Moon Sighting or Calculation Method to Begin the Hijri Month Q&A

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Santa Monica rahmatullah wa barakato Alhamdulillah. We began by praising Allah subhana wa Tada and asking Allah azza wa jal to send his Salah and salam upon the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Roberto Zina Ilma Allahu La alemana Elana limped in in the cantle animal Hakeem. So today's q&a Brother bossy is asking about the issue of the whole calculation versus Moon sighting and if we can shed some light about that issue. So today inshallah Allah will summarize the positions of the modern councils and the other opinions in this regard and discuss why certain ruler hold positions that are pro calculations and others hold positions that are anti calculations, that will be the

question for today insha, Allah to Allah. So before I begin the fifth issue,

I would like to take a step back and ask ourselves, why is it that this particular issue out of all of the areas of difference of opinion, why is it that it generates the type of controversy or the type of quick anger or the type of heated debate or frankly, even the emotionalism that other topics do not generate, and I find this interesting, because, you know, we all know that there are so many gray areas of fit, we all know that the different scholars have, have given different positions about so many areas of Islamic law. And these areas, they don't generate the type of antagonism or the type of anger or animosity that this one issue does. And in fact, Subhan Allah will give you one

example that comes to my mind right now that sometimes there's even a hadith that might seem to suggest that the person who doesn't follow this position is gonna go to jahannam for example, there's a hadith that our Prophet SAW said I saw a lady wearing bangles or wearing jewelry and he said, Do you give zakat you know, on the goal that you have? And she said, No, so the prophets Assam said then we were wearing bracelets from Johanna for example, right? This authentic hadith by the way. Now, I'm just giving an example that in fact, the majority of the men have three of the four month hubs, they actually said that the cat is not due on a woman's jewelry, can you believe that?

And they found ways to understand this hadith and they said this hadith means this it means that so three of the four men have said that a woman does not give zakat on her gold jewelry, only the Hanafi madhhab said that she gives the cat on her jewelry now what I find interesting, you don't find people going around asking do paisa God if not, oh, the villa, you're going to Johanna, we understand that, you know, both schools are both opinions. They looked at the goals of the Sharia, they had ways of understanding the tradition, the majority of ruler of the Ummah, actually, in this particular case, they understood these Hadith in a way that goes against what the average reader

would derive from them. The point is not which one is right or wrong. The point is that we don't find any emotionalism we understand that our scholars differ. The same goes for so many other issues that we find in our times about you know, the Arcana of Salah about the timings of Salah, the answer prayer between the Hannity method versus the other three methods that humbly say that salatu Juma can be prayed before Salah to do her so many massages in North America, they opt into the humbly madhhab because it allows them to pray even before there's a wild time, because the humbling moment of the timing of Lahore is not the same as Joomla, for example, and we don't find people, you know,

communities splitting up or are so much anger. So we need to ask ourselves before I even talk about the FIP why so much division, why so much sparking of anger? And it's a difficult question to answer because this is a psychological issue, not to fixate on why there is so much afterlife and whatnot. I have an opinion I have a theory could be right could be wrong. The theory is as follows. That what we are seeing now is that there are so many radical reformations going on radical reinterpretations that are going on that we find that this issue has been sucked up and made into one of those radical reformations to be more explicit here, what we are seeing in our current situation is that there are

certain groups of people certain Muslims who wish to genuinely protect the Quran and Sunnah follow the Quran and Sunnah they're interested in classical Islamic law they want to maintain their

Islamic identity as passed down for 14 centuries of Hamdulillah, I consider myself to be amongst that group. On the flip side, we have a group of people who identify as Muslims. But by and large, we find that they're not that concerned about the sanctity of our sacred texts, they're not concerned about the tradition, and they're willing to entirely discard the mainstream interpretations of Islamic law and invent, frankly, a completely new system, a completely new law. And the examples are well known, for example, the morality of genders, in terms of you know, sexuality. I mean, again, the LGBT issue, for example, they want to reinterpret completely, or, for

example, the claim that a Muslim lady can marry outside of the faith, which is totally unprecedented in classical Islamic law, or, for example, that a mixed congregation can be led by an Imam, that is hope but can be given by a female Imam and led by female Imam. These are examples of that strand. Clearly, it's a very contentious issue, and people are legitimately concerned that we're going to continue to change the Sharia or watered down the Sharia. It's a legitimate fear. So what happens is that when some of our brothers or sisters they see any opinion that they've never heard of before, understandably, there is a reaction that is a protective one. And it's a positive feeling that you

want to protect this area. And there's a reaction that, hey, we're not going to go down that avenue, we're going to shut the door for any change. But you see, our shady eye does not ask us to react with one emotional tendency with another one, no doubt, radical reinterpretation is how long, no doubt, you know, coming up with a completely new set of laws of Sharia or whatnot, this is something that cannot be something that is valid in our Shediac. But the question arises, is every single change opening the door for a discarding of the Sharia, obviously not, and therefore, who gets to decide it is our respected aroma, and their track records and the reputation speak for themselves,

it is our ulama, who will decide based upon the science known as also love. And of course, this topic that we're doing is general awareness, I don't expect anybody to listen to a lecture or two, and then decide for himself or herself, you know which one they're going to follow. This is general awareness, the example that I give, I'm not a medical doctor, if I were to go to medical doctor and something is diagnosed me, I would protect all of us, but the doctor would explain to me and contextualize for me and tell me, Hey, this is happening. And this is the result, and this is the, you know, treatment or whatnot. Now, I'm not a doctor, I'm not qualified to challenge what the

