I have - But i don´t know if you have before you tell me.
So now let me spell some thing out for you: The moon has an orbit around the earth. And the earth has an orbit around the sun. Just as other planets have around the sun. These orbits are well defined and the course of the planets happens very strictly in a predetermined time. Hence the astronomists have a very precise knowledge of when the sun will rise and the sunset. We know that down to the minute. The position of the sun relatively to the earth, and the position of the moon relatively to the earth and sun is known and can be calculated down to the minute because the sun, earth and moon have a constant speed in the universe. So we can calculate what the position of the moon will be at any given time. So we know at what day we will have a new moon. So there is no uncertainty in this. So there is no need to sight the moon because we know out our calculations at what day there will be a new moon. And these calenders of the new moon has been available for centuries and they have never been wrong....
The next question is: Who has made these laws of motion? Who is responsible for the orbit of the moon and earth? Is it Newton? or Kepler? NOPE- you guessed it right. It is Allah - Allah made these laws of motion. So will Allah make imperfect laws ie laws that changes and behaves at the pleasure of the people? No Allah will not. His laws never changes. And think about it - how many things do we do and plan based on these unchangeable physical laws? Ever been on plan bro? Traveled by ship? Did a x-ray of the lungs to see if your father had a pnemonia? Took medicine? I could just carry on. We live our life based on Allah´s laws. We abide by them even if we don´t want to or don´t think about them. My imaan is that even the social laws is from Allah and not following them will have negative on our us and our society - but that is a different discussion for an another time. Coming back to the need of sighting of the moon to tell whether its a new month (and hence Eid) or not is just so not necessary anymore....
Read the Quran - what does that tell you?
Just one ayat should be enough: 39/5: He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law): Each one follows a course for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in Power - He Who forgives again and again?
Translation Yousef Ali.
What do you get out of this ayat?
And the next thing you probably will say is we need to do it because Muhammad (PBUH) did it in his time. OK - i´ll go with that. But then you also need to accept that you cannot travel by cycle, car, ship or plane - you will need a camel. You also cannot use a watch to tell the time, you cant use a lamp to light up a room, and you can´t use internet to get knowledge... uuuups.... why because muhammad (PBUH) didn´t use them....
Keep the principle friend - always keep the principle: We will celebrate Eid the day after the new moon... Then you will be able to both progress and adhere to spirit of Islam. How lovely will it be if ALL muslims through out the earth celebrate eid at one single day? That will not happen unless everyone adhere to the principle.
And at a site note: how come we don´t celebrate Eid the day the moon is sighted in Saudia Arabia? - please do not bother to answer, I just want you to think about it....
I do not need a lesson in astronomy. I am quite aware of how the moon orbits and how it has phases.
Now that that’s out of the way, please tell me where in your post did you reply when i showed you where an islamic country still does moon sighting? Verbosity does not make a point more valid. Also note none your examples work as a religious analogy. Yeah we take medicine, what does that have to do with the price of peanuts? Allah’s laws are manifested in the Sunnah and do not change. How then can you reject Allah’s law implemented through the Prophet and proceed in inventing your own methods?
And i do not say , let me quote you the Quran and Hadith since you like cherry-picking for your own agenda.
“… So whoever among you sights (the crescent on the first night of) the month (of Ramadaan), he must observe sawm (fast) that month…” [al-Baqarah 2:185]
Note the word “sights” please.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Fast when you see it [the new moon] and stop fasting when you see it, and if it is cloudy then complete the month with thirty days.”
Again sight.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) made the beginning of the fast conditional upon the confirmed sighting of the new moon of Ramadaan, and the ending of the fast conditional upon the confirmed sighting of the new moon of Shawwaal; he did not connect this to calculations of the movements of stars or other heavenly bodies. This is how it was done at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), during the rule of the Khulafa’ al-Raashidoon, at the time of the four imaams, and during the three centuries which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said were the best.
Referring to calculations of the lunar months to start and end periods of worship, instead of actually sighting the new moon, is a bid’ah (reprehensible innovation) that has no good in it and has no basis in sharee’ah. The best of all is to follow the salaf in religious matters, and the worst of all is to follow newly-invented innovations in religion. May Allaah protect us and you and all the Muslims from tribulation, both obvious and hidden.
Please stop quoting Quran and Hadith when you do not even know which Ayat and Hadith have to do with sighting of the moon.
Also you assume me to be narrow-minded so you gave me a dense explanation of modern science and it’s virtues. I am not against science. I already maintained that science is to be used as a tool to help.
