Ending the Moon Wars A Case for Calculations - Corrected Khutba
By Yasir Qadhi | 2026-01-08T14:43:40.750707+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Ending the Moon Wars: A Case for Calculations
Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi
Introduction
Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wassalatu wassalamu ala rasoolillahi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man walaha, amma ba'd. So today, I will be very explicitly arguing for a fiqh position that is, in our times, somewhat unpopular but my prediction will be that within a decade it will be the default position of this land and overall the minorities of the Muslim world and my argument today is that that is something that we should embrace and accept and I will explain why.
As a beginning, obviously we're talking about the considerations for adopting the astronomical birth of the new moon as the sign of Ramadan and we begin by obviously the standard preludes that Allah has mentioned in the Quran that the sun and the moon and the night and the day are of His miracles. Allah says in the Quran:
"And of His ayat are the night and the day and the sun and the moon."
An ayah is an indication of the majesty and grandeur of Allah. An ayah here means it is a sign. What is a sign? A sign is a symbol of something else. A flag symbolizes the country so when you see the flag, you know the country. So Allah is saying there are certain things that show you my power, my qudra. There are certain things that manifest to you how much power and wisdom and hikmah I have. So this is called ayat in the Quran.
So of the ayat of Allah that show how powerful Allah is, how much qudra Allah has, is the shams wal qamar, the layl wal nahar. And if you think about it, it is amazing how perfect Allah has created this creation. As Allah says, if Allah had wanted He would have made you in perpetual light. You would never have had darkness to sleep in. If Allah had wanted He would have immersed you in perpetual darkness. You would never have had a day to walk around.
And Allah mentions in the Quran in surah ar-Rahman:
"The sun and the moon are in precise calculation."
What does husbaan mean here? They are in perfect harmony. They have hisab. They are down to a science. And the beauty of this is that we do not time the sun and the moon rather our time comes from the sun and the moon. The sun and the moon are so precise that our units of time come from the
movement of the sun and the moon. We know our months, our weeks, our days, our years, our hours - we derive them from the movements of these massive bodies that we cannot even comprehend how large they are.
The Perfect Order of Creation
And of course as you know, all of us have gone through high school, middle school - as you know every one of these celestial objects is itself orbiting. It is not that the sun is stationary and things go around it. The sun itself is moving and the earth is moving along with the sun and the moon is then going around the earth that is going around the sun. If you actually see the 3D of how this solar system takes place your mind boggles. And Allah says in the Quran:
"It is not allowable for the sun to reach the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day."
Everyone is in perfect harmony. If you look at how fast these objects are moving and how much speed and how large they are and yet still the precision is down to a millisecond. We know exactly, as I said in our modern times, we derive timing from the motion of those celestial bodies not the other way around. And that is something that really demonstrates:
"The sun and the moon are in precise order."
Allah says in the Quran:
"And the moon - We have determined for it phases."
What are manazil? Every single night of the moon is one manzil. So there are manazil of the moon and there are 28 manazil of the moon because for 2 days or 1 or 2 days we don't see the moon. There are 28 manazil and Allah says I am the one who has made the Qamar go in these manazil otherwise it would never have happened.
So all of this is something that is very clear in the Quran that the sun and the moon is something that Allah has created as a sign, as a miracle. And with regards to the crescent, the Hilal, Allah says:
"They ask you about the new moons. Say, 'They are measurements of time for the people and for Hajj.'"
The crescent is supposed to be the mark for the periods of time. Mawaqeet is the time place. So Allah is saying the Hilal is meant to indicate the beginning of times, your months. The new moon is the beginning
of the Miqats. The Miqat is not the Umra Miqat because Miqat can be both time - Miqat can also be place. For Hajj the Miqat is place and for the moon here right now the Miqat is time. So Allah is saying that they are mawaqeet for mankind and also for Hajj to tell you when Hajj is.
The Science of Moon Phases
A brief summary of a little bit of science: I was thinking should I actually bring objects and what not and I thought I'm not gonna embarrass myself. I'm not the science teacher. You've all gone through middle school, high school. There are many good YouTube videos. We have the president of the PBS as well who's gonna be very embarrassed if I attempt to show with objects various signs and what not. So I'm not gonna do that but I'll explain to you with words what we're talking about.
The fact of course is that the moon has phases because it orbits the earth and the earth as you know orbits the sun and which portion of the moon reflects which portion of the sun on the earth is how we see the actual Hilal. So there's three objects we all understand: the sun giving its light, you have the earth and the moon. And depending on the angle of all three, obviously when we're little children we literally think the moon grows big and becomes shorter. When you're 3, 4, 5 years old you might actually think the moon grows and what not. But we all understand that of course this is simply the play of lights and shadows. It's simply how much light is coming on the moon and how much is being reflected back onto earth.
The moon takes exactly 27.3 days to orbit the earth and the lunar phase cycle which is from new moon to new moon is 29.53 days. So this is the exact 29.53. And the new moon phase: the moon is so close to the sun in the sky that none of the side facing the earth is illuminated. So essentially the moon is between the earth and the sun. We cannot see it. There's no shadow for us to see. There's no illumination coming that is reflecting from the moon onto the earth so we see nothing. It is blank for us.
Then the moon continues until the first slither of the moon catches the sun's rays and then reflects back to earth. That's the beginning angle and it keeps on going until in the middle of the month the moon is now behind the earth compared to the sun. So the moon is on the other side so the sun shows its light on the moon and the moon appears to be full. Then it goes as we know around the earth and as we said for 29.53 days exactly until finally from our perspective it seems to disappear because there's no reflection because now the moon becomes in the middle between the sun and between the earth.
Now very rarely the moon actually coincides with the sun and then what happens in terms of our vision? Eclipse, right. Very rarely the moon and the sun become from our perspective the exact same angle then we see the eclipse. But otherwise if it's not at the same angle there's no shadow, there's no light being reflected so we don't see anything for a day and a half, two days or one day. We don't see anything and that is when there is no moon. Then we are looking when we will see the actual Hilal.
So the crescent is essentially the first sliver of the moon that can catch the rays of the sun and are visible to us on earth. That's the triangle here - we can see the rays of the sun reflected from the moon onto earth. Now it's after seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-five hours, right? And if it's after twenty-five hours then you won't see it because it will be daytime so you will see it the next day.
So science can calculate the theoretical birth of the moon when the first sliver of light will be reflected and theoretically when it is potentially possible to see. But science cannot calculate if somebody will actually see. Why? Because there are factors that are relative: of them is the dust cloud above the atmosphere that nobody can predict or know. Of them is the density of the atmosphere itself between you and outer space. There are elements, there's dust, there are clouds, there might be wisps of clouds you can't predict. No scientist - it's too much the distance between you and the moon and what's gonna be in between. Of them is eyesight. People's eyesight vary: 20-20, 15-20, 30-20. It's gonna vary. You cannot predict when the person on earth will see the astronomical new moon but you can predict when the new moon will be born.
The Meaning of Hilal
So the whole discussion is about the birth of the astronomical moon. And in the Arabic language, the Hilal - the Hilal is the name given to the moon for the first two days of the month and the last two days of the month. In between 24 days the moon is called Qamar. And for the first two and the last two days you say Hilal. So that crescent or Hilal it is only for one or two days. Some say three days but majority say two days. So the first two days you say it's a Hilal. On the third day technically it's not a bid'ah or haram - technically when you see the moon on the third day you shouldn't call it a Hilal. You say now it's the Qamar and the Qamar will then continue until it goes to become the Hilal again.