doctor is saying, but there's a reason why the doctor is going to explain to me so that I began to understand similarly, this lecture that I'm giving this answer that I'm giving, it is meant to explain, it is meant to educate, it is meant to increase awareness, it is not meant to substitute, actual training and study which the aroma or the students of knowledge do for many, many years. So we have to be,

you know, willing to engage in dialogue and listen to the other side. And I ask that in this regard, that both of these sides they respect to the other side, and they understand that both of them wish to follow the Sunnah. It is a egregious it is a very dangerous it is a very evil accusation when you call another Muslim saying you don't want to follow the Sunnah. It's a very dangerous and a very bitter accusation that is simply not true. Both sides want to follow the Sunnah Inshallah, to Allah in this regard, and as this lecture will explain, but the point is, how does one interpret the Sunnah? How does one interpret the goals of the Sharia and I've given in other lectures the example

of the ASA prayer bundle kureta when the Prophet has made a statement right do not pray answer until you get to the bundle or either and the Sahaba themselves were divided should we literally follow do not pray Yasser and make ourselves Baba and then pray after Salah can Marguerite which was one group did or the other group said well, okay, the Prophet says and said that and he meant this, but there there are certain extenuating circumstances there are certain contexts that when he gave that he didn't know that we will be in this particular situation basically the sun was about to set right and the goal was that they reach out so they reach the bottom corridor before certain McRib. So the

prophecies are made the commandment. He made the commandment in the early day and he said to them to the city of Medina, make sure that you pray also in general Karela by the time they got ready by the time they put their armor on by the time they marched out to city, it was already after the her McGraw was about to come Maghrib came on the way to Bonnaroo Colorado so they

Sahaba differ the process was already there waiting for them he was at the Bonnaroo corridor, this is after the Battle of Klaver. Listen to the Sierra and you go and you understand this incident. So, the Sahaba differed and they asked should we follow essentially this is the difference should we follow the letter of the law or the spirit of the law should we follow literally pray acid and Beto forever which means let the sunset let Maghrib Come, let us not pray us we walk in March because we want to follow the Sunnah and the other group says, no, no, no, we want to follow the Sunnah. And the Sunnah is that we expedite getting to bonacasa but we still pray us over here. My point is

neither of these two groups accused the other of not wanting to follow the Sunnah. Both of them wanted to follow the Sunnah. And our Prophet sallallahu wasallam was silent at this and he allowed both interpretations, he did not castigate he did not rebuke one side over the other because he knew that this was a legitimate, you know, attempt to derive the Sunnah. And the same applies in this issue over here. So before I even began the thick of it, I wanted to discuss a little bit about the psychology and say that, dear brothers and sisters, this is an issue like all the other issues, let us remove the emotionalism and the instinctual reaction, no one wants to discard the *ty out with

a villa with a villa. The both of these groups want to see which of the positions is more in line with the goals of the Sharia more in line with what Allah intended for the OMA or even for a group amongst the OMA. And each of these groups in sha Allah, Allah, each of these sites is rewarded. Each of these sites is wanting to follow the Sunnah each of these sites is sincere. So even if we choose one position, we should respect the other one and allow it and do not have any division within our hearts, which is no doubt about it. That is what is held on. So even if one group gives a cut on jewelry, the other one doesn't want good praise Jumar before or the other group doesn't want group

praise as stated before the other group timing. So what it's all within the acceptable spectrum, as long as we have reputable aroma who have shown us hey, this is the legitimate position. And when it comes to this issue, there are plenty of aroma on both sides. So we can agree to disagree, we can respect one position and not follow the other one. But what we should never do is to divide our hearts or we should never do is to say something to accuse the intention of the other side to say that they don't want to do you know follow this when it is something that should not be done. Now, that was the psychology of it. Now I have given a much longer lecture online, you will find it about

the fifth issue. I will summarize some of those points and add to them in today's lecture. And I want to mention that for most of Islamic history for the bulk of Islamic history, the controversies that were raised about Moon sighting, were of a nature that didn't have to do with calculations it was how many witnesses must be must be seeing the new moon how many witnesses where do they stand? Can they stand on the mountain or not? For example, can they use a telescope or not? So you have in the early books of Falcon books written for the first 1000 years, you have a number of controversies in this regard. The issue of calculations was not a major issue for most of Islamic history, for

multiple reasons. And one does find references to the issue of calculations that one finds that Sommaruga they felt that they felt that in some circumstances, perhaps even in more circumstance depending on which item you follow, calculations could be utilized. And the primary reason why calculations were not something that was seen in a positive light is the famous Hadith which is in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim motocaddy that our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, No Mattoon or me to learn. Aktobe Wallah now has a we are a

me we are an unlettered a nation that is not

educated is not an illiterate nation oh me means you cannot read and write read and even an older means you cannot read and write we are an old me OMA, we don't write nor do we calculate the month consists of and then he motioned with his fingers 29 or 30 days the month consists of 29 or 30 days so when he said line up to what and so we don't write, we don't calculate from this. Many of the scholars basically then viewed the whole notion of calculation as being something that should not be done. Now. That has not been the only position even from the early Islam there have been positions that are indifferent to this one. And of them we're gonna mention the the great scholar of the tub,

your own animal politic of NAB, dilemna Shaheed, who died 95 Hijra and others as well they considered that it certain times and situations one can

