The Sunni Voice

Let us remember all our brothers and sisters who have left for the blessed Hajj 1430. May Allah allow them to perform their hajj smoothly and with ease, and accept their intentions and actions.

Ya Rabb! make this task an easy one for them all………..ameen summa ameen!

Not Seen: Dr. Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti (MCW member) from Oxford reported: Negative sighting. A group of us attempted to perform the communally obligatory sighting of Dhu l-Hijjah at an observatory in Oxford after Maghrib on Tuesday 17 November (the 29th day of Dhu l-Qa’dah for the UK). The western horizon is partly cloudy and the crescent could not be sighted. Still, we received news of positive sightings to the East of the UK from South Africa. This news, despite not being able to sight locally, makes it sufficient for the day of 1st Dhu l-Hijjah to be tomorrow, on Wednesday 18 November for those in the UK, by following the basic rule [dabit] in Islamic Law in this matter that whenever it is known that the crescent has been positively sighted in the East, local sighting inevitably follows, but not the other way round. Therefore, ‘Id al-Adha, the 10th of Dhu l-Hijjah, in the UK, should fall on Friday 27 November. Therefore, the first day of ‘Id al-Adha in the UK should fall on Friday 27th November 2009. Takbir!

Seen: Dr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim (MCW member) from Cape Town reported: The Dhul Hijjah Hilaal was sighted by naked eye from Signal Hill and Bakoven in Cape Town this Tuesday evening at 20:15 [17 November 2009 and the end of the 29th of Dhul Qada 1430 AH]. Kindly take note of the moon altitude when it was first sighted: +01°:30′:26″. This was as a result of a bank of cloud cover stretching over the horizon with a clear sky below of approximately 1.6 degrees in height. Sunset: 19:32 Moonset: 20:28 Lag: +00hr 59min Moon Age: +21hr 52min Moon Altitude: +01°:30′:26″ Moon Azimuth: +241°:10′:04″ Elongation: +10°:57′:12″.  The official first day of Dhul Hijjah 1430 AH in Southern Africa will correspond with Wednesday, 18 November 2009. Eid-ul Adha will be observed on Friday, 27 November 2009.

 Seen: Rashid Motala (MCW member) from Durban reported: The Hilaal was sighted in Cape Town this evening. Other parts of the country were overcast.

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