Revering the moon

While most of the world relies completely on the solar Gregorian calendar for day-to-day living, Islamic practice requires additional attention to the moon and its phases for guidance through the Islamic calendar.

The new crescent moon marks the beginning of a new month. Moon-sighting is sunnah, or a prophetic tradition, and watching for its dawn at the end of a month is encouraged – a specific dua (supplication) exists for this occasion. But the practice of moon-sighting, and generally, of studying the universe within which we reside, is not as common among modern Muslims as it once was. The advancement of technology and the instant availability of information has made the act of stepping outdoors to confirm the new moon redundant.

Every month, the Royal Observatory of Greenwich, the home of time, hosts an event on Islam and astronomy. The event takes place in the planetarium and always sells out within a week of being announced. Ideally, it takes place on the Saturday before the predicted date of the new moon sighting – the goal of the event is to educate the audience about the integral role of Islam in early astronomy while equipping visitors with practical skills to spot the crescent themselves. Imad Ahmed, teacher and founder of the New Crescent Society, wants to revive the practice of moon-sighting in Muslim communities across the UK and is the person behind this initiative. I spoke to him after attending one of these events. He told me: “I wanted an event where Muslims could learn about our scientific history and shared culture, and be able to go home and look out for the moon and stars themselves.”

Inside the planetarium, we were asked to take one of the many seats, arranged under the dome of the building. The seats stretched back like lounge chairs, allowing us to be comfortable while getting the best view of the domed ceiling, which turned into a projector screen. The lights dimmed and the dome lit up. What followed was an incredible (and accessible) lesson on the moon and its phases, prominent Muslim astronomers and a showcase of the stars and constellations they discovered which retain their Arabic names. Those 45 minutes in the planetarium went by quickly. At times I felt overwhelmed. It's easy to forget how vast space truly is and what a remarkably small part of it we occupy. At one point we were shown how to spot the Andromeda galaxy, the galaxy closest to ours, visible on moonless nights, first described by Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (d. 986).

After the presentation, we left the planetarium to gather just outside, where Imad delivered a short talk and taught us, practically, how to sight a new moon: where to look for it (using our hands to measure approximately where in the sky we can expect to see the new moon), what time to expect it and the dua that exists specifically for this occasion:

It all began when Imad reached out to the Greenwich Observatory to work on an event to host a gathering to spot the new moon marking the end of Ramadan. He had been inspired by his travels to Morocco and South Africa when he decided to plan this event. “For over 100 years, on the 29th of Ramadan, the Muslim community [in Cape Town, South Africa] descends on to the beach, looks at the moon and declares, as a community, whether Eid will be observed the next day,” he recollects. Back in the UK, Imad found himself wondering why similar events weren’t happening here: “I’ve been doing moon-sighting for a decade, beginning from the time I was a student in 2009. [It was] when I returned from that experience [in South Africa] that I thought to myself: how can we replicate this in the UK?”

This initial event at the end of Ramadan was live-streamed to the largest audience the Observatory had ever seen. Clearly, there was an interest and demand for live moon-sightings in the UK to mark the end of the holy month. Most UK Muslim communities rely on announcements from the Middle East to declare the start and end of all Islamic months.

We're in an era of religious skepticism, where science is considered the rule and incompatible with faith. Having a regular event, titled “Islam and Astronomy”, scheduled into the programming at a world-renowned scientific institute is no small feat. “Every astronomer knows the debt they owe to ancient Muslim civilisations,” Imad notes. Data tables and calendars created by early Muslims astronomers are still referenced and used today, something the scientists at the Observatory recognise and appreciate. In the 11th century, Muslim mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyam calculated the length of a solar year, establishing a solar calendar which is more accurate than the widely used Gregorian solar calendar. I can't begin to fathom the skill required to take this measurement in an era without the technology we have today.

“Astronomy isn't a live issue for most people; it’s a scientific, historic interest,” Imad remarks. “With Islamic practices, astronomy and astronomers become contemporary and relevant in a way that they haven't been with other communities.”

