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#RamadanDailyDigest: Significance Of Moonsighting & Commencement Of Ramadan

Ramadan Daily Digest, which is an annual article on the stable of Naijaloveinfo with hashtag, #RamadanDailyDigest will be discussing briefly the significance of moonsighting and the commencement of Ramadan.

Ramadan, which is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar is the only month in which Muslims, the world over fast from dawn till sunset for 29 or 30 days. Allaah commands Muslims to fast as stated in some parts of Suuratul Baqara (chapter 2) of The Glorious Qur'an. The Glorious Qur'an is the first and most important book to all Muslims.

For all the Islamic months, starting from Muharram (first month) to Dhul Hajj (12th month), the numbers of days in each of these 12 months are often 29 days and once in a while 30 days. The interesting thing about counting days is that the crescent (new moon) plays an important role. Therefore, the significance of moonsighting is the first consideration before starting the Ramadan fasting. 

The question that could come up is why do Muslims commence Ramadan sometimes when the eighth month of Islamic calendar (that is Shawwal) ends in 30 days? As said earlier, most times, 29 days make up each Islamic month, however, when their are cloud coverings after the 29th day of Shawwal, and the new moon for Ramadan is not sighted, Shawwal will have to end in 30 days before Ramadan begins. The significance of moonsighting can not be over emphasised before the commencement of Ramadan, as it shows a new month has begun.

In one of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad in Sahih Bukhari Book of Hadith, the Messenger of Allaah stated that Muslims should fast when they sight the new moon of Ramadan, as well as end the fasting of Ramadan after 29 days. The Prophet of Islaam added that, however, if there are cloud coverings, the fasting of Ramadan should be completed as 30 days.

The significance of moonsighting is talked about most for the beginning of the month of Ramadan, as Ramadan, which is the ninth month of Islamic calendar is the most honoured month of the 12 Islamic months by Allaah, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon his noble soul) and all Muslims.

Significance of moonsighting
Significance of moonsighting to Ramadan fasting

It is therefore incumbent upon every Muslim to know the significance of moonsighting not just to the beginning of Ramadan, but to the beginning and ending of all the 12 Islamic months.

 Oladele Hakeem Olaniyan  , who lives in Nigeria wrote this article

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