International Astronomical Center

• ICOP member Mr. Suwandojo Siddiq: Not seen. "Monday evening, 19:20 (GMT + 7), through Government Television Channel, the Minister of Religious ,officially announced that the beginning of Shawwal (01-Shawal-1424) is corresponding to Tuesday November 25, 2003 CE"

• ICOP member Mr. Kassim Bahali: Not seen. "The Hilal was not seen. The western sky was cloudy. The Malaysia government has just announced in national TV that tomorrow (Teusday)25 November will be Aid Fitri in Malaysia."

• ICOP member Mr. Mama Mangorangca: Not seen. "Tho our sky is lightly hazy this early evening, we did not see hilal in marawi city south philippines."

• ICOP member Mr. Mahadi Mohamad Tahir: Not seen. "The crescent was not seen at all of the moonsighting sites. The 1st day of Syawal officially announce on Wednesday 26th November 2003."

• ICOP member Mr. Muhammad Ridhwan Ibrahim: Not seen. "According our Singapore Mufti, Tuan Syed Isa bin Muhammad Semait, says that according to Hisab, the Hilal is above Horizon for 23 mins. And Tomorrow, 25 November 2003, Tuesday is 1st of Syawal 1424 Hijrah."

• ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani: Not seen.

• ICOP member Mr. Saeed Janghorban: Not seen.

• ICOP member Mr. Reza Pazhouhesh: Not seen. "we tried to see new cresent in 24th November in the Birjand city of Iran. Although we equipped with two camera and one telescope (4.5 inch) and also we had a very good weather condition, but we couldn't see the new cresent."

• ICOP member Mr. Abdulkarim Chalermthai: Not seen. "today moon set 5.59 ;sun set 5.36; moonset after sun=23 min but not seen by our 10 members from astronomy clup Abu dhabi."

• ICOP member Mr. Hussain Khshaish: Not seen. " In kuwait on monday 24 nov 20003 i among a group of 38 persons in al motlaa desert north of kuwait could not sight the crescent .it was hazy the last 2-3 degrees .venus was seen easely 20 minutes before sunsetting just when we arrived to the site .at other place in the city near doha power station and its pollution 12 persons claimed seeing the crescent !!!!!!!!!!!!!!."

• ICOP member Mr. Anwar Al Muhammad: Not seen. "I with about 30 parsons tried to sight the new crescent of Shawaal , 25 minutes before the time of sun set in Monday, 24 November 2003, in the eastern area of Saudi Arabia “Al-Aujam- 26:33N, 49:47E” at the observatory place of Qatif Astronomy Society (QAS). We used a computerized 10” LX-200, GPS, telescope. Also, we aligned the telescope in the night of Sunday 23 Nov, to make sure that it will go to the position of the moon, and we tested its alignment with Venues 4:30 pm before pointing it toward the moon. The western horizon was cloudy, but through a thin clouds we could see Venues only with a telescope, not with a naked eye. We could not see the crescent through the telescope. As usual, we hared about some people in the nearby town, more than ten, who claim that they saw the crescent."

• ICOP member Eng. Mohammad Odeh: Not seen. "Eng. Tareq Hadi, Dr. Tarek Katbeh, Mr. Emad Al-Ashi, and Mohammad Odeh went to observe the crescent from Al-Sharah Mountains in Southern Jordan at 1700 meters above mean sea level. The sky was clear, however; the crescent was not seen by naked eyes! In addition, we took some photos by a digital camera for the western horizon, where the images will be processed later on Inshalla."

The western Horizon

• ICOP member Mr. Bankih Kacem: Not seen. "32 people were present in Merkich, using 7 binoculars and a compass. The crescent of Chawal 1424 was not been observed. The west horizon was partially cloudy.We have observed Venus. The teams of observation in Ghardaia didn't observe the crescent."

• ICOP member Mr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim: Seen. "The Shawwaal Hilaal was sighted this evening (Monday, 24/11/2003) at Bloemfontein ( 1000 km north of Cape Town) and at Port Elizabeth ( 600 km north-east of Cape Town). The field of vision in Cape Town had heavy cloud cover."
  

• ICOP member Mr. Hashim Salie: Seen. " The Hilaal was sighted in South Africa. The planets Venus and Mercury was ffairly visible, the top one more so that the bottom one, which was near a darkish cloud. The Haakim Dharooriy declared the beginning of Shawaal 1424."

• ICOP member Mr. Aminu Luqman: Not seen. "Myself ans several members of the Zumratul Jamiu Mumin Society of Nigeria (ZJMSN) at differece locations in Lagos State, Nigeria did not see the crescent today [Monday:24/11/2003] after 29 days of Ramadan. In-shah-Allah, we ZJMSN shall continue our fasting tommorow [Tuesday: 25/11/2003] and celebrate our Eil-El-Fitr on Wednesday(26/11/2003) after 30 days of Ramadan. Meanwhile, there was an official anouncement yesterday Sunday(23/11/2003) that the crescent was sighted in five northern state in Nigeria"

• ICOP member Mr. Usman Duhhu: Not seen. "Eight of us tried sighting the crescent but we did not see it. The western horizon was hazy at sunset here in Bauchi. However, as expected, the authorities declared today(Monday) first of Shawwal with claim of sighting the crescent in thirteen places! . Thus Eid was celabrated but by a small fraction of the population."

