To the believers in North America,
Peace and blessings from Allah be upon you.

It is natural to have differences in determining the beginning of the Islamic months based on the different religious opinions of our Jurists (Fuqaha'), but what has happened this year with certain entities in the Holy Land of Mecca declaring Monday, December 10th, 2007 as the beginning of the month of Thul-Hijja has caused great confusion amongst the Muslims and therefore demands further explanation of the situation.

Based on the legal opinion of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Seestani (may Allah prolong his life and that of many other jurists), to establish the beginning of the Islamic month, the sighting of the new moon must be observable with the naked eye (disregarding any local visible obstructions). If the sighting is reported in a certain locality, then according to the Islamic rules and regulations the first of the month is also established in all the other localities that share the same horizon.*

The Crescent Committee, which was established by the Council of Shia Scholars of North America, investigated and researched the state of the new moon based on several web sites such as:

• www.aa.usno.navy.mil
• www.crescentmoonwatch.org
• www.moonsighting.com

The council found that there was a very slight possibility of sighting the new moon only in the cities of Miami, FL and San Diego, CA. The possibility was not enough to provide the level of certainty that the Jurists require. Furthermore, the committee has collaborated with different groups throughout the states (specifically in Miami and San Diego).  At sunset on Monday, December 10th, 2007, there was no report of any sighting of the new moon although the skies were clear.

In addition, we have received confirmation from both Seminaries (Hawza) in Najaf and Qum that most Jurists announced Wednesday December 12th, 2007 to be the beginning of the Thul-Hijja.

It was further established based on the examination of websites concerned with new moon sightings and two other crescent committees (one in Canada and another in Chicago) that there were no reports in North America of moon sightings Monday, December 10th, 2007.

With all that in mind, we have validated and verified the information received from all the above mentioned sources, and therefore it follows that for those who follow Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Seestani and those who follow the Jurists who agree with his religious opinion, the beginning of the month was Wednesday December 12th, 2007 and Friday December 21st, 2007 will be the Blessed Eid al-Adha.

God willing, with these efforts we were able to help clarify the situation in identifying the day of the Eid al-Adha.

We kindly thank the Islamic centers that are diligent in following the declarations and findings based on the opinions of our Grand Jurists (Marjaeya) and the Crescent Committee of the Council of Shia Scholars of North America. We ask the Almighty Allah for guidance and blessings.

Sayyid M. B. Kashmiri
Imam Mahdi Association of Marjaeya - I.M.A.M.
The Liaison Office of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Seestani in North America
www.imam-us.org

* Further clarification: If the moon is sighted in City A, and someone in City B is wondering if they share the same horizon or not, then they should look into the following: is there a relation established based on considerable proof, such that if the crescent is seen in City A, then it must be seen in B too? If that is established we can say that City A and B share the same horizon.