Moon Sighting in the Modern Era: A Discourse of Islamic Legislation and International Practices

عصرحاضر میں رؤیت ہلال کے شرعی ضوابط اورمختلف ممالک میں طریقہ کار کا جائزہ

Abstract

In the Muslim lifestyle, certain things have advanced over time but there have been many constant practicalities. One of them is the moonsighting tradition that begins a month. Many religious events commenced based on this tradition and the timings are set to perform activities i.e. fasting, pilgrimage, Eid, etc. according to the crescent moon. This study presents an overview of this unchanged doing of Muslim societies which has been upheld for generations. Every Muslim society awaits the crescent to embark on their month’s journey and they have adopted specific ways for this observance. Moonsighting committees are made to perform this task with keen observation. No doubt, due to standardization and management issues there exist ambiguities all over the Muslim World but, this tradition has glued Muslim countries together. This has radiated a true sense of unity and spirituality in Muslims no matter which area of the World they belong to. The researchers have tried to gather all the information related to the moonsighting tradition to get an insight into it. All the conditions and rules of Islamic legislation regarding the topic have been included in the paper. Also, this briefly discusses selected countries and their strategies to commence this activity. There is room for betterment in this Muslim custom which has been under discussion for years. Many advancements associated with this astronomical field have gained attention too. Muslim moonsighting committees are using technological tools as an aid for this cause. All this research is part of this paper.