ewet: Its only here you find this issue of discripancy in the appropriate ramadan commencement dates.

The arabs who are the progentors of islam have their own calender called the Hijri-arabic or hijra-english. This calender is diff from the gregorian calender which we have adopted here in naija.

The gregorian calender is the usual 12 months january to december which we are used to. The hijri on the other hand is based on the lunar trajectory which is similar to the chinese calender. The hijri is also a 12 month calender which commences with the month of muharram as the fist month and ends with Dhu al-hijja as the 12th month.
The hijri calender also consist of btw 354 to 355 days similar to the western gregorian calender. We are presenly in the 1434 AH according to the hijri and this year commenced on exactly the 14th of november 2012 and we are in the 9th month which is the month of fasting called Ramadan.

The month of rmadan is the 9th month of the hijri and the month set aside for the annual fasting in islam. There is no controversy whtsoever. If you shuld go to saudi-arabia today,every1 commences fasting today 9th of july 2012 which is the 1st day in the month of ramadan.

ewet: Its only here you find this issue of discripancy in the appropriate ramadan commencement dates.

The arabs who are the progentors of islam have their own calender called the Hijri-arabic or hijra-english. This calender is diff from the gregorian calender which we have adopted here in naija.

The gregorian calender is the usual 12 months january to december which we are used to. The hijri on the other hand is based on the lunar trajectory which is similar to the chinese calender. The hijri is also a 12 month calender which commences with the month of muharram as the fist month and ends with Dhu al-hijja as the 12th month.
The hijri calender also consist of btw 354 to 355 days similar to the western gregorian calender. We are presenly in the 1434 AH according to the hijri and this year commenced on exactly the 14th of november 2012 and we are in the 9th month which is the month of fasting called Ramadan.

The month of rmadan is the 9th month of the hijri and the month set aside for the annual fasting in islam. There is no controversy whtsoever. If you shuld go to saudi-arabia today,every1 commences fasting today 9th of july 2012 which is the 1st day in the month of ramadan.

ewet: Its only here you find this issue of discripancy in the appropriate ramadan commencement dates.

The arabs who are the progentors of islam have their own calender called the Hijri-arabic or hijra-english. This calender is diff from the gregorian calender which we have adopted here in naija.

The gregorian calender is the usual 12 months january to december which we are used to. The hijri on the other hand is based on the lunar trajectory which is similar to the chinese calender. The hijri is also a 12 month calender which commences with the month of muharram as the fist month and ends with Dhu al-hijja as the 12th month.
The hijri calender also consist of btw 354 to 355 days similar to the western gregorian calender. We are presenly in the 1434 AH according to the hijri and this year commenced on exactly the 14th of november 2012 and we are in the 9th month which is the month of fasting called Ramadan.

The month of rmadan is the 9th month of the hijri and the month set aside for the annual fasting in islam. There is no controversy whtsoever. If you shuld go to saudi-arabia today,every1 commences fasting today 9th of july 2012 which is the 1st day in the month of ramadan.

jelel6: I beg to differ, but most of the posts I have read here are all sentimental. Believe me, matters of religion can only be cleared by the the laws of that religion. It amazes me that most of the solutions you guys profer here are ALL BASED on personal deductions and preferences. Without any references to the authentic sources (quran and hadith).in fact i dont see reasons 4 all this fuss. According to the sunnah, (cant remember exact no) we were told that shaban is 29 days. But if the moon its not sighted, then make shaban 30 days, and commence your fast the next day whether the moon is sighted or not. In this scenario today 9th is the 30th of shaban. And the fast begins tomorrow wednesday 10th of july.

ewet: Its only here you find this issue of discripancy in the appropriate ramadan commencement dates.

The arabs who are the progentors of islam have their own calender called the Hijri-arabic or hijra-english. This calender is diff from the gregorian calender which we have adopted here in naija.

The gregorian calender is the usual 12 months january to december which we are used to. The hijri on the other hand is based on the lunar trajectory which is similar to the chinese calender. The hijri is also a 12 month calender which commences with the month of muharram as the fist month and ends with Dhu al-hijja as the 12th month.
The hijri calender also consist of btw 354 to 355 days similar to the western gregorian calender. We are presenly in the 1434 AH according to the hijri and this year commenced on exactly the 14th of november 2012 and we are in the 9th month which is the month of fasting called Ramadan.

The month of rmadan is the 9th month of the hijri and the month set aside for the annual fasting in islam. There is no controversy whtsoever. If you shuld go to saudi-arabia today,every1 commences fasting today 9th of july 2012 which is the 1st day in the month of ramadan.

deols:

So you are saying it isnt a lack of knowledge but ethnic bigotry.

so do we teach them the ahadith of the problem against tribalism or do we show them the ills of tribalism.

or do we just leave them and hope that they realise what is wrong.

deols:

The hadith you quoted is right but is not what the thread is about.

The thread is about finding SOLUTIONS. so what do you think should be done to ensure that the shariah is followed by all, starting from the forthcoming Ramadan.

busar: Ramadan isn't a new thing in Islam. The prophet alongside his companions has observed it before us. What we need in this our country(9ja) is obedience to the sunnah and our leaders(not your local imams o). I think if we followed the sunnah strictly there will be no problem of moon fighting.

ayenny02: We don't have problem in nigeria concerning the moon sighting, the only problem we have in nigeria concerning the issue are those BABAS in SW.

We can't solve the problem of moon sighting without first solve the problem of TIME OF SALLAT in SW, out of 100% mosque in SW I can say only 10% mosque are performing their sollat at the right time according to sunnah of the prophet, and I can say categorically that those who don't perform their sallat at right time at their mosque were among those who starts their fasting today.

