ) on this topic (bcSb)are:
Fast when you see it [the crescent] and end your fast when you see it
[again]; but if it is hidden from you [by cloud or mist] then complete
Sha'bin to thirty [days].

In the Arabic original, this paragraph, starting with "Since the invention..."
and continuing until "....in different parts of the world" is found on pages 6 and 7.
For the sake of readability and comprehension, I have inserted this passage here in
order to bring together the contextual details of the essay.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 7 1

D o not fast until you sight the crescent and d o not end your fast until
you sight it; but when it is hidden from you [by cloud or mist] calculate
it
There are also other sound reports containing statements to this effe~t.~S
The 'ulami' disagree whether the differences in horizons (ikhtilif al-
mafili') are c~nsequential.~~ In other words, does the visibility of the
crescent in one country have legal consequences for the beginning of
the month in other countries, irrespective of distance and variances in
horizons? Or is each individual country or region bound to its own
crescent sighting, so that Egypt's would differ from that of the Hijiz or
'Kq, etc.?
The ShSi'is are of the opinion that each region should [determine]
its own sighting, based on a disagreement among them as to what
constitutes remote and proximate distances between regions: Is the
requisite distance the difference in horizons; or is it the unification or
diversity of regions (ittihid wa-ikhtilif al-aqilim); or is it the minimum
distance (masifat al-qasr) [for shortening the prayers]? Al-Nawawi (d.
676/1278), after a detailed discussion, said in al-Majm~2':~~
There are divergent views among the learned (rnadhahib al-'ulamri') a s
to the [binding] status of a crescent sighting in one region for another
region where it w a s not sighted. W e have already stated the view of our

45 Muhammad b. Ismti'il al-Bukhiri, Sahih a l d u k h d r i , ed. Ahmad

Muhammad Sh2kir (Beirut: D2r al-Jil, n.d.), vol. 1, part 3, 34-35, "Kitib al-
Sawm"; Jam21 al-Din Abii Muhammad 'Abd Allih b. Yiisuf al-Zayla'i, Nasb al-
Rdya li-Ahddith al-Hiddya (Cairo: D2r al-Hadith, n.d.), vol. 2, 437-40);
Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Shawkgni, Nay1 al-Awtdr (Cairo: D& al-TurHth, n.d), vol. 4,
188-94); Wali al-Din AbCi Zar'a al-Triqi, Tarh al-Tathrib (Cairo: al-Jam'iyya al-
Azhariyya li'l-Tarjama wa'l-Ta'lif, n.d.), vol. 4, 111-14. [Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalini,
Fath al-Bdri eirut: Dir al-Fikr, n.d.), vol. 4, 1191.
9
46 [See EI , S.V. al-Matla'. Ikhtildf al-matcili' has a specific connotation infiqh
and differs from the notion of matla' or ma[dlit as understood in astronomy. An
appropriate translation of this phrase may be "difference in horizons." As a juristic
convention it is closer to the notion of a geographic jurisdiction in modem par-
lance. Shifi'i jurists make a distinction between near and remote regions (balad
qarib and balad ba'id). The minimum distance between any two regions is 24
fardsikh (sg. farsakh) or 133.05 km. Although some ShBfi'i jurists say the distance
is 89 km, which is the minimum distance to be travelled before prayers can be
shortened (masdfat al-qasr), this is not the approved view. Each such region is also
assumed to have its own horizon (ufuq). Sightings of the crescent within a specified
horizon are valid only for people within this jurisdiction and as a result make them
legally liable. It is not permissible to extend liability to places outside the 133 krn
boundary which have not sighted the crescent. In terms of crescent sightings,
difference in horizons, that is, difference in jurisdiction, is consequential for the
Sh2fiCis,while for other law schools it is not. (see al-Nawawi, al-Majmli', 273-74;
Wahba al-Zuhayli, al-Fiqh al-Islami wa-Adillatuhu (3rd ed., Beirut: Dir al-Fikr,
14!7/1989), 2:607].
al-Nawawi, al-Majmli', 274.
72 EBRAHIM MOOSA

school. Ibn al-Mundhir transmited on the authority of 'Ikrima [mawli

of Ibn 'AbbBs], al-Qaim [b. Muhammad b. Abi Bakr], Salim [b. 'Abd
Allah b. 'Umar] and Ishaq b. Rahwayh: "It [a crescent sighting] does
not compel people other than those of the region where it was sighted."
[But] reports from al-Layth b. Sa'd (d. 175/791),al-Shafi'i (d. 2041820)
and Ahmad b. Hanbal (d. 2411855) state that it [a crescent sighting in
one region] is compelling [for regions where it was not sighted]. [Al-
Nawawi] said:48 I do not know of such reports except from the
Madinan and the Kufan, meaning Malik (d. 179/795) and Abii Hanifa
(d. 1501'767).~9

[Pre- and Post-Islamic Notions of the Calender]

There is no doubt that during the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods,
the Arabs did not possess authoritative scientific knowledge (macrifa
'ilmiyya jcjzima) of astronomy. They were an unlettered community,
and writing and calculation were not part of their prevalent culture.
Whoever acquired a smattering of astronomy could lay claim only to
an elementary understanding gained by practical observation and adhe-
rence, or by means of oral traditions and reports. [Their knowledge ofl
astronomy was not based on mathematical rules or apodictic empirical
proofs (barcjhin qatciyya), based, in turn, on certain a priori and incon-
testable premises. It was for this reason that the Prophet (God's peace
be upon him) stipulated the lunar months as the basis for ritual devo-
tions ( ' i b a ) , with its definite and visible features that are accessible to
all persons, if not most of them, namely, viewing the crescent with the
naked eye. This indeed was the best standard and most precise measure
to determine the time-cycle for religious practices and devotions. By
means of sighting it was possible for them to attain certain and reliable
knowledge. "God does not burden any human being with more than he
is well able to bear" (Q. 2:286).
It would have been inconsistent with Divine wisdom to make
calculation and astronomy the burden of proof (manit al-ithbcjt) for
crescent visibility. Most Arabs were rural and received news from
urban areas only after long intervals. [A requirement to use] calculation
and astronomy would have been a burdensome imposition. Only a rare
-- -

