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Saturday, October 13, 2007

Eid Moon Sighting -When and Where? Disputes why?

Although new moon born on 11 October 2007 at 00:01 (Universal Time - 5h). We need to run a simple check for possibility for sighting of new moon as per Toronto Horizon.
Toronto
Longitude W079 25
Latitude N43 42
Time Zone + 05h 00m
Times are in Standard Time = GMT − 05h 00m
New Moon Birth Date Sun Moon at Sunset Moon Lag BEST Code
+ Set Az Age Alt Az DAZ Mag El Set Time TIME
year mth day h m d mth day h m o h m o o o o h m m h m
2007 Oct 11 00 01 Thur
0 Thur Oct 11 17 42 261 17 41 −2 252 9 −4.4 9 17 34 −8 17 38 F
1 Fri Oct 12 17 40 260 41 39 2 241 19 −5.5 19 17 55 15 17 47 F
2 Sat Oct 13 17 38 260 65 37 5 231 29 −6.5 30 18 21 43 17 57 A

A Easily visible
B Visible under perfect conditions
C May need optical aid to find the crescent Moon
D Will need optical aid to find the crescent Moon
E Not visible with a telescope
F Not visible, below the Danjon limit


Oct 13, 07 15:23 HM Nautical Almanac Office

Phase of the Moon on 13 October: waxing crescent with 6% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
This clearly shows that it will be very easy to sight the new moon in Toronto on Saturday Oct13 evening. So, Eid will be on Sunday Oct14.As it was hard to sight the moon within 15' of sunset on friday.

-------
According to KSIMC:

1 Shawwaal 1428 is expected to be:

Saturday 13 October 2007 for Mu'mineen residing in New Zealand, Australia,
South East Asia, India, Pakistan, Middle East, Africa and the Americas excluding
Canada.

Sunday 14 October 2007 for Mu'mineen in the rest of the world.

Based on our community sighting criteria, the first sighting of the crescent
should InshaaAllah occur in South Pacific Ocean on Thursday 11 October 2007.
Mu'mineen in Fiji should be the first to be able to sight the crescent on Friday
12 October 2007.

Confirmation of sighting in different regions and subsquent statement will be
released on the eve of the month by:

Africa Federation NASIMCO The Council of European Jamaats

Mu'mineen should contact their local jamaats or regional federations for
confirmation of the start of the new month.

----------
According to Masumeen:
Sunday, October 14, 2007
2007


Eid-ul-Fitr (updated)


Please click here to read Maulana Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi's clarification about the sighting of the Eid moon.
Program to begin at 8:30 AM with Dua-e-Nudba. Eid Khutba and Salaat at 9:00 AM SHARP, followed by Speech, Ziyarat and Refreshments.

Fitra is $7 per person.

Parking will be available at the Powerade Sports Centre across the street. Please do not litter and do not walk on their grass.

If you park at the sports centre across the street,
please do not walk on the grass.

---------------
According to moonsighting:

The Astronomical New Moon is on Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 5:00 GMT (i.e., 1:00 am EDT, or October 10, 10:00 pm PDT). It will not be visible on October 11 anywhere in the world, except Southern tip of South America and Polynesian Islands in the South Pacific. On October 12, it will be visible in New Zealand Australia, Indonesia, South Asia, Africa and Africas. In North America on October 12, it can be seen with some difficulty. Look at the visibilty curve below. So, Eidul-Fitr should be on Saturday, October 13 in some parts of the world, and Sunday, October 14, in other parts of the world, Insha-Allah.

Thursday, October 11, 2007:
A news has come that Saudis announced Eid to be on Friday, Oct 12. Of course, it is impossible to see the moon in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
Moonset was before sunset, and angle from sun was less than 6 degrees, when no light from the surface of the moon can come to earth.


Goolam Tegally (MCW member) from Port Louis, Mauritius, reported: Not Seen
There have been no reports of Hilal sighting here in Mauritius to-day, Thursday, 11 October 2007. So we are completing 30 days Ramadhan. We will be celebrating EID on Saturday, 13 October 2007.

