First Day of Ramadan 1440 and ICCNC Policy on Declaring the First Day of Ramadan and Other Islamic Lunar Months
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Based on the ICCNC policy on declaring the first day of Ramadan and other Islamic Lunar Months shown below, the first day of Ramadan 1440 most likely will be on Monday May 6, 2019. The new crescent moon will born on Saturday May 4, 2019 (day of conjunction) but cannot be seen by the naked eye in North America or any other place in the world, until Sunday May 5, 2019. Inshallah, tomorrow evening by 10 P.M. we will announce if the new crescent has been sighted in North America.
ICCNC Policy on Declaring the First Day of Ramadan and Other Islamic Lunar Months
The Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California uses the following principles in announcing the beginning and the end of Ramadan and other Islamic lunar months:
1. ICCNC follows the opinion of the majority of Shia legal scholars who believe that the new crescent moon must be sighted within the relative localities, in our case in North America, to declare the beginning of a new lunar month.
2. If based on the scientific calculations, the probability of sighting the new crescent moon with unaided eyes does not exist in the local area (in our case San Francisco Bay Area) or it is impossible due to cloudy weather, then ICCNC relies on its network of Shia scholars and institutions in California and North America to confirm the sighting of the new crescent moon in other parts of North America.
3. ICCNC follows the rulings of the majority of Shia scholars who require that the new crescent moon has to be sighted with naked eye, without using any instruments such as telescopes or binoculars.
4. ICCNC does not use the astronomical calculations used by many Islamic institutions and mosques in America to calculate the time that the new moon is born in the sky to determine the first day of a lunar calendar because the new moon usually cannot be sighted when it is just born in the sky. According to the majority of Shia scholars, the new crescent moon must be sighted with the naked eye by at least two people.
5. ICCNC does not follow the announcements of Eid or beginning of the new lunar months made in other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, etc. The new crescent moon has to be sighted in North America.
6. The passage of 30 days in a lunar month confirms the birth of the new crescent marking the beginning of the next month
7. Most importantly, according to the Shia legal scholars, determination of the first day of Ramadan or Eid ul-Fitr is an individual inquiry. If an individual who does the inquiry believes that a certain day is Eid, then that individual is obligated to follow his/her own conviction.
We pray to God and ask Him to strengthen the unity of the Muslims in America and across the world, Inshallah.