48 [The subject of the verb qala ("he said") is the narrator of the text, who is
attributing the statement to al-Nawawi.]
49 A b i ~SulaymHn Hamd b. Muhammad al-KhaffHbi al-Busti, Ma'alim al-
Sunan: Sharh Sunan Abi Dciwlid, ed. 'Abd al-Salim 'Abd al-Sh8fiCiMuhammad
(Beirut: Dir al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1411/1991), vol. 2, 84; Abii 'Abd AllHh
Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Qurtubi, al-Jami' li-Ahkam al-Qur'dn (2nd ed., Cairo:
D L al-Kutub al-Misriyya, 1373/1954), vol. 2, 294-96.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 73

number of rural people would have had such knowledge if it reached

them through oral transmission. Even urban people followed the
opinions of experts in astronomy at the time, most if not all of whom
were People of the Book (Jews and Christians).
Later, however, Muslims conquered the world, took possession of
the reins of knowledge and contributed to every discipline. They trans-
lated and excelled in the "sciences of the ancients" ('ulfim al-awd'il),
explored many of their secrets and preserved these for posterity.
Amongst these [sciences] were astronomy, astrology and measuring
the distances between stars.50

[Religious Scholars and the Astronomical Sciences]

Most jurists and experts in prophetic reports were either not familiar
with the astronomical sciences ('ulfim al-falak) or had only an elemen-
tary knowledge of them. In fact some [scholars], if not many, did not
trust those who knew these sciences and did not consider them reliable.
Some religious scholars went so far as to accuse anyone involved with
these sciences with deviance (zaygh) and heretical inclinations (ibtidcIC).
They mistakenly believed that those knowledgeable in astronomy laid
claim to knowledge of the unseen. Some astronomers actually did make
such claims, harming their own reputation and that of their science and
profession. Given this background, the jurists may to some extent be
excused. On the other hand, those jurists and scholars who did know
these sciences were unable to express the correct relationship between
science, religion and law. And when they did take recourse to
astronomy, they did so with great trepidation.
Consider the fatciwd (responsa) of Taqi al-Din al-Subki (d. 7561
1355), who mentions that if calculation based on conclusive premises
proves that crescent visibility is impossible, then the testimony of
witnesses [who allegedly sighted the crescent] should not be accepted
but should be regarded as fraudulent or committed in error. Then he [al-
Subki] said:
For indeed calculation [yields] definitive (qari) [knowledge]. [On the
other hand] testimony and a report both [yield] probable (zanni)
[knowledge].The probable does not contradict the definitive, let alone
being given priority [over it]. A condition of evidence is that it must be
based on that which is possible in terms of sensory perception (hiss),
reason and law. Thus, if a calculation conclusively determines that
which is impossible [to determine by testimonial means], then it is

50 Nallino, 'llm al-Falak.

74 EBRAHIM MOOSA

juristically absurd (istahd.1~)to accept [such testimony] due to the

absence of evidentiary qualities. The Law does not entertain absurdities
(wa'l-shar' la ya'ti bi'l-mustahilrit).sl
After that h e adds:
By definitive (qaf) we do not mean that which is acquired by demon-
strative proof (burkn),which consists of rational premises. That is not
the situation here. [Definitive] is that which is based on observation
(ir*) and repeated testing (tajarib tawila); [observing] the motion of
the stages of the sun and the moon; and knowing how the moon
acquires its light which enables people to sight it. And people vary in
the strength of their sight (wa'l-nds yakhtalifiinafi hiddat al-basr).
The great imlm, Taqi al-Din b. Daqiq al-'Id (d. 702/1302),s2 i n his
[Ihkcim al-ahkiim], a commentary on the 'Urndat al-ahkiim, said:
I am of the opinion that it is not permissible, for the purposes of fasting,
to rely on calculation, which merely indicates the separation of the
moon from the sun. This is the method of the astronomers, [according
to whom] the calculated month precedes the sighted month by one or
two days. There is no legal sanction for this innovation in the sight of
All&, the Almighty and Sublime. However, if one could establish by
calculation that the crescent had indeed risen above the horizon,
although it was not visible due to some impediment such as clouds, then
calculation itself becomes compulsory on the grounds of the presence of
a legal cause (al-sabab al-shar'i). Actual sighting is not a pre-requisite
[for fasting] to become obligatory. [Jurists] agree on the fact that when
a prisoner held in a subterranean vault knows by means of calculation
that the month has been completed, or knows by means of ijtihrid,
guided by certain indices that disclose [to him] that a particular day is
the month of Ramadin, then he is obliged to fast, even though he did
not personally see the crescent nor was he informed by one who sighted
[the crescent].53
This was the situation of [the traditional jurists]. At that time the cosmic
sciences (al-'uliim al-kawniyya) were not as widespread as were the

51 Taqi al-Din al-Subki, Fatriwri al-Subki (Beirut: D%r al-Ma'rifa, n.d.), vol. 1,
209.
s2 He was a leading scholar among both the MHlikis and Shlfi'is, and an
authority in both law schools. Born 62511228 and died in Cairo 70211302. See
Abii 'Abd Allah Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, ed.
'Abd al-Rahman b. Yahya al-Mu'allimi (3rd ed., Hyderabad, India: Osmania
Oriental Publications Bureau, 137611956), vol. 4, 1481-84; Muhammad b. Shilkir
al-Kutubi, Fawrit al-Wafayat, ed. Ihsln 'AbbHs (Beirut: Dlr Sldir, 1974), vol. 3,
442-50; 'Abd al-Rahmln al-Asnawi, Tabaqrit al-Sh*'iyya, ed. Kamll Yiisuf al-
HM (Beirut: D P al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 140711987) vol. 2, 102.
53 Taqi al-Din Abii al-Fath Muhammad b. 'Ali b. Daqiq al-'Id, Ihkrim al-
AJkam Sharh 'Umdat a l - A w m , ed. Ahmad Muhammad Sh&u (2nd ed., Beirut:
'Alam al-Kutub, 140711987),vol. 2, 8.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 75

religious sciences and their ancilliary disciplines. Neither were the rules
of astronomy conclusively verifiable, according to the 'ularmfJ.

[The Shari'a and Juristic Interpretation]

Nevertheless, this noble and tolerant shari'a will remain for as long as
All& allows this world to flourish. It is a legislative system capable of
serving every community and age. For this reason we observe that the
textual sources (nuszis) of the Qur'5n and the Sunna contain a number
of subtle inferences to [serve] as contingencies. When such [new]
occasions do arise, these inferences are interpreted and understood [in a
creative manner], even though the ancients (mutaqaddimzin) may have
explained these incorrectly ('ah ghayri (mqiqatihi).
In the sound Sunna such an instance occcurs. Al-Bukhilri (d.
2561870) reported on the authority of Ibn 'Umar that the Prophet, on
whom be peace, said:
W e are a n unlettered community. W e d o not write o r calculate. The
month is like this [demonstrating with his hands] and, like this: mean-
ing at times twenty-nine [days] and a t times thirty [days].S4
In another version, Maik in his al-Muwatta?s al-Bukhiiri, Muslim (d.
2611875) and other scholars cited this report as [follows]:
T h e month is twenty-nine [days]. S o d o not fast until you see [the
crescent] and d o not e a t until you see it. And if i t becomes obscured,
calculate it (fa'qdurzi lahu) [i.e., the month].
The ancient scholars-may All& shower His mercy on them-were
correct in their commentary (tafsir) on this report, but erred in its