May Allah saves those Babas from ignorance of deen becos they are not ready for correction

Sissie: I think one of our major problem is we like to use the calendar, and timetable/ clock
We don't use the moon and sun to tell date and time.
I.e people depend on clock/timetable to pray. If it's not 2pm or 4pm its not yet time for zuhr or asr, or 5.30 for fajr prayer and they call prayer when it's not yet time, or way past time.
Some imams depend more on calendar for Ramadan rather than moon sighting first.

tbaba1234:

True. That is such a difficult habit to change, many mosques do not even pray at the right time.

I remember a khatib urging loud takbeers during Friday khutbah, people talk during the khutbah and do not see it as a big deal and sometimes the khatibs don't know better.

So is the root of the problem, ignorance or a lack of education in the religion?

tbaba1234:

True. That is such a difficult habit to change, many mosques do not even pray at the right time.

I remember a khatib urging loud takbeers during Friday khutbah, people talk during the khutbah and do not see it as a big deal and sometimes the khatibs don't know better.

So is the root of the problem, ignorance or a lack of education in the religion?

kambah:


Who are the local imams, imagine a scholars that taught your great-fathers, you are calling them local imams. Anyway, I don't blame you, you are among people that terrorising islam by claiming unnecessary sunnah. Your types are in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia. May Allah protect us from evil youths that are trying to introduce new way of practising Islam.

kambah:


Who are the local imams, imagine a scholars that taught your great-fathers, you are calling them local imams. Anyway, I don't blame you, you are among people that terrorising islam by claiming unnecessary sunnah. Your types are in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia. May Allah protect us from evil youths that are trying to introduce new way of practising Islam.

deols: I was coming to start a similar thread. Thank you not for beating me to it.

It is a good thing that we think it is important to find a way out.

The youth are the agents of change anywhere and it is a good thing that we are saddened, as seen in the other thread by our divisive state.

I am of the opinion that whatever we discuss here or agree on should be sent to the secretary of the NSCIA, the JNI(eith the Sultan as its head, MUSWEN and the league of Imams and Alfas of south west Nigeria.


We may not send it to them all. We may not write a letter, we may just send the link.

Whatever we decide should be about making them aware of how the Young Muslims of Nigeria want them to come together henceforth and AGREE on a standard system of moon sighting and its eventual broadcast to the Nigerian Populace.


May Allah help us to arrive at the best conclusions. May He accept our Ibadah.



Ramadan Mubarak.

deols: I was coming to start a similar thread. Thank you not for beating me to it.

It is a good thing that we think it is important to find a way out.

The youth are the agents of change anywhere and it is a good thing that we are saddened, as seen in the other thread by our divisive state.

I am of the opinion that whatever we discuss here or agree on should be sent to the secretary of the NSCIA, the JNI(eith the Sultan as its head, MUSWEN and the league of Imams and Alfas of south west Nigeria.


We may not send it to them all. We may not write a letter, we may just send the link.

Whatever we decide should be about making them aware of how the Young Muslims of Nigeria want them to come together henceforth and AGREE on a standard system of moon sighting and its eventual broadcast to the Nigerian Populace.


May Allah help us to arrive at the best conclusions. May He accept our Ibadah.



Ramadan Mubarak.

Wizeboy: I believe the time is now to end the moon fight that always occured every Ramadan. This situation is becoming more embarrassing every year as it normally look like we (Muslims) are disorganise and look childish.

Quran, Hadith and Prophet Muhammed (SAW) have clearly explain the procedure if we are willing to follow them but some of the Imam we have in Nigeria always wanted to show power and authority over their jurisdiction by just declaring anyday they like.

The followings are my suggestions or ways of ending this ugly situation of MOON FIGHT:

1. All the Imam should come together and unite in the interest of Islam, is time we all eradicate our self-interest and let the truth prevail.

2. There should be a Workshop, Seminar or Conference by NSCIA for all the Imam to deliberate on the bad effect of a League of Imams doing meeting to decide the day that Ramadan should start or end but rather following the laid down guidelines which is every clear and precise.

3. Imam should never announce in any Juma'ah Service about a date Ramadan should start unless if moon has already been sighted.

4. Moon sighting should be centralised. If any village, community or state sight moon; they must not pronounce it yet until they call the President of NSCIA on phone and the President of NSCIA must also make sure the person calling has the backing of the Chief Imam of the area; such Chief Imam must testify to the sighting of the moon too, after which the pronouncement will now start.

5. The President, Secretary and other members of NSCIA must have a toll-free lines that will enable anybody that sight moon at anytime to call free along with the Chief Imam of the area to pass such information as quickly as possible. The toll-free line can be a line that will be very easy to remember at anytime for example 080ISLAM, 080NSCIA, 080MUSLIM or other simple numbers like that.

6. Is time NSCIA should emulate other country Islamic Council by acquiring moon sighting Technology, which they will be able to use in determining when the moon will be sighted. With the technology, there may not even be any need for them to be waiting for anybody to call before sighting moon anywhere in Nigeria.

Finally, is time all the Imams, Sheiks, Alfas and other knowledgeable Ummah start utilising their authority towards propagating Islam instead of fighting for unnecessary supremacy... None of us human being have any power or authority that is higher than Almighty Allah.

May Almighty Allah count us among those on the right path and continue to shower His wisdom and knowledge of deen on us (Amin)

Ramadan Kareem in advance (few hours to go)... Marhababika yah Ramadhan, A'lan wa sallam wa marhababikum

Maa salam