Greetings all,  Thursday?  According to the calendar on Islamic
Finder, today is the 27th day of Sha'ban, I beleive.  So isn't
Thursday a little early?

Anyway, at any rate, as the Q and A says, we should follow our own
local calendars, and although there is a legitimate differnece of
opinion in this matter, and I'd rather not get into the "moon sighting
debates", I follow a local sighting myself, or at least, a sighitng
within North America, that is.


Take care all, and an early Ramadan Mubarak.

Ginny



On 9/20/06, musa pembo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> RIYADH, 20 September 2006 — The Supreme Judiciary Council yesterday urged
> Muslims in the Kingdom to look for the new moon of the month of Ramadan on
> the evening of Thursday. Those who sight the new moon are directed to report
> the matter to the nearest court so that it can be recorded, the Saudi Press
> Agency reported yesterday.
>
> Beginning of Ramadan: Following the Saudi Moon Sighting.
>
> Q. Some people in my home country do not begin the Ramadan fast according to
> their country; they follow Saudi Arabia. They do the same with the Eid and
> mark it on the same day as in Saudi Arabia, while people at home may be
> still fasting. Please comment.
>
> A. These people are well meaning. They think that Islam is practised in its
> best form in Saudi Arabia and they want to follow it. But their practice is
> wrong because it does not have a solid basis. If we were to extend their
> practice to its logical conclusion, we should offer prayers according to the
> timings in Saudi Arabia, rather than our own timings. Thus,we should import
> Saudi calendars and follow the timings indicated in them. Similarly, we
> should fast the same number of hours as fasting is indicated in Saudi
> Arabia. This is easy nowadays, because of satellite television. We can
> always watch the time in Saudi Arabia and follow it. Needless to say, no one
> will agree to this although some logical argument could be presented in its
> support,such as the unity of all Muslims.
>
> Yet the practice of all Muslims is that each locality has its own
> timings.The difference in prayer time between Jeddah and Dammam, at the two
> coasts of Saudi Arabia is around an hour. No one suggests that it should not
> be observed. In fact if it is not observed, we run the risk of having our
> prayers rendered invalid.
>
> The difference in starting Ramadan has always been known, and the Prophet's
> (peace be upon him) companions accepted it. Abdullah ibn Abbas asked someone
> who had traveled from Damascus to Madinah about the day they started
> Ramadan.
>
> When he was informed of the day, he mentioned that the people of Madinah
> sighted the moon on a different day. People asked him whether he would defer
> to the sighting in Damascus since it was the capital city of the Muslim
> state at the time, but he said: "Each have their own sighting." This is a
> clear answer to those people by one for whom the Prophet prayed to be a
> scholar. Needless to say, he was a scholar of high distinction.
>
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