Hamza Rijal, (MCW member), from Island of Zanzibar, Africa, reported: Not Seen, 30 days will be completed
The Shawal Hilaal was not sighted in tiny island of Zanzibar on 11 of October, therefore we are completing 30 days. The official first day of Shawal in Zanzibar will correspond to Saturday, 13 October, 2007

Yusuf M. Lambat (MCW member), Blantyre, Malawi, reported: Not Seen
No sighting of the crescent. Eid will be celebrated on Saturday 13 October 2007.

Ahmed Mohamed, (MCW member) from Windhoek, Namibia, reported: Not Seen
Moon was not sighted on tonight 11 october 2007, however we will complete 30 day of Ramadaam, and Eid Ul fitr will be on Saturday 13 october 2007.

Dr Abdurrazak Ebrahim (MCW member) from Cape Town, S. Africa, reported: Not Seen, 30 days will be completed
At 7.25 pm local time, the official announcement that Ramadaan will be extended to a 30 day month and Eidul Fitr will be observed on Saturday (13 October 2007) in South Africa was made by the elected Hakim and televised on all local TV stations and relayed via airways per South African radio stations. The crescent was not sighted.
A Blessed Eid to all, and especially to Muslim Brothers and sisters, and children, who find themselves in difficult and trying situations and conditions.

Rashid Motala (MCW member) from Durban, South Africa, reported: Not Seen, 30 days will be completed
The Hilaal for Shawwal was not sighted anywhere in SA this evening. Saturday (13th Oct.) has been declared Eid-ul-Fitr.

Amara from SaphirNews, France, reported: Not Seen, 30 days will be completed
We are the first webmagazine dedicated to islamic information in France I just wanted to inform you that, officialy, Eid el fitr will take place here on Saturday, Oct 13th, Inch'Allah This is the decision of the French Conseil of Muslim Affairs

Jamal Mimouni, Sirius Astronomy Association, Constantine, Algeria, reported: Not Seen, 30 days will be completed
It was read on national TV the official communiqué of the National Crescent Committee, stating that:
1-Due to the fact that the crescent was not seen anywhere in Algeria
2-Due to the scientific impossibility of its visibility
the month of Ramadhan will be completed to 30 days, and the Eid will be on Saturday 13 October.

Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti (MCW member) from Oxford, UK, reported: Not Seen, 30 days will be completed
Negative sighting. The two of us attempted to perform the obligatory sighting tonight for the UK on 29 Ramadan or Thursday, 11th of October, after Maghrib prayers--in spite of the fact that the crescent is not expected to be visible locally. The local horizon is partly cloudy. We received reports of negative sightings from Morocco, Indonesia and Malaysia tonight. The authorities in Malaysia and Indonesia have declared that the month of Ramadan is to complete its 30 days. There is no news of positive sightings tonight anywhere East to our longitude, which means that those in the UK should try to complete the month of Ramadan with the Tarawih tonight, and that the first day of 'Id al-Fitr should fall on Saturday, 13th of October. 'Id Mubarak!

Muhammed Yasin Qamardeen (MCW member) from Iyana Ipaja, Lagos State, Nigeria, reported: Not Seen, 30 days will be completed
The Hilal of shawwal was not visible tonight perharp due heavy cloudy at western sky here in Lagos, at the shore of Atlantic. Besides, report from Bauchi city, Bauchi State and Ilorin, Kwara state were indicative of clear sky and heaavy cloud at the time of magrib respectively.

Muhammad Hafiz (MCW member) from Guyana, reported: Not Seen, 30 days will be completed
Myself and the members of Rose Hall Town Masjids and Islamic Center tried to observe the Hilaal after sunset on Thursday, 11th October, 2007 in Guyana. As was predicted from the Hilaal visibility curve no Hilaal was observed. I will InshaAllah, try to observe the Hilaal tomorrow on the 30th day of Ramadan.
Also, the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana has also confirmed non sighting in Guyana via TV on Thursday, 11th October, 2007 in Guyana, thus as predicted by the Hilaal visibility curve, Eid Ul Fitir begins for the majority of Muslims in Guyana on Saturday.

