New Crescent Society

By Imad Ahmed Director, New Crescent Society A personal blog from the Director of New Crescent Society.  This blog is a personal tribute I would like to make to the Unlikely Sighters:  3  groups of people that I have met or trained that one might not expect to be trailblazers in this field. Each of these 3 groups  have a great understanding of astronomy, and the science behind moonsighting. 1. The Towerblock Skygazers They go to the top of their estate once a month in Hackney, East London, to sight the moon.  As an ex Hackney school teacher, I'm extra proud of this group; it's heartening to see the enthusiasm from the youngsters too. After a year of moonsighting at this estate, they've decided they want to try out some other locations. I've been particularly impressed by their local knowledge and ingenuity whilst they scout public parks, or map which person in their community has access to which rooftop. Their tower block features in our most recent

Sighting the moon on the 29th of Ramadan around the world The Prophet Muhammad famously stated that Muslims should fast with the sighting of the new crescent, and should conclude their fasting for Ramadan with the sighting of the next new crescent, and begin the festival of Eid. Thus, on the 29th of Ramadan, Muslims from around the world with gather in groups, searching for the new crescent moon that will mark the beginning of the Eid festivities, and complete their month of fasting. This is done across the world - Morocco, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Oman etc etc etc. Groups go out with ifar, have fun with their friends and family in a festive environment, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tiny sliver of a moon. So how comes everyone else has all the fun, but we Muslims in the UK can't participate in this joyous occasion? The  New Crescent Society  seeks to address this by encouraging moonsighting. We aim to revive the tr

Salam everyone! We've been asked multiple times - when is Eid? And will we all be celebrating Eid on the same day? We've written a blog to answer the question. Don't hesitate to comment below with your feedback or further questions! ** Muslims across the UK started Ramadan 1440 on separate dates. Broadly speaking, there are two different positions on moonsighting in the UK, which led to these different dates. They are as follows: Local Moonsighters:  Started fasting on Tuesday 7 May 2019 Saudi Followers: Started fasting on Monday 6 May 2019 If we started Ramadan on different dates, the question then arises - will we end Ramadan and celebrate Eid al Fitr on different dates? The New Crescent Society  predicts that we will all celebrate Eid on the same day in the UK: Wednesday 5 June. Why are we making this prediction? To understand why we think both groups will celebrate on Wednesday 5 June, let us examine each of the two groups in turn.