And the meaning of Hilal by the way: Ahalla and Istahalla - the meaning of Halla is actually very interesting. The original meaning is to raise your voice in an announcement. And the reason why the Hilal is called Hilal is because when the Hilal is seen then you raise your voice: "Oh I saw it!" That is Hilal, right? So Ahalla and Istahalla means...
Now very quickly we are gonna bypass the bulk of classical fiqh now because we are not discussing classical fiqh. What does classical fiqh discuss when it comes to the Hilal? There are many issues and controversies. We'll bypass all of them.
Classical Fiqh Controversies
Of them the biggest controversy: what is the minimum number of people required to see the new moon for the new moon to be valid? Is it one person, one male, two people, one male one female, is it a group of people, is it a large city or a small city? There are many opinions. What is the minimum number of eyewitnesses needed and especially is it one or two? That's the main controversy. What if only one person sees the moon?
Also of the classical controversies: does one sighting apply to the whole globe or does it apply to basically one province or one latitudinal region? This is another controversy. Both of these are irrelevant for our talk today. We're jumping to yet another issue and that is the debate regarding astronomical calculations and the role that they should play regarding beginning the new moon.
Understand that this debate is relatively modern and the position of all of the four schools of law - the Hanafi, Shafi, Hanbali, Maliki - and the default in the Ummah for the last 14 centuries is that the Hilal should be visually sighted and the month begins.
Now there are other controversies as well. What does visual sighting mean? Can you use a telescope? This is a classical and that's why you'll still find some communities their local Imam is going to say we're not even going to use the telescope. We're going to go and see it with our own naked eyes. Goes back to a classical issue of fiqh. There's also an ikhtilaf: can you go on top of a mountain and see or must you see from where the city is? If you go to the highest mountain close by does that count or must you see where you are? All of these controversies for our talk today we'll put them aside because we're bypassing them. They're not relevant. We're jumping to another issue.
If we answer this issue and we say we're going to go with calculation then all of this ikhtilaf becomes irrelevant. You understand, right? Those other issues are not relevant to calculations.
The Primary Evidence for Visual Sighting
And I'm basically going to be making a case for calculations as you know now. Why has the majority position been visual sighting? There's pretty much - I'm not going to say ijmaa because ijmaa means unanimous consent. There's not ijmaa but there is jumhur position. Jumhur means the majority. Why? There is one primary evidence, very simple evidence that has been understood to prove the position of the majority and that is the hadith in Bukhari and Muslim - the most authentic hadith possible - where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
(Bukhari hadith 1913, Muslim hadith 1080)
"We are an illiterate nation. We neither write nor do we calculate. The month is either..." and he didn't even say the name twenty-eight or twenty-nine. The month is either - then he did twenty-nine like this or that's what he did. So not even the number twenty-nine or thirty he literally did with his fingers. The month is either twenty-nine or thirty and he made the motion with his fingers.
So this is the hadith: we are an ummi qawm, we neither write nor do we calculate. Hisaab is mathematics. We don't make hisaab, right? And here hisaab means calculations. We don't do that. This seems to be a pretty open shut case and that is why the vast majority of scholars throughout our history have said okay khalas, we're gonna visually sight the moon and not calculate.
And this hadith has historically been understood and acted upon as a prohibition against calculations. Many scholars they then felt that looking for the moon is itself an action of worship and this is the key point of ikhtilaf. Because when looking for the moon becomes an act of worship then we have to do it. We don't ask why. Just like somebody says why do you pray five times a day? It's an action of worship. We don't think why. Somebody says why do you go counter clockwise not clockwise? No questions. When it's - the Arabic word is taabudi - when it is something you do as an act of worship then we don't think why. We just do.
So those scholars said that in that case looking for the moon and making sure you're seeing the Hilal that itself is an ibadah. And if you believe this then khalas the whole issue goes. You have to do it as an ibadah.
Historical Opposition to Calculations
And it is because of this hadith that some scholars of the past were opposed to all types of calculations when it came to the religion of Islam - even prayer timings. They said we should not calculate like our prayer charts that we have over here. We should not do that. Rather we should visually see and we should know what time is based upon the sighting of the sun. And this is something that - again the reason I'm bringing this up is because most of those who are arguing for visual sightings, they are conveniently ignoring the repercussions that other ulama have derived from the same visual sightings.
And of them you should not have any calculations at all including for the five daily salawat. Ibn Rajab al- Hanbali, a great alim, great scholar, he severely criticized basing your salah on the timings of the clock. Did they have a clock back then? Yes they did. Not our hand clock here - they had their water clocks and whatever clocks they had. And he called it a Jewish custom. So this is not a Muslim thing what we are doing. He considered it to be a Jewish thing, not something we should do.
And Ibn Daqiq al-Eid, the Shafi scholar, great Shafi scholar, he as well rejected any type of calculations for the salawat when I'm talking about Ramadan, for the salawat. So the same group of scholars, many of them who opposed calculations for the moon, they were consistent and they said we should not do it for the salah as well.
And in our times I don't know of any scholar who's gonna say we should not choose the charts for the salah. Nobody goes out and watches everyday where is the moon - sorry where is the sun - and then does his salah. It's gone now. And this shows you the selective issue that we're gonna come back to.
But by the way this wasn't the majority. There were many dissenting voices. Al-Qarafi was a great Maliki sheikh and he would argue that of course the salawat can have the calculations and what not. And in fact to take this even further - and these people were being consistent so I have nothing but - this is consistency I appreciate the spirit even if I disagree - one of the positions of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and it is found in the Hanbali madhab is that we should not even calculate the qibla because the hadith
says no calculation. So we shouldn't use any instrument or mechanism or even the stars to calculate which direction is the qibla. We should just have a generic idea through our actual traveling, through our safar, that we know that when you exit Baghdad Mecca is roughly in that direction. For example when you're in Kufa Mecca is roughly in that direction and that is good enough for you. To go beyond this he considered this to be a bid'ah.
Now who amongst us is going to take that and not say this is a bid'ah to use the iPhone and use the iCompass? Who says this anymore? It's gone. And Ibn Rajab the same - and he's a great alim, I quote Ibn Rajab all the time. When I disagree it doesn't mean I'm disrespecting. I'm just saying Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali said that if we allow this astronomical knowledge, if we follow these instruments and what not, we are claiming that we are better than the salaf and the sahaba and tabi'oon. And if we claim this then it means that they were upon misguidance and we are upon guidance and that's the destruction of the religion, right? So he said we don't do any, we don't look at the stars and do...
Because realize now we all talk about Islamic astronomy or Muslim astronomy. Realize that that was one strand, not all of the ulama appreciated it. Ibn Rajab did not appreciate it and many ulama did not appreciate it. They considered this to be something from the Greeks, something we shouldn't get involved in.
And also at the time astronomy - listen to this - and astrology were typically linked together. What is astrology? Astrology is to read the future based on the stars. And astronomy is you look at the stars and you just know which one is where and what is the name of this and where one will be seen. So astronomy is a physical science, astrology is a superstitious metaphysical science, right? And many of the astronomers were also astrologers, right? And that's another factor that we're gonna come to as well that when these ulama opposed the science it was also because the science back then was not the science as we know today. Many of those involved were actually also dabbling in other issues as well.
So the point being that with my utmost respect to these great ulama, our modern scholars who are insisting on no calculation, they seem to neglect their fatawa for the calculations of the daily salawat and the calculations even of the qiblah. They neglect all of this and they jump on the moon issue which I think is not consistent. Either be consistent or not be. But anyway that's one of the issues that I have.