54 al-BukhHri, Sahih, 35; Abii al-Husayn Muslim b. HajjHj al-NaysHbiiri, Sahih

Muslim (Beimt: DHr al-IhyH al-TurHth al-'Arabi, 139411974), vol. 7, 192, "Kit2b al-
SiyBm"; Abii DHwiid SulaymHn b, al-Ash'ath al-SijistHni, Sunan Abi Ddwitd, ed.
Muhammad Muhyi al-Din 'Abd al-Hamid (2nd ed., Cairo: Matba'at Muspfa
Muhammad, 136911950), vol. 2, 398; Abii al-Tayyib Muhammad Shams al-Haqq
al-'AzimHbHdi, 'Awn al-Ma'bitd, ed. 'Abd al-RahmHn Muhammad 'UthmBn (2nd
ed., Beirut: DHr al-Fikr, 139911979), vol. 6, 433, "Kit2b al-SiyHm"; Abii 'Abd al-
Rahmiln Ahmad b. 'Ali al-NasH'i, Sunan al-Nasci'i (Beirut: DBr al-Kutub al-
'Ilmiyya, n.d), vol. 4, 139-40, "Kitlb al-Siyiim." [Ibn Taymiyya argued that being
an "unlettered community" and having no knowledge of calculation in the context
of sighting the crescent was not a negative quality but a virtue, since it implied
that sighting or completing the month to thirty days was the easiest and most con-
venient way of establishing the calendar. (Ibn Taymiyya, Risdla fll-Hildl, vol. 25,
174p - -
Jalal al-Din 'Abd al-RahmHn al-Suyiiri, Tanwir al-Hawalik Sharh 'ald
Muwattd Mdlik (Beirut: D&r al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, n.d.), vol. 1, 269. [See also
Muhammad al-ZurqHni, Sharh al-Zurqdni 'ald Muwat!~al-lmcim Mdlik (Beirut:
D&r al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 140911989), vol. 2, 152-53.1
76 EBRAHIM MOOSA

interpretation (ta'wil). Their most representative position is reflected in

the statement of Ibn Hajar [al-'Asqalhi] (d. 852/1449), who said:
By calculation here is meant calculating the stars and their motions.
And [the ancients'] knowledge of calculation was negligible. Therefore,
the command (hukm) to fast and other [obligations] were linked to
sighting [in order] to ease the inconvenience of [observing] the phases
of the moon. [For this reason], the rule of fasting continued on the basis
of sighting, even though people later came to know of it [i.e. calcula-
tion]. The apparent context negates linking the command [to observe
fasting] with calculation, as a matter of principle. [This argument is]
explained by the statement of the previous report: "if [the crescent] is
hidden, then complete the prescribed period at thirty [days]." The
narration did not say: "ask those who are experts at calculation." The
wisdom underlying [counting the days] when the crescent is hidden is
[to ensure] that those who are obligated to observe the precepts of
religion (mukallafiin) are all on an equal level, and [such parity] would
eliminate dispute and conflict among them. However, a group of
people, the rejectionists (rawdfid) preferred to solicit the opinions of 'the
people who follow the movements' (ah1 al-tasyir) [i.e. the astronomers]
in these matters.56It has been reported that some jurists supported their
view [i.e. that of the rawdfid]. Al-B2ji (d. 47411081) said: "The con-
sensus of the pious ancients (al-salaf al-sdlih) counts against them [i.e.
those jurists who follow the rawdfid]." ['Abd al-'Aziz] b. Baziza (d.
66311264) said: This is an invalid doctrine. The shari'a prohibited
indulgence in astronomy precisely because it is conjecture (hads) and
guesswork (takhmin). It does not produce apodictic knowledge or
preponderant probability. Besides, if the command [to fast] was linked
to calculation it would have caused hardship, since only a few people
would have knowledge of it.57
The aforementioned explanation is correct insofar as sighting-and not
calculation-is the decisive factor. But the interpretation is wrong
insofar that, if it so happened that someone knew calculation, the latter
would apply to fasting. Indeed, the command to rely on sighting con-
stitutes only part of the ratio legis ('illa) which is textually supported,
that the community (umma) is "an unlettered one, which neither writes
nor calculates." Legal rules are contingent on the absence or presence
of causes. Thus, when the community eradicates illiteracy and acquires

56 We do not know to whom Ibn Hajar is referring by the term rawdfid. If he

means the Imimi Shi'is, then it is well-known that they do not accept calculation.
If anyone else is intended then we do not know who it is. [It is well-known that the
Imimi Shi'is insist on sighting the crescent. Calculation became a distinguishing
feature of the Isml'ilis and the Mus 11 Ismi'ilis (Bohras) and they may be the
tar et of Ibn Hajar's criticism. See EIP',s.v.
- Hila].
al-'Asqallni, Fath, vol. 4, 127.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 77

the skills of writing and counting, in other words, the majority, includ-
ing specialists and lay persons are able to acquire certainty (yaqin) and
definitive [knowledge] (qaCC)in calculating the beginning of a month,
and if it is possible for them to rely on calculation as they [did rely] on
sighting or something better, and if this becomes the condition of the
majority of people, with the result that the legal cause ('illa) of illiteracy
disappears-then it becomes obligatory to take recourse to verifiable
certainty (al-yaqin al-thdbit). Then it [actually] becomes [mandato~y]to
accept the establishment of crescent visibility (ithbcit al-ahilla) only by
means of calculation. People ought not to resort to sighting except when
knowledge of calculation becomes difficult, as in instances in which
remote rural areas and villages are unable to access authentic and
reliable information from the experts on calculation.
If it is accepted that it is mandatory to resort to calculation
exclusively, following the disappearance of the legal cause which
impeded it, then it is equally mandatory to apply the true calculation of
the complete cycle through the phases of the moon, [i.e. lunations] (al-
hislib al-haqiqi li'l-ahilla) and [thereby] discard the notion of the
possibility and impossibility of sighting. The beginning of the 'true
month' (al-shahr al-haqiqi) would be the night in which the crescent
wanes after sunset [i.e. conjunction],58 even if it did so momentarily.
Our country, Egypt, has an observatory considered to be one of the
best observatories, staffed with experts in astronomy. Among the staff
are graduates of al-Azhar as well as others who are capable of calcu-
lating the position of the moon when it disappears behind the sun
[conjunction] even for a moment, at all times and every month. They
can, according to the scientists, issue a conclusive and authoritative
ruling based on compelling knowledge. What harm would it do us if we
accepted their word and knowledge and relied on their calculations in
this matter, as we already do on their calculations for prayer times and
other acts of devotion? We already rely on the telegraph, telephone and
radio to serve as a means to provide information on crescent sightings
from any of the provinces of Egypt, Sudan or any other country.
More than ten years ago the Grand Master (al-Usadh al-Akbar) of
al-Azhar, Shaykh Mustafg al-Margghi issued an opinion, when he was
the head of the Supreme Shari'a Court, that he would reject the
testimony of sighting if scientific calculation conclusively proved such

