International Astronomical Center

So far, the earliest sighting of the crescent -after sunset- was on Sunday 28 December 2008 from Iran by ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Zahed Aram, the crescent was also seen on this day from Bahrain, Saudi, Sudan, Tanzania, Nigeria and USA.

Saturday 27 December 2008:

• Saudi: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Bander Albotehy said: "I was traviling by car from Riyadh to Khobar before I stop before sunset to observe. I stopped around 100KM+ east of Riyadh. I tried to see the crescent after the sunset but I could not. The sky was not 100% clear but accepted. I could not see the crescent."

• Nigeria:
  1. Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Simwal Jibril said: "Friday was 29 of Zulhijja so today since no crescent was seen should be 30. But in the media it was reported as 1 Muharram"

  2. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Muhammed Ya'sin Qamardeen said: "I was not able to sight the new hilal, perharp due to overcast at the western horizon. I havent get any positive report from other places within Nigeria."

• South Africa: Not Seen: ICOP member Dr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim mentioned that the crescent was not seen by telescope.

• UK: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Qamar Uddin said: "On Saturday, 27 December 2008 corresponding to 29 Dhul-Hijjah 1429 AH, I was travelling away from my home city so was unable to personally attempt sighting the crescent moon (Hilal). However, I have contacted many Muslims in other parts of UK who have attempted sighting but no sighting reports have been received. There were no reliable sighting reports from any countries in the East of UK either. Therefore the Ulama in UK have decided that tomorrow (28 December 2008) will be 30 Dhul-Hijjah 1429 AH and 1 Muharram 1430 AH (Islamic New Year) in UK will be from the next day, Monday 29 December 2008, Insha-Allah. Qamar Uddin, Dated: 27 December 2008, 23:45 hrs GMT."

• Trinidad and Tobago: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Kahiam Hosein said: "In Trinidad and Tobago the month of Dhul Hijjah completed 30 days and the 1st day of Muharram was on Monday 29th Dec 08. After sunset on Saturday 27th Dec 08 I looked along with 15 of our sub committees throughout our country but the moon was confirmed not sighted there were reports of cloudy weather conditions and rain in some areas."

Sunday 28 December 2008:

• Indonesia:
  1. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member, Mr. AR Sugeng Riyadi said: "On Sunday 28 Dec 2008, the New Crescent of Muharram 1430 AH was NOT SEEN from my location: Bendo Ketitang Juwiring Klaten INDONESIA (7° 41' 39.17" S,110° 44' 20.64" E, GMT+7, 98 m). Western horizon was totally cloudy.

  2. Not Seen/Partly Cloudy: ICOP member, Mr. Mutoha Arkanuddin said: "From my holiday trip location at Tulungagung, East Java (111°01'E / 08°05'S) about 200 km East from my home town Yogyakarta. According to the 'hisab' the Sunset at 17:56 moon altitude 8°31' precisely above the Sunset position and Moonset 19:23. The crescent not seen because the Western Sky was partly cloudy. Indonesian Government used the calculation to determining the firstday of Muharram 1430 AH. Moon altitude at Sunset > 2° or Moon-Sun elongation > 3° or Moon age > 8 hours, so that the firstday of year 1430 AH begin on Monday, 29 December 2008."

• Malaysia: Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member, Mr. Kassim Bahali said: "The Hilal was not seen, the western horizon was totaly cloudy. Happy new Islamic year to all ICOP members and all Muslims all over the world."
  

• Bangladesh: Not Seen: ICOP memeber Mr. ABM Hassan said: "Ruia'ti Hilal Majlis and Islamic Foundation both have announced that the crescent of Muharram-ul-Haram is not sighted in Bangladesh on 28th December; Sunday. The sky was foggy as well as cloudy. First day of Muharram will start from Tuesday, 30th December."

• Sri Lanka:
  1. Not Seen: ICOP member, Dr. Aqil Ahmad Sharifuddeen said: "No crescent sighting claims from any part of the island received by the officials gathered in Colombo today on 28th Dec. 2008. Thus it is decided to complete Dulqa'da as 30 days and the Muharram bigins with 29th Dec.2008 sunset."

