International Astronomical Center

So far, the earliest sighting of the crescent was on Saturday 21 July from Maldives. The crescent was also seen on this day from Jordan, Nigeria and USA.

Saturday 21 July

• Malaysia: ICOP member, Mr. Kassim Bahali said: "I tried to see the Hilal with LX200 and binocular but it was not seen because the western sky was cloudy."

• Brunei: ICOP member, Mr. Mahadi Mohamad Tahir said: "Mohammad Musa, Nur Arifin and myself went to Bukit Shah Bandar to sight the crescent but as usual it was cloudy at our west horizon. According to our calculation, the crescent was about 7° above the horizon during the sunset. Jamadil Awal begins 22nd July 2001."

• Maldives:
  1. ICOP member, Mr. Ahmed Salih said: "The Western horizon was cloudy up to about 12 degrees from the sea level. The crescent was seen for about a minute but it was very difficult to be certain. It was seen because I was observing seriously to the point. Otherwise it was likely to be missed."

  2. ICOP member, Mr. Muthasim Fahmy said: "The cresent ought to have been visible below an altitude of 8 degrees. The western horizon was however so cloudy that it was quite impossible to have seen the cresent with any certainty."

• Iran:
  1. ICOP member, Mr. AliReza Mehrani said: "Due to the cloudy weather it was impossible to observe the crescent."

  2. ICOP member, Mr. Asadollah Khoddam Mohammadi mentioned that it was hazy.

  3. ICOP member, Mr. Hamid Rahkooi said: "All of the sky was cloudy & It may rain."

  4. ICOP member, Soheil Khoshbinfar mentioned that it was cloudy.

  5. ICOP member, Mr. Amir Hasanzadeh mentioned that it was cloudy.

• Saudi:
  1. ICOP member, Mr. Saleh Al-Saab said: "Greetings, the crescent was more than ten degrees above the horizon at sun set here, but the western horizon was not clear enough for sighting the crescent."

  2. ICOP member, Mr. Anwar Al Muhammad said: "We have tried to sight the new crescent of Jamada Awwal as a group of seven persons but we could not see it. Although the crescent was above horizon with about 9 degree in our town (Qateef-East of Saudi) at sun set and we located its rough position and we used a telescope and binoculars but we could not see it. I think we always have hazy horizon in summer because the desert is located in our west. Two persons of other group claimed that they saw the crescent."

• Jordan:

  1. ICOP member, Moh'd Odeh said "10 JAS members went to western Amman to observe the crescent. We reached the location at 18:45 local time (UT+3), and we noticed that the weather was rather hazy! Directly, we started the alignment of the 10" LX200 computerized telescope, and as usual we did a 2-star alignment during the broad daytime. We had a glimpse at Mars and the Sun. Then we pointed the telescope towards the crescent by entering the coordinates of the crescent. Knowing that the sunset occurred at 19:42:08, surprisingly, the crescent was firstly visible through the telescope at 19:34, which is 08 minutes BEFORE sunset! At that time only two observers could see it, who were Moh'd Odeh (at first) then Dr. Abdullah Rifa'i after about two minutes. Later on, all the other observers could see it easily by the telescope. Talking about the binoculars, the first to see it was Mr. Moh'd Murad at 19:53 using 10X50 binoculars. While by naked eyes, it was firstly seen by Moh'd Odeh at 20:08. However, I must say that this observation was one of the most interesting ones which I've participated in! This crescent was the most difficult crescent that I've ever seen by naked eyes so far! Not all the observers could see it by naked eyes, and I strongly believe that if there was no telescope pointing towards the crescent, then it would be impossible to see it by naked eyes! The observers were: Mustafa Abdul-Khalek, Aziz Al-Muhtaseb, Ahmad An-Niamat, Khalil Konsul (President of JAS), Ismail Asha, Khaled Eid, Abdullah Rifa'i, Moh'd Murad, Moh'd Odeh, and Anton Hazbon. The coordinates of the location are: 31:54 N, 35:50 E, 931 meters. Temperature: 28 Celsius. Pressure: 1003 mb (at sea-level)."

  2. ICOP member, Mr. Belal Gharaibeh mentioned that he couldn't see the crescent by naked eyes from Northern Jordan.

• Syria: ICOP member, Dr. Hasan Bilani said: "This time I tried to sight the crescent by guidance of the astrolabe. But unfortunately, the western horizon was hazy, so I could not see the crescent."

• Algeria: ICOP member, Mr. Bankih Bankacem said: "The western horizon was very hazy. Sunset was observed difficultly.

• Morocco: ICOP member, Prof. Hamid TOUMA said: "I am pleased to inform you that in Morocco, the first day of Joumada Awwal is the Sunday 22 July 2001. In Rabat, we didn't see the Crescent because the horizon was totally Cloudy. This decision is good and it does not present any desacord with the astronomical prevision. The New Moon was on 20 July 2001 at 19h23min (UT) and on 21 July 2001 juste after the sunset, the Crescent has more then 20 hours of life, so it was goodly visible. Thank you."

• Kenya: ICOP member, Mr. Mahmood Essa said: "Regret to let you know that tried to observe the new crescent yesterday evening but owing to cloudy weather conditions, the crescent was not visible."

• Nigeria:
  1. ICOP member, Mr. Usman Dukku said: "Seven of us gathered in order to go for the sighting of the moon but, because it was heavily cloudy, we concluded that sighting would not be possible."

  2. ICOP member, Mr. Isiaq Alabi said: "The weather was cloudy in Lagos on Saturday (21/07) evening. The Crescent was observed clearly on Sunday evening (22/07/01). Sunday is the First day of the Month."

  3. ICOP member, Dr. Sani Mustapha said: "Please note that the crescent was actually seen in Nigeria on Saturday in Katsina. In Kaduna it was cloudy and no visibility."

• Germany: ICOP member, Mr. Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann mentioned that it was cloudy.

• USA:
  1. ICOP member, Dr. Muhammad Hafiz said: "I LOOKED FOR THE CRESCENT IN FLORIDA, OPA LOCKA ON SATURDAY, 21TH JULY, 2001 AT SUNSET. THE HORIZON WAS OBSTRUCTED BY RAIN CLOUDS FROM A THUNDER STORM OF THE SAME AFTERNOON, MAKING CRESCENT OBSERVATION IMPOSSIBLE."

  2. ICOP member, Mr. Khalid Fituri mentioned that he saw the crescent by naked eyes.

Saturday 21 July:-

1. Iraq
2. Jordan
3. Syria

Sunday 22 July:-

1. Malaysia
2. Brunei Darussalam
3. Maldives
4. Iran
5. Saudi
6. Qatar
7. Algeria
8. Bahrain
9. Egypt
10. Indonesia
11. Tunisia
12. UAE
13. Morocco
14. Kenya
15. Nigeria

Monday 23 July:-

1. Pakistan