CHICAGO, October 25 (IslamOnline.net) - Because American Muslims do not have a central Fatwa authority but rather a couple of umbrella organizations and hundreds of Islamic centers, there is no one specific day marked as the first day of fasting, yet the majority this year has decided to fast Monday, October 27, marking it as the beginning of Islam’s holy month.

Islamic Society of North America, an umbrella organization operating in U.S. and Canada, has announced earlier that according to the scientific calculations that they follow, the new moon will be born Saturday but will not be big enough to be seen in the sky of North America, and by Sunday it will be big enough to confirm the sighting.

ISNA’s statement said, “The available data indicates that the moon's conjunction will occur Saturday, October 25, 2003, at 12:50 UT i.e., 8:50 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time and 5:50 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.  On October 25, the moon's age will be less than 13 hours at sunset on the West Coast of the U.S. 

“It will be impossible to see in North America because it will be very low on the horizon and not far enough from the sun (only about 7 degrees).  On October 26, the moon will be able to be seen in most of the world.  Therefore, the first day of Ramadan for North America is expected to be Monday, October 27, 2003, insha'Allah.”

ISNA’s decision is also based on jurisdiction of many Muslim scholars who constitute the body of the Fiqh Council of North America, and the Islamic Shura Council of North America.

Three years ago, ISNA’s Shura and Fiqh Councils have come to the decision to follow a scientific moon-sighting based on the visibility of the moon instead of following results of moon-sighting from other Muslim countries.

The rational behind their decision is that the Muslim community in North America has developed demographically and technically enough to be able to make its own decision on moon-sighting like other Muslim communities around the world.

In California, many Islamic centers and smaller mosques will begin their first day of fast Monday as well. The Islamic Center of Southern California, one of the biggest mosques in the golden state, has been adopting such a technique for years.

This technique is based on scientific calculations on the birth of the new moon, but also on the position of the moon in the sky relative to that part of Earth where the specific country lies and whether it is visible or not.

“We require the ability to see the new moon, not to see it with our own eyes, because sometimes the weather conditions do not permit us to do that of course,” said Dr. Mahmoud Abdul Bassit, Director of Religious Affairs of ICSC “we require the scientific visibility of the new moon and not simply its birth to announce the beginning of the lunar month.”

This technique combines science and also goes along with the Ayah that requires a moon visual to fast the days of Ramadan, says Abdul Bassit.

Followers of this technique adopt it for 11 months of year, but follow the decision of Saudi Arabia on the month of Thee Elhejjah, because of the universal ritual of the Hajj.

“As for Hajj, we follow the decision of Saudi religious authorities, because unlike Ramadan where Muslims do perform acts of worship and its rituals themselves, in Hajj we are celebrating the day of Arafa and those who are standing there, so we can’t but to follow the Hajj celebrations as they are performed there,” added Abdul Bassit.

“We have been preaching other communities to use such a technique not only in North America but also in other Muslim countries,” he added.

Many mosques do follow the ISNA decision in an attempt to reach a sense of unity among the Muslim community which is dispersed across the cities and states of North America.

In Chicago, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIO), which is a federation representing 45 Islamic institutions, mosques and schools, has also announced to follow the same decision. At least two of Chicago’s five biggest Islamic Centers with high immigrant concentration, the Mosque Foundation located in Bridgeview and the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park has already announced the first day of the month to be Monday.

Only one of them, the Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago (ICC) located in Northbrook has announced that Sunday will be the first day of fasting. The ICC does follow a scientific calculation but does not require the visibility of the moon as a requirement to the beginning of the month; the center will hold its first Taraweeh prayers on Saturday night.

The other two community centers, the Islamic Foundation North located in Libertyville and the Muslim Community Center are most likely to follow the same decision of that of CIO and ISNA.