Conclusion to "Cesarean Moon Births" by Sh. Hamza Yusuf

Copyright Hamza Yusuf ©2006

God has made the heavens one of His greatest signs. He has told us that Muslims are those “who reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alteration of night and day. Surely in that are signs for those who possess innermost understanding” (3:190). He has hidden the unseen and the future from us and warned us that “It is God who has knowledge of the end of time, and who showers the rain, and who knows what is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die: but God is omniscient, completely aware.” (31:34). Yes, there are discernable patterns in the world that make up the empirical sciences, but they have limitations, and we should take care lest in our arrogance we think that we have control over our lives and natural order:

Then when the earth takes on golden ornamentation [lights of our cities seen from space], and is all adorned, and people think they have power over it. Our order comes to it by night or by day; then we have it mown down, as if it had not flourished the day before. Thus do we explain the signs to people who reflect. And God calls to the abode of peace, and guides anyone at will to a straight path” (Qur’an 10:24-25).

God has hidden from us the power to predict the actual appearance of the crescent moon on the first day. Even modern scientists admit this. Yet, we wish to fit God’s plans into our plans instead of fitting our plans into God’s plans. Convenience store Islam is the Islam of the day, where we can buy a pre-packaged Islam that fits into our busy schedules. But Ramadan is God’s month; it is a time of slowing down and reflecting, of looking at our lives and questioning ourselves, “Are we in harmony with God’s creation. Are we bypassing signs right before our eyes?” God has veiled Ramadan’s greatest night from us, and if He chooses to ask us to inconvenience ourselves just a little bit for His sake to seek out Ramadan’s onset, then praise be to God. I find it altogether odd that a month that is meant to teach us patience and is called “the month of patience,” is no longer patiently waited for by eager Muslims to see what God has in store for them tonight or perhaps tomorrow night. I believe sighting the moon is an intended purpose of Ramadan. It is indeed an act of worship, as the Prophet ﷺ has clearly said, “The best of God’s servants are those who monitor the sun, crescents, and stars as a way of remembering God.”⁴⁰ Every morning before dawn, the Prophet ﷺ would awaken, go out into the late night air, and look up in the heavens and recite the final verses of Āl ʿImrān: “Surely in the creation and the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for people….”⁴¹  The signs are indeed clear for those who reflect.

Ibn Taymiyyah wrote hundreds of years ago,

It is impossible to determine, by means of mathematics, the exact time the crescent moon appears. For even though the astronomers may know that the light emanating from the moon is a reflection of the sun, and that when the two bodies meet in the conjunction, the light of the moon disappears, and when it separates from the sun, it regains its light, yet the best they can do is to determine exactly, through calculation, the distance between the moon and sun when the latter sets…. If we did assume that they managed to determine the moon’s position at sunset, this would not prove that the crescent had actually been sighted. Visibility is a sensory matter and is affected by several factors, such as the clarity or density of the atmosphere, the high or low position of the celestial body, and finally, the strength or weakness of one’s eyesight…. When they realized that the shariah commands the sighting of the crescent moon, they desired to determine it by means of mathematics, and thus they went astray and led others astray. Those who argue that the crescent cannot be seen at twelve or ten degrees, etc., have erred, for one person can sight it at the smaller number of degrees while another cannot at the same degree. They have resorted neither to reason nor to revelation, and because of this, the eminent scholars in their field have rejected their views.⁴²

What Imam Ibn Taymiyyah said is as valid today as it was when he wrote it. Several hundred years ago, a scholar in Libya was put to death because he refused to start Ramadan with the Fatimid ruler’s decree of calculation. He spoke out against the innovation and lost his life for obeying God and disobeying man. Thank God we live in a time and place in which we can freely dissent if our conscience tells us we must. May that Imam’s life not be in vain. Our Prophet ﷺ did not leave us with out guidance, nor did our scholars leave us without elucidation of that guidance for they are the “inheritors of the prophets.” In these latter days, the Sunnah is disappearing from the face of the earth. The Prophet ﷺ came to teach the simple and sophisticated, the meek and the mighty, and he gave each his dignity and his place. In following his example, we follow the best in ourselves, and in leaving his guidance, we open ourselves to great calamities and tribulations. Allah, the Exalted, said, “So let those who oppose his command beware lest a trial befall them or a painful chastisement” (24:63). The Prophet ﷺ has commanded us in a hadith that is of no less authority than the Qur’an itself: “Fast upon seeing the crescent, and break your fast upon seeing it; and if it be obscured, then calculate it.” The meaning is clear as has been clarified by the illustrious imams quoted in this paper. They are my proof; after God and then His messenger, I have no others. What is left is to follow their guidance. And may God give us the success to do so. And Allah knows best.

