Thul Hijjah 1422 AH
Translated by Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann - Germany ICOP member
Saturday, 23 February is the First Day of Eid Al-Adha Based on a Sighting of the Crescent
Mohammad Shawkat Odeh
Vice-President of the Crescents, Calendars, and Mawaqeet Committee
Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences
The astronomical calculations indicate that the conjunction (new moon) for the month Thul Hijjah will happen on Tuesday, 12 February at 7:41 a.m. Greenwich time. On this day, the moon will set after sunset in all states on earth, though the period it stays [over the horizon] after sunset is not sufficient for the crescent to be seen from nearly any region on Earth. If [the criterion] "moonset after sunset" is considered as sufficient for beginning the month Thul Hijjah, without taking into consideration the possibility or impossibility of a sighting of the crescent, then Wednesday, 13 February is the first day of the month Thul Hijjah. In consequence of which the first of Eid Al-Adha days falls on Friday, 22 February, and that is what numerous Islamic states are based on. If however the sighting of the crescent is what is necessary for beginning the month Thul Hijjah, then the first day of the month Thul Hijjah will have to be on Thursday, 14 February. That is because sighting of the crescent on Tuesday is impossible from nearly any region on earth, even when using a telescope. In consequence of which the first of the the blessed Eid Al-Adha days falls on Saturday, 23 February in those Islamic states that are based on a sighting of the crescent as the basis for beginning the new Hijric month.
The members of the Islamic Crescents' Observation Project (ICOP), whose 140 members live in 40 states, will carry out an examination of the crescent on both days Tuesday and Wednesday, and will explain the results of the observation on the internet page of the Islamic Crescents' Observation Project (ICOP) on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Through this every interested person will be able to inform oneself about the actual results of examination of sighting the crescent from different states on earth. Here is to say that the members of the Islamic Project carry out a monthly examination of the new crescent, and that the results are immediately published each time on the internet page of the Islamic Crescents' Observation Project (ICOP) at http://www.jas.org.jo/icop.html.
