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Moonsighting.com

Answered as per Shafi'i Fiqh by Shafiifiqh.com

Question:

as salaamu alaykum, can you check the following link? moonsighting.com/1433rmd.html is the information transmitted from moonsighting.com reliable especially regarding Ramadan and Shawwal sighting?

Country: United States

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

The majority of scholars, generation after generation, maintained that Ramadan is established by completing Sha’ban or sighting the crescent.

The Prophet (sallaAllahu alayhie wa sallam) stated in a hadith related by Imams Bukhari, Muslim, and others,

إنا أمة أمية لا نكتب ولا نحسب الشهر

“Verily, we are an unlettered nation we do not write and do not calculate the month.”

This hadith is evidence against those who argue for calculations. In Sharh al-Muhadhdhab v. 6, p. 270, Imam Nawawi mentioned that whoever supports using calculations, his opinion is rejected because of this hadith.

In regards to fiqh opinions transmitted by the mentioned websites, we cannot vouch for them and do disagree with some of what is found on the links they have provided.

In regards to providing astronomical data and reporting where there were sightings in the world, they are providing a good service with that. The purpose of www.moonsighting.com is made clear on their website where it is stated, “This is a website, showing possibility of crescent sighting, and is not in the business of making, implementing or dictating decisions on the start of Islamic months. It also reports actual sighting info from all over the world.”

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

Source

This answer was collected from Shafiifiqh.com which was a repository of Islamic answers as per the Shafi’i madhhab. The website no longer functions. At its peak, many ‘ulama were involved with the site including Shaykh Mawlana Taha Karaan, Shaykh Abdul-Fattah ibn Abdullah, and Shaykh AbdurRagman Khan.

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