HiMY SYeD (MCW member) from Toronto, Canada, reported: Not Seen, 30 days will be completed
The Hilal Committee of Toronto has also determined that since no satisfactory moonsighting has been made, they too are completing a full 30 days of Ramadan and Celebrating Eid al Fitr on Saturday October 13 2007.

Amjed Hashmi from Chicago, IL, reported: Not Seen, 30 days will be completed
In Chicago we had our Hilal Committee meeting to gather the moonsighting information.There was no moonsighting in USA yesterday and hence the Committee has decided to complete 30 days.Eid will be tomorrow.Please find the attached announcement with a request to post this news on your web site.

Sharaaz Khan Qadri (MCW member) from Wilton(Sacramento) California, reported: Not Seen
I went out to look for the crescent on Thursday evening but the Sacramento horizon was overcast and I believe it was the same in the Bay Area. Sighting was not possible from Sacramento/Wilton. In the light of the fact that the moon was not sighted anywhere in the US, our local masjid along with many others accross the nation that started Ramadan on Thursday Sept 13, will complete thirty days and observe Eid ul-Fitr on Saturday October 13.

Mirza Shahid Basravi (MCW member) from Irvine, California, reported: Not Seen
I went to a vantage spot within Irvine, California, where I could see the sun go down to zero degrees without any obstruction. There was a slight haze in the western horizon but not any more than what it was when we spotted the Ramadan New moon. I had started to look for the Moon crescent with my 7 x 35 binocular, even when the sun was between 1 and 0 degrees above the horizon. The sun disappeared by my cell phone watch at 6:21PM. Per all astronomical reports the moon would set within 5 minutes of the sunset. However, I stayed out there till 6:37PM and scoped a wider area; both vertically and horizontally, just in case the astronomical calculation are inaccurate. After all this effort I was unable to spot the new moon crescent on Thursday October 11, 2007.


Friday, October 12, 2007:
Zail Ali from Fiji Islands, reported: Seen
On Oct 12th the moon was sighted in the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific very clearly without the Use of an Aid as predicted by you. So Eid in the South Pacifc Islands is on October 13th.

Lilik Abdul Hamid, Social Secretary of An-Nur Mosque, Christchurch, New Zealand, reported: Seen
The moon of SHAWWAL 1428H has been sighted on Friday 12th October 2007 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Therefore the hilal committee of New Zealand has declared that the month of SHAWWAL will start from Saturday, 13th October 2007.

Syed Muhammad, Imam Hasan Centre (MCW member), Sydney, reported: Seen
Alhumdulillah today 12 October 2007 at 18:45 we witnessed the New Crescent in Sydney, Australia. Although it was a bit cloudy but we had the opportunity to witness the new crescent with our Jamaat of Prayerees.


Dr. Shabbir Ahmed, (MCW member) Imam of Rooty Hill Mosque, Sydney, Australia, reported: Seen
The Hilaal of SHAWWAL 1428 has been sighted in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and other states. Therefore, the moon-sighting committees of Australia and Majlis ul Ulamaa of Australia have declared that the month of SHAWWAL will start from Saturday, 13th October 2007.

Farooq Dudhia from Brisbane Australia reported: Seen
On October 12 we sighted moon in Brisbane Australia. We used the Mooncalc program by Dr. Monzur Ahmed to determine the times and other criteria for sighting the moon. Alhando-lillah, the data was very useful in determining the direction and altitude of the moon, as well as the most suitable times.

K.A.M.Azizul (MCW member) Huq from Dhaka, Bangladesh, reported: Not Seen
On 12th October ,after Magreb Prayer I was at the valcony of 14th floor of the building looking for new Crescent of Shawwal Moon. But the sky was covered with thin layer of cloud all over western horizon. There was no scope to see the Moon.I waited for information of Islamic Foundation of Bangladesh. They also confirmed that none of 64 observation reports was positive. But several groups already observed Eid on 12th following KSA.
TV news has shown the pictures.

Shaikh Altaf Hossain from India reported: Not Seen
We in india no where (hopefully) seen eid ul fitr moon on 12/10/2007 Friday the 29th day of ramazan ul mubarak. We will keep 30th day of ramazan roza (fasting) on 13/10/2007 Saturday. So we indian muslims will insha-allha will have eid ul fitr on 14/10/2007 sunday.


