The ruling on each country fasting according to its own sighting of the moon

Question:
This questioner is from the Arab Republic of Egypt, and he says: What is the position of some of the brothers regarding fasting the month of Ramadan, where the sighting of the Ramadan moon differs from one country to another and other Islamic countries?
The questioner: May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.

Answer:
The correct view is that the people of each country have their own sighting; every country has its own sighting. So if the people of Egypt fast according to their sighting, and the people of Sham fast according to their sighting, and the people of the Maghreb fast according to their sighting, there is no harm. However, if it is facilitated for them to fast according to one sighting, that is better and more excellent if that is facilitated. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): This encompasses the entire Ummah. So if it is facilitated for them to fast according to the Saudi sighting, for example, or the sighting of an Islamic state that rules by the law of Allah and executes the commands of Allah, the sighting being by the testimony of witnesses and not by calculation, there is no harm; this is better. If they all fast according to one sighting, that is better due to the generality of the evidence.
But if that is not facilitated, and the regions are far apart, and the countries are far apart, and the people of each country fast according to their own sighting, there is no harm. This is the stronger position according to a group of the scholars.
The Council of the Senior Scholars of the Permanent Committee has studied this issue and held that there is no harm in each country acting according to its own sighting if it is not facilitated for them to pray according to one sighting.
As for acting according to calculation, it is not permissible. It is obligatory to act according to the sighting, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is not permissible to rely on calculation for the establishment of Ramadan, neither for its entry nor its exit, nor for the month of Dhul-Hijjah. So it is obligatory to act according to the sighting. If the moon is not seen at the entry, complete Sha'ban; and if the moon is not seen at the exit, complete Ramadan to thirty days. This is what is obligatory upon all Muslims wherever they are. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.