  2. Not Seen/Cloudy: Mr. Nular Bary said: "Today 28/12/2008 (29/12/1429H) I tried to sight the crescent just after sunset the western horizon was cloudy I couldn't sight the moon even with a bionacular and no where from the Island reported seen up to now 9.30pm so our Hilal committee decided to complete Dhul Haj by 30 day & muharam 1430h will start from Tuesday 30/12/2008 Insha Allah."

• India: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mohammed Mohsin Khan said: "Today Sunday 28 Dec 2008 / 29 Zil Hijjah 1429 in India. Here in Mumbai Sunset was at 06:10 pm IST and Moonset was at 06:54 pm IST. so there was 44 mins difference, Moon Age was 24 hrs, 30 mins and Sky was clear but Crescent has not been sighted in Mumbai and in Most Parts of India. Official Moon-Sighting Committee of Mumbai have officially announced that Monday 29 December 2008 is the 30th Zilhijjah and 1st Muharram 1430 will fall on Tuesday 30 December 2008."

• Pakistan: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Muhammad Sultan Alam said: "Today, I also requested many members of the moon-sighting committees of our institute "JAMIA-TUR-RASHEED" and many of my friends all over Pakistan to sight the moon but the moon could not be sighted. Generally the weather was cloudy and hazy but it was clear at some places. Our members with hundreds people have tried to sight the crescent moon at these places: Karachi (13 places), Lahore, Multan, Charsaddah (2 places), Lawrencepur, Meer-pur-mathelo, Kahror pakka, Battal, Abotabad, Gawadar, Aasiabad (3 places), Turbat, Panjgor, Qalat. Note 1: Chairman of central official moon-sighting committee of Pakistan "Mufti Munee-bur-Rahman" told me on my mobile phone that because he did not receive any positive report of moon sighting from all over Pakistan, therefore he has officially announced that Monday 29 December 2008 is the 30th Zulhijjah and 1st Muharram 1430 will fall on Tuesday 30 December 2008. Note 2: After some days, inshaallah, a detailed report of this observation will be available at www.esnips.com/web/moonnewsofjamiaturrasheed"

• Iran:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani said:
     Location: Esfahan, Iran
     Latitude: 32° 35' 29.23" N
     Longitude: 51° 38' 10.04" E
     Elevation: 2087 meters from sea level
     Time Zone: +3.5

     Temperature: 11 C°
     Barometer: 843.6 mb
     Visibility: Over 10 km
     Wind: 12 kmph
     Humidity: 28%

     Observer & photographer: Alireza Mehrani
     Participants: Mrs. Mir Shamshirgaran, Miss. Saalehi, Miss. Ahmadzadeh, Mrs. Moradi, Mr. Moradi, Mr. Fakhkhar, Mr. Mansouri

     Topocentric and local time values from "Moon Calculator" (Refrac off):
     Crescent first observation through 15x80 binoculars Alireza Mehrani:
     Time: 17:28 (13:58 UT)
     Moon Alt: 3° 07' 20"
     Sun Alt: - (5° 00' 17")
     Elongation: 10° 59' 24"
     Rel Azi: - (7° 24' 19")
     Moon Width: 0.27'
     Moon Phase: 1.04%
     Crescent Arc Length: 120° (2.5-6.5)
     Moon Age: 25h 36m after conjunction

     Crescent first observation through naked eyes by Mrs. Mir Shamshirgaran:
     Time: 17:36 (14:06 UT)
     Moon Alt: 1° 44' 15"
     Sun Alt: - (6° 32' 38")
     Elongation: 11° 02' 16"
     Moon Width: 0.27'
     Moon Phase: 1.05%

     Crescent last observation through 20x90 binoculars by Mrs. Mir Shamshirgaran:
     Time: 17:46 (14:16 UT)
     Moon Alt: - (0° 00' 54")
     Sun Alt: - (8° 29' 04")
     Moon Width: 0.28'
     Moon Phase: 1.06%
     Moon Age: 25h 54m after conjunction

     Photo Information
     Time: 17:39 LT
     Moon Alt: 1° 12' 51"
     

     

