This year like every other year, muslims in U.S were very unhappy at the start of the Ramadan as most of them believed that the 1st of Ramadan was decided without the sight of the moon. Moon sighting is a long held religious tradition followed by muslims worldwide. I talked earlier about it and said I will talk more once I have enough news stories and references.

Lets start with the history first, lets see what the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) did. Accordinig to Sahih Bukhari:

Volume 3, Book 31, Number 131:

Narrated Abdullah bin Umar:

Allah’s Apostle said, “The month (can be) 29 nights (i.e. days), and do not fast till you see the moon, and if the sky is overcast, then complete Sha’ban as thirty days.”

So moon sighting, no matter what century you are in, is a must. Period! There is no mention of moon sighting in Qur’an, only Hadith (I did a search in Qur’an on USC’s site). How one should do things are only mentioned in Hadith as they relate to traditions but are as important as Qur’an because Prophet Muhammad received insturctions from Allah (God) itself and what He did was always in line with Allah’s wishes.

According to Hilal Sighting Committee:

The Hilal* for the month of Ramadan was sighted tonight, Saturday 23, 2006, in Dallas, TX and San Diego, CA. Therefore, the first day of Ramadan will be tomorrow Sunday, September 24, 2006.

*Hilal is Arabic for Moon

For people in the U.S, first Ramadan was on September 24, 2006 (according to the moon). I am not going to talk about what went wrong with people who unanimously agreed and declared 1st Ramadan to be on Saturday 23, 2006. In a nutshell, they based their calculation on scientific positioning of the moon.

More Information:
Hilal Sighting Committee