Discussion between the Shaykh and a student regarding what happened in Jordan concerning the sighting of the Ramadan moon and their following of Saudi Arabia.
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The questioner: All right, there is a matter that many people perhaps overlook.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: In fact, Shaykh Nuh stated this at the beginning of this month, in front of the judges and the council. He stated the following: "We did not see the moon in Jordan, but we fasted in our country based on the Saudi sighting."
The Shaykh : Strange.
The questioner: That is how I am conveying this to you, by Allah. I heard it with my own ears. No one told me, "We did not see it in Jordan, and the judicial council met for this purpose, but the sighting was hidden from them. They said, 'Which countries fasted? Meaning, who will fast tomorrow?' They said, 'Saudi Arabia.' They said, 'We will fast with them.'"
The Shaykh: When did this happen?
The questioner: At the beginning of Ramadan.
The Shaykh: At the beginning of Ramadan.
The questioner: ... meaning, when they confirmed the month with Saudi Arabia, we fasted with them.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: They had thirty days of Sha'ban, and we had twenty-nine days of Sha'ban.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: And we fasted, Nuh, the judges, along with the group from the judicial council. They made us fast Ramadan based on this premise, that it was according to the Saudi moon phases.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The questioner: Now we were surprised by the surprise that the situation in Saudi Arabia and the neighboring countries was also without a sighting.
The Shaykh: How.
The questioner: That it was not confirmed with them. No one came to them at the beginning of the month saying, "I saw it," nor at the end of the month saying, "I saw it."
The Shaykh: Who was without a sighting?
The questioner: At the end of the month, at the beginning of the month, without a sighting, they relied on Saudi Arabia.
The Shaykh: My brother, we are done with the beginning of the month, the end of the month, the end of the month.
The questioner: The sighting of the moon was not confirmed with them.
The Shaykh: With whom?
The questioner: How.
The Shaykh: With whom, my brother, it was not confirmed.
The questioner: With the judicial council in Jordan.
The Shaykh: All right, it was not confirmed with them, so what was confirmed with Saudi Arabia?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: All right, why did they not take it?
The questioner: His knowledge is with my Lord.
The Shaykh: All right, what is the question now?
The questioner: What is your opinion now on the connection, that we in Jordan followed Saudi Arabia by their moon phases at the beginning of Ramadan in fasting, and at the breaking of the fast, we did not follow them?
The Shaykh: The matter is, in my view, less severe than this.
The questioner: Go ahead.
The Shaykh: Then it is more complex than one might think.
The questioner: Go ahead.
The Shaykh: First, if we did not know that we started fasting with Saudi Arabia.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: It was obligatory for us to fast with the first announcement declaring the confirmation of the Ramadan moon.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Whether Saudi Arabia or otherwise.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Yes, it is also obligatory for us to break the fast and celebrate with the first announcement.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: So suppose we did not know how we fasted.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: But we knew that Saudi Arabia is celebrating today.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: So it was supposed for all Islamic countries.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: That their festival be on one day.
The questioner : You are correct.
The Shaykh: So the issue that we started with them.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And did not break the fast with them, is not the problem. The main problem is that we do not apply his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the yearSahih Muslim 1081b Yes, nevertheless, I have been receiving questions since this morning, indeed since the evening until this hour, asking what we Jordanians should do. Saudi Arabia has announced the festival, and so has Syria, and so on.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: What should we do? So I say, despite what I mentioned earlier, I say we fast with our region, with our country.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Why? Not because it is the Shari'ah, but because it is the lesser of two harms. I mean, as long as the state has not announced the festival, if we follow Saudi Arabia, we will find some people with Saudi Arabia and some with Jordan. In addition to being divided as countries, we will be divided as a people.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Meaning, one people, indeed one household. This happened in some past years. The father, for example, and the mother are fasting or breaking the fast, and the children are the opposite. So, as you know from the principles of jurisprudence, "When a Muslim falls between two evils, he chooses the lesser of the two evils." The lesser of the two evils now is that we fast today.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh: So that we do not add division to division.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And this is clear, if Allah wills, for you.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner: Perhaps someone might say that the wisdom in, meaning the lesser of two harms, is that we fast on the day of the festival.
The Shaykh: No, because our fasting on the day of the festival.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Does not cause division.
The questioner: Ah.
The Shaykh: The division between countries exists.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh: Whether we like it or not.
The questioner : You are correct.
The Shaykh: But the division among us, between ourselves, is in our hands.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh: Therefore, the second division is worse than the first division in two aspects.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: The first aspect is that we do not control it, and those rulers are responsible for it.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: As for the other division, we are responsible for it.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh: Then it is more harmful, as I illustrated for you earlier, a household of a father, mother, and children dividing among themselves.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh: This one breaks the fast, this one fasts, this one eats the pre-dawn meal, this one does not eat the pre-dawn meal. It is a terrible thing. Added to this, and here the disagreement is useful, as they say.
The questioner: Ah.
The Shaykh: That there is a saying against adopting the sighting for all Muslims despite their different moonrise points.
The questioner: Ah.
The Shaykh: Yes, so this benefits us here.
The questioner : You are correct.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: All right, so we return to your first fatwa, my Shaykh. All right, you say he should repeat it.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: All right, the matter had some leeway, meaning there was leeway, and he had completed the beginning of Ramadan, so why do we tell him to repeat it?
The Shaykh: For a reason, so that division does not occur.
The questioner: Yes, we tell him why. We do not tell him that you have caused the community a problem by dividing them, but the other part of the fatwa is whether we oblige him to repeat it.
The Shaykh: What is it? May Allah bless you. This is a valid question indeed, but it is worth what it is worth, we turn it around.
The questioner: Ah.
The Shaykh : If it were.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner: Aziz.
