Visibility of Ramadan Crescent
(1425 AH)

Last Updated 21 October 2004 at 13:50 UT
In this page:-

When to Observe ?

The geocentric new Moon will occur Inshalla on (Thursday 14 October 2004), at 02:48 UT. On this day the program Moon Calculator by Dr. Monzur Ahmed -according to Yallop criterion- showed that it is only possible to see the crescent by optical aid from Central America and northern parts of South America. And by naked eyes from central and south parts of South America and major parts of the Pacific Ocean.

While on the next day (Friday 15 October 2004) the crescent should be visible easily by naked eyes from most of the countries of the world.

According to the actual sighting of the crescent, the start of Ramadan should be on Saturday 16 October 2004 in most of the countries of the world and on Friday 15 October 2004 in the American continent.

The visibility parabola as plotted by the program Moon Calculator

- Results of seeing the crescent, and the first day of the month in different countries will be added here Inshalla as we receive the reports from ICOP's members. If you wish to be a member in ICOP, or to know more about it, kindly click here.

AUASS Official Statement

Saturday, 16 October is the First Day of the Blessed Month Ramadan

Saturday, 16 October 2004 AD falls in this year upon the first of the days of the blessed month Ramadan, because the geocentric conjunction of the month Ramadan 1425 AH will happen on Thursday, 14 October, at 2:48 am UT. On this day, a sighting of the crescent is impossible from every region of the Islamic world, even if a telescope be used. On the contrary, an easy sighting of the crescent by naked eyes can be expected on Friday, 15 October, from most of the countries of the Islamic world.

Concerning the situation of the moon at sunset on Thursday in some of the Arabic and Islamic cities: In the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, the sun will set at 7:01 pm local time and the moon at 7:15 pm, i.e. the moon will be present in the sky only for a period of 14 minutes after sunset, and the moon-age at the moment of sunset will be 8 hours and 13 minutes. In the city Makka al-Mukarrama, the sun will set at 5:57 pm local time and the moon at 6:15 pm, i.e. the moon will stay only for a period of 18 minutes after sunset, and its age at the time of sunset will be 12 hours and 9 minutes. In the city `Amman, the sun will set at 5:11 pm local time and the moon at 5:26 pm, i.e. the moon will remain for a period of 16 minutes after sunset, and its age at the moment of sunset will be 12 hours and 22 minutes. In the Mauritanian capital, Nuakchott, the sun will set at 6:42 pm local time and the moon at 7:07 pm, i.e. the moon will stay only for a period of 25 minutes after sunset, and its age at the moment of sunset will be 15 hours and 54 minutes.

Those values are not sufficient to sight the crescent on Thursday from any region of the Islamic world, this state of the moon is still the phase of invisibility, it has not yet reached the phase of hilal (visible crescent) at sunset in all regions of the Islamic world. It is worth to mention that the possibility of a sighting of the crescent always increases the more one moves to the West. This is so because the moon-age, its time of remaining and its height above the horizon, and the measure of its illumination increase the more we move towards the West. This means that the regions of the Arabic West are the preferred regions of the Islamic world to sight the crescent. And if the sighting of the crescent is impossible on Thursday in the Arabic West, this certainly means that it is impossible from all regions of the Islamic world.

Concerning Friday, sighting of the crescent after sunset will be easily possible from most of the countries of the Islamic world. Because sighting of the crescent on Thursday is impossible from every region of the Islamic world, whereas its sighting on Friday is possible from most of the regions of the Islamic world, the beginning of the month Ramadan 1425 AH should be on Saturday, 16 October. But as there are some Islamic states that don’t use the sighting of the crescent as the condition to begin a hijric month, but content themselves with [the condition] “moonset after sunset”, and so in these countries the beginning of the month Ramadan will be on Friday, 15 October. Herewith the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences calls upon the population to search for the crescent of the month Ramadan on both of the days Thursday and Friday, and to report their results to the Union, because since five years the Union publishes every month the results of observation of the crescent, and this is done on the Internet at the address http://www.jas.org.jo/icop.html.

Kindly click here to read the original AUASS statement.

Saudi Will Look for the Crescent on Wednesday 13 October.

AUASS Comments on The Saudi Call for Observation on Wednesday.

Saudi declared that they will look for the crescent of Ramadan on Wednesday 13 October 2004 AD because this is the 29th day of Shaban, and the official Saudi statement added that the first of Shaban was on Wednesday 15 September. We wonder how could the crescent of Shaban be seen on Tuesday 14 September if the topocentric conjunction in Mecca occurred after Sunset! The full AUASS comment can be read here (Arabic Version).

Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences (AUASS)

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Search for the Crescent of the Month Ramadan on the Wrong Day

The Kingdom of Sa`udi-Arabia announced that they will search for the crescent of the blessed month Ramadan on Wednesday, 13 October 2004 AD, because in Sa`udi[-Arabia] this day will fall upon the 29th day of the month Sha`ban, and because the beginning of the month Sha`bân in Sa`udi[-Arabia] was on Wednesday, 15 September 2004 AD. But this implies that a sighting of the crescent of the month Sha`ban occurred in Sa`udi[-Arabia] on Tuesday, 14 September 2004 AD! We ask ourselves, how a sighting of the crescent could occur on this day in Sa`udi[-Arabia] when the conjunction happened after sunset? Concerning the city Makka al-Mukarrama, the sunset on Tuesday, 14 September 2004 AD was at 6:25 pm Sa`udi time, and the conjunction (new moon, or birth of the hilal) happened for the city Makka al-Mukarrama on this day at 6:48 pm Sa`udi time, i.e. the conjunction happened 23 minutes after sunset. Consequently, a sighting of the crescent of the month Sha`ban on Tuesday, 14 September 2004 AD from Sa`udi[-Arabia] was absolutely impossible, because the conjunction happened after sunset.

It looks like the responsible persons regard Wednesday as the first of the days of the month Sha`ban because they apply the moment of the [geocentric] conjunction for the Earth’s centre, instead [of the moment of the topocentric conjunction] for the city Makka al-Mukarrama! The moment of geocentric conjunction is what the Westerners use for their calculations, regarding their lack of interest in sighting the crescent, and for the month Sha`ban it happened at 5:29 pm Sa`udi time.

The definition of the correct start of the month Sha`ban is necessary because the definition of the start of the blessed month Ramadan is based upon it. Based on the current Sa`udi calendar, Wednesday, 13 October 2004 AD is the 29th day of the month Sha`ban, consequently it is the day of searching, and if a sighting of the crescent on Wednesday is not confirmed, Thursday, 14 October 2004 AD will be the 30th day of the month Sha`ban. Based upon this, the month Ramadân will start automatically on Friday, 15 October 2004 AD! But in reality, sighting of the crescent will be impossible on Thursday from all regions of the Islamic world! If the start of the month Sha`ban was correct, i.e. on Thursday, 16 September 2004 AD, then Thursday, 14 October 2004 AD would be the 29th day of the month Sha`ban, and because sighting of the crescent on Thursday is impossible despite moonset after sunset and a moon-age of about 12 hours, one may assume that Friday is the final [day] of the month Sha`ban, and Saturday, 16 October 2004 AD is the first of the days of the blessed month Ramadan.

Unfortunately, we in our Islamic states still suffer from the error in defining the start of the hijric months, as a result of lack of interest of some responsible persons in the well-defined scientific facts. And [again] some Islamic states are going to announce the start of the month Ramadan wrongly, as we are already accustomed to since the previous years, a result of disregard of the clear scientific facts.

Crescents, Calendars, and Mawaqeet Committee

Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences (AUASS)

Shaban Waning Crescent Observation (New Global Record)

Stamm Saw 6.4 Degrees Elongation Crescent!

The Official Jordanian Meetings on 29 Sha'ban

JAS representative who attended the Jordanian official meeting said that the supreme judge said: "Since it's Ramadan tomorrow in Egypt and Saudi then it will be Ramadan tomorrow in Jordan"! The crescent was not seen in Jordan, and they didn't even care about that.

Results of Observation

So far, the earliest sighting of the crescent was on 14 October 2004 from USA by ICOP member Mr. Jim Stamm.

Thursday 14 October 2004:

Friday 15 October 2004:

The OFFICIAL First Day in Different Countries

Thursday 14 October 2004 :-

  1. Nigeria (Claim of sighting).
  2. Libya (Conjunction Before Dawn).

Friday 15 October 2004 :-

  1. Iraq (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  2. Yemen (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  3. Saudi (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  4. Kuwait (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  5. UAE (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  6. Qatar (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  7. Bahrain (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  8. Palestine (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  9. Syria (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  10. Lebanon (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  11. Egypt (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  12. Sudan (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  13. Philippines (After 30 Days of Shaban).
  14. Singapore (Moon Sets After Sun Criterion).
  15. Indonesia (Claim of sighting).
  16. Jordan (Following Saudi and Egypt)
  17. Hungary (Following Saudi)
  18. Germany (Following Saudi)
  19. Ireland (Following Saudi)
  20. Malaysia
  21. Tunisia
  22. Algeria
  23. Morocco
  24. Bosnia and Herzegovi
  25. Canada (Claim of sighting)
  26. USA (Actual Sighting of the Crescent)

Saturday 16 October 2004 : -

  1. Australia (No Crescent Sighting on Thursday 14 October)
  2. Brunei Darussalam (No Crescent Sighting on Thursday 14 October)
  3. India
  4. Pakistan
  5. Iran
  6. Oman
  7. Kenya
  8. South Africa
  9. Nigeria
  10. Malawi
  11. Mozambique
  12. Angola
  13. Namibia
  14. Botswana
  15. Lesotho
  16. Swaziland
  17. Tanzania
  18. Zambia
  19. Zimbabwe
  20. DRC
  21. Gabon
  22. Congo
  23. Trinidad and Tobago
  24. Guyana

The Accuracy of The Astronomical Calculations

To know about the accuracy of the astronomical calculations, then please click here

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By Dr. Tarek Katbeh & Mohammad Odeh. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission. For more information Send E-mail