and resorts to calculations. Now on the other side, we actually have those alumna who went so far as to say that all types of calculations even when it comes to the prayer timings and the prayer charts, they should be avoided. And some aroma even took this hadith, and they extrapolated it to include any type of instrument, any type of thing that is used for the salah so much so that one of the great scholars of this ummah, a great argument for P and Mo had this and somebody will respect immensely. And when I quote these opinions are all the villa I'm not men are audible, I'm not intending to denigrate. I'm simply demonstrating. If you want to take this hadith at face value, be

consistent, and there are those who did and we respect their consistency. The great scholar Ibn Rajab al humbly, unreachable humbly, he said that we don't use any type of calculations, even for our Salah timings, what we call the prayer charts, for example, we do the prayer charts, he said we should avoid this. And he said, This is something that is a Jewish custom altogether. And some of the ruler Amma even said that we are not allowed to use a compass to figure out the direction of the Qibla. And this is something that is even reported from some of the senior scholars, maybe even Muhammad himself, but definitely some of the senior scholars of the humble he met him. They said

because of this hadith nanometric Omiya, we should not even use

compasses to figure out the direction of the Qibla. And so at least we will say that they were consistent in this regard. Now the majority of scholars obviously in our times, they use compasses, and they use prayer charts. So they have to and they do this they have to take out these things from that hadith and they say oh, but this is allowed and those are not allowed. One group of scholars said hey, the Hadith does not mean that we never use calculations it is simply describing status quo, it is describing the situation and not prescribing how things should be and amongst those groups is the great scholar had been delayed. Sorry, I've been called Eva sorry. And it been Suraj

the the, the sharp very scholar who died three or six hijra, and also had been rushed mentions this position as being a position that is known in the early Maliki school as well amongst the those scholars as well as Capaldi from the Maliki school. 388 al hijra, Alka Rafi one of the greatest of the Maliki Rolla mo died 684 Hijra and a sub key of the shaft very meta wiki died 771 Hydra as Sookie in his fatawa volume one page 210 He actually has a very very long quotation in which he is arguing this is 800 or 700 years ago, a Sookie was one of the greatest or number of the Shafi school and he has written many books and treatises on theology on film and whatnot. And he has an entire

section in his fatawa on to three pages, where he discusses the issue of calculations. And he claims in his time 700 years ago, he claims that the science of astronomy has now reached a level of the clean and that the visual sighting of the moon is not your cleaning. Hence he said, Now the Shetty app will take the screen over the non Yachty and this is what a suitcase thing i What is he? What is the summary of this? A Sookie is saying? It is very common for somebody to see something in the sky and think it is the moon This is a subkey writing 700 years ago, he made Can you imagine how we know this to be a fact everybody thinks they've seen it a suitcase saying people are uncertain whether it

is the moon or not they make a mistake whether Is this what it is that and calculations are certain. So he is arguing that in fact the Shetty I would say go with certainty over uncertainty. And he also mentions that as for those people who don't understand astronomy, this is a Sookie writing seven or two years ago, as for those who don't understand how precise this science is, and a SwiftKey was an astronomer as well. And he was somebody who understood the science of astronomy, and actually, he has some some treaties, he will not not separate treaties. But he's written about this in his writings. And by the way, Muslims were those who are at the forefront of astronomy. And as you're

aware, most of the stars of the skies are named in Arabic. And so many of the instruments there were named there were done by the Muslims. And the reason for this, by the way, was that they wanted to find the direction of the Qibla. Despite the fact that some small group of Roma always continued to maintain the Qibla should not be done via any type of calculation rather, it should be done by other mechanisms. Nonetheless, a subkey argued that anybody who studies astronomy is aware of how certain that science is and therefore they can appreciate that we should be going

With calculations, and then he says, As for the one who doesn't know the science of astronomy, this person, there's no point talking to this person because they don't understand how certain the science is. And he says that well Jah who Kalam Mara, who we don't speak with somebody who doesn't know this, if this is Sookie writing 700 years ago, what do you think in our times, you know, when the level is has reached a different level of certainty. And again, anybody who studies the science of astronomy will tell you that look, we can calculate the birth of the new moon down to a millisecond. And if you doubt this, all you need to do is to look at eclipses and look at your,

anytime an eclipse happens, the the local news agencies will tell you exactly when it begins. And and when it ends. And you can see for yourself down to a millisecond, nobody can calculate when you can see them on. However, we can calculate when the moon will be born. What's the difference between the two, when the moon will be born, it is an astronomical, mathematical, precise physical calculation. And that is when the slither of the moon will first catch the rays of the sun and be able to bring them back to Earth because again, all of the moon obviously does not change in size, obviously, it is the rays of the sun that reflect back onto us, we can very easily calculate when

the moon will be astronomically born, what we cannot calculate is when the person will see it. Why? Because seeing the moon is dependent on many factors of them. How sharp is your eyesight? You cannot calculate that out of them. The clarity of the the the atmosphere, whether there's some type of dust or particles or whatnot, of them is there's is there shadows? Or is there clouds in the sky or not? So all of these atmospheric density, pressure, all of these things come into play, whether you can see the moon or not, nobody can predict that. And it is possible that two people are standing next to each other one of them can see it and one of them does not see it, or one of them thinks they're

seeing it. They're not seeing it. Point being all of this is to say that this notion of astronomical calculations being an unprecedented filthy position is false. We have a number of erla in the past who did argue for calculations. Now was it a majority position never, but it existed in recent times. In recent times, we have had a growing number of lemma argue that calculation should be given precedents in all circumstances. And this was the position of the greatest Mujaddid of the last century, the Allama Rashid Rida, who was an alum, who was the first you can call them global mufti, the first Adam who basically, in our modern times, you know, came to fame, he passed away in 1935.