The 2006 Fiqh Council Decision
Now to jump to modernity: in the year 2006 the Fiqh Council of North America - of which I'm a member of now, in 2006 I was not a member of, I had just come back from Medina, now I'm a member of it - in 2006 the Fiqh Council of North America decided that they're going to go with calculations in this country and they basically announced and they assumed that the majority of masajid would follow them.
Hindsight is 2020 and it is my analysis that I have spoken directly to the Fiqh Council and mentioned this in our meetings - that the way they went about doing this is the cause for our current disaster right now.
It's easy, hindsight is 2020. When you look back you can see I made this mistake. In my humble opinion analysis, it is my opinion that the backlash of their methodology we are still suffering from right now. If they had gone about it differently or more wisely or more tactfully then we wouldn't be in the predicament that we are in.
Why? Because what happened was the reaction from the local national ulama. And at the time I was just beginning my journey in this country. I had come back in 2005 from Medina and I was just beginning my da'wah. And I'll be frank with you, at that time I too sympathized with the majority and I'll tell you why I sympathized with the majority.
The reaction was immediate and swift. It was harsh. It was almost universal and it created a type of domino effect that we are still seeing to this day where the local ulama reacted against this fatwa and they published papers. Some of the most leading ulama including those that are my colleagues - I respect them - Sheikh Hamza Yusuf wrote a very famous paper that you can read online where he argued for visual citing and against the calculation. You know many of the local ulama they also refuted this. Many of the other national bodies they rejected this and it became the majority and the dominant position. And it was so effective that essentially they sealed the fate for any reasonable discussion for the next decade. For the next decade we were all quiet even if we changed our minds as one of them.
Why? Why did they react this way? Many reasons but I feel that one of the main reasons - because here's the point: when you look at us living as minorities in North America and across Europe we are sometimes forced to follow many opinions that are minority opinions. This is across the board in economics, in dealing with others and what not. Circumstances don't allow us to take the majority opinion and I can give you so many examples but if I do that it will cause more confusion for this lecture. But any true person who knows fiqh knows that there are many concessions that we have to give to our people when we live in this land and these are all halal and we're all fine with doing that.
Why then when it came to this concession was there such an immediate backlash reaction? I would say there's two main reasons.
Reasons for the Backlash
The first of them: that especially at this time 2004, 5, 6 there were many progressive movements rearing their heads. Remember this was the same time the first women-led Juma took place around the same time. Other things going on, LGBT issues being mainstreamed into the ummah, right? What not. So there was this natural reaction that everything is changing too fast. It was just an instinctive reaction of protection, a legitimate fear that we want to protect our traditional values and this became one example of change as well. And this is a problem because not every change is negative and not every change is progressive Islam. Not every change is indicative of that strand of Islam that as you know I'm a big critic of. I'm not a supporter of progressive Islam in any by any stretch or what not. I don't consider progressive
Islam to be embodying Islam. They're embodying the culture of our times and they're projecting the culture of our times onto the Quran. But this is not progressive in that sense. This is mainstream fiqh that can be justified.
Also in my humble opinion there was a simple human element and I say this with respect - this human issue of authority and leadership. The Fiqh Council of North America - who do you think you are? Who do you think you are? They would say that. Who are you to tell us how to do our fiqh? Who put you in charge? And this is a standard reality across the globe, understandable. The sense of authority of leadership - why should we follow you? Who elected you? And it's true, nobody elected us and now I'm part of it. Back then I too was like why should we have to follow the Fiqh Council? It's a legitimate question. The Fiqh Council is not the khalifa. The Fiqh Council is not the final binding, you know, the pope figure. And so there's this issue of authority.
When another person tells you you have to do that, what's the first thing you're going to say? Who are you? Why can't I do this? So I think in my humble opinion the Fiqh Council simply tried to impose and it kind of felt that everybody would follow and they didn't take into account that you're bringing the new position. You have to build community support. You cannot just announce and impose. It has to be from within and not from without. And because of that swift reaction that was universal it became somewhat accepted in all mainstream communities - whether they're deobandi, whether they're tablighi, whether they're salafi, whatever they are - that calculations are wrong because of the backlash from 2006.
And in my humble opinion if they had gone about in a different way this would not have happened whatsoever.
Classical and Modern Scholarly Support for Calculations
So the claim that the astronomical birth of the new moon is the cause of beginning the new month and not the visual sighting - this claim is a minority one but it is not new. It has existed in the past. It doesn't go against ijma. A small group of scholars in the past felt that when for whatever reason you could not see the moon - and the main reason would be when it's clouded - they said resort to calculation.
Now it is true no classical scholar said that ignore visual sighting because there was no need for them to say that. The classical controversy was over what if it's cloudy? What if it's rainstorm, thunderstorm and you don't have contact with the heavens above? You don't have visual contact. A group of scholars said in that case follow calculations.
So from that modern ulema have said that ok we can extrapolate from this that the cause of the beginning of the new month is the knowledge of when the moon will be born, not when the moon will be seen. And in our times circumstances dictate that we make this announcement not 7 hours before Eid but weeks and months before Eid. Not the night of Ramadan but weeks and months before Ramadan. And this is the argument of our modern scholars.
Early Classical Support
As for classical ulema, we have even amongst the students of the tabi'oon - the students of the sahaba, excuse me, one of the tabi'i scholars - this is the teacher of the teacher of Abu Hanifa, Mutarrif ibn Abdullah ibn al-Shikhir is his name. He died 95 hijra. He died in the first generation. He studied with some of the sahaba and his view was that if the skies are clouded, if you cannot see the moon, then you ask the astronomers and you follow what the astronomers say and you will start and end the month based upon that. Now again he made the clause that when it's cloudy because put yourself in his shoes - why would you care if it's not cloudy? You can see. Understand from their point there's no need to get to the issue of if it's not cloudy. That's something that's coming now.
We also have another of one of the most famous ulama of the third century. His name is Ibn Qutayba. He was a polymath. Ibn Qutayba was a poet and a mathematician and an alim and a faqih. He was one of those people who combines all of these things and he as well, Ibn Qutayba, said that whoever knows astronomy and he then is able to calculate from astronomical calculations when the hilal can be seen, then even if it is cloudy then that person must start the fast.
So whoever understands astronomy then he follows those calculations and he's saying this when the science of astronomy had barely developed and flourished in medieval Islam. This is early Islam. The science of astronomy became very, very - it reached its pinnacle around the 12th century CE. So that's around a thousand years ago and the Muslims as you all know they led the world in astronomy. These fuqaha and ulama are even before that and they're basing their fatawa on the knowledge of astronomy at that time.
So based on this many medieval ulama followed those early scholars and they said whenever it is cloudy, whenever you cannot see for whatever reason the moon, you ask the astronomers and you get the verdict from them: can you see - sorry, is the moon born or not? And if they say yes you follow their opinion.
Medieval Scholars
And of them is Imam al-Khattabi who died 388 hijra. Of them is the famous Maliki scholar al-Qarafi who died 684. Of them is al-Subki who died 771. Al-Subki is one of the most famous scholars of the Shafi'i madhhab and al-Subki has a very, very interesting point I want to mention. This in his fatawa volume 1 page 210. In his fatawa he says that astronomy - and al-Subki died 771 hijra so he died 700 years ago 700 years ago al-Subki says that in our times the knowledge of astronomy has now reached the level of yaqeen. He is writing 700 years ago. He goes: in our times the knowledge of astronomy has reached the level of yaqeen and the visual seeing of the moon is not yaqeen.