The New Crescent Society (NCS), established in 2016, wants to educate people about the contributions of Muslims to astronomy, and for this education to be accessible and applicable. Having now attended one of their events, I can confidently say that they've succeeded in these goals. I shared this experience at the Observatory with children and adults, many of whom had travelled across London to attend. The majority of the attendees were Muslim and, it appeared to me, may have been part of different community groups. After the talk and demonstration, Imad was flooded with compliments and questions from the attendees, which he patiently and graciously answered. He apologised for holding me up – we had planned to begin the interview as soon as the event ended – but, as I mentioned to him later, it was heartwarming to see how the event resonated with so many and from his popularity after the event I could only guess at how admired, probably beloved, he is to them.

A long-term goal of the NCS is to campaign for a “UK Moon for UK Muslims” initiative, where instead of relying on announcements of moon-sightings from countries elsewhere, we observe the skies for ourselves, here in the UK, and practise accordingly. “[I'd like for us to] set up sightings posts every month, up and down the country. I want an organisational body where all the data from the sightings are collated and a calendar assembled for the UK. For Ramadan and Eid, these can be communal events. [UK moon] visibility is very different from other countries so it doesn't make sense for us to be following anybody else,” Imad explains.

Why haven't we been relying on data from our home to determine the start and end of Islamic months? Part of the reason, Imad speculates, is the reluctance to be out of sync with the majority of the Muslim world, who do rely heavily on announcements from the Middle East. Imad adds, “there is historic evidence that, even between Mecca and Medina, Eid [had been] celebrated on different days”. Furthermore, moon spotting in the UK is often more difficult. “This is an industrial smoggy, foggy country where it’s difficult to sight the moon. So historically, the first Muslim communities would rely on word from other countries.”

What the NCS are proposing and working towards is the creation of new communities, across the country, where people come together to witness the new moon, pray and share knowledge. The ultimate goal, God willing, is a future where we can celebrate the dawn of a new Islamic month with a certainty that's true for our place on earth.

The work involved in running the NCS, though a serious pursuit of Imad, is in addition to his primary career in education – although the two overlap in many ways. In one of the schools Imad has worked in, there exists an intervention for students at risk of expulsion. These students are “taken out of the city, out of the narrow alleyways of their neighbourhoods and to the countryside for a week or two.” This time spent in nature, away from the claustrophobic city, is therapeutic for the students: “The positive impact I observed that this had on the children exceeded what I had seen other interventions achieve,” Imad recalls.

Perhaps this comment about nature as therapy shouldn't have surprised and warmed my heart like it did – after all, there are many studies confirming the positive impact of experiencing and appreciating the natural world on our mental and physical health. Nature is frequently mentioned in the Quran: “Allah is always telling us to look; turn to nature and His creation,” Imad tells me, “We are directed by Allah to observe nature and understand it as a metaphor for spirituality.” All around us we witness the grandeur of our home planet and so the grandeur of our Creator. Imad wants to remind us to direct our gaze upwards too, and not forget about our ever-expanding universe, and the celestial bodies that guide our transitions through the years and our prayer times.

“Our prayer times are based on the positions of the sun and our calendar is dependent on the phases of the moon,” Imad asserts. “We perform wudhu with water; [when] without water, we use earth. The shape of the Ka‘ba is based on the winds. [Islam is] connected to nature; if you can access and tune in to the creation you can connect with the Creator”

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During those early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Imad made arrangements to “bring the moon into homes” by moving his classes and the sessions at Greenwich observatory online. “Rather than teaching people how to sight the moon from large public spaces, I found ways of helping them enjoy astronomy from their own homes,” Imad tells me. The virtual teaching space allowed many more people from all over the country to participate and as a result the number of moon sighting reports Imad received increased considerably. The NCS now has around 40 moon sighting locations nationally, and is always looking to expand.

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As Muslims, we believe every single creation worships Allah. The dua for sighting the new moon ends with an address directly to the moon: “Our Lord and your Lord is Allah.” With the NCS, Imad wants to revive a sunnah practice here in the UK. His initiative has the potential to create new communities and strengthen existing ones, by encouraging people to come together to observe one facet of nature's beauty – the dawn of a new moon – simultaneously a reminder of our small place in this universe and of the Majesty of our Creator. Imad's sincere efforts are to be admired – I highly recommend spending a Saturday morning at the Observatory for one of the NCS events; for Muslims, it is an opportunity to learn more about our shared history, and for everyone, it is a chance to marvel at our natural world, which does not only encompass our Earth, but also the moon and beyond.

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First Published in Khidr Zine 3 (2019), later republished in Tour De Moon zine 1 (2021)

Image credit: Nasa