58 [Ahmad ShSkir does not mean the waning of the visible moon, but the
instance of conjunction. This becomes evident from the context, where he speaks of
the "actual" or "real" month in order to distinguish it from the observable month.]
78 EBRAHIM MOOSA

sighting to be impossible.59 This is similar to the opinion I cited pre-

viously of Taqi al-Din al-Subki. His [al-MarBghi's] opinion generated
great debate. My father, myself, and some friends were among those
who opposed the opinion of the Grand Master. Now, however, I
declare that he was correct. I would even add: it is mandatory to
establish the lunations [i.e. duration of a lunar month] by calculation
(wujrib ithbdt al-ahilla bi'l-hisdb) in all circumstances, except in the
case of those persons for whom it is difficult to have access to such
science.60
My view is not novel. Rules change with a change in the conditions
affecting those who are obligated to observe the precepts of religion
(yakhtalif al-hukm bi-ikhtildf ahwdl al-mukallafn). This occurs fre-
quently in the shari'a, a fact known to people of knowledge and others.
An example that illustrates my point in this case is the kdith: "...If it is
hidden from you, then complete the reckoning (fa'qdura lahu)," i.e.,
count the month. This has also been reported in different words: "...If it
is hidden from you, complete the period to thirty [days] (fa-akmila al-
'iddata thaldthin)." Most of the 'ulamd' explained the concise report
"complete the reckoning" in the light of the explanatory report, "com-
plete it to thirty."
However, one of the greatest and leading scholars among the
ShEifici'sand the doyen of his age, Abii al-'Abbgs Mmad b. 'Umar b.
Surayj (d. 306/918), interpreted the [seemingly] diverse reports by
assigning to each a specific context.61 The phrase "complete the reckon-
ing," meant count it according to the phases (mandzil) [of the moon]
and was addressed to a specialised audience, those whom All21 had

59 [Shaykh Muhammad b. Muspifi al-Marlghi was twice sha kh of al-Azhar

(1928, 1935), where he contributed towards reformist ideals. See EI1, s.v. IslIih].
60 [Paradoxically, in 1320/1902 the reformist and liberal thinker Muhammad
'Abduh ruled that it is not permissible to follow calculations. 'Abduh reasoned that
it was controversial among some scholars and that Islamic law preferred the most
convenient solution, which was sighting. See al-Fatawd al-lslamiyya min Ddr al-
Ifrd' al-Misriyya, (Cairo: al-Majlis al-A'lH li'l-Shu'iin al-Islamiyya, 140211981),
vol. 4, 15531.
61 AbB al-'Abbiis (d. 3061'918) was a student of AbB DHwBd, author of the
Sunan. About him Abii IshHq al-ShirHzi states: "He is among the greats of the
ShHfi'is and leading scholars of the Muslims. He was preferred above all the
companions of al-ShHfici,even al-Muzani." (Tabaqat al-Fuqahd.', ed. Ihsin 'AbbL
[Beirut: D&I al-RH'id al-'Arabi, n.d.],108-09). There are several biographical entries
on Abii al-'AbbHs in al-Khatib al-BaghdHdi, Ta'rikh Baghdad (n.p.: DIir al-Fikr,
n.d.) vol. 4, 287-90; Ibn KhallikHn, Wafaydt al-A'ydn (Beirut: DIir SHdir, 1968),
vol. 1, 66; and THj al-Din al-Subki, Tabaqdr al-Shdpiyya al-Kubrci, ed. Mahmiid
P h a m m a d al-TanHhi and 'Abd al-Fattiih Muhammad al-Hilwu (Cairo: Faysal
18%BHbi al-Halabi, 1971), vol. 3, 21-35.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 79

endowed with the knowledge of astronomy. The other statement "com-

plete the period to th~rty,"he said, was directed to a general audien~e.6~
My opinion is similar to that of Ibn Surayj, except that he suggested
it only for instances in which the moon was hidden and out of sight.
Furthermore, he permitted calculation only for a minority, given the fact
that few people in his day had knowledge of astronomy and [even
fewer] relied on the statements and calculations of those [knowledge-
able in astronomy]. Even if the month is established in some countries,
the relay of news to another country would take a long time. I favor the
adoption of sophisticated and reliable astronomical calculations,
applicable to all people, now that it is easy to transmit and circulate
information speedily. A rare minority will rely on sighting, especially
those out of reach of communication and who do not possess reliable
knowledge about astronomy and the phases of the sun and moon. My
view is [perhaps] the more moderate of the opinions in that it is closer
to sound intellection (al-fiqh al-salim) and a proper understanding of
the reports received on this topic.

[Difference in Horizons]
What remains after this is a very intricate matter that leads to a variety
of opinions to which I have already referred, concerning differences in
horizons (ikhtilcifal-mafcili9.
It is known that the horizons differ with a variation in latitude and
longitude. Just as this variable has a bearing on determining the month
by sighting, it also affects calculation. The ancient jurists differed on
this matter, as explained above. It is evident from some reports that the
majority of jurists did not consider a difference in horizons to be
consequential, as reported by al-Nawawi, who narrated this from Ibn
al-Mundhir. From this [report] it is understood to be the view of the
founders of the four [Sunni law schools] as well as al-Layth b. Sa'd,
even though their later followers differed with them on the matter. This
was also the position of ShihBb al-Din al-Qariifi (d. 68411285) in al-
Furziq. Al-Qariifi said: "Indeed, the MBlikis made the sighting of the
moon in one region the legal cause (sabab) for its obligatoriness
(wujab)in all parts of the world, and the Hanbalis agree with them."'j3
Then al-QarBfi, a MBliki, gave preference (rajjaha) to a view which

