Miracle in Saudi Arabia - All the time!!!

[ShiaMan14]

So the Ramadan moon was sighted in Saudi Arabia and UAE on Sunday thereby starting Ramadan on Monday.

Now I am no scientist but it was scientifically impossible to see the moon on Sun in the Middle East so how did people in Saudi and UAE see it. I am sure they were not lying to it must have been a miracle and that too a miracle limited to Saudi and UAE only.

It would be okay if they just came out and said they go by the birth of the moon and not on being able to sight it. But the lying.....

[von Lohengramm]

Naaa, they spotted it all right:

[baradar_jackson]

They had already declared that Monday would be the first of Ramadan days in advance, so obviously it had nothing to do with them sighting it. 

[LeftCoastMom]

Okay, stupid question from me : you don't just set a day for it to begin?

Example: ( this is a simplified formula) We set Easter on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The beginning of the Lenten fast is calculated from that.

[Jafar moh]

@LeftCoastMom I always thought it began with the first sighting of the Crescent moon during the month of Ramadan, which is why every year it jumps back several days to match up with the sighting.

I feel like the reason its so hard these days is because ,1450 years ago, there was no infrastructure and buildings, nor was there anywhere the amount of light pollution we have nowadays. But even despite this, @shiaman14 has a really good observation, and it should be considered. I take it safe: just fast. Fasting a couple days extra during the beginning of Ramadan is in no way out of line, because only the last days of Ramadan does it get a bit controversial, as you cannot fast during Eid al fitr. 

[ShiaMan14]

35 minutes ago, LeftCoastMom said:

Okay, stupid question from me : you don't just set a day for it to begin?

Example: ( this is a simplified formula) We set Easter on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The beginning of the Lenten fast is calculated from that.

Ramadan begins on the 1st of Ramadan every Muslim year.  

[Don'tMakeAس]

2 hours ago, LeftCoastMom said:

Okay, stupid question from me : you don't just set a day for it to begin?

Example: ( this is a simplified formula) We set Easter on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The beginning of the Lenten fast is calculated from that.

It is set on the first of the lunar month, rather than being ascribed to a day of a week.

Taking your own example, if Easter had been set on the first full moon itself. rather than the Sunday after, there would have likely been conflict for you too.

In the end we can't set our own methods for things like these. The criterion is actually pretty simple- if you see the new moon or receive news of it from a reliable source in your area, you fast the next day.

Edited June 6, 2016 by Shaykh Patience101

[notme]

2 hours ago, LeftCoastMom said:

Okay, stupid question from me : you don't just set a day for it to begin?

Example: ( this is a simplified formula) We set Easter on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The beginning of the Lenten fast is calculated from that.

I've wondered about that myself. For more than a thousand years the church has been able to calculate 40 days in advance of a particular moon. But it seems to me that a full moon is easier to compute than the first sighting of the moon. In addition to the first moon being much harder to see than the full, first sighting is not only dependent on phase, but also on weather, haze or dust, and urban lights.

[random7]

They're clearly not following the rule that you have to see the moon.