So 100 years ago from now, Rashida is well known, everybody knows that she did a lot as like one of the first global lefties if you like, and he's addressing modern challenges the creation of the nation state, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, you know, all of these things happening in his timeframe is a very, you know, learned very forward thinking but also very traditional and everybody knows him. And as he the Rebbe was of the first to write a treaties a fatwa, arguing that for modern times, we should adopt calculations as the default and this was followed by many rude AMA, including the shareholders are the grandeur you know, the grand scholar of as long as her in the 1940s His

name is Muhammad Mustafa Al Murali, so the shareholders herb, which is like the authority of another, he also wrote a treaties in this regard, as well the great Salafi Arnhem, the other Hadith alum so this isn't some progressive modernists, liberal This is somebody machaca does his name who was the greatest album of Hadith in the 1950s before shahada Al Bundy came there was a huge shocker and Shia Hamid shocking, he wrote many Treatises of Hadith what he's most famous for his his critical editing of the Muslims of Imam Muhammad, and Chef mo Charcot who only died down in the barren 40 years ago, 50 years ago Chaka Chaka, he wrote a book on this issue, and I have read this

book and I strongly encourage all the arrow speakers to read this, you will find this online. He wrote an entire treaties on this issue. And again, he's arguing from a hadith perspective, and I'll summarize some of his arguments in shallow time in a while as well. Some of the great aroma of the 80s and 90s Chuck Mahmud Chakra The historian and the puppy and the item. She took it upon thought we every out of nowhere Heidi Tantawi is Syrian person of letters and noble birth and very erudite, very well read scholar. He passed away maybe 1520 years ago shahadi Tantawi shumba Mustafa Zarco, again, a worldwide global share a Syrian share. Of course you have Yusuf al Qaradawi is at the

forefront of this as well in his course he's still alive in his 90s Now a late 80s, early 90s Now, Chef idea Cobra, Cobra dalgety One of the leaders of the field councils

of the world. Sheikh Hasina Shaffir in Egypt, a very learned scholar, Sheikh Abdullah Judea, again well known in England, shall face al Mohler, Lee, who was Lebanon's greatest one of the greatest scholars of Lebanon. He also argued for this issue of calculations. Now, these people, by and large, we're arguing for, for the entire globe, ie the Muslim lands, and then Muslims in one Muslim lands to follow calculations, they're saying that we should change over to the default in this regard. Now, this was also the fatwa that was adopted by the European Council and the fifth Council of North America. And many of them as I said, in this regard, what did they say about the Hadith when the

Hadith says, We are a nation that is on me, we don't write and we don't calculate, what did they How did they what did they do with this hadith? Well, if you read their treatises and you read their fatawa, there are a number of things that they they did just like, again, the hadith of giving zakat on gold on jewelry. It's not that the Hadith says it and hulless there's no exceptions. Rather, the hadith is there, then you have other other a hadith as well. And you have other principles of filth that are brought in. The job of the forklift is not just to take a hadith and that's it, ignore everything else, the job of the fapy is like to take the Hadith as the source and then see, when do

we apply? And when do we apply other rulings based on other Hadith? And if you look at what these rulers said, they have a number of ways to resolve this issue of them is that the famous chapter is called urbanists, Suraj. And also even a show here, they mentioned that, look, this hadith might be the default, but exceptions can be made. And of those exceptions. They argued that when it is cloudy, for example, that we should go with calculations that why should we leave it to uncertainty, when it is cloudy, we will go with calculations, a number of irlam, including Rashid Rida, he made a very profound point, he said, the act of worship is no solid to read, not to see the moon, seeing

the moon is merely a solitary, and also the vulnerable bond, basically, to see the moon is not the actual act of worship, it is the means to the worship. And the example that is given, is the carpets that have the lines in them. Is it the goal of the *tier, that we look at each other before Salah and try to straighten our lines? Or is it the goal of the Shediac to have straight lines? Because if the goal of the Sharia is to have straight lines, then we should have carpets that have lines in them because the process of did not have carpets with lines in them. And the prophets ism himself would walk through the so forth, and he would see the lines and he will go after every soft and he

would make sure everybody is is correct the line. Now some of them are even to this day, one of the famous Mohabbatein of Syria, Jordan, you know, originally from non Arab lands, the famous Muhammad, he would say that we should not have carpets with lines in them. And he says this goes against the Sunnah. Why? Because the Prophet saw someone would walk through the lines and visually check them. So he said, the goal of the Sharia is that the Imam is walking through and physically checking the so forth. That's his opinion, we respect him and his opinion. But the majority of Roma said, No, walking through the sofa is not the goal, the goal was straight lines, if we can achieve straight

lines, with carpets with lines in them, then why not have them. And so the same goes with this issue here that the goal of the Shediac is to begin and end the month. And when we have now the knowledge to begin and end the month in a manner that maybe previous nations or previous generations did not have, we can resort to that for the betterment of the OMA also another issue that one finds and this is again beyond the scope of our lecture because it's very basic lecture here. If you read some of the earlier fatawa that are against calculations, it is quite clear that some of our early retirement not all of them, some of them, they conflated between astrology and astronomy, astrology

is Shiva can haram astrology is to think that looking at the stars will tell you your future. And astronomy is of course the physics of looking at you know the science of the stars and whether what they are naming them and their their their their movements etc etc. Their categorization This is a science whereas astrology is mythology. It is nothing, no basis. Some of our photos that we read in the past it is very clear that they took all of this as one science and they said that dabbling in celestial spheres is going to lead to Sahara is going to lead to black magic is going to lead to invoking the jinn so they shut this door. This is some aroma and of course that shows some of the

Reasons why they were hesitant to open this door. Also, sure, I'm not shocking one of the main things that I like about his treaties and again, I encourage all of you to read it.

