International Astronomical Center

So far, the earliest sighting of the crescent was on Tuesday 24 April from Iran by Mr. AliReza Mehrani of AAS. The crescent was also seen on this day from Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, and Nigeria

Tuesday 24 April

• Malaysia: ICOP member, Mr. Kassim Bahali said: " I tried to see the hilal but it was not seen. The westrn sky was cloudy and it was raining. First of Safar begins on 25 April 2001."

• Maldives:

  1. ICOP member, Mr. Muthasim Fahmy said: " Thick clous was probably the reason why the crescent was not observed even though Dr Monzoor's moon calc indicated visible conditions under the Ilyas C criterion"

  2. ICOP member, Mr. Ahmed Salih said: "It is likely that crescent may have been seen yesterday (Tuesday) but horizon was cloudy. Weather also was not very good."

• Iran: ICOP member, Mr. AliReza Mehrani said: " I, together with Mr. Said Janghorban, Miss. Leila Mirshamshirgaran, Miss. Soheila Mirshamshirgaran and seven other members of AAS did the observation of the Moon crescent. Cloud spots covered west part of the sky. All of us succeeded to observe the crescent by means of binocular and naked eye. The most interesting point in this observation was when observed the last section of the Sun in order to get the exact time of the sunset. For the first time, I saw the witness of Green flash phenomenon. In this phenomenon, which occurs due to the change in the atmosphere, the last rays of the sun are green."

• Oman: Mr. Mohammed Al-Alayan mentioned that he couldn't see the crescent by both naked eyes and binoculars. He said: "The sun set behind the mountain as I said above but there were no trees or buildings in front of me."

• Jordan:

  1. ICOP member, Mr. Belal Gharaibeh mentioned that he could see the crescent by naked eyes.

  2. Six persons of JAS observed the crescent from Amman. The crescent was firstly visible by binoculars at 19:25 LT (UT+3), and firstly visible by naked eyes at 19:30 LT. Both by Hani Dalee'.

• Algeria: ICOP member, Mr. Bankih Bankacem said: "The crescent was observed easily, the sky was partially cloudy."

• Morocco: ICOP member, Dr. Hamid TOUMA said: "I am glad to inform you that in Morocco, the Moroccan Gouvernment has annouced that they have seen the Crescent of the Moon on Tuesday 24 April 2001, just after the Sunset, so the first day of Safar is Wednesday 25 April 2001. I would like to take this opportunity to express to you my sincers wishes and to all members of ICOP. In the sens of astronomy, this Moroccan decision is very good, because as you know, the New Moon was on Monday 23 April 2001 at 15 h 26 mn, and just after the Sunset on the same day, it was impossible to observe the Crescnet because it has only 3 hours 20 minutes of life. But the day after the Crescent has more then 27 hours of life so it was very visible in the sky where there was no clouds of course. thank you so much."

• South Africa: ICOP member, Mr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim Snr said: "In South Africa the 1st Safar 1422 will be on Wednesday, 25 April 2001. It was impossible to sight the Hilaal on Tuesday 24 April, and according to Shariah one day is added to the Month of Muharrum. South Africa has always adhered to Shariah criteria in establishing the Islamic time-keeping system."

• Nigeria:
  1. ICOP member, Mr. Aminu Lukuman said: "I saw the Crescent on Tuesday (24/04/2001)[after 29 days of Muharram] at about 7.14 p.m here in Lagos Nigeria. It was very tiny and vissible to the naked eye.The use of Binocular Telescope was not tried. Therefore the "first day of Safar in Nigeria is Wednesday (i.e 25/04/2001)".

  2. ICOP member, Mr. Usman Dukku said: "I searched the crescent with four other volunteers but we could not sight it, probably due to clouds. However, since, according to our local records, today is 30th Muharram,tomorrow is automatically the first of Safar."

  3. ICOP member, Mr. Isiaq Alabi said: "The crescent for the month of Safar was sighted here(Lagos) on the evening of 24-April-2001. The following day begin the new month. Clear skies."

• Germany: ICOP member, Mr. Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann said: "While most of the sky was absolutely clear, unfortunately there was a layer of thick clouds at the southwestern, western and northwestern horizon up to an elevation of about 10 degrees, so sunset and hilâl were not visible from my observation point."

• USA: ICOP member, Dr. Muhammad Hafiz said: "ON APRIL 24TH, 2001 THE CRESCENT WAS NOT SEEN IN OPA LOCKA, FLORIDA, USA AT SUNSET. THIS WAS DUE TO RAINY CLOUDS."

Tuesday 24 April:-

1. Jordan

Wednesday 25 April:-

1. Malaysia
2. Brunei Darussalam
3. Maldives
4. Iran
5. Saudi
6. Oman
7. Morocco
8. South Africa