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40 The hadith is related in Imam al-Ḥākim’s Mustradrik and is sound. As quoted in al-Imam Aḥmad al-Khatīb al-Baghdādī, ʿIlm al-Nujūm (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, n.d.), 22-23.^↩
41 Imam Muḥyi al-Dīn al-Nawawī, al-Adhkār (Dār al-Minhāj, 2005), 67.^↩
42 Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, Jahd al-qarīhah fī tajrīd al-naṣīḥah mukhtaṣir al-radd ʿalā al-Manṭiqiyyīn (Dār al-Naṣr li al-Ṭibāʿah, 1970). And Ibn Taymiyyah, Trans. Wael B. Hallaq, Against the Greek Logicians (Oxford: Claredon Press, 1993), 140-141. (Note: Some retranslating done.)^↩

Configuring Your Prayer App – Part II

Bismi llāh, wa l-ḥamdu lillāh, wa ṣ-ṣalātu wa s-salāmu ‘alā rasūli llāh, sayyidinā Muḥammadini bni ‘Abdi llāh, wa ‘alā ālihī wa ṣaḥbihī wa man wālāh. Wa ba‘d:

In the previous post, we stated that the time for ‘Ishā’ starts when the white twilight that trails the setting Sun disappears below the horizon. However, there is actually a noteworthy difference of opinion on this matter (just like there is for the ‘Aṣr prayer). The difference of opinion relates to whether ‘Ishā’ starts with the disappearance of the white twilight (al-Shafaq al-Abyaḍ) or the red twilight (al-Shafaq al-Aḥmar).

According to Imam Abū Ḥanīfah (Allah have mercy on him), ‘Ishā’ starts with the disappearance of the white twilight, which is the definition we've been working with so far. However, according to the Mālikī, Shāfi‘ī, and Ḥanbalī madh'habs, ‘Ishā’ actually begins with the disappearance of the red twilight from the horizon; this is also the view of Imam Abū Hanīfah's two disciples, Imam Abū Yūsuf and Imam Muḥammad al-Shaybānī (Allah have mercy on them both). Consequently, the latter view is in fact the majority view. However, most – if not all – prayer calendars and apps give the ‘Ishā’ time based on the former view, i.e. the view of Imam Abū Ḥanīfah that ‘Ishā’ starts with the disappearance of the white twilight.

This is a very important fact to note for those who do not follow the Ḥanafī school. Important because for the majority, Maghrib actually ends before the ‘Ishā’ time given by your prayer app or calendar. Thus, if you were to delay your Maghrib prayer up until just 20 minutes prior to the ‘Ishā’ time given by your prayer app, you'd actually be praying Maghrib outside its time – and remember that it is sinful to delay a prayer without a valid shar‘ī excuse.

So you might ask: how do I configure my app to display the ‘Ishā’ time as per the majority opinion?

Here, things get a bit tricky. First of all, you need an app where you can actually customise the Fajr and ‘Ishā’ angle. For Android, there's the Prayer times: Qibla & Azan app; for iOS, there's the alQibla app.

Thereafter, set the ‘Ishā’ twilight angle as being 13.5°. This applies for most of the year, except from around early May until around late August, when a 14.5° angle should be used instead. (From late April until early May, the red twilight angle gradually changes from being 13.5° to being 14.5°. Then, from early to late August, it gradually changes again from being 14.5° to being 13.5° again.)

Here's a demonstration with screenshots for the Android Prayer times: Qibla & Azan app:

And here's a demonstration with screenshots for the iOS alQibla app:

Remember that from early May to late August, an angle of 14.5° is used instead. And don't forget to also configure your Fajr twilight angle! (To 18°, that is. Not 13.5° or 14.5°. There's no difference of opinion among the jurists about when Fajr time starts.)

Also note that these figures of 13.5° and 14.5° are specific to Sydney, Australia. Other regions may/will have their own respective figures. (The more common angle at which the red twilight sets for many regions is in fact 12°.)

Two more notes:

1. Ḥanafīs should nevertheless avoid delaying Maghrib past the "red twilight" (al-Shafaq al-Aḥmar) ‘Ishā’ time such that they pray it just before the "white twilight" ‘Ishā’ time enters. This is due to:
(a) precaution
(b) the fact that many Ḥanafī scholars have held that it is in fact the disappearance of the red twilight that defines the start of ‘Ishā’, this being the stronger position in the madh'hab according to them.

2. Non-Ḥanafīs should nevertheless delay ‘Ishā’ until the "white twilight" (al-Shafaq al-Abyaḍ) time enters, due to:
(a) precaution
(b) this being mandūb (recommended) by the sharī‘ah (at least in the Shāfi‘ī madh'hab).

BUT I'M NOT BOTHERED HAVING TO CHANGE MY PRAYER APP SETTINGS EVERY NOW AND THEN

With regards to all that has been mentioned about ‘Ishā’ according to the majority of the schools actually starting before the time your average prayer app or calendar says it does, yes, all that configuration about twilight angles and degrees can be a bit confusing, not to mention having to explain to others why your phone's ‘Ishā’ adhān goes off half-an-hour before everyone else's.

If you don't want to go through all the hassle, what you can do is just simply set your app's calculation method to the University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi method, and then ensure that you pray Maghrib as soon as possible (something you should be doing anyway as the aḥādīth especially emphasise performing Maghrib as soon as its time enters) and that you don't delay it to within 30-40 minutes of the ‘Ishā’ time as given by your phone app using the University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi method. That way, you guard your Maghrib, guard your ‘Ishā’, and avoid the hassle of having to tweak around with settings every now and then.

Hopefully, this has clarified some confusion with regards to all those settings on your prayer app, as well as with regards to the actual end of Maghrib and start of ‘Ishā’. If not, please do not hesitate to comment.

We ask Allah to make us of those who guard their prayers, both in quantity and quality.
And Allah knows best, and with Allah lies ultimate success.