The Islamic Calendar of Makkah

The calendar of Makkah is precious in order to determine the date of the annual pilgrimage. It certainly concerns Al Djazira – the Arabian peninsula – as well as the countries to the North, to the South and to the West of Al Djazira. Under certain circumstances the calendar might also apply to the countries lying to the East. Obviously, one always has to take into consideration the time difference.

The calendar of Makkah is not the universal Hegirian calendar. But – with the Grace of God – it can be a decisive step towards a universal calendar for Islam. 

References to the Charia (Koran and Hadiths)

"If you are asked about the phases of the moon, tell them: 'They are marks in time, intended for men and for fixing the pilgrimage.'" (Koran, Surat 2, verse 189).

As stipulated by the Prophet (s.a.a.w.) in several Hadiths, the Hegirian month begins with the visibility of the new moon. A few are quoted below:

First Hadith

"We are an illiterate community. We neither write nor count. The months are sometimes like this and sometimes like that, i.e. sometimes with 29 days and sometimes with 30." (Reported by Al Bukhari, vol. 5, p. 2485, according to the narration of the son of Omar, transmitted by Said Ibn Awz.) 

Second Hadith

"Fast when you see the crescent and finish fasting when you see the crescent. If you do not perceive it, complete the month of Sha’ban with 30 days." (Reported by Al Bukhari, vol. 5, p. 3476, according to the narration of Abu Hurayra, transmitted by Mohammed Ibn Ziyad.)

Thus the need for vision, otherwise instruction for completing the month to 30 days.

Third Hadith

"If you see it, fast, and if you see it (again), stop fasting. If you do not see it, determine it by calculation." (Reported by Al Bukhari, vol. 5, p. 2467, according to the narration by the son of Gurat.)

Calculation is thus necessary !

Fourth Hadith

(Transmitted by Kurayb, according to the narration by Abdullah Ibn Abbas.)

Kurayb said: "Umm Al-Fadhl, daughter of Harith, sent me on a mission to Mu’awiya in Damascus. I accomplished the mission and was still in Al Sham when Ramadan began. I saw the new moon there on a Friday evening. I returned to Medina and reached there towards the end of the month. I met Ibn Abbas who asked me: 'When did you observe the new moon (of Ramadan)?' I replied: 'We saw it during the night of Friday?' Ibn Abbas inquired: 'Did you see it yourself?' I replied: 'Yes, I saw it and other people as well. Thus they started fasting and Mu’awiya fasted too.' At this juncture Ibn Abbas said: 'But we saw it during the night of Saturday, and either we see it (again), or otherwise we will pursue the fast on the thirtieth day.' I asked: 'Do you not accept the observation by Mu’awiya and his fast?' Ibn Abbas replied: 'No! It is thus that the Messenger of God has ordered us." (Reported by Muslim, vol. 7, p.178)

Wise commandment of the Prophet (s.a.a.w.).

Let us then imagine that the month of Ramadan in consideration here lasted 30 days in Medina. Had the observation in Damascus been taken into account, Ramadan would have been arbitrarily reduced to 29 days! 

More generally, let us suppose that for a given country, say Algeria, the duration of Sha’ban and Ramadan are 30 days each in Algiers and 29 days each in some oasis in the Hoggar.

	Algiers	An oasis in the Hoggar
Duration of Sha’ban	30 days	29 days
Duration of Ramadan	30 days	29 days

Let us admit that, based on an observation which confirms the month of Sha’ban at 30 days in Algiers, all of Algeria has been asked to start the fast. Let us further admit that the people in the oasis, having observed a month of Sha’ban shorter by one day, have started to fast one day ahead of the national territory. 

Imagine that this striking anomaly is discovered in the very midst of the month of Ramadan. Intrigued, an Algerian national television team is sent to the Hoggar to interview the people of the oasis concerned by the event. The team remains until the end of the month in order to complete the story. It is quite possible that the reporters manage to see, to film and to diffuse on television the new moon of Shawwal. What is now to be done if the situation is as follows?

Algiers	An Oasis in the Hoggar
1st of Ramadan	2nd of Ramadan
28th of Ramadan	29th of Ramadan (crescent filmed)
29th of Ramadan	1st of Shawwal

What is to be done? Follow what is really visible in the oasis and fast only 28 days in the national territory? Or ignore the fact of visibility and continue the fast in the oasis for 30 days? 

Such a situation is, alas, not a purely imaginary one. How often have we not experienced this concretely not only in Algeria but in the rest of the Muslim world? The reason? The reason is simply that each point on the globe has it’s own calendar, a fact perfectly established by celestial mechanics. 

We thus have the choice between observing the beginning of the Hegirian months from an agreed unique location – which seems rather difficult to admit – or, more broadly, by reference to a unique location.

