The University of Leeds has been part of a pioneering project to teach the Muslim practice of Chandradarshan.
The Moonsighters Academy is the first course of its kind in the UK, and will help educate leaders from 38 Muslim communities across the country.
Used for hundreds of years, moon sighting is a method of determining the Islamic calendar and marking important events such as Ramadan and Eid, but is not a common practice in the UK.
Imad Ahmed, the academy’s project coordinator, said the aim of the course was to “bring the moon back home and into our own vision”.
The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle, marked by the sighting of the first crescent moon at the beginning of each month.
Seeing the moon requires specific astronomical conditions and visibility, so most mosques in the UK rely on sightings from other countries such as Saudi Arabia or Morocco.
Imad Ahmed aims to inspire UK Muslims to look at the moon [University of Leeds/Mark Bickerdike]
“When Muslims first came to Britain, they faced a problem that many people face in British astronomy – cloudy weather,” Ahmed said. “They settled on a different country’s moon chase solution.”
Dependence on other countries has led to disputes, or so-called “moon wars”, between mosques in the UK, depending on which country they follow, as different countries see the crescent moon on different days.
This means that most communities do not celebrate events such as Ramadan or Eid at the same time.
Ahmed added: “Growing up, the thing that I and all Muslims in the UK had to deal with was every single Ramadan or Eid, we didn’t know when we were going to celebrate, and it hurt the community a lot.
“We’re trying to train people in astronomy here, not just because it’s a contemporary problem, but because Muslims have a really strong history in astronomy.
“Moon gazing is a national sport and we all need to work together. I want to go from moon fighting to moon gazing and moon unity.”
The nine-month course, which began in December, was created in collaboration with the New Crescent Society, director Ahmed, and the University of Cambridge.
Includes use of the University of Leeds’ Rooftop Observatory and their state-of-the-art 35cm telescopes.
University of Leeds astronomer Dr Emma Alexander (centre) co-leads the Moonsighters Academy project [University of Leeds/Mark Bickerdike]
University astronomer Dr Emma Alexander and project co-leader said: “One of my favorite aspects of working in astronomy is being able to share it with others, especially when I can help ignite sparks of curiosity about our universe and dispel stereotypes about who astronomers are.
“The course opened up a lot of interest in the intersection between astronomy and culture—how different communities, people of different faiths interact with our night sky.”
The 38 participants include imams, school teachers, artists and business owners of various ages.
Alia Khan, who works as a science teacher and forest therapy practitioner, said she applied for the course in the hope of “educating the next generation” of Muslims in the UK.
“Where I grew up, we have two big mosques and neither of them agree on the same date for Ramadan or Eid,” he added.
“So I was the only one at school celebrating Eid on a different day to my friends. It’s very isolating and divides the community.
“We can see the moon from Britain, we don’t need someone in another country to see the moon for us. It’s a way of bridging scientific knowledge and Islamic practice.”
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