DefinePK

Abstract

Differing verdicts regarding the sighting of crescent (ru'yat-i hilal) and beginning of the months of Islamic calendar, especially that of the months of Ramadan, Shawwal and Dhi'l-Hijjah, by the official and various private crescent sighting committees, have been creating enormous distress year after year causing dispute and dissention among Muslims. The severity of the issue multiplies especially when the issue lingers on within the jurisdiction of one Islamic country. Digging into the corpus of the Hadith literature and the rich scholarship in Hadith, Usul and Fiqh studies both classical and modern, this article attempts to look into various dimensions of the matter from a Shri'ah perspective. The article concludes that in the absence of a Muslim government in an area Muslims are obliged to follow the decisions of a private crescent sighting (ru'yat-ihilal) committee comprising of trustworthy scholars ('ulama'). On the other hand, in the presence of a Muslim government the responsibility to collect and sift the witnesses regarding crescent sighting (ru'yat-i hilal) and the authority to decide in its light the beginning and the end of the Islamic months solely lies with the ruler (Imam) or his appointed committee. Hence, after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a body of seasoned scholars ('ulama') representing all schools of thought unanimously and voluntarily declared that Muslims living within the jurisdiction of Pakistan are bound by the decisions of the Official Crescent Sighting (ru'yat-i hilal) Committees. The decisions of private committees of religious scholars ('ulama'), in this regard, have no legal authority whatsoever.