Mea Culpa

Well, it appears my thinly veiled vitriol about those currently privileged with the knowledge and position of ulama and their constant moonfighting was a bit ill-thought.

Apparently, two major Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) bodies, one in Europe and the one ISNA goes by, have decided that lunar dates can be calculated ahead of time. That their decision comes a century or two late only adds to the significance of this. I knew that ISNA had made a similar announcement last year, but the continued disjointedness of the Muslim community calendars didn't make it seem all that momentous.

This year's fatwa was announced on the main page of the ISNA website, but that url now returns a 404, a day after I checked it (I don't want to speculate why). A copy of the first half can be found at http://www.isna.net .

This year, ISNA has adjusted its calculation to use Mecca time, and not Greenwich, as their lunar dateline. Fair enough. This doesn't mean that all the Muslim organizations are on the same page - "ICNA" which has been around a couple of years, with its name that conveniently resembles ISNA, is still clinging to the use of the naked eye. Every community has such people. I'm just happy that we can look forwards to more coordinated community events, starting when it is most important, in Ramadhan. Inshallah.

Which speaking of which, is tomorrow!