62 Abii Bakr b. al-'Arabi, 'Arida al-Ahwadhi (Beirut: D~ al-Fii, n.d.), vol. 3,

207-08; al-'Asqaltini, Fath, vol. 4, 122; al-Trtiqi, Tarh, vol. 4, 1 1 1-13.
63 ShihHb al-Din Abii al-'Abbb Ahrnad b. Idris al-SanhHji al-QarHfi, Anwar
al-Buruqfi AnwaJ al-Furfig (Beirut: 'Alarn al-Kutub), vol. 2, 181.
80 EBRAHIM MOOSA

contradicts the established position of his own MBliki school, and

added:
If it is agreed that the times of prayer differ due to the disparity in times
of sunset, and that, as a consequence, each community will have its
own morning, midday and other times, then the same should apply with
respect to crescent [visibility]. The reason being that localities in the east
will find the crescent in that region to be [obscured] in the glow of the
sun, while the sun will continue to move with the moon in a westerly
direction. And the sun will have hardly reached the western horizon
when the crescent will have moved out of the sun's glow, and hence the
people in the west will sight it [the crescent] whereas the people of the
east will not sight it. This is one of the reasons for the differences in
sighting the crescent. There are also other reasons for this which are
mentioned in the science of astronomy but which are not appropriate to
mention here. I mention only those reasons that are necessary to clarify
the issue. If crescent visibility varies in tandem with the different
horizons (cifciq) then it becomes obligatory for each community to sight
its own crescent, in the same way that each locality has its own dawn,
and as a consequence different prayer times. This is the evident truth
and proper answer. The obligation on all regions to fast on the strength
of a crescent sighting in one area seems to be a conclusion incompatible
with the rules and is not supported by legal arguments (addla).@
I n this view of his, al-QarBfi was preceded by Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (d.
463/1070), who stated that this was especially true in cases where
countries were far apart from each other. He cited a juristic consensus
in support of his view. Al-Shawkm (d. 126011834), remarking on the
differences of the learned and their opinions on this matter, said:
What ought to be the standard opinion in this matter is the view of the
Mglikis, and a group of Zaydis-whose view was approved by al-
Mahdi [li-Din Allah Ahmad b. Yahyii al-Murtadfi (d. 840/1436)], and
which was also reported by al-Ququbi (d. 67111272) from his own
authorities: if people in one region sight the crescent, [that sighting]
obliges people in all regions. No consideration should be given to Ibn
'Abd al-Barr's claim that [such a view] is contrary to the established
consensus. [Ibn 'Abd al-Barr] also claimed that scholars unanimously
rejected sightings from far off countries like KhurHsan and al-Anda-
1 ~ sHis. ~claim
~ should be ignored simply because no consensus is
valid when the opponents of such [an alleged] consensus happen to be
such [distinguished] people (jamci'a) [i.e. the people of Khurasin and
al-Andalus].66

al-Qarsfi, al-Funiq, vol. 2, 182.

65 al-Qurfubi, al-Jrimic,vol. 2, 295; al-'Asqaliini, Fath, vol. 4, 123.

66 al-Shawksni, Nayl, vol. 4, 194-95.

 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASEDLUNAR CALENDAR 8 1

What is self-evident and in no need of proof is that the beginnings of

months do not differ as a result of different regions and distances even
though there is variation in the rising points of the moon. If the moon
disappears after sunset [i.e., conjunction], then the new month has
entered and begun. We have already explained the legal cause-as
contained in the textual sources of the authentic Sunna-for linking the
obligation to perform certain acts of devotion to crescent visibility,
because obligation is contingent upon the presence and absence of legal
causes.
Those scholars who gave consideration to the difference in horizons
-that each locality should have its own crescent visibility-were
excessively committed to [deductive] logic in their rulings since that
was in vogue at the time. [More importantly,] the notion of difference in
horizons has nothing to do with the beginnings of the [lunar] month.
Taken to its logical conclusion, it means that each locality would have
its own month [i.e., calendar] just as each has its own crescent visibili-
ty. What should be taken into consideration, in our understanding, is to
relate the discourse of moral responsibility (khitrib al-taklSf) to those
who are obligated to observe the precepts of religion (mukallafzh).
Whosoever has received knowledge about a religious obligation by
means approved by the Legislator (Shdri') to serve as a cause [i.e.,
source] of knowledge, as is sighting in the case of an unlettered
community (umma ummiyya), then such a cause is linked to a discourse
which demands a scheduled act to be performed at an appropriate time.
Those who reject the consideration of difference in horizons and favor
the validity of one sighting as compelling for all regions of the earth
grasp the true reality. Indeed, it is necessary that the beginning of the
month be the same day over the entire globe, a truth from which there
can be no escape. This point of detail is redundant if one agrees with
calculation, as we did and preferred. Surely, the first day of every lunar
month is the same [lunar] day all over the globe and does not change
with a change in region or distances between regions.

[Reference Point for Calculations]

The matter for me is [as follows]: Is it compulsory to consider the
beginning of the month from any point of reference on the globe where
the moon wanes behind the earth [i.e., conjunction]? Or should there be
a specified universal point of reference for consideration?
I approve of the fact that there should be only one specific point for
that purpose, namely, Makka, as has been referred to in the two
82 EBRAHIM MOOSA

sources of the shari'a, the Qur'Bn and prophetic Sunna. Consider

Allih's word: "They will ask thee about the new moons. Say: They
indicate the times for [various activities ofJ humankind, including the
pilgrimage (kjj]" (Q. 2: 189). Here Allih directs people to the function
of the cycle of phases of the moon, its waxing and waning, as a notion
of time in their affairs, and a period of pilgrimage. I view the specific
mention of pilgrimage after a general statement [about time] to be a
subtle signal that due consideration should be given to the principle that
time scheduling should be attached to one place, the location of hajj,
which is Makka.
This view is supported by the Sunna. Al-Tirmidhi (d. 2791892)
reported in his Sunan,'j7on the authority of a chain of narrators which
includes Ishaq b. Jacfar b. Muhammad b. al-Husayn, the husband of
Sayyida Nafisa, daughter of al-Hasan b. Zayd b. al-Hasan, from 'Abd
Allih b. Ja'far al-Makhrami al-Zuhri, from 'Uthmiin b. Muhammad al-
Akhnasi, from al-Maqbari, from Abii Hurayra who reported that the
Prophet, on whom be peace, said: "The day of fasting is the day you
fast, the day of eating is when you eat, and the day of sacrifice is when
you sacrifice." [emphasis added] Al-Tirmidhi said: "hidha hadithun
gharibun-this narrative is reported by one person (gharib)'j8-and it
is good (hasan)."69 We agree that it is a sound (sahih) report. [On
another occasion,] al-Tirmidhi authenticated a report in a transmission
from al-MuCallBb. Marqiir, on the authority of 'Abd Allh b. Ja'far [al-
Makhrami,] with this chain of a u t h ~ r i t i e s Furthermore,
.~~ IshBq b.
Ja'far was not the sole (munfarid) transmitter of this report. Both Abii
Sa'id, a client (mawli) of the Banii Hfishim and Muhammad b. 'Umar
al-WBqidi, also transmitted [reports] on the authority of 'Abd All* b.
Jacfaral-Makhrarni, with the [same] chain of a~thorities.~~ Neither was
'Abd All* b. Ja'far al-Makhrarni the sole transmitter of this report. Al-

