The Quranic method of determining
the first and last days of fasting
By: A. Mohamed
Introduction
The Islamic month according to the Quran starts with the rising of the very first thin crescent (2:189). Just like the rising and the setting of the sun are precisely calculated for more than one year in advance, so are the rising and setting of the different phases of the moon. This knowledge is God-given for us to use it:
He determined its phases (moon) that you may know the count of years, and for calculation. 10:5
It makes no sense whatsoever for the yearly night expeditions that take place in various Muslim countries with the aim of visually seeing the crescent. Are they not sure if the crescent will appear as expected, and so they need to check on its punctuality? Following such expeditions, they inform the people with authority whether they can fast the next day or not! Why is this necessary when God told us that He has given us the means to attain this knowledge through "calculation".
Those who practice such meaningless practices certainly do not embark on similar expeditions to check if the sun will rise and set on time the following 24 hours! So why the moon?
The words in 2:185 say:
Those of you who have witnessed the month shall fast it.
Immediately, we note that God did not mention the act of 'seeing' nor is the 'crescent' mentioned. The month is an abstract word, we cannot physically see the month. The words above cannot therefore make the visual sighting of the crescent mandatory.
The act of witnessing the month (not the crescent) is therefore to have absolute knowledge of the start of the month. If this knowledge does not have to be attained through visual sighting, it can only be attained, and with much better precision, through the other method endorsed for us in the Quran, and that is through "calculation", see 10:5 above. The calculations we work out give us the exact precise movements of the sun and the moon:
The sun and the moon, running with utmost precision. 55:5
God did not make the visual observation of the crescent mandatory because God knows that weather conditions will not always permit a clear viewing of the crescent. Also matters like light pollution and human error play a factor. Finally, the crescent often rises during our day hours which can also prevent the visual sighting.
Calculating the start of fasting
Before determining the exact day on which to start fasting, we need to be reminded of the Quranic guidelines for this matter:
1- The marker for the month is the crescent:
They ask you about the 'ahillah' (crescents), say, "They are timing devices for the people and for the Hajj." 2:189
Some have wrongly translated the word "ahillah" as 'new moon'. This is totally incorrect and leads to incorrect results. The word "ahillah" is the plural of 'hilal' which means crescent and not new moon.
The new moon is totally dark. It is the phase of the moon when it is completely behind the earth. The shadow of the earth prevents any sunlight reaching the moon's surface, thus it appears as a totally dark disc.
The incorrect translation of 2:189 have led many to calculate the start of fasting wrongly because it is based on the rising of the new moon and not the crescent.
2- The instruction in 2:185 is to start the fasting when we witness the month and not before. In other words, we cannot start fasting before the crescent has risen in the sky:
Those of you who have witnessed the month shall fast it. 2:185
3- The daily fasting must start at the beginning of Fajr and not any time after.
You may eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinguishable to you from the dark thread, then maintain the fast until the night. 2:187
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The Quranic guidelines above require us to obtain 3 sets of information so as to determine the exact day on which to start fasting:
1- The day on which the first crescent of Ramadan rises in our sky.
2- The exact time of day for the rising of the crescent at our location.
3- The start time of the Fajr Salat on that day at our location. The need for the exact time for the start of the Fajr Salat is required since it is also the starting point of the daily fasting.
1- The day on which the first crescent appears in our sky
For the year 2020, the first crescent of the month of Ramadan appears over all the northern hemisphere on Friday the 24th of April 2020.
This information can be obtained from any site that has the moon phase calendar. The following is one such site:
2- The exact time of day for the rising of the crescent
The rising of the first crescent on the 24th of April does not mean that fasting should automatically start on that day. It is first necessary to determine the exact time of the rising of the crescent on that day.
If the crescent rises anytime before the start of fasting on the 24th (Fajr), then we should indeed start our fasting on the 24th. However, if the rising is any time after the start of Fajr, then by the time the crescent rises we would have missed the start time for fasting, thus we should wait for the start of the next Fajr.
Equally, we cannot start fasting before the crescent rises since that would violate the Quranic guideline in 2:185: Fasting comes after witnessing the month.
The exact time of the moon rising and also its setting can be obtained from a number of sites. The most accurate of these sites is the NASA site:
NASA - Moonphase Site
Once it is logged on the site, the date and time can be inputed in the window just below the picture of the moon. The picture will show the exact phase of the moon at such a time and date. Different times can be inputed until the first crescent appears.
3- The start time of the Fajr Salat on that day at our location
This information can be obtained from our Salat app:
The Quranic Clock
The Quranic Clock
This app gives the Salat times by automatically reading your location.
Verdict
As per the information above, the rising of the crescent on the 24th April (6:42 a.m.) occurs after the start of Fajr on the same day, which is at 3:55 a.m. As a result, we would not be able to start fasting at the correct time if we were to fast on the 24th. Therefore, we should start our fasting on the next Fajr which is on the 25th April.
Such method is 100% Quranic. It makes use of the astronomical knowledge, which is God-given, and is a much more precise method than visual sighting.
Calculating the end of fasting
To find out when to end our fasting (last day of Ramadan) we need the following:
1- The day on which the first crescent of Shawwal (month after Ramadan) appears in our sky.
2- The exact time of day for the rising of the crescent at our location.
3- The exact time at which the sun sets on that day, this is because sunset is the time the daily fast ends.
The above information can be obtained from the same sources used above.
1- If the rising of the crescent (which ushers the new month of Shawwal) is any time before sunset on that day, then we should not fast that day. If we do, we would be fasting Ramadan and also a small part of Shawwal. God commanded us to fast Ramadan only and not Ramadan plus part of Shawwal.
2- If the rising of the crescent is any time after sunset on that day, then we should be fasting that day because the full fasting hours would be part of Ramadan.
The following information, obtained from the same sources above, are for London UK:
1- The first crescent of the month of Shawwal appears on the 24th of May.
2- The rising of this crescent over London is at 6:06 a.m. on the 24th of May.
What this means is that if a believer fasts on the 24th, he would be fasting the first day of Shawwal. This is not required by God. Therefore, the last day of fasting for one who is in London is May the 23rd.
The reader is to work out the same calculation for his own location.