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hossein Janghorbani said:
     From: The Astronomy and Geophysics Centre Of Shahreza
     Reporter: Hossein Janghorbani, manager of the center
     We saw the new moon crescent on Sunday December. 28th .2008(08/10/1387 according to Iran calendar), in a region located in the east of Shahreza with these geographic coordinates:
     Lat: 32° N
     Lon: 51° 52' E
     Ele: 1825 m
     Time Zone: +3.5

     The first observation of crescent parameters:
     By: Hossein Janghorbani and Parisa Naderi
     Through: 15x70 binocular and 7 x 50 binocular
     Time: 17:25 LT
     Moon Alt: 3.968
     Elongation: 10.966
     Moon Phase: 1.03%
     Moon width: 0.27m
     Rel Azi: - 7.347
     Moon Age: 25h 31m

     The group was divided two and all of them observed the crescent
     The group members:

     1. Mohammad Jvad Nikeghbal
     2. Meysam Safian
     3. Reza Janghorbani
     4. Ali Janghorbani
     5. Hossein Janghorbani
     6. Parisa Naderi
     7. Parinaz Naderi
     8. Farzaneh Naderi
     9. Samaneh Jali
     10. Zahra Heydari
     11. Malihe Moosavi
     12. Mahboobeh Moosavi
     13. Maryam Safian
     14. Toktam Bahrami
     15. Zahra Fallahi
     

  3. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Zahed Aram from Saravan said: "I was with Mr. Abdrazaq Dehwari and Mr. Fahad Sheikh Zadeh, and we saw the crescent till 17:13 (moonset: 17:19)."
     

  4. Not Seen/Hazy: ICOP member Mr. Majid Marzani said: "Seeing the crescent by binoculars was tried, but it was not seen, IN TEHRAN."

• Bahrain: Seen: ICOP member Mr. A.Hameed Ali Haji said: "Myself and all of the members of WALIALASER GROUP observed the new Crescent (Hilaal) with a 10 inchs telescop LX200R."

• Kuwait: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hussain Khushaish said: "In Kuwait on Sunday 28 Dec 2008 at Kabad desert our team of sighting could not see the crescent even with 8" telescope. The team included Hussain Khushaish, Dr Hussain Dashti, Dr Mohammed Ali Al Saiagh, Dr Hamza Al Shawaf, Mohammed Abbas, Ali Abu Fatma and the photographer Ali Demashek. The western horizon was partly cloudy and hazy. Jupiter was seen clearly at sunset with the telescope and later with naked eyes but Mercury was not seen at all."
  

• Saudi:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hani Dalee said: "The place is called Soda which is the highest point in the area 2900 m above see level, the sky was very clear , the real horizon is above the observed horizon by 2 degrees, two friends accompanied me in this observation : Mr.Ahmdad Al-Omari and Khalid Al-Shehri, they enjoyed the scene , Mercury, Jupiter and venus were very clear."
     

  2. Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Bander Albotehy said: "Although the sky was clear, the hozon was dusty. I tried to locate the crescent by naked eyes and binocular but I could not. I captured several photos during the observation. When I analysed them I could see somthing similar to the crescent that I was looking for. I attached the photo for your review. Sunset Time : 16:57. Photography Time: 17:13."
     

• Sudan: Seen: ICOP member Ms. Sara Mohamed mentioned that she was able to see the crescent by binocular.

• Algeria:
  1. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Kerrouchi Slimane mentioned that he was not able to see the crescent by binocular and the sky was cloudy.

  2. Not Seen/Hazy: ICOP member Mr. Bankih Kacem said: "The Dulhidja 1429 crescent wasn't seen from Merkiche station. Three (03) persons have tried to observe the crescent but it wasn't seen and the western horizon was a little hazy."

• Morocco: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Othman Fadli mentioned that the crescent was not seen by naked eye and the sky was clear.

• Tanzania: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hamza Rijal said: "Muharram moon has been sighted in Zanzibar on Sunday 28 December 2008 and Zanzibar will, Insha-Allah, have First Muharram on Monday 29 December 2008."

• Nigeria:
  1. Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. AbdulRasaq Abdul-Azeez said: "I and my friend Saheed Bello observed crescent of Muharram 1430 A.H. Infront of my Mosque today 28-12-08 in Ikorodu area of Lagos State but it was not seen. Today is thirty day of Dhul-Hija Monday is first day of Muharam 1430. While nothern part count yesterday as 30th. Happy hijra to All."