67 Abii al-'AlB' Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Abd al-Rahim al-

Mubkakfiiri, Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, ed. 'Abd al-Rahmln Muhammad 'UthmBn (al-
Madina, Saudi Arabia: Muhammad 'Abd al-Muhsin al-Kutubi, n.d.), vol. 3,382,
hadith no. 693; Ibn al-'Arabi, 'Arida, vol. 3, 216; AbO 'IsB Muhammad b. 'Is6 b.
Sawra al-Tirmidhi, al-Jdrni' al-Sahih: Sunan al-Tirmidhi, ed. Muhammad Fu'Bd
'Abd al-BBqi (Beirut: D k al-Fikr, 140811988), vol 3, 80.
A gharib report is narrated by a single Companion or by any single person
after this generation.
'j9 See E I ~S.V.
, hadith for translation of terminology.
70 Ibn al-'Arabi, 'Arida, vol. 2, 141-42; al-MubkakNri, Tuhfa, vol. 1, 382-83.
71 The report of Abii Sa'id can be found in al-Sunan al-Kubrri, vol. 4,252; and
the report-of al-WBqidi in 'Ali b. 'Umar al-DBraqumi, Sunan al-Driragufni (4th ed.,
Beirut: 'Alam al-Kutub, 140611986), vol. 2, 163. Al-WBqidi is reliable, in our
opinion, contrary to those who undermine him.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 83

WHqidi had [transmitted] from him on the authority of DHwiid b.

KhHlid, Thiibit b. Qays and Muhammad b. Muslim, all three of them
having transmitted on the authority of al-Maqbari who, in turn,
[transmitted] on the authority of Abii Hurayra.72 For this reason al-
Qiidi Abii Bakr b. al-'Arabi (d. 54311 148) in his commentary of al-
Tirmidhi's Sunan [rated] the [above] as a sound report (hadith sahih).
Abii Diiwiid (d. 2751888) in his Sunan transmitted a path (tariq)
including Hammid b. Zayd, on the authority of Ayyiib [al-Sakhtiy2ni1,
from Muhammad b. al-Munkadir, from Abii Hurayra, [containing a
report rated] as marfiic(traced to the Prophet):
Your ending the fast (fitrukum) is the day all of you eat (tufiirzin); your
sacrifice (adhakum) is the day all of you sacrifice; all of 'Arafa is a
place of assembly; all of Minfi is a place of slaughter; all the paths
between the two mountains are a place of slaughter; and all
congregations are a festival of assembly (mawqij7.73
Al-Dkaqufni (d. 3851995) also transmitted this [above] path, as
well as from the path of Rawh b. al-QHsim on the authority of Ibn al-
Munkadir. Al-Bayhaqi (d. 45811066) also transmitted [this report] in
his al-Sunan al-Kubri from the path of 'Abd al-Wirith and Rawh b.
al-QHsim on the authority of Ibn al-Munkadir;74 and [al-Diiraqufni],
also transmitted [it] from the path of Hammiid b. Zayd, similar to the
transmission of Abii Diwiid.75
Al-DBraqufni and al-Bayhaqi both transmitted from IsmH'il b.
'Ulayya and 'Abd al-Wahhiib al-Thaqafi, on the authority of Ayyiib,
from Muhammad b. al-Munkadir, from Abii Hurayra in a report
discontinued at source and traceable to a Companion only (rnawq~ifl,~~
saying:
The month is twenty-nine days and do not fast until you see it [viz., the
crescent] and do not eat until you see it [viz., the crescent] again. And if
it is hidden, then complete the period to thirty days. Your eating is the
day you all eat; your sacrifice is the day you all sacrifice; all of 'Arafa
is a place of assembly; and all of Min2 is a place of slaughter; so are
all the paths between two mountains in Makka a place of slaughter.

72 al-DHraqutni, Sunan, vol. 2, 163.

73 al-'AzimlbFidi, 'Awn al-Ma'blid, vol. 6 , 443, "Kitib al-Siyilm." [Also see
E I ~S.V. "Mawkif'].
j4 Abii Bakr Ahmad b. al-Husayn b. 'Ali al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubrri
(Beirut: Dir al-Ma'rifa, n.d.), vol. 5, 175, "KitAb al-Hajj."
7s al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan, vol. 5, 175.
76 That is, from the transmission of Abii Hurayra. See al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan,
vol. 4. 252.
84 EBRAHIM MOOSA

Ibn Mija (d. 2731886) in his Sunan transmits from the path of
Hammiid b. Zayd, on the authority of Ayyiib, from Muhammad b.
Sirin, from Abii Hurayra who reported that the Prophet, on whom be
peace, said: "The Day of Eating is the day all of you eat and the Day
of Sacrifice is the day you all sacrifice."77
All these chains of authority [above] are sound, mutually corrobora-
tive and supportive. Together they rebut al-Tirmidhi's assessment that
[the original w i t h ] is a single (gharib) report, since they emanate from
several sound paths. But what is the meaning of this report? The
ancient scholars explained it in accordance with its literal and apparent
meaning. Al-Tirmidhi said in his Sunan: "And some people of know-
ledge explained this report to mean that fasting and eating must be with
the group and the majority of the people.'v8 Al-Khattibi (d. 3881998)
said:
The meaning of the report is that people are excused from committing
an error in the process of performing ijtihrid. If a community, which,
after having exerted itself, saw the crescent only after the thirtieth [day,]
resumed eating when they had completed the required period, but later
discovered that the month was only twenty-nine [days], then their
fasting and eating is something of the past, and there is no burden
(wazar) or rebuking ('atab) of them?9
Taqi al-Din al-Subki stated in his FatciwtI: "The report [to fast with the
majority] means: when the [majority] of people agree upon it [viz.,
fasting]. Muslims do not agree on error, and consensus is a binding
proof."80
The above explanations are supported in al-Tirmidhi's transmission
of the report by Macmar,on the authority of Muhammad b. al-Munka-
dir, from 'A'isha, from the Prophet, Alli3h's blessings and peace be
upon him, who said: "Ending the fast is the day the people eat, and
sacrifice is the day the people ~acrifice."8~ Commenting on this, al-
Tirmidhi said: "This hadith is good (hasanun), narrated by a single
person (gharibun) and sound (sahihun) from this viewpoint."82 But we
77 Abii 'Abd Allah Muhammad b. Yazid, Sunan Ibn Maja (Cairo: D8r Ihyi al-
Kutub al-'Arabiyya, n.d.), vol. l , 531, "Kitab al-Siyim."
78 al-Tirmidhi, Sunan, vol. 3, 80.
79 al-Khatgibi, Macrilim, vol. 2, 82.

al-Subki, Fatriwri, vol. 1, 215.

