Muslims all over the world are making ready for what they think about to be the holiest month, Ramadan. This yr, the month of fasting from solar rise to solar set, is predicted to start out on or round 23 March.
Though the followers of Islam will observe the identical practices for about 30 days ending with celebrations, a word of discord surfaces yearly about when Ramadan begins and ends, generally known as the long-standing dispute dividing the Islamic world.
Some international locations, similar to Turkey, have already introduced the date (23 March) months upfront, but others are ready for the choice of the moon-sighting committees of their international locations, earlier than welcoming Ramadan.
The spiritual authorities worldwide use the identical Islamic calendar, nevertheless, every year, the beginning of the holy month can create a confusion for a lot of. That is as a result of totally different strategies used to calculate the timetable, based mostly on totally different teachings of the faith.
In most Muslim communities, particularly in Arab international locations, the start of Ramadan is marked by the sighting of the crescent moon within the sky with the bare eye. This apply is predicated on the Prophet Muhammad's saying: "Observe quick on sighting it (the moon) and break (quick) on sighting it (the brand new moon)".
In Turkey, the state-run Presidency of Non secular Affairs, makes astronomical calculations to find out the dates and bases its choice on the verse within the Qur'an: "The solar and the moon are certain by a set calculation".
The methods of finding the crescent shouldn't be the only supply of the dispute. Variations of opinion amongst spiritual sects deepens the division. In keeping with the Hanafi Faculty, the sighting of the crescent moon in any a part of the world is adequate sufficient to start out Ramadan, whereas the followers of Maliki Faculty say the sighting needs to be native.
Is a typical calendar attainable?
There was a number of makes an attempt prior to now to resolve the dispute, the final one being The Worldwide Prayer Instances congress 2021 held in Istanbul.
Progress was already made in 2016 on the The Worldwide Hijri Calendar Union Congress in Istanbul the place representatives from 50 Muslim international locations mentioned the methods to agree on a single Islamic Lunar Calendar. A consensus was reached and the assertion concluded that the sighting of the crescent in any a part of the world ought to bind all, and Muslims throughout the globe ought to have fun the Eid al-Fitr on the identical day.
Nevertheless, the choice of the congress was not carried out.
Whereas the spiritual authorities are nonetheless making an attempt to fulfill on the widespread floor, there are some who consider the disagreement is politically motivated.
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