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Simwal Jibril mentioned that the crescent was seen by naked eye.

  3. Not Seen/Hazy: ICOP member Dr. Sani Mustapha mentioned that the crescent was not seen by naked eye and the sky was hazy.

  4. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Imam Majolagbe Monsuru said: "I and my Jama't attempted crescent sighting on Sunday 28-12-2008 by Magrib time till 7:35pm in Ikorodu town but we couldn't see it."

  5. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Usman Dukku said: "Thirty three of us in two groups sighted the moon in Bauchi, this evening, after Maghrib prayer. It was very thin and about 6 degrees above the horizon."

• Germany:
  1. Seen (By CCD): ICOP member Mr. Martin Elsaesser said: "I tried for two hours to find the crescent visually during the daytime in hazy skies, at about 12° elongation, but low elevation. Venus was simple, Jupiter and Mercury could also be seen with the telescope, at a magnification of 53x, but I could NOT see the lunar crescent visually in the same scope, despite looking in the correct location. So, some thirty minutes before the moon would vanish behind a treeline, I switched to the camera-system, which immediately showed the crescent in the expected location. I could follow the crescent with the camera until it vanished behind the trees, some minutes AFTER sunset. So, the crescent was observed with the camera, even AFTER sunset, but could not be seen visually, due to the haze."
     

  2. Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann said: "It was clear that this would be a hard one: With a lag time of 45 minutes and an illuminated fraction of 1.2%, I was some hundred kilometres out of the Yallop D zone. Nevertheless, I tried my best: The cold air was extraordinarily clear, the horizon was glowing orange after the sunset. I could easily and clearly see in my binoculars the tiny condensation streaks of very distant jet airplanes. However, the crescent was unwilling to reveal itself to me - I could not detect the faintest glint of it."

  3. Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Samy Khadem-Al-Charieh said: "My wife and I were at the Alster lake in Hamburg and looking for the crescent from 16:00 till 16:40. The sky was fairly clear but we could not see the crescent!"

• USA:

  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Milad Ali Ershaghi from (Palos Verdes Estates, CA) said: "After praying Salat-ul-Maghrib, my mother called me to see the new moon from the balcony of our home. We saw the moon from 5:35pm to 5:45pm at coordinates of 33 deg 46 min 27 sec N latitude and 118 deg 24 min 47 sec W longitude. The moon was visible at an azimuth of 230 degrees relative to magnetic north, with horns at approximately 2PM and 7PM and was above and slightly to the left of a small island in the Pacific Ocean to the east of Catalina. Masha'Allah it was a beautiful sight and beautiful way to welcome in the new lunar year."

  2. Not Seen/Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Javad Torabinejad from (Blacksburg, VA) said: "This evening (Sunday, December 28, 2008), using a pair of binoculars (7X50), I tried sighting the crescent moon of the month of Muharram with no success. The western horizon was mostly cloudy. I tried several locations in the town of Blacksburg, VA, looking for the crescent in small clear patches from the time of sunset (5:12) to the time of moonset (6:16)."

  3. Seen: ICOP member, Dr. Salman Shaikh said: "The Hilal Sighting Committee of North America would like to confirm that there were several verifiable reports of sightings of the Muharram Crescent after the sunset on Sunday December 28th, 2008. The reports were received from Miami, Austin, Orlando, Dallas, San Jose (CA), etc. The astronomical data also strongly predicted the possibility of naked-eye sighting in most of North America. Therefore,we announce that Monday, December 29, 2008 is the first date of Muharram 1430."
     

Sunday 28 December 2008:

1. Libya
2. Nigeria

Monday 29 December 2008:

1. Indonesia
2. Malaysia
3. Iran
4. Saudi
5. UAE
6. Kuwait
7. Qatar
8. Bahrain
9. Jordan
10. Egypt
11. Sudan
12. Algeria
13. Morocco
14. Tanzania
15. UK
16. Norway
17. USA
18. Trinidad and Tobago

Tuesday 30 December 2008:

1. Bangladesh
2. Sri Lanka
3. India
4. Pakistan