Mohammad Farookh from Mumbai, India reported: Not Seen
We have tried to see the new crescent from the top our building located in Vashi New Bombay today with members living in our building about say 10 people. Regret to inform that we were not able to spot the same. We were able to see one planet about 30deg from top of our head southwest. The sky was clear though slightly hazy at the horizon. Since the sunset was at 18:18 and moon set was at 18:48, we were hopeful of seeing the crescent. But none appeared. The local mosque and most of mosques and TV channel announced that crescent was not spotted over India and hence the Eid Al Fitr will be on Sunday, 14th.


Captain Tahir Gul Hasan (MCW Member) from Lahore, Pakistan, reported: Not Seen
The Shawwal moon was NOT sighted at Lahore on the evening of 12 October 2007, in the presence of two other witnesses.

Danish Siddiqui from Karachi, Pakistan, reported: Not Seen
We are unable to see the moon in Karachi Pakistan, and there is no report of moon sighting on Friday


Hussain Khushaish (MCW member) from Kuwait, reported: Not Seen
In Kuwait on Friday 12 oct 2007 ,I could not see the crescent even with 8" LX200R MEADE GPS GUIDED TELESCOPE although the telescope was aligned the previous night. I could see Jupiter at 15:00 immeadiatly when I started looking; also I could see Antares and mercury clearly but was not able to see the crescent. There was some haze the last 4 degrees. The conditions for our crescent was as follows sunset 17:22,moonset 17:47,lag 25 min,age 35:19,elong 15 deg,alt 4 deg ill 1.8 %. We had some claims of seeing the crescent yesterday and today with naked eyes !!!!!!!!

Mohsin Kanji form Iran reported: Not Seen
Please see following messages on sistani.org and najaf.org official websites of Grand Ayatullah Seestani regarding confirmation of sighting in Iraq.

By His Name The Most High The sighting of the moon crescent for the month of Shawwal has been ascertained by His Eminence Ayatullah Al-Udhma as-Sayyid Ali Al-Hussaini as-Seestani (long may he live) in Najaf. Tomorrow Saturday the first day of Shawwal 1428 Hijri (13 October 2007) will be the auspicious day of Eid Al-Fitr in the Middle East. As for European countries, Saturday will be the last day of the holy month of Ramadhan, based on His Eminence’s ruling of non-unity of horizons. Our heartiest congratulations go out to all momineen. May Allah accept your A’mal. 29 Ramadhan 1428 (Friday 12 October 2007).

AliReza Mehrani (MCW member) from Esfahan Iran reported: Not Seen
The western horizon was totally cloudy.

Zeyaur Rahman Khan from Mbita Kenya reported: Seen
I saw moon of Eid-ul-fitr today at 7:00 PM Kenya time. Eid Mubarak

Yusuf Ali Nafsi from Tanzania reported: Seen
Received sms from Tabligh-Daressalam(Tanzania) that new moon of shawwal was sighted for half an hour.


Khalid Chiraibi from Morocco reported: Seen
1st shawal 1428 in Morocco is saturday october 13, 2007. This was announced by the Moroccan authorities Friday night.

Farid Ahmed Degia (MCW member) from Barbados, reported: Seen
Alhumdulillah the HILAL was sighted in Barbados Today Friday 12th October,at approx: 6:10 pm by many people. We in Barbados had completed 30 fast for Ramadhan this year.

Muhammad Hafiz (MCW member) from Guyana reported: Seen
I and the members of Rose Hall Town Masjids and Islamic Center tried to observe the Hilaal after sunset on Friday, 12th October, 2007 in Guyana. As was predicted from the Hilaal visibility curve a very thin Hilaal was seen by myself and others at 5:55 PM (Guyana Time).

Mohamedraza H. Janmohamed (MCW member) from Sanford, FL reported: Seen
Moon was sighted in Tampa & Orlando, Florida. The FIRST DAY of Mahe Shawaal 1428 AH is therefore established as SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2007


Javad Torabinejad (MCW member) from Blacksburg, VA reported: Seen w/Binoculars only
This evening (Friday Oct 12), using a pair of binoculars (7X50) I was able to sight the moon in Pilot Mountain State Park, NC. The actual sunset was at 6:48 behind low clouds, close to the horizon. The stated sunset for that location for today was 6:50. I started scanning the WSW around sunset looking for Mercury when at 6:53, I saw the moon itself for a short time. The crescent was very thin with its horns located around 12:30 and 6:00 O'clock. I could not see the moon with naked eye, however.