81 al-Mubirakfiiri, Tuhfa, vol. 3, 382; Ibn al-'Arab_&'Arida, vol. 4, 14; al-

Bayhaqi, al-Sunan, vol. 4, 252, in another chain from-'A'isha, narrated a similar
meaning. [The only difference being that the report of 'A'isha said: "Slaughtering is
the day all the people (al-nus) slaughter, and the end of the fast is when all the
peogle eat"].
[Ibn al-'Arabi, 'Arida, vol. 4, 141.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASEDLUNAR CALENDAR 85

also know that many transmitters abbreviate reports and only transmit
the meanings of some. For this reason the authorities of k d i t h studies
and critics collect several transmissions. These very often lengthy
explanatory reports clarify the meaning of the abbreviated ones. So we
find a hadith of 'A'isha transmitted by al-Bayhaqi from the path of
Sufyiin al-Thawri, on the authority of Muhammad b. al-Munkadir,
from 'A'isha, who reported that the Prophet, Alliih's blessings and
peace be upon him, had said: "[The day of] 'Arafa is the day the I m h
assembles at 'Arafa; [the day of] Sacrifice is the day the Imam
sacrifices; and [the day of] eating is the day the Im2m eats."83 The
chain of authorities for this report is sound. This explanatory transrnis-
sion explains the meaning of "people" [in the previous w i t h ] to mean
the Im&rn, with whom the majority of people will be. The transmissions
discussed here, especially the reports of Abii Hurayra and 'A'isha,
have a common repertoire that begs investigation. The words men-
tioned are "'Arafa," as a day and place, "Makka," "Min2," and "al-
Muzdalifa,"; "all of 'Arafa is an assembly place," and "'Arafa is the
day the Im2m assembles." An interrupted (mursal) transmission from
the path of al-Shiifi'i, according to al-Bayhaqi, says: "'Arafa is the day
you all go to 'Arafa; and all of Mina is place of slaughter; and all the
paths of Makkah are a place of slaughter and all congregations are a
festival of a~sembly."8~
The mention of the various locations of hajj and their times in
several of the transmissions of the report, if not most of them, supports
the conviction that this hadith was reported on the occasion of the
Farewell Pilgrimage, when the Prophet, on whom be peace, was teach-
ing the people the rituals of pilgrimage (shacG'iral-hajj] and addressed
them at 'Arafa, Mini and other sites. No other instance is recorded on
which he taught the people the ritual of pilgrimage, except on the
occasion of the Farewell Pilgrimage. This was reported by Jiibir b.
'Abd Alliih, who described the Farewell Pilgrimage in a lengthy report,
but one familiar to the experts of hadith. This report in part resembles
the report of Abi~Hurayra. And Jiibir mentioned that the Prophet,
Allih's blessings and peace be upon him, slaughtered his sacrificial
animal, ate of it, and then said: "I have slaughtered here, and all of
Minii is a place of slaughter. And then he stopped at 'Arafa and said: I
stood here and all of 'Arafa is a place of assembly..Then he stopped at
-

83 The word "al-ta'rij" means to assemble at 'Arafa; 'arrafa al-qawm signifies

"when all assemble at 'Arafa." See al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan, vol. 5, 175.
84 al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan, "01. 5, 176.
86 EBRAHIM MOOSA

al-Muzdalifa and said: I stopped here and all of al-Muzdalifa is a

place of assembly."85
Abii Hurayra's unbroken (rnarfGC)report to the Prophet: "Your
eating is the day all of you eat...," was an address to the pilgrims at the
place of pilgrimage, since it is mentioned with 'Arafa, Makka and al-
Muzdalifa. Thus, another rnadi7' report of Abii Hurayra, which says:
"Fasting is when you all fast...," is also part of the previous report and
was also [part] of the address to the pilgrims at the site of pilgrimage.
All the transmissions of 'A'isha and others carry the [same] meaning in
that they were all transmissions about the Farewell Pilgrimage. Those
persons who transmitted the words "The day the people end their fast,"
or "The day the I m h ends his fast," had reported by paraphrasing [the
report]. The original source of the report was an address to those who
were at the pilgrimage sites.
From these reports we understand that fasting is when the people of
Makka and the areas adjacent to it fast, and that the day of eating is
when they eat, and that sacrifice is when they do so, and that 'Arafa is
when they go to 'Arafa. In other words, these areas are the criteria for
establishing the crescent and will constitute the rising places of the
crescents for all regions to follow. This also underlines the wisdom of
mentioning "time" before "pilgrimage" in the words of All*: "They
will ask thee about the new moons. Say: They indicate the times [for
the various activities of] humankind, including the pilgrimage" (Q.
2: 189).
If the manner in which I view and understand [this matter] will be
followed, Muslims will be united in identifying the lunar months.
Makka-the fountainhead and cradle of Islam, the place where
Muslims meet annually without fail in mutual friendship, the city that
hosts the House of All& to which [Muslims] turn in their prayers--can
be the symbol of their unity and the headquarters of the agency that will
stipulate the time [date] for them.

[Conclusion]
I did not write this essay without engaging in considerable reflection
and soul-searching contemplation. In doing so, I followed the method

85 Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad al-lmim Ahmad (Beirut: DHr SHdir, n.d.) vol. 3,
321; Muslim b. al-Hajfij, Sahih, vol. 8, 195, "Kitiib al-Hajj"; al-'AzimfibHdi, 'Awn
al-Ma'brid, vol. 5, 387-88, "KiEib al-Manfisik"; AbO al-FidH al-HHfu b. Kathir, al-
Biddya wa'l-Nihdya, ed. Ahmad AbO Malham, 'Ali Najib 'Awi, Fu'Bd al-Sayyid,
Muhri NLsir al-Din & 'Ali 'Abd al-SHtir (5th ed., Beirut: Dilr al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya,
1409/1988), vol. 5, 132.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 87

of the learned and pious ancestors in my approach to the Qur'2.n and

the sunna, discarding the need to follow established doctrine (taqlid)
and bigotry ('asabiyya). Thus I hope that 1have arrived at a correct
answer, with A l l a y shelp and the success only He can grant. I present
this for the eyes of the learned and research scholars. I surely will be
grateful for criticism and thankful for support, in order to clarify the
reality and unveil the correct perspective. I do not insist on any
prerequisites, save that the Qur'2.n and Sunna be the primary sources
and foundation of investigation, extrapolation and understanding.
To talk without restraint in a rhetorical flourish fuelled by base
opinion and desire, as those who call themselves reformers (mujad-
didan) are wont to do, is to take the investigation away from its proper
scientific perspective. [Such an approach] neither promotes the truth nor
dismantles error. As to those who cling tenaciously to the views of past
jurists in calling these opinions textual sources (nusfis) and pretend that
these are convincing proofs against us and everyone else, let them be
assured that we also have access to these sources and are aware of the
argument^.^^ We will not debate those who argue on the basis of such
statements. Yes, I cannot prevent the idle talkers from their utterances,
but I can prevent my pen from the vanity of such idleness. I ask All&
for protection and success.