This is an amazing statement if you know who al-Subki is. He is one of the giants of Shafi'i fiqh and he wrote the most important biographical dictionary of the Shafi'i scholars. It is called Tabaqat al-Shafi'i al-
Kubra and he is one of the greatest scholars after Imam an-Nawawi and others. This is al-Subki and he was also a companion of Ibn Taymiyyah but a rival. He didn't like Ibn Taymiyyah. They were at the same time. They did not like each other at all but they were contemporaries. They met each other and they knew each other. And Ibn Taymiyyah was Hanbali and al-Subki was Shafi'i. Ibn Taymiyyah was Athari, al- Subki was Ash'ari. So they had a lot of clashes intellectually but they were great ulama both of them.
And al-Subki says that the calculations are yaqeen and the seeing is not yaqeen because a person might see something. If anybody has actually attempted to see the hilal on the first day you know what he is talking about. Those of us who have never gone, you have no clue. Those of you who have actually attempted - because in reality the hilal is only visible for 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes if even that much. You just see it and it's such a slither. It is literally just like a few millimeters in width from your perspective and angle so you wonder: is that my figment of my imagination? Was that a cloud? Was that this? Was that that?
So al-Subki says - and this is somebody writing 700 years ago, imagine now if he were alive what he would say - al-Subki says calculations are yaqeen and visual sighting is not yaqeen. And the sharia says we have to follow the yaqeen over the non-yaqeen, over the dhani. We follow the yaqeen over the dhani. Then he says and I really - this was so good I actually quoted it in Arabic and I have it here - that there will be those who claim that no astronomical calculations should ever be used whatsoever and they will say that it is not allowed to go back to the astronomers for anything. So whoever wants to have this conversation - this is al-Subki saying this - we will only have dialogue with those who understand the science of astronomy and know what it is. As for the one who is a jahil there is no point talking with this person. He doesn't understand the science of astronomy and that it is yaqeen.
This is Subki writing 700 years ago when science was so much behind what it is now and he is saying that look, in order to fully appreciate this you need to understand astronomy. And if you understand astronomy you know that it is yaqeen. Now I will tell you as well it is 110% yaqeen. If you don't believe me all you need to do is to look up the predictions of the eclipses of the sun and moon. They will predict it to you to a millisecond exactly where you are, what time it will begin, what time it will end. We can calculate to a millisecond the actual places where the sun and moon are going to be and what we can see and what we cannot see.
What we cannot calculate is whether your eye will see the astronomical moon. That science cannot predict because there are too many things. But science does know when the hilal will be born theoretically - means if you are above the horizon, if you are above the surface of the earth, if you didn't have the clouds, if you didn't have that, then yes you could see the moon definitely. But we are - there is a whole horizon between us, there is a whole atmosphere and the atmosphere of course is going to affect the visual and the issue of the eyesight and what not.
So the point is we know for ilm al-yaqeen when the birth is going to happen. So al-Subki says that...
When is al-Subki's fatwa to be very clear - I am not trying to insinuate al-Subki is supporting the Fiqh Council - al-Subki's fatwa is when it is cloudy. Because again there is no need to discuss when it is not cloudy. The whole controversy in medieval Islam: when it is cloudy what do you do? And al-Subki's argument is go to calculation. No problem. Don't even worry about seeing the moon if there is clouds and what not. Go to the calculations and follow calculations. So this is something that he is arguing for.
Now from this strand of Islam which is very classical, modern ulama have come and said well in our times our circumstances dictate that we in fact speak about the beginning of the month even if it is crystal clear or not. We need to know the dates in advance and there are many famous ulama each one of whom is basically a galaxy in his own right and I will mention some of the main names.
Modern Scholarly Support
Amongst them of the most famous of the last generation who was really the most intellectual thinker of a hundred years ago is Sheikh Rashid Rida. Sheikh Rashid Rida is the illuminary. He is the mover and shaker, the thinker of Islam that is really the greatest of modernity which is before a hundred years. And Rashid Rida died 1935, so a hundred years ago. The name that the whole ummah knew to be Sheikh ul- Islam was Rashid Rida. Everybody who was anybody knew Rashid Rida and he wrote Majalat al-Manar. He was the editor. He is basically - if you know anything about Islamic history you know Rashid Rida who he was and he was one of - you know he was the most famous alim alive at the time. There is no question. And Rashid Rida wrote a fatwa in this regard.
I am going to quote some of it as well. The famous Sheikh ul-Azhar during World War 2 and beyond, died 1945, Sheikh Mustafa al-Maraghi, very famous alim, Sheikh ul-Azhar, the grand mufti of al-Azhar - he also wrote a fatwa in this regard as well.
One of the famous scholars of hadith, the most famous scholar of hadith before the modern Sheikh al- Albani - before him there was somebody by the name of Ahmed Shakir who died 1958. And Ahmed Shakir - the reason why especially he is so important is because generally he follows the athari or the salafi school. So that is somebody that people assume would be ultra traditional or conservative. But when it came to this issue he actually has a treatise. He has an entire booklet, a pamphlet that I have read and summarized and this is a longer article I have. I am summarizing from that but Ahmed Shakir wrote an entire treatise about the case for calculations - basically an entire treatise. And he is somebody who was a staunch follower of Imam Ahmed and Ibn Taymiyyah. He was a defender of that strand of Islam and when it came to this issue and he was a muhaddith and he edited Muslim, Imam Ahmed. One of the first people to critically edit the largest hadith collection is Ahmed Shakir and wrote many hadith books. So he is associated with the hadith school, the athari school and he is calling for calculations.
You have another person not related to him, Mahmud Shakir, just the same last name but not related to him - he also said this. The very famous sheikh that many of you of the Arab speaking audience know,
Sheikh Ali Tantawi who recently died a decade ago in the 1990s - he died - Sheikh Ali Tantawi is a household name amongst many of the Arabs here because he was really a polymath. He as well supported this.
And I can go on and on. Sheikh Mustafa Zarqa of course, Sheikh Yusuf Qardawi in our times, one of the most senior sheikhs alive in our times as well. Sheikh Ali Qurradaghi, Hassan al-Shafi, Abdullah al-Judia, Faisal al-Maulwi and many, many scholars. You can go on and on and on. This isn't a minority opinion. All of these names are big names. Some of them are dead, many of them are still alive.
And of course this fatwa was then adopted by the two oldest and most respectable Western fatawa councils. Of them is the Fiqh Council of North America and of them is the European Fiqh Council which is headed by Sheikh Qardawi. And the European Fiqh Council has 200 ulama who are generally living in the Arab world but they visit Europe a lot. And this fatwa was given when Sheikh Qardawi was the president and Sheikh Qardawi and many of the famous ulama they gave the fatwa that calculation should be followed for the new month.
Responses to the Hadith Evidence
Now what can be done with the explicit hadith: "Fast when you see the moon and break your fast when you see the moon"? What can be done with the explicit hadith: "We are a nation that doesn't write and doesn't calculate. The month is 29 and 30"? What can be done with these hadith?
Well the scholars who argued for calculations - whether it was when it's cloudy or whether it is in our times - they have a number of ways of attempting to understand these hadith.
