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Council Discussions on Start of Ramadan
Assalamu Alaikum
Dear brothers and sisters in Islam
May Allah
empower us individually and as an Ummah with the character of Taqwa this month
of Ramadan. Ameen.
In the last House of Representative meeting of the
Council, one masjid voted to follow National Fiqh Council’s announcement of
calculation for Ramadan. Nine Masjids voted for following the local
moonsighting. Several organizations did not vote at that time. Some were not
even present in the meeting. All present, however, unanimously voted that the
Council seek other opinions and make an announcement regarding the
issue.
Since then we have written to all masjids and followed up with
the phone calls. We have a few more opinions but unfortunately, we do not have a
consensus on any option. We discussed the issue in the last EC meeting and
agreed to share the following.
- The
Local Hilal Committee will meet on Saturday, September 23, 2006 evening to
monitor sighting reports from across the nation to either begin the first fast
on 24th or on 25th. The argument and up-to-date information will be on
www.ChicagoHilal.com after Maghrib (6:48pm). You can also call: 773-989-9320
(ICC) 773-725-9047 (MCC).
- National Fiqh Council’s decision to follow
astronomical calculation is already announced to the community. They have
announced Ramadan 1427 - First day of Fasting to be September 23, 2006 and Eidul
Fitr 1427 - First day of Shawwal to be October 23. Argument in favor of
astronomical calculation can be seen at www.fiqhcouncil.org
The Council will announce all the decisions through
its communication network to all Muslims.
For those who have expected
that the Council make a united decision, we submit to them that the council is a
federation of mosques and Islamic organizations. We have to follow a shura
process instead of imposing a decision which may not be followed by its own
constituents.
We request that, in the absence of a united decision, we
respect the positions taken by scholars and make a decision based on the masjid
you pray in or make a decision based on the case presented by each side.
Chicago Masjids following actual moonsighting include: MCC,
Makki Masjid, Islamic Center Naperville, Masjid Huda, MSI, Bloomingdale,
Desplains Islamic Center, ISNS are among the Islamic Centers who have informed
us of their decision to follow the actual moon sighting in North
America.
Masjids following astronomical calculations are ICCI,
Islamic Foundation North Waukegan and a few more. Based on astronomical
calculations but with moon visibility probability, Islamic Foundation Villa park
has decided to have the first day of fasting on 24th.
A personal
note:Allah knows your intentions of following Him. He will accept your
fast insha Allah. So don’t be disheartened by this continued confusion. It did
not start yesterday and it will not settle down today. In my personal opinion,
it is not as much of a fiqh issue as is of absence of a legitimate authority.
The buck seems to never stop anywhere.
If we have five volunteers who
are willing to work on this issue for the next six months on a consistent bases
with not more than five hours a week, we can try to bring a better level of
scholarly discourse to Chicago and community discussion to achieve a higher
level of uniformity on the issue.
It is difficult but doable.
Ramadan Mubarak
Your brother servant of Allah
Abdul Malik
Mujahid
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