Ramadan Mubarak - on seeing the moon

Astronomy may not be an obvious topic for inter-faith or intra-faith dialogue. Yet it transpires to be fertile territory for an outsider to understand something of what Ramadan means among UK Muslims. Our Communications and Programme Manager, Dr Iona Hine, reflects:

“Yesterday, I attempted something I’ve never tried before: I looked for the new moon.

“This was not an idle pursuit. For millions of Muslims around the world, the newest moon heralds the start of Ramadan, a month dedicated to daytime fasting—from food and other indulgences. 

“Even so, as a non-Muslim, I had limited cause to take an interest in the manifestations of the lunar calendar. My interest was professional, knowing that one of our PhD students would be co-hosting a moonsighting together with the Royal Observatory, in Greenwich, ‘the home of time itself’.

“Imad Ahmed is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where he studied History and English (as an undergraduate) and completed an MPhil in Islamic Studies and History. He is also a qualified secondary school teacher. At Cambridge, he is in his first year of PhD studies, supported by the Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership. His research focuses on how UK Muslims approach the lunar calendar.

“As Imad explained to the audience yesterday, when his parents came to the UK from Bangladesh, they found a significant hurdle to traditional practice: The lunar calendar relies upon sighting the moon, and if the weather is often cloudy, the chances of spotting a new moon’s slender crescent are greatly reduced. Until now, British Muslims have often referred to what is happening in another country in order to make decisions about whether the new month has begun—and in the present case, whether it is time for the Ramadan fasting to begin.

“Imad’s own approach is different: What if, he asked himself, we were to work together across these islands? What if Muslims around the UK sought out the moon collectively. If it’s cloudy in Portsmouth, the same clouds may not prevail in Plymouth, Penzance or Peterhead. If it’s overcast in Birmingham, perhaps Bristol or Bradford has better weather. 

“So Imad founded the New Crescent Society. ‘Community-based, grassroots, a team sport’, dubbed a society because it requires people to come together with common purpose: spotting the crescent of the new moon to create a functional Islamic calendar for UK Muslims. Their first moon spotting had two participants. Five years later, there were thousands, video calling in from around the country. 

“What actually happened at yesterday’s moon sighting is open to all to discover, since the Royal Observatory livestream is available to watch again on YouTube. As an onlooker, I discovered a profound admiration for those who gathered in locations around the UK to look enthusiastically for the sign that it would be Ramadan. Come cloud, come rain, come moon again.

“Thank you, Imad, for teaching me why ‘hillel’ is such an appropriate word for the new crescent.”