Deep in the Saudi Arabian desert, a team of robed guys are peering right into the skies, attempting to identify the crescent moon that represents the beginning of Ramadan.
Their job is substantial: a main discovery of the moon starts a month of fasting and petition for countless Muslims in Saudi Arabia, the home of Islam’s holiest websites, and past.
“I feel a great responsibility, before God above all… and I seek success because the matter is related to the fasting of all Muslims,” stated Abdullah al-Khudairi, supervisor of the Majmaah University Astronomical Observatory.
After much scrunching up your eyes, and utilizing a huge yellow triangular and protractor to exercise where the moon will certainly show up, the anxiousness raises: the moon is spotted, after sundown.
“The crescent has been seen. Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan,” Khudairi informed AFP. The information is communicated to the Royal Court, which appropriately reveals Saturday as the beginning of the divine month.
A comparable procedure has actually played out for centuries, complying with the guidelines decided by the Prophet Mohammed concerning 1,400 years back.
Several Muslim nations comply with the news from Saudi Arabia, the Prophet’s birth place, in proclaiming the beginning of Ramadan.
Although this team, among 12 moon-sighting groups released around the kingdom, is outfitted with state-of-the-art telescopes, Saudi spiritual authorities firmly insist the heavenly body needs to be detected with the nude eye.
Khudairi, 58, takes his job so seriously that he steers clear of from mobile phones and computer system displays year-round, fearing they will certainly lower his sight.
“I don’t use the phone except for calls and I don’t turn on the computer… Colleagues do that for me, so I don’t use screens at all,” he informed AFP.
– ‘Ability to concentrate’ –
The detecting group, using typical kandora bathrobes and red-and-white ghutrah headdresses, have actually driven concerning thirty minutes from the observatory down rough desert tracks to a rough headland concerning 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Riyadh.
Khudairi acquired his enthusiasm for astronomy from his papa, that would certainly frequently take him on journeys to the desert. But he claims his success in moon-sighting is to his vision and focus.
Seeing the crescent with the nude eye needs “sharp eyesight, colour differentiation, and the ability to focus”, he stated.
“Not just anyone can say they saw the crescent; the person must be sane, balanced, adult, and known for justice for their testimony to be accepted,” included Khudairi.
Sighting explorations are frequently not successful, postponing the beginning of Ramadan for a minimum of a day. “Stirred dust, clouds or industrial and environmental pollution” can all cover the sight,” Khudairi said.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, authorities took a more modern approach: flying drones equipped with artificial intelligence in an attempt to capture the moon.
“This approach will certainly enhance typical naked-eye discovery accounts,” the main WAM information company stated, mentioning the UAE Council for Fatwa.
ht/th/it
