Mr. Saleh Al Saab, member of the 6 Official Saudi Hilaal Sighting Committee confirms that the Hilaal was not seen by them in Saudi on Monday. Contact him and he will explain all the errors and how he has been trying to correct the error for the last 20 years in vain. However Majlis Al Qadah Alala ignored their testimony and follow the error to begin fast on Tuesday

The Calculations are done for the Longitude and Latitude of Makkah AlMukarramah Area and the times are for Local Time of Saudi Arabia

Makkah Al-Mukarramah: Latitude = 21:39° N , Longitude = 39:46° E

Calculations show that the birth of the new moon occurs about 4.75 hours before the sunset on 3 October 2005 in Makkah AlMukkaramah area and the moon sets about three minutes after the Sunset. Therefore and according to calculations, the last day of month of Shaaban 1426 H will be on Monday 3 October 2005 where the moon sets after the sun as indicated in the table. Then, astronomically (solely based on calculations), the first day of Ramadhan 1426 H will be on Tuesday 4 October 2005. For crescent sighting, the Moon will be about 0.4 degree above the horizon and, horizontally, about one degree to the left (south) of the sun on Monday at the sunset moment and its luminosity is about five ten thousands (0.05 %) of the full moon which is much below the ability and sensitivity of normal human eyes detection, therefore it is not possible to sight that extremely faint crescent by a human. But it is possible to sight the crescent on the Tuesday evening since the age of the Moon will be about 29 hours and it will be about 7.4 degrees above the horizon and, horizontally, about ten degree to the left (south) of the sun at the sunset moment and its luminosity is about 1.5 % of the full moon which is in the range of the ability and sensitivity of normal human eyes. The shape of the crescent moon should look as shown in the figure. Taking all the previous points into account, the possibility is that according to calculation Tuesday 4th will be the first day of Ramadhan and according to actual sighting of the crescent Wednesday 5 October 2005 will be the first day of Ramadhan.

The above prediction is based on calculations and may be used merely for the purpose of a general guidance and one must go with the method of actual sighting of the moon, the method which, our Prophet Mohammad - PBUH - (SallAllhuAlihiWassallam) guided and ordered us to observe and follow, and Allah has the knowledge (wAllahuAllam).

Dr. Ali Mohammad Al-Shukri
Chairman of Physics Department
Physics Department, KFUPM
email: alshukri@kfupm.edu.sa
Home-page: faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/phys/alshukri

Assalaamu'laikum. wb.
Dear Mr. Moh. Odeh in JAS

In my Country, Indonesia, which owning the Islamic majority population, around 200 million peoples, agree to started Ramadan on Wednesday, 5 October 2005. This matter is based on the astronomical calculation (Hisab) that on Monday, 3 October 2005 ( 29 Shaban 1426 H) position of Hilal is below/under horizon for the all region of Indonesia, so that it is not possible to sight the Hilal. Pursuant to the mentioned, month of Shaban have 30 days. This agreement is supported by 2 biggest people organizations that is Muhammadiyah and Nahdatul Ulama (NU). Completed http://www.mediaindo.co.id/berita.asp?id=73246

Thank You, Wassalam,

Muhammad Thoha (ICOP member)
Jogja Astro Club Indonesia
http://jogja-astro.tk