Five Key Arguments
Of them, point number one, I'm going to mention five points. Of them they said that from the earliest of times people like Mutarrif ibn Abdullah al-Shikhir, like Ibn al-Suraj, like other early ulama, they understood that there are exceptions to this general rule. So this is not a new opinion. Rather the default yes should be visual but there are exceptions. So because they understood that there are exceptions so we can then see when those exceptions are and they argue this is one of those times of those exceptions.
Point number two, they said and this is a very key point: the act of seeing the moon is not the goal. It is the means to the goal. It is not the ibadah. It is the stepping stone to the ibadah. And if it's the stepping stone to the ibadah you're allowed to change that but you cannot change the ibadah. And this is well known, the principle is agreed upon and there are a million examples.
Of them is the sufoof lines that we have over here or even the microphone. Is it ibadah to hear the voice of the qari directly? Many scholars argued yes in the 50s and 60s. They said it is ibadah to hear the voice directly. Is it ibadah to straighten the rows yourself or is the goal to straighten the rows? And if you have these lines you've achieved the goal. Many scholars argued it is wrong to put these lines - these lines that
we have here - because it is an act of worship to visually look and make sure it is straight. And these days these opinions are almost gone because we understand the act of worship is to have straight lines. How you get to have straight lines is not an act of worship.
The act of worship is to fast of Ramadan, not to see when the moon begins. Not to visually see but whenever the hilal is born the month of Ramadan will come in. And also the same second point - what clearly demonstrates this: I don't know of any scholar who argues against calculations for moon sighting who also argues against calculations for the salawat timings. I don't know of anyone and that is inconsistent in my humble opinion. If you don't agree with calculations for moon sighting then these charts that we have should be thrown away and no one should be using those charts as well. Because we understand that we are not - it is not an act of ibadah to look at the sun and calculate. The act of ibadah is when it is dhuhr I have to pray dhuhr. That is ibadah. How I get to that timing I can look at the charts that our astronomers calculate, right? Because that is what astronomers do. Our Muslim astronomers they will tell us zawal is at 12:27 today, dhuhr comes in at 12:31. They will tell us that if fajr comes in at this time and the sunrise will be at this time, this is the time you can pray fajr. Where they get it from? It is from the calculations of astronomy and they understand this.
So the second point is that they argue it is not an act of worship to see the sun and moon. The act of worship is the prayer and if we can know the timings by other means then we will do that.
Number three, the third argument they say: if you read what many of the medieval scholars said against calculations you actually find many of their points are not against astronomy. They are against astrology. And that is because a thousand years ago, seven hundred years ago, many people involved in the science of the stars were also involved in the superstitions of the stars. It was almost one field almost. And so by rejecting the science - sorry by rejecting the issue of astrology they also ended up rejecting the astronomy. By rejecting the mythical zodiacal signs and what not they also ended up rejecting the astronomy. But we have to now realize there has been so many developments in the science of astronomy and in astronomers themselves and so we need to take a fresh look. It's not fair to quote Ibn Rajab when Ibn Rajab's understanding of the discipline is no longer the understanding of our times. Do you understand? This is what I'm trying to say. You cannot quote somebody who's speaking about a discipline when that discipline has changed. Maybe if he were alive today and he studied the discipline directly he wouldn't have that perception. He wouldn't think that this is astrology or something. So this is another point that they argue that a lot of our classical ulama when they oppose this, what they are opposing is not modern science. They're opposing something else.
Point number four which is a very, very interesting argument and Ahmad Shakir made this argument and it's a very powerful one and that is the following: what does the hadith say? "We are an illiterate qawm. We don't read or write and we don't calculate." Ahmad Shakir, this great athari salafi scholar, author of
hadith - I mean not author, collector and editor of hadith - he said why don't you read the first half of the hadith instead of jumping to the second half?
"We are an illiterate nation. We neither read or write nor do calculations."
Who wants to apply that half? Who's gonna wanna be illiterate? Who's going to say that we should not learn mathematics? We should not read and write? The sheikh says this hadith is not a verdict. It is a description. A thousand four hundred years ago the average Muslim did not read and write and our Prophet is saying we don't read and write so the month is like this. Once we can read and write and calculate we no longer have to apply the second half. It is a statement of fact and not a commandment.
The Prophet is making Islam easy for the people who haven't gotten that level of reading and writing of development of mathematics. It's not a matter of them being better or worse. They are better than us in iman and this goes back to Ibn Rajab's point. He said if you say that you're gonna use calculations, look at the sun and the moon and the compass, then you are saying that the salaf were misguided. No. With my utmost respect Ibn Rajab is incorrect here. We are technologically more advanced than the salaf of course. Is anybody gonna deny this? This phone is more technologically advanced than anything even in the 80s and 90s much less than the time of the salaf. Does that mean we are better than the salaf? No. Does that mean we are better than Abu Bakr? Of course not. Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali - they are going to jannah not because of the iPhone frankly. This is not leading to jannah usually because we are going to jannah - we are not going to jannah.
Ahmed Shakir says that this hadith is a description of the majority of Muslims of that time. It is not a commandment to remain illiterate. And we all agree, all of us are literate. The Muslim ummah is literate. We all agree. So he is saying, how come you're applying the second half and ignoring the first half? Doesn't make sense.
The second half is meant to be applied when the situation of the ummah is like the first half. "We are an illiterate nation, we are not going to calculate." Okay. We are no longer an illiterate nation. We do read. We do write. We do have a knowledge of astronomy. So we may now resort to that. That's his argument. And it's a very, very powerful argument because I don't know of any alim who says the ummah should be ummiyah. I don't know of any alim who says this, right? You understand what I'm arguing here, right? Nobody says we should not learn how to read and write. Don't send your kids to school. It's haram. No. The Prophet (peace be upon him) is not giving you a commandment. He's describing: we are an ummi qawm and they were an ummi qawm back then. But we are no longer ummi qawm. So this is Ahmed Shakir's argument.
The Maslaha Argument
The final argument which I'm going to make, which is really the strongest argument and it is very difficult to argue against. And this is the one that I always quote when I'm speaking with other people and
dialoguing with other imams. This is the one that I resort to. So all five are valid but number five is really open shut case as they say. It's very clear. And that is that the claim that we say, and I have said this and this has been my position even if you ever heard me after the khutbah on somebody else, this is what I say.
That look, let us even admit, let us agree that the quote unquote strongest opinion is we should have visual sighting. No problem. Let us agree. But the strongest opinion is not always the right one in every circumstance. Let us agree from a purely theoretical perspective. If I were to read the books of fiqh, if I were to read the tafsirs, read the commentaries of hadith and live in a complete isolated bubble, a room in an ivory tower, looking only at the books, let us agree with you that the strongest opinion, we don't do calculation.
Even if we say this, the strongest opinion isolated in a room is not necessarily the strongest opinion in a particular society or circumstance. You have to look at the text and the context. And the real scholar is not somebody who can quote and paste from classical books because Google can do that these days. The real scholar is the one to know when to apply and when not to apply. The real scholar is the one who looks at what is called in Arabic masalih and mafasid, the pros and the cons. And this is a well-known principle.
All of the madahib agree without exception. All of the madahib agree that sometimes you may choose a quote unquote weaker opinion over a quote unquote stronger one in a particular circumstance. And in that circumstance, the weaker opinion becomes the stronger opinion. You understand that point, right? This is agreed upon, the principle theoretically. This is agreed upon, that in this scenario, khalas, go ahead and choose the weaker opinion over the stronger one.
