In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh
Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Al Khudairi , the notorious Moon Sighting expert from Saudi Arabia once again claimed last night that he had sighted the Moon in his Tweet for Muharram 1438.
This time, he has claimed that 8 out of 12 of his team sighted the Moon.
Once again, there are no reports from sighting from any of the official MoonSighting committees or astronomy experts of Saudi Arabia.
There are also no pictures or video evidence of the Moon (which has been sighted).
This isn’t the first time Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Al Khudairi has stunned the world with his sharp eyes.
For the laymen I would like to draw a chart and show you the conditions of the Moon which was sighted.
Top 3 are WORLD RECORDS and my comments on the right explain to you WHY it’s a world record.
|
Location |
Long/Lat |
Moon Age (Hours) |
Moon after Horizon after Sunset (Lag Time) |
Elongation |
Why? |
|
Collins Gap, Tennessee, USA |
Longitude: 83.5 W Latitude: 35.6 N |
15: 33 |
39 Minutes |
7.7 Degrees |
Youngest Moon |
|
Ashdod, Palestine. |
Longitude: 34.7 E Latitude: 31.8 N |
40:18 |
29 Minutes |
19.4 Degress |
Lowest Lag Time |
|
Tennessee, USA. |
Longitude: 83.5 W Latitude: 35.6 N |
15:33 |
39 Minutes |
7.6 Degrees |
Smallest Elongation Angle from Sun |
Let’s now compare the Moon which was sighted yesterday at Saudi Arabia.
|
Location |
Long/Lat |
Moon Age (Hours) |
Moon after Horizon after Sunset (Lag Time) |
Elongation |
Problem? |
|
(Hautat) Sudair |
Location (25° 35′ N, 45° 38′ E) |
14:33 |
26 Minutes |
7.3 Degrees |
This Moon is inferior in all categories to previous records. |
You don’t need to understand the science behind the sighting but what you need to understand is Saudees have SMASHED the world record in every meaningful category of Naked Eye Moon Sighting.
The world of Islam needs to WAKE UP to Saudi Arabia and realise is that there is a very serious problem in that country with Moon Sighting because it isn’t just the country but it is ONE INDIVDUAL who keeps claiming world record one after another.
Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (RA) on the verification of moon sighting:
The ultimate test of moon sighting is wherever on the globe the moon is sighted as you move westwards is it incumbent on the people to see the moon because due to time differences sunset will be later which means that the moon will be more luminous. To explain this phenomenon more clearly if the moon is sighted in London then in New York the sunset will be at least 5 hours later, in Chicago the sunset will be at least 6 hours later and in Los Angeles the sunset will be at least 8 hours later thus making the moon brighter and easier to be sighted.
This concept was explained by Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (RA) as follows:
قال ابن التيمية: أحدها: ان الرؤية تختلف باختلاف التشريق والتغريب، فإنه متى رؤي في المشرق وجب ان يري في المغرب ولاينعكس، لأنه يتاخرغروب الشمس بالمغرب عن وقت غروبها بالمشرق، فإذا كان قد رؤي ازداد بالمغرب نوراً وبعداً عن الشمس وشعاعها وقت غروبها، فيكون أحق بالرؤية، وليس كذالك إذا رؤي بالمغرب، لأنه قد يكون سبب الرؤية تأخرغروب الشمس عندهم، فازداد بعداًوضوءً، ولما غربت بالمشرق كان قريباً منها. (مجموعه الفتاوى جلد13 ص62)
“...One of them being that If the hilal has been sighted in the east then this will necessitate sightings in the west. However this is not true the other way round. This is because the time of sunset in the west is after the time of sunset in the east. If the moon has been sighted (in the east) then one will observe a much brighter and a more illuminated moon in the west...[Majmu‟ Al Fatawa Volume 13, Page 62]"
Then affirmed by Shaykh Uthaymeen (RA) using very precise wordings as follows:
ولهذا قال أهل العلم: إذا رآه أهل المشرق وجب على أهل المغرب المساوين لهم في الخط أن يصوموا؛ لأن المطالع متفقة، ولأن الهلال إذا كان متأخراً عن الشمس في المشرق فهو في المغرب من باب أولى؛ لأن سير القمر بطيء كما قال الله تعالى: {{وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلاَهَا *}} [الشمس].
"...It is thus that the people of knowledge have said: If the people of the East see it (the crescent) it is incumbent on the people in the West who are level with them to fast, because their sighting zone is the same. And because the crescent, if it is after the Sun in the East, it will be more so in the West, because the orbit of the Moon is slow, as He (Most High) said: ‘And the moon when it follows it’. (Al-Shams]...Shaykh al-Uthaymeen in his commentary entitled ‘Sharh al-Mumti‘ on the Hanbali fiqh text ‘Zad al-Mustaqni‘"
This Al Khudairi Moon was not sighted ANYWHERE ON EARTH that day
P.S: I am using the term world record sarcastically because there are no experts in the world (Muslim or Non-Muslim) who recognise or even acknowledge his record!