WFIA for decades has sought bona fide new crescent sightings before commencing the start of the new month. We double our efforts for the start and end of Ramadan. This is how sunnah has commanded and we bear great responsibility for ensuring we do our utmost to secure the right start of blessed months of ibadah.

Last year, we celebrated both Eid al Fitr and Eid al Adha by sighting the new crescent, at the start of the respective months, from our Ghousia Masjid roof ourselves. This was a rare situation where the start of the month for both Eid’s was based on our own sightings.

WFIA and our Imams were fully prepared for Taraweeh last night, which was no different in moonsighting terms. We per normal, attempted sighting on the masjid roof again but the new crescent was not seen by our sighters. This was as expected from observatory reports.

For many years we have worked closely with local UK moonsighting groups for validations, along with receiving direct confirmation from the Morocco Awqaf – the ministry responsible for nationwide moonsighting in the country again for assisting WFIA in making an informed choice.

Indeed, we confirmed there were no sightings in the UK – see Appendix A – and then received confirmation there were also no sightings in Morocco either – see Appendix B. Further afield, there was no chance of sightings in South Africa.

We therefore announced the start of Ramadan for tomorrow Sun 2^nd Mar 2025, in line with the vast majority of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jammat group, with the first Taraweeh tonight In Sha Allah.

Late last night we received unofficial reports of sightings in Morocco and the UK so investigated these.

The alleged Morocco sightings were false. We had already received direct confirmation from the government of Morocco of negative sighting i.e. no sightings! We ask our community not to spread unconfirmed reports as fact and awaiting official announcements.

On the UK front, we indeed reconfirmed there were no sightings with the naked eye anywhere in the country and this remains the case even today – there are no late reports of naked eye sightings from last night.

We did hear about a 2-3 second sighting by a moonsighter in Cornwall using binoculars only but not with his naked eyes. 2 other people with him did not see the new crescent with their naked eyes nor by binoculars.

Based on this a couple of local masajid, who normally align with us, accepted this and did their Taraweeh last night. We wish them heartfelt Ramadan Mubaraks and they can, like all other mosques, follow whatever criteria they choose.

The acceptance of optical aid only sightings is an emerging and evolving situation currently and requires further investigation & consensus among the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaat groups. We will work with them to come to a common understanding on the use of optical aids.

Isha Jamaat tonight is at 7.45pm In Sha Allah with Taraweeh following as normal. The entire Management team of WFIA, the Imams and volunteers look forward to welcoming you and serving you once again during this blessed month.

We wish everyone a blessed Ramadan, whenever you start, and may Allah Azzawajal accept your ibadah and heartfelt duas. Our prayers for everyone, especially those suffering from hardships or oppression. May Allah Azzawajal remove their hardships or oppressions immediately. Ameen.

APPENDIX A – New Crescent Society Announcement 28 Feb 2025

NEW CRESCENT SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT: MOON NOT SEEN IN THE BRITISH ISLES

SHABAN HAS 30 DAYS

RAMADAN DATES IN THE UK:

LOCAL SIGHTING

First Fast: Sunday 2 March

FOLLOW MOROCCO

First Fast: Sunday 2 March

FOLLOW SAUDI

First Fast: Saturday 1 March

What an incredible evening!!  Alhamdulilah today 100s of people attempted to sight the moon across the UK. 

Other locations included Jersey, Cornwall, Bristol, Exeter. Cardiff, Pembrokeshire,

Whitehaven, Birmingham, Coventry, London (Northala, Leystonstone, Wanstead,

Croydon), Cambridge, Oxford, Norwich, Leicester,  Nottingham, Derby, Northampton, Nelson, Preston, Blackburn, Manchester, Bolton, Sheffield, Huddersfield, York, Leeds, Bradford, Teesside, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh. 

We held a special live stream with the Royal Observatory Greenwich, where our sighters called in. We heard from big gatherings at some locations – Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol and Bradford had hundreds of people at each. It seemed very festive alhamdulillah — thanks to all for looking!! We were very excited because this has been our most watched livestream ever. THANK YOU so much for watching it and supporting our journey over these years. 

STARTING THE MONTH WITH TELESCOPES / OPTICAL AIDS

According to the data the moon would not have been possible to see with our eyes, but maybe possible to see with optical aids. Indeed: a lot of the conversation of our livestream at Greenwich discussed the nature of what a crescent is and telescopic sightings. 

Though many of our sighters use all kinds of technology – New Crescent Society does not commence months with anything other than naked eye sightings. This is the the traditional sunnah practice, and indeed the good practice of other countries like Morocco, South Africa and Bangladesh. Whilst some countries do accept telescopes (such as Saudi), we chose this position because it is the least controversial position, and the one most likely to bring about unity for a future calendar. NO ONE disagrees with the use of naked eyes, but certainly some groups and countries reject the use optical aids. Some of the reasons given include the fact that optical aids actually take the calendar a day earlier than it’s actual phase and out of rhythm with the natural order ordained by the Prophet (SAW), and it moves the calendar away from the community into the hands of a few telescope owners. Of course we respect all opinions. 

On this note – we are receiving exciting reports that a couple of skilled astronomers in our networks were able to see a crescent using CCD imaging, telescopes, binoculars and other optical aids – we will report on this more as we get the news, but in any case they won’t be used for Ramadan. Another post on this soon!   

For now – another HUGE thank you to Royal Museums Greenwich and our inspiring, dedicated, moonsighters around the country who carry the duty of sacred timekeeping with beautiful smiles and sparkly eyes. 

And whenever you are commemmorating, RAMADAN MUBARAK. May Allah allow us to leave the month of Ramadan a better state than we entered it in. 

New Crescent Society

28 Februrary 2025

30 Shaban (evening) 1446 

Pictures:

1- 2: Announcement Slides

3: Jersey

4: Bristol

5: Dundee

6: Bradford

7: Birmingham

8: Preston

9: Brighton

10: Cambridgeshire