Ways to Establish the New Lunar Month

 

 

Ways to Establish the New Lunar Month

14. Are the beginning and end of Ramadan determined through sighting the crescent or by means of the calendar, even if Sha‘bān was not thirty days?
A: Deciding the beginning of any lunar month is possible through one of the following methods: sighting the new moon by the mukallaf himself; the testimony of two just witnesses to that effect; numerous reports that bring conviction that the moon has been sighted; completion of thirty days since the previous month’s beginning; or the decree of a mujtahīd.

15. In our city, they appoint the start of Ramadan on Friday without sighting the new moon and just by the passage of 30 days of Sha`bān while the start of latter was not ascertained. It would be appreciated if you tell us our duty for getting the full advantage concerning the practices of the month of Ramadan like the nights of qadr and recitation of the daily supplications.
A: If 30 days of the month of Sha`bān passed, it is the month of Ramadan even without sighting the moon of Ramadan, provided that the start of Sha`bān was acknowledged through a shar‘ī way; otherwise, the passage of 30 days has no shar‘ī standing. The qadr blessed nights are considered as a single continuous entity. For acquiring the virtue of these nights and that of the du`a’ mentioned during special timing during the holy month, if the special time cannot be confirmed, one may get the virtue of them by adopting caution and repeating the prescribed practices mentioned for them.

Source: Hadana adopted from the Istiftaat of the Grand Ayatollah Khamenei