&mad Muhammad S h & r

al-Qiidi al-Sharci
Kiibri al-Qubba, Tuesday
24 Dhii'l-Hijja 1357113 February 1939

APPENDIX

In South Africa, the minority Muslim community of just over half a

million people has experienced several controversies over crescent
sightings in the last decade. On the occasion of 'fd al-AdhI in 1987, the
'ulamd' body of the Transvaal province (now called the Gauteng
region), the Jamiatul 'Ulama (Jam'iyya al-'ulamii') of Transvaal,
refused to accept the testimony of sighting from the 'ulamd' of Cape
Town, a city 1400 kms away. This body argued that Cape Town's

86 [Ahmad Sh2kir makes this disclaimer following the criticism levelled at him
by Muhammad ZBhid al-Kawthari following the publication of his Nizdm al-
Taldq, some three years before he wrote this risala].
88 EBRAHIM MOOSA

sighting was not binding or applicable in their region due to the

distance between them. Although this Jam'iyya adheres to the Indo-Pak
version of the Hanafi school, their ruling was inconsistent with
established Hanafi doctrine, namely, that a difference in horizons
(ikhtilrif al-matrili') of the moon does not affect the validity of any
crescent sighting.
The following year, the same body declared the beginning of
Ramadh 1988 a day later than Cape Town and Durban, the capitals
of the Western Cape and Kwazulu-Natal regions, respectively. And
when 'Id al-Fip in that same year produced another controversy, this
time in Kwazulu-Natal, this only added to the existing confusion over
crescent sightings. On this occasion, theological sectarianism was the
cause of the disputes. The testimony of a sighting by a person belong-
ing to the Barelwi theological doctrine was not accepted by its oppo-
nents, the Deobandis, to which the Jamiatul 'Ulama (Jam'iyya al-
'ulamB') of Kwazulu-Natal adhere.87 The latter body insisted that a
crescent sighting must be witnessed by a "large group" (jam' ghafir), a
Hanafi requirement that had not been strictly observed in the past. The
pro-Barelwi 'ulamd', represented by the Sunni Jamiatul 'ulamd'
(Jam'iyya al-'ulamrl') of South Africa, which had both Hanafi and
Shsi'i followers, decided to accept the testimony of sighting and cele-
brated 'Id al-Fip in the Kwazulu-Natal region, while their opponents
did so a day later. In the Western Cape region where the majority of
South African Muslims reside, the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) as
well as Muslim authorities in other regions followed the ruling of the
Deobandi Jamiatul 'ulamd' of Kwazulu-Natal. As a result, in 1988, the
majority of South African Muslims celebrated 'Id al-Fip a day after the
Barelwis in Kwazulu-Natal did.
Following these lunar controversies, Shaykh Abij Bakr Najjir (d.
1993), then president of the Islamic Council of South Africa (ICSA),
mooted the idea that South African Muslims ought to follow the
calendar of Makka in Saudi Arabia in celebrating 'Id al-AdhB, a
practice adopted in the Middle East and other parts of the Muslim
world. By following the Makkan calendar, it was also hoped that the
controversy of local sightings would be minimized. Najjir's proposal,
supported by other groups, was favorably received by the influential

87 [The Barelwi school of thought was founded by Ahmad Rid%KhHn (d. 1921)
in India. This school favors populist religious practices such as visiting shrines and
the intercession of saintly personages, amongst other things deemed heretical
(bid'a)by their main opponents, the school of Deoband. See Barbara Daly Metcalf,
Islamic Revival in British India (Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 1982)l.
 THE ADOPTION OF A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED LUNAR CALENDAR 89

MJC, which claimed to have the following of the largest number of

mosques in the Western Cape region. An agreement was reached be-
tween the MJC and the other organisations in the Western Cape region
to follow the Makkan calendar beginning in 1989 on the occasion of
'Id al-AdhB. However, the MJC subsequently reversed its earlier
decision, arguing that national unity with other 'ularni' bodies was a
priority, especially after the pro-Deoband Jamciyyas indicated their
opposition to following the Makkan calendar.88Since 1989, mosques
under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Council of South Africa, al-Majlis
al-ShiirB and a few independent mosques in the Western Cape region,
have followed Makka in celebrating 'Id al-AdhB, while the majority of
mosques observe the local calendar.
One of the arguments against following Makka, in addition to the
question of national unity, concerns allegations that Saudi Arabia's
declaration of the lunar calendar is subject to "manip~lation."~~ It has
been argued that while official Saudi policy is based on naked-eye
crescent sightings, there have been occasions when Saudi declarations
are in keeping with neither calculation nor sighting: therefore, Saudi
Arabia cannot be regarded as a reliable authority and example to be
followed on the question of the Islamic calendar.
In a bid to circumvent the obvious difficulties of naked-eye sight-
ings, a small group of younger 'ulamd' has suggested the adoption of a
scientifically-determined lunar calendar which would provide both
accuracy and predictability in the religious affairs of Muslims. The
'IbBd al-R@miin Study Group at the Claremont Main Road Mosque, in
Claremont a suburb of Cape Town, under the leadership of Imlm 'Abd
al-Rashid 'Umar, has taken the lead in advocating this position. It was
in the context of seeking juristic arguments in favor of a scientific lunar
calendar that Ahmad Sh&ir's essay was favorably received by this
group of younger 'ulamd'. However, his view was neither rebutted nor
adopted by the mainstream traditional 'ulamd' in South Africa. Outside
South Africa several Muslim conferences on the lunar calendar have
attempted to establish a uniform calendar based on crescent sighting.%

88 [See the pamphlet issued by the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), The MJC
Speaks, July 1987,4-51.
89 [MJC Speaks, 171.
90 [See Proceedings of the Lunar Calendar Conference, ed. Imad-ad-Dean
Ahmad (Herndon, Virginia: The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT),
140811988), held at Herndon on 6-7 June 19871.