Eid 2023: Revisiting the Hijri Calendar and the Everlasting Moonsighting Debate

The Hijri calendar begins with the year of the Prophet's migration from Mecca to Medina.

Muslims praying at the Jama Masjid. Image used for representation only. 

(Photo: altered by The Quint)

It has now been decided that India will celebrate Eid on Saturday, 22 April, while some countries around the world have already started celebrating the festival on Friday. In India, every year, there is a lot of discussion and deliberation about the moon sighting for Eid.

To attain a better understanding of this debate, let's look at the conference that was organized from 28-30 May 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey, which tried to determine the new Hijri lunar month, in accordance with the rules of Islam with respect to astronomy.

The Hijri calendar is based on the rotation of the moon around the Earth, and a lunar month is completed with the completion of one rotation of the moon. This calendar begins with the year of the Prophet's migration from Mecca to Medina, but its regularization began 17 years later. It should also be noted that after the death of the Prophet, the second caliph of the Muslims, Hazrat Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, after consulting the Companions, adopted the Hijri calendar, which was previously known as the Arab calendar.

Now, back in 2016, the International Beginnings of Qamri Months and Hijri Calendar Unity Congress  was an event in which famous Islamic scholars from Turkey, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, America, and fifty European countries gathered.

This conference came to be known as the International Hijri Calendar Union Congress, and having factored in the differences among Muslims globally, laid out the rules based on which they would celebrate Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha on the same day.

It was hosted by the official Presidency of Religious Affairs of Turkey, and the International Congress concluded with a unanimous declaration that it would end a long-standing conflict amongst Muslims worldwide. The President of Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs, Mohammad Gormiz, stated that the "60-year-old debate" is now over.

Is the Debate Over? 

The debate is never likely to end easily; both in India and in neighbouring countries. Even after six years of the conference, this year, some people in India observed the starting of Ramadan in accordance with some Muslim countries. For example, in the Indian state of Kerala, Eid-ul-Fitr was decided in accordance with the moon sighting in Saudi Arabia.

Aasim Hussain, associated with the E-Tilawah Academy,established in the United Kingdom, says that the problem of the Eid-ul-Fitr moon is not only for India. "I have seen this problem in European countries as well. Because most of the Muslims living here belong to India or Pakistan, they decide the day of Eid according to their respective countries. In this cycle, Eid is celebrated on two dates instead of one. Although fasting has started in almost all European countries along with Arab countries this year, it is hoped that Eid will be celebrated with all Muslim countries."

Mohammad Shahnawaz, an Indian living in Germany says that Eid is celebrated there along with the Arab countries. The moon can often not be sighted due to the weather conditions, but if it is known that tomorrow is Eid in Saudi Arabia or Turkey, then the people in Germany also start preparing for Eid.

I tried to contact Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and sought to know whether anyone from India attended the conference organised by them in 2016 or if any Islamic scholars from India reached out to them. In response to this question, Hümeyra Nur İşlek, an astronomer associated with the Diyanet of Turkey, said that three people from India participated in the 2016 conference. She has also promised to conduct a study on India's compliance with the 2016 resolutions and send me a report after Eid.

Previous Conferences on the Hijri Calendar Issue

Interestingly, earlier in November 1978, a conference on determining the new lunar year was also held in Istanbul. In this conference, the members were unanimous on the need to resolve this issue.

Muslims believe that the Qur'an says, "This is your ummah, a single ummah.” Therefore, it is not permissible for them to disagree on religious matters. Allah Almighty says, "Hold on to Allah's religion collectively and do not fall into divisions. He commanded unity and solidarity with his verse."

Two separate commissions, namely the "Religion Commission" and the "Astronomy Commission", were formed among the scientists attending that conference. Each of them studied the papers presented on the subjects within their specialization. After detailed discussions, the conference took decisions unanimously in its last session.

It should be noted that the Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Conference and the Kuwait Awqaf Ministers Conference were also held earlier. Additionally, an 'Islamic Astronomical Conference' was also held in the Jordanian capital, Amman, in October 2001 on the Hijri calendar issue, at which the Astronomy and Space Sciences Committee of the Arab Union on Crescent, Calendar, and Times presented a new idea based on dividing the world into two parts, with respect to the sighting of the crescent on the 29th day of the lunar month in each part. If the sighting of the crescent is confirmed (whether by the human eye or by astronomical instruments), the beginning of the new month will be announced throughout the region.

(Afroz Alam Sahil is an Indian journalist currently based in Istanbul, Turkey. I have been reporting on Indian minorities and marginalized communities for the last 15 years. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)