Shawwal 1427

10/24/2006:

Important Note: There was a typo in the recap of the events from 10/22. The moon was seen in Phoenix, AZ after Sunset, not before Sunset.

The following is a recap of what occurred at the Chicago Hilal Committee (CHC) meeting on Sunday, October 22, 2006:

The CHC received its first sighting report around 8:00pm CDT. A group of 10, consisting of an Imam of a Masjid, 4 adult males, 2 women, and 3 children set out to sight the moon in Phoenix, Arizona. This Imam goes to sight the moon for the beginning/end of every Islamic month. At around 5:52pm PDT/7:52pm CDT(6 minutes after the sunset), the entire group witnessed the moon. The CHC rigorously questioned the Imam about the sighting and his report was verified. However, the CHC did not want to make an Eid announcement based off of one report, given the astronomical improbability of sighting the moon.

The CHC then received a report from New York of a sighting. The report was not authenticated. The conditions in New York were very cloudy and the report did not satisfy the criteron of the CHC. This report was rejected outright.

At around 9:15pm CDT, the CHC learned of a moon sighting in Granada Hills, California. 5 students of the Islamic Sciences had claimed to sight the moon shortly after sunset (6:13pm PDT/8:13pm CDT). The committee was trying to get a hold of these students and were unsuccessful. The students’ teacher is a well reputed scholar of Islam; he is known personally to some of the scholars on the CHC. While the scholar was offering his testimony on behalf of the students, the CHC decided that it would speak to the students directly in order to authenticate the sighting. By 10:00pm, the CHC was unsuccessful in their attempts to authenticate the report. At 10:00pm CDT, the CHC was about to issue a statement that Ramadan would complete its full cycle of 30 days when the students who saw the moon were finally tracked down. The committee rigourously questioned the students and their testimony was found to be accurate. Based off of this sighting report, the report from Phoenix, AZ was also found to be accurate.

At 11:00pm CDT, the Chicago Hilal Committee declared that Ramadan would end with 29 days and Eid-ul-Fitr would be Monday, October 23, 2006. Any report of the CHC declaring anything before that time was inaccurate. No official decision was made in the meeting or communicated thru the website till 11:00pm. We regretfully were made aware that many organizations informed their communities that the CHC had declared Tuesday, October 24th as Eid-ul-Fitr. This certainly was not the case.

Additionally, on Sunday night, the CHC tried contacting its representative in Phoenix, AZ for moon sighting information. It was unable to do so that evening after several attempts. On Monday, October 23rd, the CHC coordinator spoke with the representative; the representative had also sighted the moon on Sunday, October 22nd. Although this report was not used in the moon sighting decision, it affirmed the committees declaration.

While the Chicago Hilal Committee would ideally like to make its Eid announcement one hour after the moon sets in the West Coast (7:13pm PST/9:13pm CDT) at the latest, it certainly cannot issue a decision with various reports of moon sighting lingering that were unverified and unauthenticated. We realize the inconvenience it causes our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters to learn so late that the following day could be Eid. However, we also hope that by adhering to the Sunnah of sighting the moon of our beloved Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, any inconvenience we face will be recompensed with a great reward from Allah (swt).

We thank all of you who visited this site regularly for updates for the start and end of the blessed month. We request you to inform others about this site and to check back with us for the start/end of every Islamic month. May Allah bless you and your families and accept all of your worship in Ramadan. May He enable us to carry over the worship we started in Ramadan to the rest of the months.

10/22/2006:

11:00PM:

The Chicago Hilal Committee has confirmed the moon sighting reports from California. Ramadan will end in 29 days and the first day of Shawwal, Eid-ul-Fitr will be October 23, 2006.

10:08PM:

The committee is going to have a final decision on the Eid-ul-Fitr based on the California sighting shortly.

9:42PM:

There is a report of a sighting in Los Angeles, CA by 5 adult males. The committee is investigating this report. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

9:37PM:

The Phoenix, AZ report has still not been authenticated.

There is another report of a sighting in New York. The committee is investigating this report. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

9:07PM:

The Phoenix, AZ report has still not been authenticated. The committee is still contacting its representatives in the West Coast as well.

8:30PM:

There was a sighting in Phoenix, AZ by three males and one woman. This sighting is not confirmed. The committee is trying to validate and authenticate this sighting report. We will post more information as it becomes available.

7:45PM:

We have contacted our representatives in the following areas and recieved the following information:

6:35PM:

The Chicago Hilal Committee meeting is in session. The committee is contacting its representatives through out the country. There have been no moon sighting reports as of yet. Please check back later for further updates.

3:15PM:

The Chicago Hilal Committee will be meeting tonight at the Islamic Center of Chicago (ICC) after Maghrib (5:59pm CDT). They will be contacting representatives through out the nation for credible moon sighting reports. Sighting information will be posted as it becomes available.

Eid-ul-Fitr can be on Monday, October 23rd and Tuesday, October 24, 2006. The more likely date according to astronomical information is Tuesday, October 24, 2006.