International Astronomical Center

So far, the earliest sighting of the crescent was on Sunday 15 July 2007 by ICOP member Mr. Mahadi Mohamad Tahir from Brunei, the crescent was also seen on this day from UAE, Kuwait, Saudi, Lebanon, Algeria, Senegal, Tanzania, South Africa, Hungary and USA.

Saturday 14 July 2007:

• Saudi: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Saleh Al-Saab said: "The weather conditions were soo poor, dust was very high above the horizon."

• Iran: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Majid Marzani said: "Seeing the crescent by binoculars and naked eyes was tried, but it was not seen in Tehran."

Sunday 15 July 2007:

• Indonesia:

  1. Cloudy: ICOP member, Mr. Mutoha MMC said: "We were not able to see the crescent from my sighting location (Yogyakarta-Indonesia) on Sunday, 15 July 2007 although the crescent's altitude was 10,5° at sunset since the sky was totally cloudy."
     

  2. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Ma'rufin Sudibyo said: "Heavy cloud was spread over Kebumen's sky, Central Java, Indonesia (7deg 40min S 109deg 38min E, 21 m ASL, time zone = GMT+7). We couldn't identify anything."

• Brunei: Seen: ICOP member, Mr. Mahadi Mohamad Tahir said: "Please find below photo of Rejab crescent. The crescent was captured on 15 July @ 6.50 pm (Bukit Shahbandar) with Olympus E-500 Digital camera attached to 10 inch LX-200 with focal reducer."

• Iran: Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani mentioned that it was totally cloudy.

• UAE: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Odeh said: "We went to observe the crescent of Rajab from the sea shore! I was observing with my wife and my friend Mr. Nizar Sallam, the sky conditions were superb relative to Abu-Dhabi, since we were able to see the Sun disk until it touched the sea and even until the very last part of the disk disappeared behind the sea! However, generally speaking, the conditions were hazy with very high relative humidity! The Sun disappeared at 19:14, and we were able to see the crescent at 19:34 by 7X50 binoculars, we tried to see it by naked eye, but due to the hazy weather this was not possible! So all of us were only able to see the crescent by binoculars."
  
  
  Sunset in Abu-Dhabi. By Moh'd Odeh

• Kuwait: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hussain Khushaish said: "In Kuwait on 15 July 2007 we were 5 persons trying to see the crescent. I could see the crescent in the following order: Sun disc disapeared at 18:47, sunset at 18:50 crescent first seen with 20*60 binocular at 18:50 (at sunset exactly), first seen with naked eyes at 19:19 (after 29 minutes of sunset), last seen with naked eyes at 19:30 (before moon set of 19 minutes), last seen with binocular at 19:35 (before moon set of 14 minutes), moonset at 17:49. The western horizon was hazy last 3 degrees. 3 of us could see the crescent with naked eyes, the other 2 persons could only see the crescent with binocular only. Venus was seen easily."

• Saudi:

  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Anwar Al-Muhammad said: "As a monthly activity, I with 10 parsons tried to sight the new crescent of Rajab-28, 5 minutes after the time of sun set in Sunday, 15 July 2007, in the eastern area of Saudi Arabia “Al-Aujam- 26:33N, 49:47E” at the observatory of Qatif Astronomy Society (QAS). We used a computerized 10” LX-200, GPS, telescope. We saw the crescent in the eyepiece when the telescope was pointed to it. Then after 15 minuets it was seen by naked eye by 3 persons only. Its picture is available at: www.qasweb.org and on the forum: http://qasweb.org/qasforum/index.php?act=ST&f=99&t=6981&st=20#entry23653"

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Saleh Al-Saab said: "The crescent was seen only ONE minute after sunset by telescope and after about 20 minutes by the binocular, and not seen by naked"

• Lebanon: Seen: ICOP member Dr. Raad Ahmad mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye and Dr. Ahmad mentioned that the atmospheric conditions were clear.

• Algeria:

  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Bankih Kacem said: "The Rajab 1428 crescent was seen from Merkiche station (Beni Isguen). 11 persons were present. The western horizon was cloudy and hazy, It was seen firstly by binoculars (20x60, 20x50 and 7x50) at 20:06 LT and secondly by naked eye at 20:16 by just three (03) persons. At 20:39 the crescent set behind haze."

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Houcine Chikh Aissa said: " The crescent of Rajab 1428 was seen from N'tissa station by binoculars 20x15 at 20:12 and naked eye at 20:16. 9 persons were present in this observation."

• Senegal: Seen: ICOP member Dr. Abdoulaye Gaye said: "The crescent was seen in Senegal Sunday 15 and the official first day for Rajab in Senegal is Monday July 16. The Chairman of the National Committee for Crescent Sighting (CONACOC), Mr Iyane Thiam, a few minutes ago, in a phone exchange has confirmed that to me."

• Tanzania:

  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hamza Rijal said: "Hilal for the month of Rajab has been observed in the tiny island of Zanzibar and Monday 16 July is the first of Rajab."

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Zaffar Sheriff said: "The western sky was hazy at sunset. It was not too difficult to spot the 27hour+ crescent. Monday 16th July declared 1st day of Rajabul Mujarrab."

• Nigeria:

  1. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Muhammed Ya'sin Qamardeen said: "Cloud might have been the reason why new Hilal is not visible. I have not got report from other post within Nigeria". Mr. Qamardeen added that he tried to see the crescent by naked eye only and it was totally cloudy.

