Are you making a Gregorian calendar with Hijri dates?
If yes, that’s great MashaAllah, as Allah orders in the Quran (2:189/9:36) to establish the Hijri Calendar based on verified moon sighting by the human eye (Muhaqaq Ruyat Basari)!
What is Imkan Al-Ruyat or Predicted Crescent Visibility?
The Imkan Al-Ruyat or Predicted Crescent Visibility is based on the following 3 conditions:
- the New Moon Conjunction (or the Birth of the Moon) must occur before local sunset,
- the moonset must be after sunset, i.e. the moon must be above horizon at sunset and
- the width of the crescent moon must be large enough to be detected by the human eye (after sunset).
Is your calendar based on Birth or Visibility of the Moon?
Many people who use the old estimates of Hijri dates based on (1) the New Moon Conjunction or (2) the Moonset after sunset, will be 1 or 2 days ahead of the actual visibility of the moon. To use the old estimates (or calculations) and simply state “Subject to Moon Sighting”, is very misleading as that sets false/incorrect expectations of the Ramadan and Eid dates!
The Hijri calendar is LOCAL and not GLOBAL by definition
The Hijri Calendar starts at local sunset from the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and since the world is a globe (with Time-Zone differences), it is a LOCAL and not a GLOBAL calendar. It is against the Sunnah to follow moon sighting news form distant countries (see Kuraib Hadith). Therefore, the UK Muslims must adopt local moon sighting all year round, including Ramadan and Eid, and not follow distant countries (e.g. Saudi Arabia or South Africa)!
Examples of the Gregorian calendar with Hijri Dates
The principle of Local Moon Sighting is the original position from the Quran and Sunnah. However, due to the adverse weather conditions in the British Isles, the UK Muslims have been advised in the past to follow Morocco for reliable moon sighting news (see Fatwa section), as an interim solution.
Therefore, the examples of the Gregorian calendar with Hijri Dates for January 2021, 2022 and 2023 given below are based on the predicted crescent visibility (Imkan Al-Ruyat) for the UK to Morocco Region, whilst working towards a community consensus on a UK-only solution, InshaAllah.
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Note that the start of the week is from Sunday (Yawm Al-Ahad/يوم ٱلْأَحَد, the First day) and not from Friday or Saturday, which is mentioned in the Commentry of the Quran (see Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Quran 7:54).
Related: Why two Eids on consecutive days? | Moon Sighting Opinions | How to make Hijri Calendar Prayer Timetables
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