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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Debate Focus Profile Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Satellite, telescopes or the naked eye?
By Mona El-NahhasA lack of financing and the ambivalent position of several Muslim countries has delayed progress of a plan to develop an Islamic satellite to determine the start of lunar months. The plan was first proposed by Sheikh Nasr Farid Wassel, the Grand Mufti of the Republic, two years ago. Due to the delay, the birth of the crescent marking the beginning of Ramadan this year was monitored by telescopes, as well as the naked eye, on 7 December.
"We made a feasibility study and chose the company which will carry out the project, but the problem rests with financing," Wassel said. The cost of launching the satellite is estimated at about $12 million and the Mufti believes that the state budget should not be burdened with this amount of money. Wassel urged Muslim businessmen to make donations for the project, which aims at forging a united Muslim front.
Asked about the position of other Muslim countries, Wassel said they welcomed the idea during an Islamic conference held in Jeddah last year. "However, they have not yet given the final okay on the grounds that they need more time to study the project in all its aspects. That's why we decided not to take further steps until the approval of all Islamic countries has been secured," the Mufti explained.
Ahmed Rayan, a professor of comparative jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University, is grieved by the fact that the project has not seen the light yet, but said, "We have no alternative but to wait and see. In case of opposition, the idea should be dropped because of its exorbitant cost."
Mervat Awad, a professor of astronomy at Cairo University who made the feasibility study, said an outline of the project, as well as explanatory maps, were sent to all Islamic countries. "We hope that they agree; otherwise the project will have to be shelved and our efforts will have been wasted."
The idea of the satellite is to monitor the birth of the crescent which marks the beginning of lunar months of the hijra, or Muslim, calendar. By rising above the dense layers of the earth's atmosphere, the satellite will be able to spot the birth of the crescent clearly and take sharp pictures that will not be blurred by clouds, vapours or pollutants. This is what distinguishes the satellite from the telescopes that are currently in use. Once the crescent is spotted in any Muslim country by a telescope aboard the satellite, a live image will be transmitted to ground stations connected to the satellite in the various Islamic countries, informing them that a new lunar month has begun. This would make it possible for Muslims to celebrate religious occasions at the same time, after many years of persistent differences.
Some professors at Al-Azhar believe that the less than enthusiastic position of some Islamic countries is possibly due to the fact that they have reservations against the school of thought to which Wassel belongs. According to Wassel, the lunar month should start in a Muslim country once the crescent is spotted in the sky of any Muslim country that shares a part of the night with it. However, another school of thought insists that a lunar month does not start in a certain country unless the birth of the crescent is spotted in that country's sky. Consequently, many Muslim countries do not believe that there is a need for the satellite.