  2. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Usman Dukku said: "In spite of the clouds we attempetd sighting the crescent, here in Bauchi, but we did not see it. However, we later received confirmed sighting reports from our members/collaborators in the northern city of Kano and the Southwestern city of Ilorin."

• South Africa: Seen: ICOP member Dr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim mentioned that the crescent was seen by naked eye.

• Hungary: Seen: ICOP member Dr. Mustafa Al-Majari said: "The hilal of Rajab was seen in Budapest, Hungary by naked eyes about 25 minutes after sunset on the eve of 15 July. Seen by Dr. Mustafa Al-Majari and his wife."

• Germany: Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Ibrahim Leibfried mentioned that it was partly cloudy.

• UK:
  1. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Sulayman Gani said: "I was 10 miles away from London. After Sunset prayers @ 9:25 pm BST my wife and I attempted a sighting with the naked eye. It was too cloudy."

  2. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti from Oxford said: "The two of us attempted moonsighting at our usual site at the end of the 29th day of Jumada II (Sunday, 15 July 2007). The horizon was overcast and the crescent could not be sighted. We received reports of positive sightings from the East. Knowledge of these positive sightings in the East, despite not being able to sight locally in the UK, makes it sufficient for us to establish the month of Rajab for the UK to be tomorrow, Monday, the 16th of July. This is by following the default rule [dabit] in Islamic Law in this matter that whenever it is known that the crescent has been positively sighted in the East, local sighting inevitably follows, but not the other way round [mata hasalati r-ru'yatu fi l-sharqi lazima ru'yatuhu fi l-gharbi wa la-'aks]. "

• USA: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Milad Ali Ershaghi from (Claremont, CA) said: "Local sunset time was 8:03pm and moonset time was 9:17 PM. After Salat-ul-Maghrib, I went outside to find the new crescent moon, and alhamdulillah was blessed to see it at 8:46:15 pm without the use of any optical aids, the sky still partially bright, as the sun continued to descend further beneath the horizon. From where I was situated (-117°41'59.2" longitude, +34°7'9.195" latitude), the moon was visible approximately 80°W of Magnetic North, or 67°6' W of True North. The lower right quadrant of the moon appeared illumined, and alhamdulillah it was a very beautiful sight. We completed 30 days of the month of Jumada al-thani, and begin the first of the month of Rajab on the evening of Sunday, July 15, 2007, the day of Monday, July 16, 2007)."

Sunday 15 July 2007:

1. Palestine
2. Saudi
3. Egypt

Monday 16 July 2007:

1. Indonesia
2. Iran
3. Oman
4. Jordan
5. Algeria
6. Tanzania
7. Senegal
8. South Africa
9. UK

Tuesday 17 July 2007:

1. Morocco

Although it was 2 hours and 41 minutes old as seen from Makkah, and it stayed for 14 minutes only after sunset, Saudi officially declared that this crescent was seen! We wonder if all the experienced astronomers in the world were not able to see that crescent on that day from anywhere on Earth by telescopes even from far western location, then how it was visible in Saudi by naked eye! Well, we all know that this is not the first false sighting in Saudi! Kindly find below the official statement. Thus, Saudi will look for Shaban crescent on Sunday 12 August! We must feel shamed when our officials are asking us to look for the crescent when we know that the moon will set before sunset! It is not only waste of time, but it is also disrespect to the science and our minds.

The geocentric conjunction (Geocentric New Moon) will occur Inshalla on (Saturday 14 July 2007) at 12:04 UT.

Friday 13 July 2007:

• Indonesia: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Ma'rufin Sudibyo said: "The waning crescent sighting had done in Kebumen, Central Java, Indonesia (7deg 40min N 109deg 38min E, 21 m ASL, time zone = GMT + 7) at July 13th, 2007 this morning. The sky was covered by thin cloud until altitude nearly 5 degrees and eastern horizon was hidden by haze, so we had horizontal visual range only 1 km, approximately. We used naked eye for observation, and helped by callibrated internal clock Siemens C55. We also used Moon Calculator v6.0 developed by Dr. Monzur Ahmed for obtaining a table of crescent altitude vs. local time. The waning crescent had seen obscurely when we started our observation at 05:10 local time, with altitude nearly 5 degrees. Be sides the crescent, eastern and southern sky was adorned by Mars and Achernar (alpha Eridanus) as faint point light source in altitude nearly 60 degrees, respectively. The crescent had specific arc shape but with cloudy environment we couldn't identify real orientation of the arc. The crescent was seen until 05:20 local time when it was hidden by cloud, where it had elements: altitude 8,7 degree; relative altitude 17,8 degree, relative azimuth 9,3 degree, elongation 20 degree; visual magnitude -6 and phase 3,31 %. Until we finished our observation at sunset time (05:59 local time), situation hasn't changed."

• Iran:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye.
     

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Majid Marzani said: "The crescent was seen by naked eyes. The Sky Near The Eastern Horizon Was Clear."
     

  3. Kuwait: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hussain Khushaish said: "In Kuwait on Friday mornning 13 July 2007 I saw the old crescent in the following order: Moon rise at 3:21, first seen with bino at 3:38, first seen with naked eyes at 3:39, last seen with naked eye at 4:50, sun rise at 4:57, last seen with 20*60 binocular at 5:19."

  4. Lebanon: Seen: ICOP member Dr. Raad Ahmad mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye and Dr. Ahmad mentioned that the atmospheric conditions were superb.
     By Dr. Raad Ahmad