When is the first Ramadhan?

In the Name of Allah,

If you live in USA, you have noticed that some Masajid will follow a different day for First Ramadhan, and Eidain. So, we end up with having two Eids on seperate days within the same locality. This could be very confusing for Muslims who don't know all the details of the issue.

First of all, since Eid and Ramadhan are community affairs, we have to follow the Masjid where we pray 5 times or once a week (if our faith is week), even if the local Imam is wrong about the dates, we should follow him on this issue.

Even if the month suppose to be 29 days, moonsighting is required for starting Ramadhan. If the moonsighting was obscured due to clouds, Prophet (PBUH) ordered us to default to 30 day month, and fast after that. There is no wiggle room here. Allah does not want Muslims to be burdened and provided a simple method to decide, and some of us want to make it more difficult.

NARRATOR Abdullah ibn Umar
ABU DAWUD
HADITH_No 2312
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The month consists of twenty-nine
days, but do not fast till you sight it (the moon) and do not break your fast
till you sight it. If the weather is cloudy, calculate it thirty days.

However, Prophet (PBUH) accepted witnesses of moon sighting if they testified and were credible. So, if no one sighted the moon within the city, but someone in the surrounding areas sighted the moon, and they can testify, we are allowed to accept that as moon sighting.

NARRATOR Abdullah ibn Abbas
ABU DAWUD
HADITH_No 2333
A bedouin came to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and said: I have sighted
the moon. Al-Hasan added in his version: that is, of Ramadan. He asked: Do you
testify that there is no god but Allah? He replied: Yes. He again asked: Do you
testify that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah? He replied: Yes. and he testified
that he had sighted the moon. He said: Bilal, announce to the people that they
must fast tomorrow.

Now, there is not a single evidence in Quran, hadith, or Rightly guided Khulafah's lives that can show us that some sort of prediction or calulation can replace the standing order of the Prophet (PBUH), which means order of Allah.

There is another possible valid opinion that says that moon sighting in other countries could be used as witnesses to fulfil the exception above. If that was the case, our Prophet (PBUH) must have made effort to send people out to Makkah or other cities. Umar would hadve setup a commnication system to notify provinces for dates for Eid-Al-Adha. But, there is no evidence of any of that, so moon sighting has to be witnessed close by.

So, how would we know how far is too far? It should be common sense. But, this could be discussed. Usually this depends upon the horizon angles and proximity. Following hadith gives an example of distance that will be too far for moon sighting.

NARRATOR Abdullah ibn Abbas
SAHIH MUSLIM
HADITH_No
2391
Kurayb said: Umm Fadl, daughter of Harith, sent him (Fadl, i.e. her
son) to Mu'awiyah in Syria. I (Fadl) arrived in Syria, and did the needful for
her. It was there in Syria that the month of Ramadan commenced. I saw the new
moon (of Ramadan) on Friday. I then came back to Medina at the end of the month.
Abdullah ibn Abbas asked me (about the new moon of Ramadan) and said: When did
you see it? I said: We saw it on Friday night. He said: (Did) you see it
yourself? I said: Yes, and the people also saw it so they observed fast and
Mu'awiyah also observed fast. Thereupon he said: But we saw it on Saturday
night. So we shall continue to observe the fast until we complete thirty (fasts)
or we see it (the new moon of Shawwal). I said: Is the sighting of the moon by
Mu'awiyah not valid for you? He said: No; this is how the Messenger of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him) has commanded us. Yahya ibn Yahya was in doubt (whether the
word used in the narration by Kurayb) was Naktafi or Taktafi.

I hope that ISNA and others do not beleive that Our Prophet's teachings are out of date and they need to be replaced by new technology because he never saw this coming. On the contrary, he was shown the future, and he was aware of all the generations to come, and their relative progress.

One argument that ISNA and others who support the use of moon calculation gives is the unity of Muslims. In fact, we could be united in our method and traditions, but don't have to unite in dates and times, as we live in different part of the worlds. Unity is not agreeing on one thing, but tolerating difference of opinion. Abu Bakar, and Umar didn't agree on many issues, but they were united in the method and tradition. If Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) compromised the principles for unity, Islam would have been more like Catholic Church which changes its laws according to how political winds are blowing. If we follow the Sunnah, and perform worship according to that, it will unite us more than celebrating Eid on one day.

In fact, if ISNA can setup a central moonsighting committee in NYC, and someone sees moon in USA and reports to them, then we can all unite in dates. All Imams I know are open to witnesses from credible people in USA, and it can work.

Please take some time out and try to sight the moon, and report to your local masjid, and don't go against strict orders of Prophet (PBUH) on this matter. If you didn't make an attempt to sight the moon, you should not speak, as you are withdrawing your right to participate.

And Allah Knows best,

A struggling Muslim
Adnan Jumani