• ICOP member Mr. Kemal Sehbajraktarevic: Not seen. "Sky over Sarajevo was totaly cloudy. All calculations (softwer Moon calculator & Starry night backyard) shows that the hilal couldn't be seen this night. Correct first day of Eid should be Wensday (after 30 days of Ramadhan) but Bosnian Islamic comunity declared the Tusday as a first day of Eid."

• ICOP member Mr. Arshad Baig: Not tried. (cloudy)

• ICOP member Dr. Shirin Haque-Copilah: Not seen. (cloudy) "Alhumdullilah, news poured in from many parts of Trinidad , that the crescent had been sighted on Monday evening. Eid was thus , without controversy , celebrated on Tuesday 25 November. Eid mubarak to all! Trinidad is making definitive strides, in the last few years, in accepting and understanding moonsighting and going out to look for the hilal. "

• ICOP member Mr. Jim Stamm: Not seen. (cloudy)

• ICOP member Ms. Mary Singer: Not seen. "The lunar crescent was Not seen in Spokane, WA, USA on Monday. There were a few small scattered clouds in the west and southwest, but a mostly clear, beautiful sunset. (25 degrees F, or - 4 degrees C. with a windchill of - 8 degrees C) By 16:28 the sky was clear, but no crescent was visible through binoculars."

• ICOP member Dr. Muhammad Hafiz: Not seen. (cloudy) "I tried to oberve the Hilal on Monday, 24th November, 2003 in Opa-Locka, Florida USA after sunset. The horizon was covered with rainy clouds making Hilal observation impossible. Sultan Hafiz (Imam of Rose Hall Town Masjid) reported from Guyana the Hilaal was seen on Monday"

• ICOP member Dr. Javad Torabinejad: Seen. "AsSalaamuAlaikum; using a pair of binoculars (7X50), I sighted the moon at 5:19 pm this evening (Monday, Nov 24) in Brigham City, Utah. The hrons were at 2:30 and 6:00 O'Clock. It was very thin and sat at 5:31 pm. I tried sighting with naked eye and and at 5:21 saw a streak of light where I relocated the moon afterwards with the binoculars; I could not say for sure that it was the moon, however. Eid mubarak."

• ICOP member Dr. Mohibullah Durrani: Seen. "This is a consolidated report from various persons from Houston, TX. There were many (more than two) authenticated sightings of the Hilal from Houston, TX on the evening of Mon 24 Nov 2003."

• ICOP member Mr. Isa Alsup : Not seen. (cloudy)

• ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Farooq: Not seen. (cloudy) "In Hamilton at sunset it was raining and the sighting was not tried. The Muslim Association of Hamilton declared Eid on Tuesday November the 25th."

Tuesday 25 November 2003:

• ICOP member Mr. Hossein Ebrahimpour: Seen. "The crescent was seen by naked eye at Bribane, Australia at 18:40."
  

• ICOP member Mr. Abdulkarim Chalermthai: Seen. "Today thin hilal was clear above the sun 17 degree the hilal moon is below Venus."

• ICOP member Mr. Fathi Mayoof: Seen. "The horizon was Partly cloudy, but the moon was bright enough (40 hour age) to be observed by naked eye."

• ICOP member Mr. Hussain Khshaish: Seen. " In kuwait on tuesday i saw the crescent at 16:40 thats 10 minutes before our local sunset though i expected to see it earlier than that but it was hazy the last 6 degrees & it was high humidity .the crescent was discovered through the help of venus."

• ICOP member Mr. Ali Darani: Seen. "Alhamdulilah we completed 30 days of Ramadhan in Kenya and it has been official announced idd will be on Wednesday as we have seen the crescent on 25-11-03."

• ICOP member Mr. Aminu Luqman: Seen. "About thirty (30) members of Zumratul Jamiu Mumin Society of Nigeria(ZJMSN) including myself, sighted the Hillal today[Tuesday:25/11/2003] at difference area in Lagos State Nigeria at about 6:30 p.m. In-sha-Allah the ZJMSN shall celebrate its' Eild-El-Fitr tommorow [Wednesdy:26/11/2003]."

• ICOP member Mr. abdullah mustafa : Seen. "Assalamu aleykum,Me and my wife have just sighted the Hilaal in Southern Hungary in the eve of 25 November. The horizont was partly cloudy, but Hilaal was visible for about 15 minutes and disappeared behind the clouds."

• ICOP member Mr. Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann: Not seen. (cloudy)