Check it again and he is coming from a Salafi paradigm and I say this because again some of our brothers and they think that this is a progressive opinion. No, some of the ruler man that loved the Sunnah that protected the Sunnah. They also argued for this Muhammad Shaka is one of many of this nature. Chabahar machaca writes that this hadith, we are an AMI OMA, we don't read, we don't write. This hadith, he said, is not meant to prescribe a fixed position. Rather, it is a description of status quo. It's a description, not a prescription. This word checker argues. And how does he argue this simple, who amongst us, goes back to the first part of the Hadith, and says, We should remain

illiterate. We should not learn how to read and write. We should not learn mathematics, we should not learn science, because the Hadith says we are an Omi nation. So if you want to follow the next part of the Hadith follow the first part is well this this is the argument of Muhammad shacket. Atma Shaka is arguing You have misunderstood this hadith completely. The Prophet system is speaking to his time and place and he is saying, given that we are an AMI, OMA given that we cannot read and write, let us keep things simple. He is not saying we should forever not read and write we all know this is the first revelation and the battle about the incident of teaching the people how to read

and write. He is not prescribing until the Day of Judgment, that we should remain illiterate, how they will learn. None of us believe this. He is not prescribing that we should not learn mathematics. The hadith literally says we are an only nation we don't read we don't write we don't calculate, well guess what the entire Ummah is reading and writing and calculating. So why do we cut off the first part of the Hadith makes such a big issue about the last part, there seems to be some inconsistency. And Muhammad Sharkey says the Hadith has been misunderstood by the camp that thinks that it is wrong to rely on calculations. And that's a very interesting point that really does give

it does give food for thought. Now,

all of these are good positions, I actually respectfully have a different position, even though I lean towards calculation. And my position is as follows. The position that I hold is that the statement for calculations is not the default the previous art lemma that I quoted machaca and Rashid ruble and all of them, they are arguing that calculations is the default and we should go with it. I'm not arguing that. I am saying that the default in an ideal lead if we had power and Soto and if we had Temkin it's called in an ideal land, we should follow the Sunnah of looking at the moon and going with the moon when we see it because that is the Sunnah there's no question as

the default. However, what I'm arguing and this is the argument of the European Council and others, what I'm arguing is that, given our current circumstances, the position of calculations becomes the shutter a position. And it is in conformity with the goals of the Sunnah, because of our context, and not because of the text, because you see, again, a bit of a technical issue here. This is well known to all students of fear that sometimes there is a stronger position, which is called a polar Roger. And there is a weaker position, which is called a cold module. Sometimes the weaker position becomes the stronger not because of the textual evidence, but because of the con textual situation.

Okay, this is a very important point. And I want everybody to understand. Now again, this is a rule that really nobody denies the rule. Every student of knowledge, every folklore, every jurist accepts the rule. Of course, the devil is in the details, as they say the question is, when is it applied? This is the issue. What I'm arguing is the following. And this is the position of the field council or sorry, not difficult North America, the European field Council, the fucose. North America is arguing electrical history, the law, which is that it is the default across the globe. And I'm not arguing for that. What I'm arguing is that the default In an ideal situation should be Moon

sighting. We see the moon however, given the circumstances of us living in a minority land, and given the goals of the Sharia, it is better for us to follow the old oil merge the lesser strength position, and it becomes the better opinion and it becomes the Roger because of the context and not because of the text.

Now this rule is well known in mama Suki says that if the Mufti wants to follow the lesser opinion over the stronger one, because of a benefit that goes back to the community, then this is permissible as a subkey, saying this, and half of the bill Rajab, who himself said we should not use even calculations for prayers and some of these teachers of oneness, I don't even use the compass. Even though Jim says that whoever understands these issues of faith and whatnot, he knows that a lot of times in certain societies, especially in later times, we should follow the lesser strong position over the stronger opinion, because of the time that we live in because of the zemana that

we are in this is a half of them. And Roger saying this, even Tammy also points this run. Again, I'm quoting these are an amount to tell you the rule. I'm not saying they said the calculations No, I'm saying you've been telling me I've been urging all of them. They're arguing that sometimes the lesser position becomes the stronger one because of the context and even Taymiyah says in which morphotype volume 24 page 198 He says that sometimes the Moto Zhu, the lesser position becomes the Roger becomes the stronger one, because of the benefit. It brings the OMA okay, this is the argument that myself and many of my teachers in the people that are looking up to are making a shot to be one

of the greatest scholars of a soul. And one of the greatest authors of the goals of the Sharia, a sharkleave. He says that when the Mufti gives the fatwa, he doesn't just look at the texts, he looks at the consequences of the fatwa. And he says that the fatwa is never looked at in isolation of its reality. You never look at a fatwa from a theoretical perspective, you look at a fatwa from a contextual perspective, and then you make the judgment call. So given the context, and given how we have seen ourselves and again, I will be the first to say 25 years ago, when this issue first came to light in North America, I was of those who was also opposed to the notion of calculations. And

year by year, decade by decade, we see the negatives of this position, we see the cons, and we see the pros of the other position. And so slowly but surely being in the community, seeing the national and international and local debacle and the drama, and everything happening, you come to realize that the context that we are in the context dictates that we follow the lesser position that is not as strong ideally, but it is going to make the OMA better. And this is not a position of liberalism, progressive Islam, it is a position that we have basis. A subkey argue for it, lets you do that argue for it. Ahmed Shah could argue for it many European, even the Council of Turkey, there was a

