Transgressions Regarding the Issues of Sighting the Crescent and Throwing Pebbles ‎‎‎‎

09/10/2012| IslamWeb

‎‎Blessed seasons are blessings from Allah The Almighty to His slaves so that the righteous among them would do more righteous deeds and those who have committed sins would repent. These seasons are considered provisions for those heading towards Allah The Almighty and the Hereafter. The deprived person is the one who deviates from the right path during these days, while the prosperous person is the one who praises Allah The Almighty and intensifies his worship. ‎‎Despite the fact that these seasons are blessed, the Islamic Ummah (nation) is afflicted with some people who sully the sanctity of these times, as there are some people who commit excesses, shed blood and conduct acts of sabotage in Muslim countries. We do not disregard the crimes committed by tyrants; one of the crimes common to both tyrants and people who commit excesses is to issue Fataawa without any proof or trace of knowledge. ‎‎ ‎

As we are about to receive a great season, we should examine the "Fataawa" made by a number of media men, spokesmen, and writers about the month of Ramadan and Hajj. We will discuss two issues: ‎‎the first is the sighting of the crescent and the second is‎‎ ‎‎throwing pebbles during Hajj. ‎‎ ‎‎The conclusion of the opinions of those who tackled these two issues is as follows:‎

‎‎1)   Calling for unifying the sighting of the crescent in all the Islamic countries.‎‎

2)   ‎‎Approving of astronomical calculations with regard to the beginning of the month of Ramadan and Thul-Hijjah.‎‎

3)   Making an official Fatwa that indicates the permissibility of throwing pebbles before noon especially on the twelfth of Thul-Hijjah. ‎‎

‎‎These are the moderate opinions, but there are other eccentric opinions that are too deviant to be discussed.‎‎ ‎Before dealing with the abovementioned opinions, the following should be clear:

·        The issue of different sightings of the crescent among the Islamic countries is not a new one; rather, it is an old issue, nevertheless, it did not take up a large space in the reference books of Islamic jurisprudence.

·         ‎ Astronomers do not agree on one opinion in their calculations and this is why we see that they differ with regard to specifying the beginning of months, seasons of rain and cold and so forth.

·         ‎ The time and place of Hajj are specified and this should be taken into consideration when dealing with any issue in this regard.

·        ‎ Just because an issue is old, it does not necessarily mean that one should not study it again provided that the one who studies it is knowledgeable and the study is conducted for Sharee‘ah-related benefits.

‎‎When dealing with Fataawa related to sighting and throwing pebbles that are mentioned by journalists and the like, we find the following:‎

1)    These Fataawa are considered an infringement on the state’s sovereignty and its laws, as the issues of Hajj are usually tackled by official scientific committees and institutions, but these journalists think that such committees are not sufficient and sometimes they even defame such committees and their founders!

2)     Those people are not specialized in the field and they are not students of Islamic knowledge, astronomers, or engineers, but they only rely on what they hear with a biased and incomplete reading of issues.

3)     Most of the objections of such writers include insults to scholars and defaming the scientific institutions and this is not strange, but what is strange is that no one tried them and the ruler did not become angry with them. Some people said that the responsibility of all bad incidents of Hajj lies on the shoulders of scholars without considering other interrelated incidents, as Fataawa are not the most important ones.

4)     When focusing on the sighting of the crescent, people's attention is diverted so that they do not think about the violation of the sanctity of fasting that takes place in the mass media during these blessed seasons. Likewise, focusing on throwing the pebbles diverts people's attention from the more important issues that take place during Hajj, such as acts of polytheism and the absence of awareness among pilgrims.

5)     Most of those writers did not tackle the essence of fasting and Hajj and none of them dealt with the unity of Muslims and their status and condition and what takes place in their countries during Hajj or fasting.

6)     Their demands to make a general Fatwa regarding the permissibility of throwing pebbles before noon on the twelfth of Thul-Hijjah do not solve the problem of over-crowding at all. Instead of over-crowding after the decline of the sun, people will go after sunrise and the place will be over crowded before noon.

7)     When investigating the articles of those writers, we did not find anyone among them who dealt with the meaning of the two testimonies of faith, polytheism, or not observing prayers and so forth. The issues of sighting the crescent and throwing pebbles are used by "dwarves and puppets" to attack the religion of Islam, the scholars of Sharee’ah and the Shaykhs of the Hanbali School of Jurisprudence. None of those journalists, who moan about the issue of fasting and breaking the fast, wrote any letter, on three different days, about the discrepancies of the ‘Aqeedah of the Shee’ah or the crimes that they commit against their citizens who follow Ahlus-Sunnah (The People of the Sunnah).

8)     Their sayings might be used by anyone to propagate suspicious calls about the two Holy Mosques and the sacred rites.

9)     Such malicious sayings destroy all the achievements of the state and the efforts and time that were exerted to serve the two Holy Mosques, the rites and their visitors.

The following are some suggestions that can be helpful in solving some problems:

·        All government authorities should cooperate to raise the awareness on rulings of Hajj, the ways of making it easy and the principles that guarantee the validity of the rites. It is suggested that one should not be granted a Hajj visa except after attending an accredited educational program according to the school of Fiqh followed in his country. Another suggestion is to distribute illustrated guide books to pilgrims and to direct the mass media to produce programs that deal with the pilgrims’ health and safety. Moreover, the importance of the activities of the General Authority for Awareness and Fatwa should be reiterated in Hajj.

·         Moving all the government departments out of Mina so that only the necessary ones would remain in the most appropriate geographical places and areas.

·         Organizing the official Hajj delegations and processions in a way that would oblige them to utilize all the concessions of Hajj and abide by what would not cause any troubles to other pilgrims such as assigning a proxy just once or delaying throwing the pebbles and some of the rites to the time when the place is not crowded.

·         Restructuring all the routes that lead to the rites and the ones inside the rites in a way that would make the traffic smoother for pedestrians and vehicles.

·         Spreading different Fataawa related to Hajj, as long as they are not odd or disapproved of. The Mufti (i.e., the scholar issuing Islamic verdicts) should mention the considerable opinions, then mention his own choice.

·         Forming a joint permanent committee for sighting the crescent every month in a way that would guarantee preciseness, then announcing the result every month.