Al-Manar Almanac Regarding Ramadan
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Fatwa No. ( 3421 ):
Q1: Whatis the ruling on the newspaper al-Manar regarding Ramadan?Q2: If the newspaper al-Manar agrees that Sha'ban has 29 days, and then the moon is obscured by rain so the crescent is not seen and the people hear no news, do the people fast or not? Q3: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 37:48What is the meaning of this hadith? Q4: The Messenger said: Whoever believes the fortune-teller has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). AndAbu Bakr al-Jazairiexplained: that the fortune-teller is the one who reports about
the next day, so what is the ruling on the Al-Manar almanac which continues to inform from the beginning of the year to the end, day after day? Q5: The Messenger said: Complete the count of Sha'ban to 30 in case of cloudiness, is this acceptable or the almanac? Q6: What is the difference between the stars and the Al-Manar almanac in the ruling of tawhid (the oneness of Allah)? Q7: The Noble Qur'an forbade following the taghut, so what is the ruling on the one who makes the Al-Manar almanac?
A4: First: The Council of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia previously looked into the issue of establishing the new moons by calculation and issued a decision stating: (The Council of the Authority looked into the establishment of the new moons by calculation and the evidence regarding it in the Book and the Sunnah, and reviewed the words of the scholars on this, and they decided by consensus: not to consider the calculation of the stars in establishing the new moons in legal matters; due to the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih Muslim 1081b the hadith, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Sunan an-Nasa'i 2122Sahih (Darussalam) the hadith, and the evidence therein. Second: If the night of the thirtieth of Sha'ban arrives based on the legal sighting and the crescent is not seen, it is not permissible to fast on the thirtieth day, whether there were clouds at the sunset of the twenty-ninth day or not; due to the two hadiths mentioned above, and the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): Mishkat al-Masabih 1970 , and the saying of 'Amir ibn Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him): Sunan an-Nasa'i 2188Sahih (Darussalam) .
Thirdly:The meaning of his statement (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan an-Nasa'i 2140Sahih (Darussalam), he clarified (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) at the end of this hadith by saying: meaning: sometimes twenty-nine and sometimes thirty. It was narrated byal-Bukhari . Fourth:The science of calculation and knowing the risings of the stars is not fortune-telling, and it is not forbidden to engage in it, but it is not permissible to rely on it in a religious matter, such as fasting, Hajj, or the like. It is not part of learning the prohibited science of astrology, which the Shaykh al-IslamAhmad ibn Taymiyyah(may Allah have mercy on him) defined in his words: (Astrology is inferring earthly events from celestial conditions),al-Khattabi(may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The forbidden knowledge of the stars is what the astrologers claim to know about the existence of things and the events that will occur in the future, such as the times when winds blow, when rain comes, and when prices change, and similar matters which they claim can be known by the movement of the planets in their orbits, their conjunctions, and their separations. They claim that these have an effect on the lower world, and this is their arbitrary judgment regarding the unseen and their engagement with a knowledge that Allah has kept to Himself, for no one knows the unseen except Him.”
Fifth: It has been established that the science of calculation is not fortune-telling and its practice is not forbidden, and consequently, its practitioners are not taghut by learning it, but they are mistaken if they say for a month whose sighting has been legally established: that it was not born, or for a month whose sighting has not been established: that it was born, and it is not permissible to take their word as mentioned above. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
Q1: Whatis the ruling on the newspaper al-Manar regarding Ramadan?Q2: If the newspaper al-Manar agrees that Sha'ban has 29 days, and then the moon is obscured by rain so the crescent is not seen and the people hear no news, do the people fast or not? Q3: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
We are an illiterate nation; we do not calculate or write the month
نحن أمة أمية لا نحسب ولا نكتب الشهرthe next day, so what is the ruling on the Al-Manar almanac which continues to inform from the beginning of the year to the end, day after day? Q5: The Messenger said: Complete the count of Sha'ban to 30 in case of cloudiness, is this acceptable or the almanac? Q6: What is the difference between the stars and the Al-Manar almanac in the ruling of tawhid (the oneness of Allah)? Q7: The Noble Qur'an forbade following the taghut, so what is the ruling on the one who makes the Al-Manar almanac?
A4: First: The Council of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia previously looked into the issue of establishing the new moons by calculation and issued a decision stating: (The Council of the Authority looked into the establishment of the new moons by calculation and the evidence regarding it in the Book and the Sunnah, and reviewed the words of the scholars on this, and they decided by consensus: not to consider the calculation of the stars in establishing the new moons in legal matters; due to the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):
Observe fast on sighting it (the new moon) and break (fast) on sighting it (the new moon)
صوموا لرؤيته وأفطروا لرؤيتهD not fast until you see it , and do not stop fasting until you see it
لا تصوموا حتى تروه، ولا تفطروا حتى تروهand if the weather is cloudy treat Sha‘ban as having thirty days.
فإن غم عليكم فأكملوا عدة شعبان ثلاثين يومًاWhoever fasts on the day concerning which there is doubt, has disobeyed Abu Al-Qasim.
من صام اليوم الذي يشك فيه فقد عصى أبا القاسم صلى الله عليه وسلمThirdly:The meaning of his statement (peace and blessings be upon him):
We are an unlettered Ummah, we do not use astronomical counting or computation
إنا أمة أمية لا نكتب ولا نحسبThe month is like this and like this
الشهر هكذا وهكذاFifth: It has been established that the science of calculation is not fortune-telling and its practice is not forbidden, and consequently, its practitioners are not taghut by learning it, but they are mistaken if they say for a month whose sighting has been legally established: that it was not born, or for a month whose sighting has not been established: that it was born, and it is not permissible to take their word as mentioned above. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.