Is it permissible to use modern instruments to sight the crescent moon?

The questioner : Is it permissible to use modern instruments to sight the crescent moon?

The Shaykh : No, the hadith is clear, especially since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned in a narration in "al-Sahihayn": , then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: and gestured three times; meaning: thirty, then he said: three times minus one; meaning: the month may be thirty days or twenty-nine days. Therefore, calculation should not be acted upon here; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stamped this Ummah with the stamp of illiteracy regarding the entry into fasting, even though the Ummah later became a learned Ummah; indeed, knowledge spread across the corners of the world. However, regarding the establishment of fasting, he linked and tied the establishment of fasting to visual sighting, not scientific or mechanical sighting. In this is a reminder to people that Islam is a practical religion; because no matter how sciences and arts advance and means multiply to bring the far near and enlarge the small, there still remain in many lands some peoples who are still upon the fitrah (the innate natural disposition); so they are not burdened except with what is of the nature of the fitrah; which is visual sighting. Therefore, the entire Ummah must establish their month by this sighting by which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) enabled all people, with no difference between their intellectuals and those who are not intellectuals.
Yes.