QUESTION

If the majority (i.e. 5 out of 6) of the administrations of masjids in a city in America follow the regional sighting of the moon to determine the beginning of the months of Ramadhaan and Thul-Hijjah, and the minority (i.e. the one remaining masjid) decides to follow the global sighting of the moon, and they are Salafees, then is this action of theirs correct even if it results in the Muslims in that city having their 'Eeds on different days?

ANSWER by Shaykh Wasee Allaah 'Abbaas, lecturer at the Ka'bah, instructor at Umm Al-Quraa University in Makkah

That which we know about this issue is that the different lands may have their own individual sightings based on whether or not the moon can possibly be seen in that land. So for two lands that have the same chance to sight the moon, then it is not permissible for them to differ, whether the one causing the difference is Salafee or khalafee [1]!

This is because the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said:

"Fasting begins on the day you all begin to fast, and Al-Fitr (the 'Eed) is the day when you all have broken your fasts." [2]

FOOTNOTES

[1] khalafee: a person who chooses to follow the later generations of Muslims as opposed to the early ones

[2] Saheeh Sunan At-Tirmithee #697, refer to Silsilatul-Ahaadeethis-Saheehah #224 for a nice discussion of the routes of the hadeeth and some important fiqh points related to it

SOURCE

This was translated exclusively for www.bakkah.net from a handwritten answer provided by the shaykh, file no. AAWA023, dated 1423/7/20.

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