Continuing the discussion on the calculations of the astronomers and its relation to the Shari'ah.

The Shaykh : Be careful, my brothers, to complete the previous discussion that was raised regarding the benefit from ... the man about whom we can say that he died medically, and a discussion took place that I began by saying that I would draw attention to a very important aspect that many jurists, especially the contemporary ones, often do not notice. I wanted to complete the speech, then it occurred to our brother, Professor "Abu Malik," to make a remark, and as you saw, he asked my permission to deliver it, and it was in fact a complete support for what I wanted to say. Perhaps you, or at least some of you, remember that I had begun to mention two examples of matters that science judges, but the Shari'ah does not agree with one of them at all, and this is a matter of consensus, and for the other I said that there is disagreement among the scholars of the Muslims. Then I began to mention this example, the issue of establishing the crescent moon by astronomical calculations. Here, Professor "Abu Malik" intervened and mentioned what you all heard, that there is a scientific dawn or a scientific Fajr and a Shari'ah Fajr, and that this discussion took place between one of the astronomers and one of the employees in the Endowments.
This example became, in my calculation and my previous arrangement in my mind, which I distorted and intended to present, a third example with us. I mentioned the first example to you; it is establishing the crescent of Ramadan by astronomical calculations or by observation through telescopes. And there is no doubt that I personally do not prefer the opinion of some scholars who establish the crescent by this scientific observation, due to his saying - may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him - which is well known in "the two Sahihs": ; meaning the month may be thirty days, or it may be lacking one day.
Therefore, I do not see establishing the crescent except by visual observation; because the Messenger - peace be upon him - explicitly stated this in this specific ruling. Then I say: if the door were opened to establishing Shari'ah rulings by scientific theories, the Islamic Shari'ah would suffer what the previous Shari'ahs of Judaism and Christianity suffered. Now it is the turn of the second example in my distortion and thinking, and the third which our companion "Abu Malik" spoke of. Science, as I read in some books that I used to read and devote myself to in the past, says - and an opponent may oppose me because I am not a specialist, but in my opinion there is no opponent - when we see the sun like this toward the west, rising on the top of the mountain; meaning a very large circle - science says: the sun is now behind the horizon, and what we see is due to a scientific philosophy that we do not understand, that the rays are reflected.

The questioner : They are refracted.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : They are refracted.

The Shaykh : They are refracted and reflected to us, so we see the sun on the top of the mountain, while in reality it is behind the mountain.
Now the Messenger - may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him - says: . A man, let us say Zayd, delayed the Fajr prayer until he saw the sun on the top of the mountain with his eyes, but by his specific knowledge he knows it is behind the horizon. So now, is it permissible for him to pray or not? If we apply the Shari'ah ruling linked to personal vision, he prays; because the sun is still rising, but scientifically it is behind the horizon and not seen. And so: , the sun rose on the top of the mountain, scientifically it did not rise; is it permissible to pray Fajr? The answer: it is not permissible. Look how Shari'ah rulings differ between building them on ordinary vision and building them on scientific thought; therefore we say it is necessary for the Muslim to be consistent and straight, of course, in the consistency of his thought, and not to be confused; sometimes he takes a scientific theory even if it contradicts the Shari'ah reality, and sometimes he does not take it!
If we know these models of examples, the last of which is what Professor "Abu Malik" mentioned, that astronomy says: the dawn and Fajr appear before the Fajr that we see with our eyes by about a third of an hour, and this completely coincides with the theory I mentioned earlier when the sun is on the top of the mountain, scientifically it did not rise, likewise the Fajr, scientifically it did not rise, but theoretically we see it with our own eyes.

Another questioner : ... the false dawn ... .

The Shaykh : In any case, this is the terminology, the important thing is that we do not build our Shari'ah rulings on scientific views, even if they become scientific facts; why? Because now if there is fog and clouds on the horizon.

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?

Another questioner : ... .

Another questioner : No, no, no, it has no relation.

The Shaykh : If there are clouds on the horizon and the strong seeing eye, the strongest vision in a human, does not see the crescent, but you with a magnifying telescope, magnified many times over, will reveal the crescent from behind the clouds.
This is a scientific fact without doubt, but we are not obligated regarding this view; we are obligated by what we see with ordinary vision; therefore Shari'ah rulings are not built on scientific facts, but on ordinary natural theories. And therefore, it does not concern us that science has proven that the earth rotates, and it has two known rotations; this does not concern us; because the rulings of the Shari'ah were built on the basis that the earth is flat ... whereas in scientific reality it rotates, and that it is spherical, this does not harm us in our religion at all; because the Shari'ah rulings that the Wise Lawgiver established, He established them for ordinary people with a limited visual and mental capacity, so they were obligated by that and not by more than that.
If we know this, then this man whose heart is still beating; this, in the opinion of doctors, they judged that he died, but in the ruling of ordinary human vision, he has not died, and therefore they do not rush to bury him except after being certain of his death by their ordinary means. On this basis, I do not see permitting the killing of this person because in the opinion of medicine he has become dead, so we do not let him die until his heart cools and does not beat a pulse from it, I do not see this; because in the ruling of the Shari'ah he is still not dead, at the very least. This is my opinion that I wanted to clarify to you, and we ask Allah - Mighty and Majestic - to inspire us with the truth in what we say and in what we believe.