It will not be surprising to hear that, the bright eyed person who sighted the new hilal for ramadan on the 19th of july will once again step forward and claim the sighting of the new hilal for shawwal on the 18th of August. For hanafis living in the UK/USA, it will be very interesting to note the rule of “jamee ghafeer”. Which is, when the skies are clear with no obstruction, the sighting must be confirmed by a large number of people. According to Imam Abu Yusuf (RA), a minimum of 50 people must have reported the sighting.

Firstly, the sighting in saudi on the 19th of july 2012 was claimed by one unknown individual despite the fact that the officials assigned to the task (almost 60 in total thru out saudi) with hi-tech equipment were unable to make any positive sightings.

without doubt, saudis will be asked to attempt to sight the moon on the 17th of august. it will be impossible to make a sighting in saudi on that date, so it will be confirmed that ramadan will complete 30 days and nobody will bother to check whether the moon is visible on the following day. however, according to hanafi fiqh if the moon is not sighted on the 30th of ramadan, then without doubt the sighting of 19th july was false or a mistake. In this situation, what does hanafi fiqh advise..?

If the people begin Ramadan based on the testimony of a single person, and then they complete THIRTY DAYS of fasting and thereafter no one sees the moon of EID AL-FITR even though the sky is clear, it is not permitted for them to cease fasting (which is the view agreed upon in the Madhhab. This means that the person who first witnessed the moon of Ramadan was mistaken, and that it was not Ramadan. hence, they are to fast this day also. ie. their 1st ramadan does not count as a fast of ramadan).

Scholars however differed on, if  Ramadan was established on the testimony of two upright persons (and then thirty days are completed and yet no one sees the moon for Eid al-Fitr even though the sky is clear); do they fast another day? Or do they celebrate Eid al- Fitr?

Many experts held that they are to fast another day, because the fact  that the moon is not observed on a clear day is proof of their mistake.

what will our hanafi brothers and sisters living in the UK/USA say on this.? we all shout and scream about adhering to the hanafi madhaab, but on such issues all we hear is silence.