When Does Ramadan 2015 Start? (Ayatollah Saanei)

[personager]

Salam,

 

I am a follower of Ayatollah Saanei living in the UK. I'm having trouble finding out when it is he has declared Ramadan to begin (in the UK) this year. If anyone can let me know or point me in the correct direction I will be very grateful.

 

Also, I find it rather difficult to stay up to date with his fatwas as his website is barely ever updated. If anyone can let me know how I can stay up to date with his rulings, it will be very helpful

 

Thank you

[Ali_Hussain]

(salam)

 

There is nothing on his English site, or the Arabic one, but of course the Farsi one is up to date, using google translate, it would seem that he has declared Thursday to be the 1st of Ramadhan, in Iran

 

رؤیت هلال ماه مبارك رمضان برای حضرت آیت الله العظمی صانعی(مدظله العالی)محرز گرديد و فردا پنجشنبه 28 خرداد اول ماه مبارك رمضان مي باشد

 

Grand Ayatollah Sanei sighting of Ramadan for ( Mdzlh Allah grant him long ) were found , and tomorrow is Thursday, Persian date Khordad 28 first Ramadan

 

As for you living in Englad, I'm not sure what his ruling would be, in his risala, hes give a few of his opinions on the subject:

 

How to Ascertain the Frist Day of a Lunar month

 

Issue 854: The first day of a lunar month is established in one of the following four ways:

 

1- If a person him/her self sights the moon.

 

2- If a number of reliable people, whose words count as ascertaining evidence confirm that they have sighted the moon; similarly, any thing else which assures about the moon having been sighted.

 

3- If two just (Adil) people say that they have sighted the moon; however, the first day of the month will not be established if their reports are contradictory, or contrary to reality; for instance, if they say that the inner circle of the moon faced the horizon, their report will not be reliable; but if their reports just differ in some details, for instance, if one of them says that the moon was high but the other disagrees about that, the first day of the month will be established.

 

4- If 30 days pass from the first of Sha’ban, the first day of Ramadhan will be established and similarly, if 30 days pass from the first of Ramadhan, it will be the first day of Shawwal the following day.

 

Issue 855: The first day of a lunar month may not be established upon the verdict of the ruler, and everyone must have their own legal evidence concerning the sight of the moon and the first day of the month.

 

Issue 856: The first day of a lunar month may not be established upon the predictions made by astronomers, but if a person derives certitude from their findings and reports on the issue, they must act upon it.

 

Issue 857: If the moon is high up in the sky, or sets late, it will not be an indication of that night being the second night of the month and thus the previous night being the first.

 

Q858: In the case of locating the new moon and the confirmation of this by the Islamic authority and the establishment of Fitr Festival (Eid-ul-Fitr), and suppose the new moon is seen in the West of Iran, then is it possible to act upon this observation and its confirmation in other Islamic countries and count it as the beginning of Shawal?

 

A: Even though the edict of the Islamic authority is not valid upon such an issue (the observation of the new moon and declaration of the first day of a lunar month), based on my latest view, the observation of the new moon in a Muslim country can also count as a satisfactory proof to apply in other countries with nearly the same time zones (±3 hours time difference).

 

 

http://saanei.org/index.php?view=02,00,00,00,0#02,02,09,178,0

 

The problem for you is that he doesn't say if his method is to use a telescope or the naked eye.

 

To be honest, I used to be in his taqlid as well, but it isn't worth it, sure he has a few interesting ideas, but all in all, the risalas of the maraji' are much the same, it is issues like the start of Ramadhan that it really matters, and as a non-Farsi speaker, you will always have this issue with him, as his English website is rarely updated. The Hijri date isn't even given, so you can't calculate the 30 days, it isn't worth the headache.

 

(salam)

Edited June 17, 2015 by Ali_Hussain

[Paul Wick]

 Just wanted to update this thread a year later.  Ayatollah Saanei's office  has published on its website a PDF (Apparently published originally in print three years ago) "Istiftas: Fatwas for those living outside Iran"  containing some new stuff, and some recycled stuff from his  Risalah (That has been more clearly translated.)  

on p.48

"And about the xing of the rst day of a lunar month, you should make certain about such a day according to the Sharia criteria; that is, sighting the cres- cent moon for yourself by any available and possible means or mak- ing certain, in any possible way, about the day being the rst of the month, for instance, by counting thirty days past the rst day of the previous month. The crescent moon sighted in one territory would also suf ce for the neighboring territories which share all or even a small part of the night timing with that territory."

 so this would put him in the minority opinion among the  Maraji

Ramadan Mubarak!

[amirhosein_88]

On ۱۳۹۴/۳/۲۸ ه‍.ش. at 1:39 AM, personager said:

Salam,

 

I am a follower of Ayatollah Saanei living in the UK. I'm having trouble finding out when it is he has declared Ramadan to begin (in the UK) this year. If anyone can let me know or point me in the correct direction I will be very grateful.

 

Also, I find it rather difficult to stay up to date with his fatwas as his website is barely ever updated. If anyone can let me know how I can stay up to date with his rulings, it will be very helpful

 

Thank you

Salamun alaykum.

He lives in Qum, Iran not UK.

Official website: http://saanei9.tk/?view=02,00,00,00,0

 

[Paul Wick]

On June 18, 2016 at 4:54 AM, amirhosein_88 said:

Salamun alaykum.

He lives in Qum, Iran not UK.

Official website: http://saanei9.tk/?view=02,00,00,00,0

 

 You know exactly what he was trying to ask… How do you determine the start of Ramadan (Or any other month) as unlike Sistani or Fadlalah  he requires the follower to have his own evidence.

[Paul Wick]

Thought I would revive this thread, because I finally found the answer. He adheres to the requirement of naked eye.  I ran this link through Google translate; it’s  not well-translated, but the last line says something to the effect of “is dedicated to observing with the naked eye.”

http://saanei.org/index.php?view=01,02,09,1694,0

س 4. در حال حاضر كه با پيشرفت ابزار علمى قادريم با استفاده از وسيله اى چون دوربين دو چشمى، هلال هاى باريك را نيز رؤيت نماييم، آيا باز براى رؤيت هلال، بايد تنها به چشم غير مسلّح متوسل شويم و يا اينكه رؤيت هلال ماه با استفاده از ابزار نيز داراى حجيت است؟

ج ـ مناط شهور و اهلّه كه مواقيت شرعى براى روزه و حج و غير آنهاست، همان حلول شهر (ماه) است نه رؤيت، و حلول به هر طريق علمى كه باشد، حجت است و كفايت مى كند؛ به علاوه آنكه بر فرض موضوعيت رؤيت، مقتضاى اhطلاق ادلّه اش اعتبار رؤيت هلال با ابزار است و اختصاص به رؤيت با چشم غير مسلح ندارد.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul Wick]

On 6/17/2015 at 3:36 PM, Ali_Hussain said:

The problem for you is that he doesn't say if his method is to use a telescope or the naked eye.

 I don’t know why I didn’t find this earlier, in a 2007 ruling he says that the new crescent can be established (among other ways) using:

“the naked or reinforced eye, like with conventional binoculars”

-  excerpt from Issue 1200, dated 20/6/1386 SH/11 Sep 2007

http://saanei.org/index.php?view=01,02,09,3162,0

Edited July 25, 2018 by Paul Wick