Why are Saudi Dates Always Wrong?     

According to Saudi Ummal-Qura calendar makers, Saudi dates were “calculated” by the following criteria:

Umm al-Qura Calendar Before 1420 AH:

For years up to the end of 1419 AH (16 April 1999) Saudi Arabia used a lunar calendar developed at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh, that was based on the following rule:

“It is adopted in Umm al-Qura calendar that if the Moon’s age at sunset is 12 hours or more after the [astronomical] New Moon then the PREVIOUS day is the first day of the Islamic month, since the Islamic day starts at sunset, and the night is before the daylight, as well as the time of fasting is in the civil daylight.”

The consequence of this rule was that in about 50% of all cases the lunar month began before the astronomical New Moon and in about as many cases moonset occurred before sunset. In all cases the lunar crescent would have been absolutely invisible.

 From 1420 AH to 1422 AH:

Starting at 1420 AH (17 April 1999) KACST the adopted a slightly different rule for the Umm al-Qura calendar that stated:

On the 29th of the month, the next day is the first day of the [new] month if the moonset is after sunset at Mecca or else the next day is 30th of the month and [...] the day after is the first day of the new month.

In most cases (c. 85%) the lunar crescent was still too young to have been visible with the naked eye on the first evening of the month and about once in every two years the month would still commence before the astronomical New Moon.

After 1422 AH:

From 1423 AH (15 March 2002) onwards, the Institute modified its rules for the Umm al-Qura calendar as follows:

If on the 29th day of the lunar month the two following conditions are satisfied, then the next day is the first day of the new lunar month:

            1. The geocentric conjunction occurs before sunset.

            2. The Moon sets after the Sun.

Otherwise, the current lunar month will last 30 days.

Obviously, by any known criterion of the the crescent moon’s visibility, it will NEVER BE SEEN in the evening of the first date of the Islamic month as calculated by the above rule.

Saudi often claim that the Umm al-Qura calendar is for civil use only. Islamic dates of Ramadan, Eidain and Hajj are determined by the “sighted” crescent moon as confirmed by the ‘reliable witnesses from various regions of the kingdom (or after 30 days of the previous month are completed), and confirmed by the Majlis al-Qada al-A’la.

By KACST’s own admission a crescent moon COULD NEVER BE VISIBLE on the given first dates. If the Majlis al-Qada accepted sighting claims on these dates then it was attesting a “lie” all along and used Ahadith to justify obvious falsehood.

Appendix I (Data from Odeh’s “Taqweem Nasb al-Khata fi Tahdid Awail al-Ash-shuhur al-Hijriya)