Fifth Hadith

On a certain morning, the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) evoked the Impostor, the false Messiah, insisting on certain of his features … We asked him: "What is the length of his stay upon earth?" He answered: "40 days, with a day like an year, a day like a month, a day like a week and, for the remainder of the days, following the example of your ordinary days." We asked him again: "O, Messenger of God, as far as the day like an year is concerned, will it suffice for us to accomplish the prayer for a sole day? Non, he replied, calculate judiciously."

(Reported by Muslim, vol. 2, p. 51 & 52, according to the narration of Au Nawas Ibn Sam’an.)

What can we conclude from this Hadith for the Hegirian calendar, if not that calculation is absolutely essential? Calculation corroborated by vision and vision guided by a forecasting calculation. 

What to do in practice?

The day of the birth of the new moon, let us scrutinise the heavens of Makkah after sunset, in order to perceive, if possible, the crescent. In case of failure, let us “slide” towards the West, towards Jeddah, towards the Red Sea, perhaps towards the Nubian desert, perhaps even further… 

But what if we fail here too? Where should one stop and at what time should one stop? It seems quite obvious that we dispose of the whole time span until fajr in Makkah in order to scrutinise the sky , scrutinise it attentively further and further West until the terrestrial limit imposed by the time of the prayer of fajr in Makkah.

It is true indeed that the moon, the sun and the stars superbly ignore the partition of our earthly globe in nations and states, big or small, federated or independent.

The method used for elaborating the Makkah calendar

After the new moon is born, we first look for the earliest crescent in the evening sky of Makkah. If it is visible, then the new month starts the next day. If not, we look further and further west until the time of fajr in Makkah. If the crescent is visible anywhere to the west before fajr in Makkah, then the new month starts on the next day, exactly as if the crescent had been visible in the evening in Makkah itself. We call this concept that of extended visibility.

The methodology for calculating the beginning of the month in Makkah can be applied to any place on earth. The month will begin next day if: 1: the new moon is born 2: if the young crescent is visible in the evening sky of the place considered, or 3: if it is visible at somewhere to the west of the place before fajr of the place considered. Otherwise the month will last a day longer. 

During important Islamic festivals, we publish detailed announcements about the beginning of Islamic months for the various countries of the world. We follow the same methodology as that of the Makkah Calendar in order to determine the beginning of important Islamic dates for them. For several strategically chosen countries on different continents, we choose a town towards the eastern limit of the country. We choose the eastern limit because fajr in the east is earlier than fajr in the west. If visibility is acquired for the east, then it will also be acquired for the west where fajr is even later. We avoid situations where there is visibility for the west but not for the east, because in such cases, the country will be divided into two for celebrating the feast day. For most countries, such a situation will not be acceptable. 

The choice of a point of reference

If there is no direct visibility of the young crescent in Makkah, we slide west to check for extended visibility untilfajr in Makkah. The place of reference to check for extended visibility becomes important. If possible, the visibility of the crescent should be documented by photographs taken by reliable people. This leads us to the choice of land as a point of reference to check for extended visibility. We avoid visibility in the open ocean as, at present, there is no possibility of documenting this visibility by way of photographs. 

As mentioned above, the reasoning for Makkah can be extended to any other place in the world : if there is no visibility in the place itself, we check further west until fajr choosing as point of reference a position on land. If visibility is acquired to the west before fajr, then it will be considered as visibility in the place itself. 

The visibility curves

In practice, we have used the visibility curves provided by Syed Khalid Shaukat. The reader will find an explanation of these visibility curves on this very site. The different colours represent extended zones of different patterns of visibility on earth between the latitudes 60° North and 60° South. The curves are plotted for the day of birth of the new moon (except when visibility is impossible on earth on this day) and the two following days.

We have retained the most convenient visibility, represented by the green and the blue fields. We have avoided the exclusive use of the green fields, because this leads to an impossible result: in 1430, for instance, we would end up with too many months of 30 days and a Hegirian year of close to 360 days

One also has to emphasize that the blue fields represent vast regions of the globe and perfect conditions of visibility will certainly be achieved at some place or another. We further point out that the use of an optical instrument in case of necessity is hardly contrary to Shari’a.

Conclusion

In his days, Galileo established, against all current thought, that it is the earth that revolves around the sun, and not the contrary. In our days, science – celestial mechanics in particular – clearly establishes that every point on the globe has its own calendar so that, ipso facto, a national calendar is neither justified nor legitimate. The criterion of fajr is a powerful means of creating a calendar which is not confined to national limits alone. Islam unites and does not divide. Is it not marvellous then, that we can use the results established by science to pursue precisely this aim and thus humbly serve the Shari’a?