there was a symposium seven eight years ago about the Islamic calendar where onomah from across the globe came they also adopted and they also petitioned to have calculations as well, this isn't a position that is coming from far left field. That's what I want to stress upon you. It's not coming from those same groups that went to legitimize you know in moralities. And fashion, this is coming from mainstream are Allama whom we respect and we love and they are looking at the situation and saying for the time and place that we live in this position seems to make more sense. And they are saying the hadith is valid that indeed the prophets Assam did say we are an abomination. But

firstly, maybe the hadith is not meant to be applied universally. And secondly, even if one believes that the ideal interpretation is that we shouldn't do calculations, perhaps in our context, it becomes the better of the two now again, who's going to decide it is the roadmap. So what I suggest the average Muslim to do or the boards of their communities to do is to choose which item or which group of arena they're going to follow. That's your choice. And then after that, go with either of the two opinions and don't look down or create division in your heart against the other position. Now the question arises, why am I arguing that and the groups that I look up to arguing that there

are many pros to the calculation position, what are the pros of the calculation position? What are the pros of the moon sighting position? As for the main pro of the moon sighting position, as for the main argument that they use, it is we're following the Sunnah. And that's great and we respect and we admire them for that. Alhamdulillah May Allah bless you, may Allah reward you. Their main point is this is the Sunnah and we want to stick with it. I humbly point out that Phil is not taken from a literal Hadith. Just like I gave the example of this account on gold jewelry, the majority of the OMA did not take the literal wordings of the Hadith and I can give you many more examples and

every student of knowledge is well aware you don't just find

In the Hadith and Anessa, yo Timothy and then derive fifth Hadith are the data points. Hadith are the general

sources that we use as the source. But there's something called also literature, there's an extraction process. And that extraction process is where film is actually done. So understand that just because the Hadith says it doesn't mean it needs to be applied in every single circumstance, the job of the fapy is not the job of the Mohammed Mohammed that tells you the Hadith authentic or not the fact it says, What are the exceptions? Where do we apply? Where do we not apply? And again, I go back to the Hadith of the bundle Koreeda. The Prophet system said one thing, pray also in bundle Cordova, in his own lifetime, the Sahaba split into two camps, because how do you understand

it? In what circumstances what if something else happens? Should we ignore it? Should we not ignore it? All of these things is where it all sort of comes into play? I am not claiming that calculations is the right answer. I am saying calculations is the better answer given the circumstances we are in what are some of the pros of calculations? Well, where does one begin? There are so many Masonic there are so many pros, that one that one has, first and foremost, everybody is aware of the bitter disputes that happen in the massages amongst the people within the community, the last night of Shabbat and the last night of Ramadan, the late phone calls the drama The back and forth, the

animosity about whether you're going to accept this move, siding that moves, siding that the politicization even again, I'm sorry to be blunt here, but certain countries their moon siding is not accepted by other countries because of politics, right? So all of this the chaos the drama, it will be eliminated. And Wallah, he this is one of the main goals of the Sharia is to eliminate bickering, eliminate the animosity. If you know from advance, we're going to follow the position of ISNA, the position of council colors, this last minute phone calls in victory will be eliminated. This is one of the goals of the Sharia, as well, we have now the possibility of a larger group of

Muslim unity or at least unity within one locality. We already are aware that within North America as the latest survey shows the majority of misogyny, I think, when when they did the survey, I think over 60 70% of the misogyny within North America I'm talking about not within one community per se. Obviously within North America, there are pockets that follow him there but as a whole of the many 1000s of misogyny in North America. Most of them are now following the position of the field Council in the Isner, which is calculation so we have now a large group, even I'm living in the Dallas area. For those of you that are watching this from other cities, even in the Dallas area, we've had

massage at following calculation since the 80s. So there is not as if it is an unprecedented we have massage or they're following this and slowly but surely, more and more are gravitating towards this position. as well. We can achieve family harmony as well, because Subhanallah how many times a father is praying in one masjid and a son is praying another masjid and now they're split up because of this issue, we can try to achieve a larger sense of of unity in this regard. Also, by following calculations, what happens is that we now know exactly when to eat is going to be one Ramadan is going to be so we avoid wasting the money and the resources of the community. When I was in Houston,

I remember clearly there were times where the masjid would have to book the book the main hall or the the the grand Convention Center for two days pay double the fees because we didn't know which they are EAD is going to be saving the money of the OMA is definitely of the goals of this *ty app. And of course, perhaps the biggest issue here is what is the goal of read? It is to gather the people together that is the primary goal of read. As for looking at the moon, is it a direct goal or not scholars have different is it a goal or is it a means to the goal again, back to the issue of the sunroof in the line? What is the goal? Is the goal looking at the moon? Or is the moon the

stepping stone to the goal? If the Moon is the stepping stone to the gold? Well the calculations can take the place and you know what, feel free to look at the moon for sunnah go and look at the moon for riba for Libra for seeing the beauty of Allah azza wa jal as Allah says in the Quran, to look at the creation of Allah, but let the community have unity by following the calculations and what's going to happen here as well. Is that when you know when E is and when you know when Ramadan is the average Muslim, who might might not even be that religious will be able to take the day off for it. There are so many Muslims that May Allah guide us and them, they're not that practicing and if read

is unknown, and it's not on a day that they're able to take off, they're not going to pre read. And the main goal of Salah Tillery the prophecies and literally said Hadith in Bukhari that let