Shahryar M. Naqvi from Mississippi reported: Seen
The moon was sighted in Starkville, Mississippi by four individuals: Shahryar Naqvi, Sarah Naqvi, Ali Mehdi Naqvi, and Sufia Naqvi. Moon was sighted on Friday, October 12, 2007, approximately at 6:45pm. The moon was only seen for two or three minutes.


Paul Burnham (MCW member) from Chino Valley, Arizona reported: Seen w/Binoculars only
The new Crescent moon was sighted briefly from Chino Valley, Arizona this evening of October 12. Observation was at 1818 MST through binoculars only as the moon passed by a gap in locally broken clouds. The upper cusp was at approximately 2 O'clock, the lower cusp was not observed. Observation continued to locally advertised moonset of 1831 MST without further sighting due to clouds to the horizon.


AliReza Baig (MCW member) from Upland California reported: Seen w/Binoculars only
On October 12 - around 6:10pm PDT, I alongwith my son, Mehdi, positioned ourselves to a vantage point in Upland, California where we could see the sunset. It was cloudy in the Greater Los Angeles area, and we were unable to view the crescent with an unaided eye. As we were leaving (around 6:30pm PDT), my son was able to spot the crescent between clouds, with the help of our 10x50 Bushnell binocular. He lost track of it after 2 minutes. Mehdi & I tried to view it without the binocular but were unable to see it.


Kazim Mamdani from San Diego, California reported: Seen w/Binoculars only
Moon sighted in San Diego.I saw it with binoculars, conditions were not suitable for sighting. It became visible from behind clouds for about a minute twice, at 6:30 and 6:35 from where I was. I was not able to see with naked eye though.