And there are a gazillion examples I can give that even I sometimes, every shaykh and alim sometimes does this when it is really a very major issue. Taqi al-Din al-Subki, the same al-Subki, he says that the mufti, if he takes a weaker opinion for the sake of a maslaha for the community over a stronger opinion, this is something that is allowed.
Even Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali who is a very strict shaykh, very strict alim, even Ibn Rajab says that if you look, he mentions a particular fatwa of the past, he goes, well, in our times if we gave this fatwa, it would cause fitna and chaos. And it is permissible to leave the stronger opinion and to go to a weaker opinion if there is greater benefit in that weaker opinion over the stronger opinion. This is Ibn Rajab who is generally a very, very strict alim and my point is this is a well-known principle.
Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah, and Ibn Taymiyyah was against calculations. He is the guy I look up to the most in the history of Islam, as you know, I am one of his biggest admirers and followers. And he was against calculations. But he said that it is allowed for the alim to take a weaker opinion and make it the stronger
one if he feels that the benefits are going to far outweigh the community by taking the weaker opinion. And this is what happens in most of the amal of the children of Adam.
You look at the effects of your fatwa. You don't just copy and paste. You see what is going to happen and then you look at the effects of that.
So this is the argument that is called the maslaha argument. The maslaha means you look at the pros of this fatwa and you weigh it against the cons. And when you do so, you can say, okay, this is the weaker opinion theoretically, I agree to you. But in the context we are living in, it must become the stronger opinion.
So we say, because we are a minority living in a land of kufr, because see the government is not going to declare a holiday on Eid. You are living in a land that you are the minority and circumstances are different. So because of this, the maslaha argument, we say, khalas, we agree it is the weaker opinion theoretically, but realistically it becomes the what? The stronger one.
Eight Benefits of Calculation
And there are so many pros, maslahas for this opinion. And I mentioned eight of them. I'll very quickly go over them.
1. Muslim Unity
Number one, the possibility of Muslim unity or at least a sizable majority of unity locally that if we go with this calculation and the majority of masajid agree, we have the possibility of unity. Now I say it's going to take some time. It's going to take some time, but eventually we can have a large group. And anecdotally, there was a survey done informally. Around 50% of the masajid of North America are already following calculations already.
Even though when 2006 they said the fatwa or the verdict, hardly any masjid followed. Within 10 years, half the community is already following. My prediction is within the next 10 years, 90% will be following. This is my prediction. If not before then. So the first, you actually have unity.
2. Family Harmony
Number two, achieving family harmony for the same Eid. Now alhamdulillah, we are blessed in Memphis. We are truly blessed that our masajid are united. I can assure you that is not the case in the majority of US cities. If you've ever lived anywhere else, and I have, that is not the case. And if your cousin, your brother, your uncle, your nephew, even your son or daughter is living in a different zone, they will have to battle between two different Eids. Families themselves are divided over Eid.
3. Economic Benefits
Number three, of the maslahas of having calculation, is you avoid the wasting of Muslim money and of resources by having the need to book the same hall twice. Backup dates. What day is Eid? Oh, 17 and 18, I'll pay double. This is Muslim money, as it is we are struggling to build what we need. As it is we are, and you're going to pay double for the largest hall in the city because of a position. Again, this isn't a Muslim land where everything is free, you just go to the Eidgah, just walk outside and pray in the Eidgah, there is no Eidgah. There is no Eid area, you have to go and rent the hall. This is our money that we're literally just writing a check and cutting half of it and throwing it away. It's our resources that we are wasting if we follow the other fatwa.
4. Increased Attendance
Number four, increasing the Eid attendance, especially amongst Muslims who either A, are not that religious anyway, or B, their job circumstances don't allow them to just take off last minute. If you can announce beforehand that Eid is on the 17th of this month, Eid is on the 25th of that month, then people of weak Iman who maybe they're going to, you know, they can say, Khalas, it's Eid, I'll come. But if you're going to say we don't know, 24, 25, you're going to have both of these categories. Those who are struggling with Iman even to pray Eid as we know, and those that, their jobs, their engineers, their doctors, their pilots, they are having a surgery, they cannot have a surgery either this day or that day. You have to tell specifically what day can you be off.
So we will increase Eid attendance dramatically. And for a good percentage of Muslims, and I know it's shocking to some of you here, Eid is the only time they pray in the entire year. And if we are going to deprive them of that, I say, I said this to a group of Imams in the city I went to, I said, Wallahi, my dear brothers, do not make this mistake, that because of your version of Islam, you will deprive generations after of their Islam. Because these are people that their only connection with Islam is Eid. And if you're going to follow the stricter fatwa, they might not even come for Eid. The only time their kids, even though they're Muslim, is on the day of Eid, they'll come and they'll, and I have met people like this.
I have met people like this, even here in Memphis, believe it or not. I hope you're not shocked at this, you should all know. There are people that they have no connection with Islam except on the day of Eid. And if they don't know when Eid is, they're not even going to come on that day. These are kids that are going to be brought and told you are Muslim. You're going to deprive them of that because you think you are following your version of what is Sunnah. No, this is not the case. And I'm very much against this because I believe, frankly, literally, I believe it is a matter of preserving Islam. Literally, people's imans will be saved if you can announce Eid in advance for those group of people.
And also for religious Muslims whose jobs don't allow them to take two days off. That's many of us. I mean, sometimes even myself, it's problematic. There have been times in my own life where from the Eid Salah, I've had to go in my Eid clothes. I remember one year, I actually gave the khutbah here in Memphis and in my garments, I had a car, I could not skip that class for whatever reason, I had to go and teach
wearing a sherwani in Rhodes. I went, cool, I'm not complaining, but I'm sure doctors are not going to have a surgery in their sherwani either. You know what I'm saying? So my point is, just giving an anecdotal incident, forget the example, the point is there are people whose jobs are not just up in the air that I can just take off. And especially in this culture, and especially if it's a very high skilled job like a surgery or a job that they might get fired if they just take off, if they tell their boss in advance, look, I'm going to work an extra day and the 17th I'm going to take off, they can manage it. So for their Eid, we really have to think about the issue of calculations.
5. Federal Holiday Potential
Also point number five now. We are working hard across this country to get Eid declared as a state and national and federal holiday. Already in two states this has happened. Now in those states, what do you expect? Which position are you going to follow? It's just a no-brainer. In those states, New York, schools are off, Minnesota, either it's coming or it's close. It's not quite there yet, but inshallah it'll be very close. In other states as well, work is being done. And we want to declare Eid a federal holiday. We're going to try that inshallah as a community. And inshallah, it's not unrealistic to have as a federal holiday, and at least at the state level where communities of Muslims are large.
What do you expect? This is going to be public da'wah that it's in the calendar of the school. Everybody knows Hanukkah. The Muslim kids know Hanukkah. Why? Because it's in the school calendar. We want to have Eid there as well. It's a da'wah, and it is something that will allow our kids to attend as a national holiday. So we're aiming for this, it's already happening, and that's why I said it's a given. In New York, how long will the people of visual sighting last when the school is off on that date? Think about it. It's just, it's inevitable, change is inevitable. But anyway, they're going to try for a while, but eventually it will be gone. So the point is, we want Eid to be a national holiday, and that can only happen if we follow the calculation and we know when it will be done before.
