New Crescent Society

They say it is the moon which controls the tides. No man could change even the direction of a river current, but the moon itself could move an ocean. * No longer against the current When we set sail on this journey, everyone told us it was impossible. There was no way that we could expect UK Muslims to have Eid on the same day. Now, our inbox is full of emails from mosques who want to know more, from community groups who want to start their own sightings. The notion of a unified Islamic calendar in the UK is becoming mainstream. National Hilal Conference 2019, Royal Observatory Greenwich Before and after our historic National Hilal Conference , New Crescent Society has been working hard behind the scenes, meeting mosques, community leaders and imams individually to discuss possible ways forward with regards to the Islamic Calendar. We have met some of the largest and important key decision makers around the Islamic Calendar in the UK. The question we a...

Note - this is a shorter version of an earlier longer blog/ The original  can be read  here . When will Ramadan 2019 (1440) begin in the UK? Sadly we will see two different start dates for Ramadan.  We pray that one day, Allah will unite us onto a single calendar. For now, however, the dates are as follows: Those who follow Saudi Arabia:  will commence fasting on Monday 6 May. Those who follow local sightings:  will commence fasting on Tuesday 7 May. Why is this the case? Why do we have a split Ramadan start date? To know more… read on. Local sighters looking for the moon in London. Can you see the thin new crescent? Local VS Distant Sightings (?) On a basic level it is true to say that we celebrate Eid or Ramadan within the UK on different dates because: One group advocate following Saudi Arabia's moon declarations Another group advocate following local moonsightings This leads to different dates because Saudi Arabia is i...

When will Ramadan 2019 (1440) begin in the UK? We’ve received a lot of messages about this already, particularly from mosques and Islamic Centres who are keen to let their congregation know, and print their calendars. Sadly and as is often the case, we will see two different start dates for Ramadan. They are as follows: Those who follow Saudi Arabia: will commence fasting on Monday 6 May. Those who follow local sightings: will commence fasting on Tuesday 7 May. Why is this the case? Why do we have a split Ramadan start date? To know more… read on. Ramadan crescent, 1439 / 2018 A different reason for division than last Eid For last Eid (Eid al Adha 2018/1439), we also experienced a split date of celebration for Eid. This difference of opinion was caused by the fact that: Saudi Arabia declared Eid based on moonsighting reports on August 11   Locally (or indeed anywhere other than Saudi), the moon was not sighted until a day later, on August 12...

Commonly known as Shab e Barat, Nisf Shaban, Ruwaa and Laylat al Baraa  around the globe, this night is a significant night for many Muslims. As is often the case in the UK, there are at least two opinions. Short Answer If you follow Local / Visibility  Calendars: Saturday 20 April night, & Sunday 21 April daytime If you follow Saudi Arabia's Calendar : Friday 19 April night, and Saturday 20 April daytime Longer Answer & Explanation of Differences For those who follow a local / visibility  based calendars, the explanation is quite simple.  On the evening of 29th of Rajab (evening of Friday 5th April) sighters from around the world attempted to sight the moon. The moon was not reported sighted anywhere locally in the UK, nor indeed anywhere in the world. Thus, the month of Rajab had 30 days, and Shaban commenced after sunset on Saturday 6 April with Sunday 7 April being its first day. Saudi Arabia started Shaban a day earlier than communiti...