Everybody come even women who cannot pray Can you imagine women who are in the monthly cycle the prophets have said Let them come to their Eid Salah so they can see the baraka see the help. This is one of the goals of the Sharia to have a massive read Salah even if you're not praying for legitimate excuse you should come this is the goal of read not to look at them on that secondary, that's good. If you're able to do it, if you're not able to do it, then to have a larger congregation is a bigger goal. And when you we all know, let's be honest here, if everybody knows when their eat is months in advance, then inshallah Huhtala. Everybody with an ounce of Eman is

going to take that day off everybody who has any issues gonna say You know what, insha Allah, I'm gonna take Thursday off I'm gonna tell my boss my my gonna reschedule my exam this and not tell my teacher, my professor, whatever, I'm going to take that day off. That is the goal of the Shediac for above, to go outside and see the moon that is good. That is sunnah that is an act of worship, insofar as looking at the skies as an act of worship. But the argument that I'm making the ultimate goal is the congregation of the OMA. And, of course, we also have to think as a minority here, New York and New Jersey, for example, New Jersey is close by New York has already declared Eid to be a

federal holiday. I'm speaking to you from Texas, Texas, and California are the next states in terms of Muslim population, we have the potential to declare read to be a holiday for our children. Now, how is that going to happen? If we don't know when a lead is going to fall? How is that going to happen? So again, if you want to have this notion of preserving Islam for the next few generations, you know, so many of us that pray regularly, may Allah bless all of you and may keep us amongst them. So many of us we don't realize that the majority of the Ummah does not pray five times a day, for every one person who comes to the Masjid 1015 20 Hardly ever come. All you need to do is look at

the read in those communities that have one read, I remember in Houston, we would get 30 40,000 People sometimes for Eid. And we wonder where are these people for Joomla? Where are these people who are the deals for the world, there are people who need that's their only attachment with Islam, their children and I have met people like this in their adulthood, they've come back to Islam they call religious, I have met numerous people, they have told me in the 80s and 90s, the only time our parents took us to a mosque or to a Muslim, a Muslim gathering was on the day of read, I have met people like this, they are there. And they represent that critical area that if we don't take care

to cater to them, we don't reach out to them, it is very possible that the next generation will simply lose their Iman, I am arguing that calculations for that segment will help I'm not going to say it's going to save 100% It will help it will remake them remember that we went to eat with our parents they know when to eat is going to come and they're going to be able to pray over there. And also Dear brothers and sisters as somebody who's been active in the North American scene for 25 years. I mean, of course I'm born and raised here. But even in terms of preaching and teaching, actually more than that my first football was given 30 years ago pretty much so as somebody who has

seen from the late 80s, early 90s as an active Muslim, in the that was seen. I will tell you that more and more Imams, more and more religious clerics. More and more students of knowledge are sympathetic to calculations. However, what they're worried about is community backlash. I have spoken to numerous Imams across this country who have told me I wish we could go with calculation, but I'm worried that my community will reject it. And I said to them who is the scholar of your community you or your community? Why is this such an emotional issue where we want to just backlash and say this is haram or beat out or not allowed when so many reputable aroma dear Muslims. I don't

want to be so blunt here but every one of us is following Fatah weather is a bit of a compromise when it comes to health insurance when it comes to credit cards when it comes to living in our situation we're living in we're taking concession after concession after concession and there's nothing wrong with that because the *ty app does not want to place a burden that is unreasonable honest no I'm in a theoretical Utopia would allow a credit card almost every one of us has a credit card. We're we're doing we're using technology in so many areas of our lives and we're using them for their religious issues as well. Yet for this one issue we say oh it is haram or the hadith is

against it. And you know I understand some aroma interpreted the Hadith to mean it is against it but I just explained to even in this there are two opinions and many aroma said no the hadith is not against it. It is an interpretation that is against it. But in reality, nobody follows the first part of the Hadith nobody says let us remain uneducated because the prophets have said we are an uneducated Oma. No he is not telling you

To remain uneducated. He is simply describing the situation and saying, given the time that we live in, let's keep things simple. And let's keep fasting when we see the moon. So my argument is very simple to your brothers and sisters, and that is that the position to follow calculations is better in the long run and for our own survival for our children, for our communities, for our congregations for our quantity of people that come to save our resources to plan things out. The Masada are the pros, check, check, check, check to keep on doing this. On the other side, what is the main pro the thought that they are following the Sunnah, which is that hamdulillah a great

intention, we ask Allah to reward them. But essentially that's the only Pro as for the cons, keep on going, the bickering and the animosity and the breaking away and the tempers and the uncertainty and and you keep on going. And the other side, once you start folding this position is pretty much eliminated. So when you look at it, the main goal of this video is Muslim unity. The main goal of the Sharia is maximizing Eid, attendance, the main goal of the Sharia is facilitating the people to have their rituals. And if you follow this other position, which is the position of so many aroma than all of this will be met and therefore I argue the lesser position, the Mojo becomes the Roger

it becomes the goal of the Sharia, given the circumstances that we are in. Nonetheless, after all is said and done. This is an opinion and it is the position I have very passionately argued. But this passion does not at all mean that the other position is wrong. On the contrary, I respect the other position. Whoever sincerely wishes to follow whichever position or hamdulillah Let our hearts remain united, even if you want to follow the other position. And I say this, in all honesty, dear brothers and sister listen, if you are very certain that your position is the better one, no problem, follow it, but don't create controversy within your community. And whatever you do, do not break your