6. Community Dynamics
Number six, statistically speaking, more than half or at least half of the masajid are already following the calculation. And given the dynamics, and given the practicality and ease of this opinion, it is a given that the next generation, our children, as they come of age, when they become the board presidents, when they become the ones in charge, they will not care about these controversies between the uncles. They have a life to live. And this controversy between the elders will become irrelevant to them. And so they will cast aside the fiqh stuff and they're just going to go with the calculation, therefore it makes sense for us to take charge. We care about the issue. We will set the parameters. We will explain the fiqh. We want to keep the dignity of fiqh. If we don't do it, another generation will come that doesn't care about the fiqh, they just want the practicality. So it's better we take charge from now, and we dictate the terms, and we explain the fiqh, and we explain, for example, that this is not the default. It is an exception. The default
is visual. I don't mind saying that. Yes, the default is you go with the visual. But this is an exceptional circumstance because of how we are living.
7. Personal Experience
Number seven, I have been advocating calculations for the last ten years or so. 2005, when I came back, I was against calculation, very much against it. And this is what happens. And again, I'll tell you as a personal narrative, look, you are studying with respected ulama, and you genuinely, and you should respect them. These are people of iman, of taqwa, they are your mentors and teachers, you have a relationship with them, you see in them ikhlas, and zuhd, and ilm, and they're all saying calculations are haram. What do you expect? Of course you will come back and say, yes, calculations are haram. My teachers in Medina, all of them, calculations are haram. It's understood. But you see, they are living in a different land, and a different place, and a different environment. And I did not go, or we did not go to just copy and paste their fatawa, otherwise I didn't need to go and study. You could have just called them up directly and get that. The real goal of fiqh is to see which selections need to be changed, and which selections are standstill. And most of our graduates of the madrasas, and understandably, most of the graduates of the seminaries and what not, they just want to go with the flow. They have studied in Darul Ilum, they have studied in Medina, they have studied in Azhar, and by and large, the majority say, visual, understandably, those are Muslim countries. Then when they come to America, they will continue giving that same fatwa, understandably. So what changes, only when you get involved in the community, like I did. I was in New Haven, for five years, I gave the Eid khutbah there, involved in the masjid. And you really begin to see, this fatwa is causing problems to human beings. And Islam did not come to cause problems to human beings. This fatwa is not tangible. This fatwa is harming attendance. It is wasting our resources. You need to see that. And then you begin to realize, you know what, let me really think about this issue. Is this something we cannot change or not? And then you realize, you know what, there is this minority opinion, and it makes a lot of sense, there are a lot more pros, and then you realize, oh, Shaykh Qardawi and Shaykh Ahmed Shakir, there is a long list of ulema, it is not Yasir Qadhi. There are 50 great ulema, more than 50, just give me a number, there are many ulema of our time that are saying this. Why can't I follow this fatwa and change it for the sake of the community? So I don't remember the exact year, but 2008 or 2009 or so, I began to realize, you know, this is the correct opinion. But at the time, no national alim or shaykh was saying for calculations, it was only the fiqh council and the people there were not considered to be, you know, different types of people there. And the more I spoke with ulema and imams and duaat and shuyukh, there was hesitancy. But over the last 10 years, what I have discovered is that there is a cataclysmic shift taking place in the minds of the people of my generation and younger. More and more ulema, duaat, imams, students of knowledge, shuyukh, more of them are agreeing with calculations, but, and this is the sad point, what is the issue? The backlash from the community. Because the community has been taught that calculations are haram. So when a shaykh comes and says, oh, but you know, there is another opinion. Well, for the last 15 years, the masjid going folks, the masjid boards, the lay people, they are now believing calculations to be progressive Islam. The same people that have
women-led imams, they're the one, even though that's not true. That's the perception. So when a mainstream shaykh or alim comes and says, well, it is acceptable. The community is like, oh, I can quote bin baz and fulan and allan and they all say this and that. And my mufti back home in India and Pakistan. And that's it. You're shut because these are greater ulema. And they are. But they are not ulema giving fatwas for America. They're not living in this land. It's a different place, different world, different culture. So unbelievably, for fear of the backlash from communities, scholars are quiet. And I say to them, if you're not going to take charge, who will? And I tell you in my own experience, traveling across North America, my anecdotal experience, the majority of the imams I have spoken to have changed their minds and there are pro calculations now, even though 10 years ago, 15 years ago, I was against it. But see, experience teaches you what books do not teach you. Experience teaches you what your own mashayikh do not teach you. And these scholars that have come back from these madrasas and whatnot, and now they're living in their communities and they're seeing the problems, they are now saying, you know what? This last point I mentioned, the maslaha argument, forget everything else, even though they're all strong arguments, khalas, we agree it is a weaker argument, it's a weaker opinion. No problem. But for our circumstances, it becomes the stronger opinion. This is now, anecdotally, the majority opinion amongst the clergy. Who's opposing it? The masses. And why do the masses have power? Because the clergy are employed by the boards. The clergy have, this is the issue comes now, if I say something, my community is going to reject me. And I want to tell you, I'm not going to mention the city's name, but I attended a conference in a large city of the majority of masajid and imams came together. 25, all of them, graduates of Islamic universities. These aren't just, no, these are ulama and imams and shuyukh. And we had a gathering of a very large city, and all of these imams came, and the issue was over the moon sighting. And the topic came, what do your community do? 80% of them, they said, it is visual. We go with visual. Okay? We're going to see the moon. So the city is upon visual. So, and I knew, because I've done this across the country, I know exactly what's going on. I said, this is my suggestion, I said, look, I want you all to take a piece of paper. I cut it up, I gave it to them. I said, no names, anonymous survey. Without any names mentioned, would you like to see the community adopt calculations? When they answered anonymously, 80% of them said yes. In the same city, where 80% of the masajid, 90% are doing visual, right? Their community leaders don't want visual. But they're too scared to say it. And this is another problem, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, I'm leaving this blessed community, but you have never given me any issues and have always spoken my mind. You know this. But you know this freedom that I have, many other imams don't have it. You know this. And this is the problem of the ummah. When the imam is too scared to speak what he believes to be the truth, what's going to happen? SubhanAllah, you know? When he's scared for his job, when he thinks that if I give this fatwa, the community is going to, board is going to fire me, alhamdulillah, what type of, you know? So this is the issue that they're having is that we're going to get a lot of, or it's not even firing. It's not even firing. It's a matter of controversy. It's a matter of labeling, oh, this is a progressive imam, right? So his respect is going to drop. And because of this, they are quiet. So my point in giving this lecture is to add to that tipping scales, to just make this public here and to make this a topic of conversation. And I find this point of maslaha to be an open shut argument. It
is watertight, as they say. It is a no-brainer. And every one of you in this audience knows the pros of having the days of Eid and Ramadan beforehand. It's a no-brainer. And if we can just get our ulema and imams to be more open and public, inshaAllah, within a few years, inshaAllah, it will become calculations only.
8. Anecdotal Evidence
Number eight is anecdotal evidence from my own experience that confirms the practical benefits I've outlined.
Respecting Different Opinions
To conclude, some simple points that, listen, when all is said and done, those scholars who sincerely, sincerely believe that the visual sighting is the sunnah and that they believe that calculations go against the sunnah, we should respect that sincerity. Alhamdulillah, they love the Prophet (peace be upon him) and they think that they're following the sunnah. And wallahi, in these days, anytime you meet somebody who cares about following the sunnah, hug him. MashaAllah, it's becoming something rare, right? So the fact that this shaykh, this alim, he thinks that following the visual is following the sunnah, we say, may Allah reward you for your sincerity. We love this wanting to follow the sunnah. Don't be dismissive. Realize, he has the bulk of the ummah, not you. 14th century is visual. You are coming with the minority position, right? So respect that. Don't trivialize it.
