which view should a muslim living in country other than saudi do, follow majority for ramadhan orfollow saudi for their timing?-

· 11 Ramadan 1427 AH3 min readFatwa 14600English
Misc. Fiqh

Question

asalam alaykum

which view should a muslim living in country other than saudi do, follow majority for ramadhan orfollow saudi for their timing?- is saudi like the main decision maker for ramadhan and islamic month for the world? why do so many people believe this, did the prophet (saw) make saudi as the criteria or where we live?

an example is in uk where majority started their fast on sunday morning, while arabs and bengalis on saturday morning. they keep claming that we are supposed to follow the saudi for their timing, if thats the case why dont they just read salah according to their timing not in uk, why not read maghrib when it is asr for us?

based in quran

"...So whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night of)

the month (of Ramadân), he must observe Saum (fasts) that month..."

[Holy Quran 2:185]

i have read in hadith that

Ibn Umar (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (pbuh) made a mention

of Ramadan and he with the gesture of his hand said: “The month is

thus and thus. (He then withdrew his thumb at the third time). He

then said: Fast when you see it, and break your fast when you see it,

and if the weather is cloudy calculate it (the months of Sha'ban and Shawwal)

as thirty days.”

and

Kuraib (ra) reported that Umm Fadl (ra), daughter of Harith,

sent him (Fadl, i.e. her son) to Mu'awiya (ra) in Syria. I (Fadl)

arrived in Syria, and did the needful for her. It was there in Syria

that the month of Ramadan commenced. I saw the new moon (of Ramadan)

on Friday. I then came back to Medina at the end of the month. Abdullah b.

'Abbas (ra) asked me (about the new moon of Ramadan) and said: When did you

see it? I said.: We saw it on the night of Friday. He said: (Did) you see it

yourself?-I said: Yes, and the people also saw it and they observed fast

and Mu'awiya also observed fast, whereupon he said: But we saw it on Saturday

night. So we would continue to observe fast till we complete thirty (fasts)

or we see it (the new moon of Shawwal). I said: Is the sighting of the moon

by Mu'awiya not valid for you? He said: No; this is how the Messenger of

Allah (pbuh) has commanded us.

if thats case, why is there so much curuption regarding this? why do they not follow

the hadith of bukhari and muslim?

and also, do non muslims go to heaven due to this quote

Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish

(scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe

in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their

reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

Answer

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullah

Brother/Sister in Islam

The Saudi procedure of commencing a month is completely out of line. It is not permissible to follow Saudi sighting whatsoever. Alhamdulillah, this year there has been a huge change in the many Masajids who used to follow Saudi have realized the folly of Saudis commencement of the month and changed. It is the responsibilities of every Muslim in the U.K to work towards this change and do not blindly follow Saudi. Those senior people who are silent at their folly are also guilty of misleading their public. A detailed article on this is on our alinaam site.

And Allah Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

Please Note: Listen to live discourses and advices given by Mufti Ebrahim Desai throughout this Ramadhan streaming on WWW.RADIORAMADHANCROYDON.COM Every alternate day after Fajr. 5:30am and after Taraweeh at 10:15pm. Also 10:00am everyday, Q/A 2:00pm and after Asr Majlis 5:15pm. All times are according to British standard

Answered by
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Ask AskImam

Fatawa SA is an independent, read-only index of fatawa already published by Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah (AskImam). It is not a fatwa service. For your own situation, ask the issuing Darul Ifta directly.