Mirza Shahid Basravi (MCW member) from Irvine, California reported: Seen w/Binoculars only
I went to the same vantage spot within Irvine, California, where I went yesterday, Oct 11th. I saw the sun go down but not quiet to zero degrees. There was a heavy cloud strip hugging the horizon right up to about 1 degree altitude and then there were somewhat clear strips between strips of clouds. At first the chances looked pretty good that I will be able to spot the crescent between the clear strips. But as time went on by about 6:40 PM only one very narrow strip was left between two masses of what had now become very heavy clouds. At that time my friend Ali Baig called me and reported that the conditions were some what similar at the spot where he was trying to spot the moon (at the base of Mount Baldy). As I was about to give up and go home, I gave one last scan with my binocular along the length of this thin strip between the clouds. Subhaan Allah, I was able to see the bottom tip of the crescent hanging from the upper cloud and moving down fast. I quickly took out my 5.0 mega pixel camera and took a couple of pictures. Since I didn’t have a tripod and very little time to focus the camera, the pictures were pretty out of focus. So, you really cannot see the crescent in the picture. I have still included a picture here to show the location were the crescent as seen. I saw the crescent passing thru the strip between the clouds between 6:41 PM and 6:43 PM local time. The crescent was about 15 degrees south of the point where the sun had set into the clouds just above the horizon. Since I couldn’t see the entire crescent at any point in time, I can only approximate the arc to be 2:00 o’clock and 6:00co’clock. Eid Mubarak!! There are many factors that affect the chance of seeing the new crescent moon. It depends slightly on the distance of the Moon from the Earth, being greater when the Moon is closest to the Earth. Local conditions, especially the height of the observer above sea level, the character of the surrounding surface and the height of the horizon relative to the observer are also important. Even when the sky is free from cloud there are considerable variations in the clearness of the atmosphere from one day to another. In fact the direction of the wind is often important, and a change in the wind direction can change the clarity of the air considerably. The visual acuity and age of the observer is also significant. The sightings, especially if they are visual, should be made by a number of independent observers, because there is always a chance of making an unintentional false sighting. There are various parameters that are used to predict first sighting. For example, the age of the Moon at sunset, measured from the time of astronomical new moon, is often used. As a rough guide the new crescent moon cannot be seen without optical aid when the age is less than 14 hours, and it is usually visible by the time the age is 30 hours. This parameter often gives reliable predictions, and it is simple to calculate, however, it cannot always be relied upon. The lag time in minutes between moonset and sunset is another indicator that is often used, it is slightly more difficult to calculate, and again it cannot always be relied upon. A lag time of 50 minutes or more is usually a good indication that the new crescent moon can be seen during twilight. A geometrical rule that applies in most situations is that it is unlikely that the new crescent moon will be seen with the unaided eye unless the elongation exceeds 10° and the altitude of the Moon exceeds 5° when the depression of the Sun is 3°. Another important fact that should be taken into account is that the new crescent moon can always be seen 30 days after the previous one and in half the cases it can be seen 29 days after, because the length of the synodic month is 29·53 days. This office uses the parameter q that is based on the Indian method, and is expressed in the form of a table of limiting altitudes of the Moon at sunset as a function of the difference in azimuth between the Sun and the Moon. A detailed explanation of the method, with references, will be found in NAO Technical Note No. 69, A Method for Predicting the First Sighting of the New Crescent Moon, Yallop B.D., 1998 April. The MoonViz output produced by this office (see http://websurf.nao.rl.ac.uk) contains the date, time (Universal or Standard Time as requested) and day of the week of the new moon (i.e. the instant of conjunction). This is followed by a record for each evening from the Birth Date until the new crescent moon is considered to be easily visible (code A), or is easily visible under perfect atmospheric conditions (code B) and the age of the Moon exceeds 22 hours. Note that the Birth Date is the date of the first evening when the Sun has set after conjunction. The evening record begins with the number of days from the Birth Date (headed Birth Date + ), the day of the week and the date and time of sunset. This is followed by the azimuth (Az) of the Sun, the age of the Moon, the topocentric altitude including refraction (Alt) and the azimuth (Az) of the Moon, the difference of the azimuth of the Moon minus azimuth of the Sun (DAZ), the magnitude (Mag) and elongation (El) of the Moon, all calculated at the time of sunset. The record continues with the time of moonset and the lag time, which is the interval in minutes from sunset to moonset. The remainder of the record contains the best time (BEST TIME) for making the observation, and the last column contains the visibility code which is calculated at the best time. The best time is four ninths of the lag time after sunset.


OFFICIAL 1st Day of Shawwal in Different Countries
Thursday, October 11, 2007:


Nigeria (also on Oct 12)
Friday, October 12, 2007:


Albania
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahrain (Follow Saudi)
Bosnia and Hercegovina
Georgia
Iraq (Follow Saudi)
Jordan (Follow Saudi)
Kazakhstan
Kirgizstan.
Kosovo
Kuwait (Follow Saudi)
Libya (Conjunction Before Dawn)
Lebanon (Follow Saudi, Astronomical Calculations)
Luxembourg
Malaysia (also on Oct 13)
Montenegro
Netherlands (also on Oct 13)
Nigeria (also on Oct 11)
Palestine (Follow Saudi)
Qatar (Follow Saudi)
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia (Claim of Sighting)
Spain
Sudan (Follow Saudi)
Tajikistan
Tatarstan
Tunis
Turkey (Astronomical Calculations)
U.A.E. (Follow Saudi)
Yemen (Follow Saudi)
Saturday, October 13, 2007:


Algeria (30 days completion)
Board of Imams in Australia (30 days completion)
Canada (30 days completion)
China (30 days completion)
Egypt (30 days completion)
Europe - European Council for Fatwa & Research
France (30 days completion)
Germany (30 days completion)
Indonesia (30 days of Ramadan)
Iran
Kenya
Malaysia (also on Oct 12)
Morocco
Namibia (30 days completion)
Netherlands (also on Oct 12)
Oman (30 days completion)
South Africa (30 days completion)
Syria (30 days completion)
Thailand
USA - Islamic Society of North America/Fiqh Council
UK (30 days completion)
USA (30 days completion)
Uzbekistan
Sunday, October 14, 2007:

India
Pakistan

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