However, following the sunnah doesn't necessarily mean following the fiqh position that you are following. That is because the sunnah can be interpreted in different ways. And I've given you, many times in the lectures, I've given you the incident of the Banu Qurayza where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to the sahaba, pray asr at Banu Qurayza. And we know what happened. The sunnah is there, how you interpret it is another level.
So with my utmost respect to the majority of scholars, I say that what I am advocating and what Shaykh Ahmad Shakir advocated and what Rashid Rida advocated and what Shaykh Qardawi is advocating, it is not against the sunnah. We believe it is with the sunnah. That's the whole point. Who gets to define the sunnah? That's your interpretation that you think is the sunnah. But like Ahmad Shakir argued, no, it is not. You only take half, you ignore the first part. It's a description, not a command. Like others argue, the maslaha, the sunnah is the group to come together. The goal of the shariah is to protect Islam. And that will be done by having calculations, right? And this is again, so many incidents can be found when you look at the maslaha more than the literal sunnah.
And of them, back to the sahaba themselves, the famous incident that Ibn Mas'ud was asked about praying dhuhr and asr in the time of hajj. Should you pray four or two? He said, I did hajj with the Prophet (peace be upon him) and I prayed two rak'ah. I prayed two rak'ah. We prayed two rak'ah dhuhr, two
rak'ah asr. Then Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), for reasons beyond the scope of our lecture, today, he prayed four rak'ah, right? Ibn Mas'ud said:
Then he stood up and prayed four rak'ah behind Uthman. His students said, you're the guy who said to us that the sunnah is two rak'ah and then you prayed four. He said, yes, the sunnah is two, but breaking away from the jama'ah is a worse sin than praying four rak'ah for dhuhr. It's not a sin. It's okay. It's not wrong. So here's the point that he saw the greater goal, the greater maslaha, is to stick with the jama'ah.
This is the argument that we are making. A'udhu billah for trying to go against, a'udhu billah, a'udhu billah. It's not what we want to do. We believe this is the spirit of the sunnah. This is what the sunnah would want us to do. That is our argument. So the other side wants to follow the sunnah, jazakallah khair, but don't accuse us of going against the sunnah. We have our interpretation of the sunnah and we believe, and I firmly believe, that this position is more in line with the goals of the sharia and the spirit of the sunnah than the other position.
The Importance of Unity
And more important than any fiqh position, my dear brothers and sisters, is Muslim unity. We need to stop arguing with harshness. We need to stop debating in a manner of demeaning. And alhamdulillah, this year, the two main bodies, AMJA and the Fiqh Council, we have opposite views. I am cooperating with AMJA and I'm a member of the Fiqh Council. AMJA, the American Muslim Jurists Association, says you have to follow visual in the world. The first visual, we will follow it. And you will hear, AMJA's email will come out in a day or two, whether it has been cited or not. They are on the citing. And the Fiqh Council, which I'm a part of, is calculation. Both of our groups released a statement. The first said, we prefer visual. The second said, we prefer calculation. And then it concluded, but more important is unity. So if your community is going with the other opinion, go with your community, ignore our opinion. Both groups have said this.
And that is why, astaghfirullah, I'm not trying to brag or boast, but since I came to Memphis, this has been my opinion. This is not something new. And those of you who have heard me after Khatira, you know this. For ten years or nine and a half years, this has been my opinion. Yet Memphis is still following visual. Why? Because of unity. Because unity is more important than Fiqh position. The goal is to bring about change and I have been working, I had been working for the last four years. I took five years to establish myself with the other Masajid in community. For the last four years, I was actively working with the other communities and we were getting there. Progress was being made. And if I had stayed, then inshaAllah, the goal would be to bring this to calculation. But if I'm not here, then somebody else should continue this because I firmly believe this is the way forward. But for me, unity was more important than my own Fiqh position. So I sacrificed the position that I firmly believed in for the sake of Memphis and
unity. And I would do the same anywhere I'm going. Perhaps the next community I'm going has the same issue, but we will stick with the jama'ah, but work within the jama'ah to try to change this to another opinion.
The Beautiful Hadith About Community
And never forget the beautiful hadith in Sunan At-Tirmidhi. And it's a very interesting hadith where you wonder what is the purpose of this hadith. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
(Tirmidhi hadith 697)
"The sawm is the day that you begin the sawm. And the fitr is the day that you have the fitr."
Isn't that a strange hadith? The sawm is the day you do the sawm. And the fitr is the day you do the fitr. What does that mean? The Prophet (peace be upon him) is saying, even if you made a mistake, but the community is doing it, that is the real day. You didn't make a mistake. What a beautiful hadith. So الصوم يَوْمَ تَصُومُونَ And that's why community is more important. Even if I believe the other position is wrong, causing mishakil, problems, for us here in Memphis, the sawm is when we all agree to sawm. Even this year, we will follow visual, even though I'm against visual. Because this is of this hadith, having the jama'ah of the Muslims. The goal is, two, three, four years, we come to the other position, which is now the default in America. Most masajids in America are doing the calculations.
Conclusion
And the final point, my dear brothers and sisters, and that is that, my lecture today was meant to be an awareness lecture. In the end of the day, this is a public lecture. And it is not the role of the average Muslim to become a faqih or mufti. Just like I give you a class on any issue of fiqh, for your benefit, the people who will make this decision are the imams, the shuyukh, the ulama. Your job can be to facilitate, to ask, to dialogue, to bring about issues. No problem, no problem. But who makes the ultimate decision? It must be the people of knowledge of any community. And so, across this country, we will ask the people of knowledge to be in charge. And it is not the role of the board to give fiqh positions. It is not the role of the masjid board to choose between these two. They should give their local ulama. And if the local ulama decide visual, alhamdulillah, so be it. But the board and the community has the right to ask questions of their ulama. But the authority should be to the ulama. And that is why even if those ulama say visual, even if I'm opposed to it, I say the community goes with them. Because authority belongs in the hands of its ulama. Fiqh authority, I mean, right? But the goal is raising public awareness so that those ulama who are intimidated, who feel shy, they should be told there is support behind you. We will support you in this regard. Or those ulama who are just simply following what their scholars say without genuine research. You say, you know what, there is this book, this lecture has been given, what not. And maybe they can broaden their own horizons because factually, this is a minority opinion. It's not surprising that they haven't done extensive research. It's not their fault because the default is visual. So that's what they know.
So you can bring up to them. You know, I have heard a lecture. Have you ever heard that Shaykh Qardawi says this? The book of Shaykh Ahmad Shakir. I'm just asking as a layperson, have you read it? You know, just bring up these things, no problem. But obviously, at the end of the day, who will actually make the decision? It will be the people of knowledge.
And with this, I ask that Allah keeps our hearts united. And I ask that Allah always allows us to tolerate these differences in the spirit of fiqh and never allows differences to get to our hearts. I pray that Allah blesses us this Ramadan and all future Ramadans. And that Allah allows us to reach this month and end this month with having all of our sins forgiven. May Allah accept our fasting and accept our qiyam and accept our recitation. May Allah bless us to stand on Laylatul Qadr in this night. May Allah make this Ramadan our best Ramadan ever and every subsequent Ramadan better than the previous one such that the best Ramadan that we ever do is our last Ramadan and the Ramadan that before we meet Allah. If there are any questions, now we can take them and then, bismillah, let's go.