hearts away from other Muslims who have already the other position Subhanallah we follow different positions in so many areas, and yet our hearts remain united. Did you ever have a fight with somebody who pays zakat on jewelry if you don't pay zakat, or somebody who does and this hadith by the way, says if you don't pay the car, you're going to jahannam or the the fire of Jana is on you. Okay, did you have a fight over this issue? No. So then why will you fight over an issue that is not even anywhere near as explicit as the other Hadith or this is indeed a gray area? We've had major dilemma on both sides of this issue. I strongly feel that one of the reasons why we are so emotional

is that we have misunderstood that this fatwa is a very progressive or very liberal fatwa. And we feel that it has no basis in Islamic field. And that is frankly incorrect. It does have a basis in Islamic fiqh, it has precedents, it has early authorities, it has authorities in middle MIDI, medieval and middle Islam, and it has modern authorities it is not unprecedented. And in our times it is becoming more and more popular and greater them up are adopting it if you wish to follow it Alhamdulillah and I feel it is better for the North American context and if you wish to not follow it Alhamdulillah and I want to give a message especially to our own community here in the Dallas

area is that you know these two positions are both practiced in the Greater Dallas area. There have been masajid for the last 20 years following this position and following that position. If your local Masjid is following a particular position, My general advice is to follow their position no problem. If you are that adamant that you disagree with your local masjid, whatever that Masjid might be, then no problem. Go to the other masjid and pray with them and don't make any type of breaking away of ranks or heart because our hearts are one despite the filthy position. No problem. We agree to disagree with respect. More important than any fifth position is unity. And by the way,

last year, the American Muslim jurists Association and the fifth Council of North America they are on polar opposite sides when it comes to this issue. The American Muslim jurists Association argues for global calculus for global citing the field Council which I'm a member of argues for calculations and they both released a joint statement that both of these positions are valid, but we prefer x we prefer y follow your community and do not create a scene or break ranks or break hearts. Both bodies have different positions and they said unity is more important. Both of them said follow your local mestu whatever your Masjid says even Anja who does not agree with calculations from a

field perspective said if your message follows calculation follow calculations and the field Council and I'm a part of it say the same thing. If your Masjid says Moon siding, follow your Masjid no big deal.

No, there should not be this level of animosity that has happened. I want to conclude by quoting a Hadith of the Prophet SAW Selim and an incident from Ibn Mr. W Lhota. And as for the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he mentioned in the famous Hadith continually. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that the day of read the day of the fast is the day that you all fast and the day of their eat is the day that you celebrate read this hadith in the Zoom video. What does this mean? The prophecies are saying whatever day you guys do it, that's going to be the day Don't worry about what's happening up there. What's happening in the skies. What is the moon or not,

don't worry, or sobu Yamato sumo will read Yamato through the day of fasting is the day that all of you have come together to fast and the day of read is the day that you all celebrate a this is a Hadith in Timothy. And this shows us that what is more important is what your community is doing, even if a community is mistaken or what not to stick with the community is better. And that's why I want to conclude on this issue of the famous incident in Missoula. Why on earth mount Rhodiola one that even Mr. Wood has a certain position about praying Valhalla, and also in Mina

during the days of Hajj, that it should be done as to Dhaka it should not be done as for rocket and Earth Mondo, the Allah one and he gave the footwear he goes everybody should pray to raka for the Lord and also at minimum and Earth mantra, the law one he had the opinion that vote and answer should be paid for record in Mina. So he led the Salah and he prayed for Raka when either Massoud saw this and heard this, he prayed for Raka behind Earthman Rhodiola. Why

the students of administer root said OSHA Didn't you just give us the fatwa earlier today that we're supposed to pray to Dhaka yet here you are praying behind Earth man for Raka even Massoud said Yes, I did say that to Raka is the sunnah to pray. But breaking away from the gym ah is a worst sin than praying for God behind the Imam here. In other words, I'm weighing the pros and cons here. And my position is it should be to occur. But breaking away from the GEMA. And finally, finding your own Gemma is a worst issue then my opinion of praying for account of widowhood and acid in Mina. This is what you call the fifth of the sahaba. This is real knowledge to your brothers and sisters. And I

want to tell you a personal anecdote that

the masjid that was in before this, that they for reasons beyond the scope of this, they followed the position of

something that I did not personally agree with. But I stuck with them because of the unity of the city that in the city I was in all of the massage they came to me and they said if you want we can break away and follow the position that you want. And I said no, because the city is united in that city. I said no, we're not going to break away. However given that in other cities, there is no unity we have massaged here and there and it is very clear that the tide is shifting towards the other position. I think that it is the Wiser thing for those that are able to do so it's up to the board's it's up to the Imams for those that are able to do so for the future of the ummah.

Nonetheless, when all is said and done to your brothers and sisters, this is an opinion it is a position and Allah azza wa jal alone knows what is ultimately the truth. We are striving we are trying we are doing what we think is best and we have to answer to Allah subhanho wa taala. And my advice to all of you is to follow your local Masjid whatever the position is, if they go with global go with global if they go with local mu setting going local musetti and if they go with calculation, go with calculation, stick with your masjid, it's not a major issue in the end of the day. And if you are on the board, and if you have to make the decision that is when you need to do some research

and ask around if you are following and you're just going to the messenger stick with your masjid and don't create any issues with somebody that might have another opinion and the end of the day. Our unity is more important than whichever fifth position we follow. We ask Allah subhana wa Tada to always guide us to the truth and always make us of those who see the truth and act upon it. Which is Akuma la Hara and until next time cinematic Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh

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