The Shaykh : Welcome.
The questioner : May Allah honor you.
The Shaykh : And may Allah protect you, if Allah wills.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: In fact, Shaykh Nuh stated this at the beginning of this month, in front of the judges and the council. He stated the following: "We did not see the moon in Jordan, but we fasted in our country based on the Saudi sighting."
The Shaykh : Strange.
The questioner: That is how I am conveying this to you, by Allah. I heard it with my own ears. No one told me, "We did not see it in Jordan, and the judicial council met for this purpose, but the sighting was hidden from them. They said, 'Which countries fasted? Meaning, who will fast tomorrow?' They said, 'Saudi Arabia.' They said, 'We will fast with them.'"
The Shaykh: When did this happen?
The questioner: At the beginning of Ramadan.
The Shaykh: At the beginning of Ramadan.
The questioner: ... meaning, when they confirmed the month with Saudi Arabia, we fasted with them.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: They had thirty days of Sha'ban, and we had twenty-nine days of Sha'ban.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: And we fasted, Nuh, the judges, along with the group from the judicial council. They made us fast Ramadan based on this premise, that it was according to the Saudi moon phases.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The questioner: Now we were surprised by the surprise that the situation in Saudi Arabia and the neighboring countries was also without a sighting.
The Shaykh: How.
The questioner: That it was not confirmed with them. No one came to them at the beginning of the month saying, "I saw it," nor at the end of the month saying, "I saw it."
The Shaykh: Who was without a sighting?
The questioner: At the end of the month, at the beginning of the month, without a sighting, they relied on Saudi Arabia.
The Shaykh: My brother, we are done with the beginning of the month, the end of the month, the end of the month.
The questioner: The sighting of the moon was not confirmed with them.
The Shaykh: With whom?
The questioner: How.
The Shaykh: With whom, my brother, it was not confirmed.
The questioner: With the judicial council in Jordan.
The Shaykh: All right, it was not confirmed with them, so what was confirmed with Saudi Arabia?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: All right, why did they not take it?
The questioner: His knowledge is with my Lord.
The Shaykh: All right, what is the question now?
The questioner: What is your opinion now on the connection, that we in Jordan followed Saudi Arabia by their moon phases at the beginning of Ramadan in fasting, and at the breaking of the fast, we did not follow them?
The Shaykh: The matter is, in my view, less severe than this.
The questioner: Go ahead.
The Shaykh: Then it is more complex than one might think.
The questioner: Go ahead.
The Shaykh: First, if we did not know that we started fasting with Saudi Arabia.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: It was obligatory for us to fast with the first announcement declaring the confirmation of the Ramadan moon.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Whether Saudi Arabia or otherwise.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Yes, it is also obligatory for us to break the fast and celebrate with the first announcement.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: So suppose we did not know how we fasted.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: But we knew that Saudi Arabia is celebrating today.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: So it was supposed for all Islamic countries.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: That their festival be on one day.
The questioner : You are correct.
The Shaykh: So the issue that we started with them.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And did not break the fast with them, is not the problem. The main problem is that we do not apply his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the year
Observe fast on sighting it (the new moon) and break (fast) on sighting it (the new moon)
صُومُوا لرؤيته ، وأفطِرُوا لِرُؤيتِهThe questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: What should we do? So I say, despite what I mentioned earlier, I say we fast with our region, with our country.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Why? Not because it is the Shari'ah, but because it is the lesser of two harms. I mean, as long as the state has not announced the festival, if we follow Saudi Arabia, we will find some people with Saudi Arabia and some with Jordan. In addition to being divided as countries, we will be divided as a people.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Meaning, one people, indeed one household. This happened in some past years. The father, for example, and the mother are fasting or breaking the fast, and the children are the opposite. So, as you know from the principles of jurisprudence, "When a Muslim falls between two evils, he chooses the lesser of the two evils." The lesser of the two evils now is that we fast today.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh: So that we do not add division to division.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And this is clear, if Allah wills, for you.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner: Perhaps someone might say that the wisdom in, meaning the lesser of two harms, is that we fast on the day of the festival.
The Shaykh: No, because our fasting on the day of the festival.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Does not cause division.
The questioner: Ah.
The Shaykh: The division between countries exists.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh: Whether we like it or not.
The questioner : You are correct.
The Shaykh: But the division among us, between ourselves, is in our hands.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh: Therefore, the second division is worse than the first division in two aspects.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: The first aspect is that we do not control it, and those rulers are responsible for it.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: As for the other division, we are responsible for it.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh: Then it is more harmful, as I illustrated for you earlier, a household of a father, mother, and children dividing among themselves.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh: This one breaks the fast, this one fasts, this one eats the pre-dawn meal, this one does not eat the pre-dawn meal. It is a terrible thing. Added to this, and here the disagreement is useful, as they say.
The questioner: Ah.
The Shaykh: That there is a saying against adopting the sighting for all Muslims despite their different moonrise points.
The questioner: Ah.
The Shaykh: Yes, so this benefits us here.
The questioner : You are correct.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: All right, so we return to your first fatwa, my Shaykh. All right, you say he should repeat it.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: All right, the matter had some leeway, meaning there was leeway, and he had completed the beginning of Ramadan, so why do we tell him to repeat it?
The Shaykh: For a reason, so that division does not occur.
The questioner: Yes, we tell him why. We do not tell him that you have caused the community a problem by dividing them, but the other part of the fatwa is whether we oblige him to repeat it.
The Shaykh: What is it? May Allah bless you. This is a valid question indeed, but it is worth what it is worth, we turn it around.
The questioner: Ah.
The Shaykh : If it were.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner: Aziz.
The Shaykh : Welcome.
The questioner : May Allah honor you.
The Shaykh : And may Allah protect you, if Allah wills.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.