The Questions That Never Die
It has become customary: with every Ramadan come the same oft-repeated questions:
• Are we fasting longer than we should?
• Does chewing gum break the fast?
• Can one swim while fasting?
• May a smoker use a nicotine patch to ease withdrawal?
• Does smelling cologne invalidate the fast? What about brushing one’s teeth? And so on...
Typically, such questions arise from those who have not grasped the true seriousness and spirit of fasting. They are then amplified by media outlets eager for more clicks and higher ratings. Answering these questions—or ignoring them—poses a dilemma in itself. In truth, there are far more important aspects of fasting that deserve our attention.
(As a side note: the “gum that doesn’t break the fast” mentioned in classical fiqh texts bears no resemblance to today’s artificially flavored chewing gums that retain taste for hours.)
The Sight of the Crescent
In Islam, acts of worship tied to specific days—such as zakat , fasting, and blessed nights—follow the lunar calendar, while daily prayers are determined by the sun’s movements. Calculating solar times is relatively easy. However, in a world governed by the Gregorian calendar, determining the start and end of lunar months, which depend on the sighting of the crescent moon, has become more complicated.
Those who lived through the 1980s will recall the familiar phrase, “The crescent has been sighted in Arabia,” spreading from ear to ear—prompting some to begin fasting or celebrate Eid a day early or late. Later studies revealed that most of those claims of moon sightings were, in fact, mistaken. The cause lay in certain Arab authorities’ refusal to rely on scientific astronomical calculations.
The Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said of his community:
“We are an unlettered nation; we neither write nor calculate.”
He went on to explain that the lunar month can be twenty-nine or thirty days, instructing that fasting begins when the new crescent is sighted, and that Eid is declared when it is seen again. If the sky is overcast and the crescent is not visible, the month should be completed as thirty days. (Bukhari, Sawm 11; Muslim, Siyam 15, 18)
Some scholars deduced from this hadith that if the Arabs of that time had known how to calculate lunar cycles, there would have been no need to complete the month as thirty days when the sky was cloudy.
Today, astronomy confirms that the moon’s orbit around the earth—the lunar month—lasts approximately twenty-nine and a half days. Thus, a lunar month is either twenty-nine or thirty days long, and a lunar year totals 354 days.
When the moon passes between the earth and the sun, it reaches the point of ijtima (conjunction), marking the astronomical beginning of a new month. However, the side of the moon facing earth is then completely dark, and the crescent only becomes visible 12 to 16 hours after this conjunction.
The Crescent Controversy
The first issue the ummah faced concerning the crescent was whether astronomical calculations could be relied upon. In the early centuries, scholars—justifiably skeptical of the inaccuracy of then-available astronomical data—insisted that the sighting must be verified by testimony.
However, as Muslim scholars made great strides in astronomy, it became evident that the heavenly bodies moved with precise order—just as the Qur’an says:
“The sun and the moon move by precise calculation.” (Ar-Rahman 5)
As the reliability of astronomical calculations increased, scholars began to affirm that such calculations could indeed be used to determine lunar months.
A second issue was ikhtilaf al-matali’—the difference in moonrise times across the globe. A crescent visible in one region may also be seen in places west of it on the same night, but not in regions to the east until the next day.
The question of whether a crescent sighted in one part of the world is binding upon all Muslims has occupied scholars since the time of the Companions. Historically, the major schools of law differed: some held that the sighting in one place was binding for all, others said it was not.
In recent times, numerous scholarly assemblies have been held, and a consensus has emerged favoring the view that the sighting of the crescent anywhere in the world applies to all Muslims. This aims to ensure unity, preventing the disheartening spectacle of Muslims beginning Ramadan or celebrating Eid on different days.
