Moonsighting for Shawwal 1424
November 24, 2003 (Monday):
Zainal Abiden Bin Hani from Johor Bahru, Malaysia reported: Not Seen
I and my 14 friends did not see the hilal of Shawal even with high power zoom binocular (20-120x70) on 24/11/2003, Monday from Limbungan Beach, Malacca, looking 15 minutes before sunset to 7:40 pm. It was about 4.8 degree high at sunset. The western sky was clear. The Malaysia government announced in national TV that Tuesday, 25 November will be Eid in Malaysia, but I and my friends celebrate Eid on Wednesday, 26 November based on ru'yatul-hilal.
Ali bin Fadil from Pontian Kechil, Pontian Malaysia reported: Not Seen
I and 4 friends did not see the hilal of Shawal on 24/11/2003, Monday. The western sky was cloudy.
Hussain Khushaish (ICOP & Moonsighting.com member) from Kuwait reported: Not Seen
In Kuwait on Monday 24 Nov 2003 I could not sight the crescent even with a 20*60 binocular. The western horizon was clear till the last 2-3 degrees where it was hazy. Venus was seen easily 20 minutes before our local sunset.
Dr. Reza Pazhouhesh from Birjad, Iran reported: Not Seen
We tried to see new cresent in November 24 in the Birjand city of Iran. Although we equipped with two camera and one telescope (4.5 inch) and also we had a very good weather condition, but we couldn't see the new cresent.
Mr. Anwar Al Muhammad (ICOP member) from Saudi Arabia reported: NOT Seen even with TELESCOPE
I with about 30 parsons tried to sight the new crescent of Shawaal , 25 minutes before the time of sun set in Monday, 24 November 2003, in the eastern area of Saudi Arabia "Al-Aujam- 26:33N, 49:47E" at the observatory place of Qatif Astronomy Society (QAS). We used a computerized 10” LX-200, GPS, telescope. Also, we aligned the telescope in the night of Sunday 23 Nov, to make sure that it will go to the position of the moon, and we tested its alignment with Venues 4:30 pm before pointing it toward the moon. The western horizon was cloudy, but through a thin clouds we could see Venues only with a telescope, not with a naked eye. We could not see the crescent through the telescope. As usual, we heared about some people in the nearby town, more than ten, who claim that they saw the crescent.
Yusuf Lambat from Malawi reported: Seen
The moon was sighted in the evening of 24 November 2003 between 6.30 and 6.45 pm in Lichinga in Mozambique. 18 people sighted the moon and this was Confirmed by Maulana Nazeer who is the Imam of Maputo Masjid in Mozambique. We in Malawi (Mufti Mahomed Hanif and Maulana Ismail and I ) confirmed with Maulana Nazeer by taking his Shadaat who confirmed that indeed the moon was sighted in Lichinga. Based on this confirmation we in Malawi celebrated the Eid ul Fitr.
Later on we also got confirmation from Bro Abdulrrazaak Ebrahim from Cape Town that the moon was sighted in Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth in South Africa. Similarly, we also got confirmation from Maulana of Harare Masjid in Zimbabwe that a sighting was confirmed in Kve Kve in Zimbabwe.
Abdullah Mustafa (Moonsighting.com member) from Southern Hungary reported: Not Seen
I attempted to see the Hilaal on the eve of 24 November in Southern Hungary without success. The sky was partly cloudy and humidity was high. The Hilaal was NOT seen here.
Rashid Motala (ICOP & Moonsighting.com member) from South Africa reported: Seen
The Eid moon was sighted in Bloemfontein and Kimberly this evening, Nov 24, 2003.
Muhammad Hafiz (ICOP & Moonsighting.com member) reporetd: Not Seen
I tried to oberve the Hilal on Monday, 24th November, 2003 in Opa-Locka, Florida USA after sunset. The horizon was covered with rainy clouds making Hilal observation impossible.
Sultan Hafiz (Moonsighting.com member and Imam of Rose Hall Town Masjid) reported from Guyana: Seen
The Hilaal was seen on Monday, 24th November, 2003 in Berbice, Guyana after sunset and the sighting was confirmed by the Moulana who is the head of the Dar Uloom Institute in Berbice.
Riyaad Siddique from Guyana reported: Seen
Please be advised that the Central Moonsighting Committee of Guyana, including the brothers of the Guyana Islamic Trust have seen the moon bright and clear. We are therefore celebrating Eid on Tuesday.
Farid Ahmed Degia from Barbados reported: Not Seen
Due to cloudy conditions no sighting was reported here in Barbados. We had a small window of opportunity where we could actually see venus very clear in the evening sky from about 5:45 pm till 6:30 pm and very high as well, but no crescent.
Dr. Shirin Haq (Moonsighting.com member) from Trinidad reported: Seen
Eid moon was sighted by 30 persons from lady young lookout -- and in many other parts of Trinidad. It was also seen in Guyana.
Yusuf Khan, Ali Khan, and Zaheer Ahmed from Houston TX reported: Seen
We saw the moon around 5:45pm very close to the horizon.
No'man Shaikh from College Station Texas reported: Seen
I saw the moon at 5:56pm little bit below the star. Then I showed it to two other persons, Faisal Chaudhry, and Muhammad Muhammad. They both saw it also.
Javad Torabinejad (ICOP & Moonsighting.com member) from Brigham City, Utah reported: Seen
Using a pair of binocular (7X50), I sighted the moon at 5:19 pm this evening (Monday, Nov 24). The
horns were at 2:30 and 6:00 O'Clock. It was very thin and sat at 5:31 pm.
Khalid Fituri, member of AL-Rribat AL-Islami directing committee from San Diego reported: Not Seen
Due to the could and Haz on the horizon, we could not see the Hilal in San Diego, California.
November 25, 2003 (Tuesday):
M. Shahid Qureshi, Project Director, Institute of Space & Planetary Astrohysics, University of Karachi, Pakistan
reported: Seen
We planned to locate moon from 17:00 (PST) through the 6 inch Code Refractor Telescope at the KU Observatory. We could manage to fix our Telescope at the coordinates of Moon (Dec -260 57', R.A. 17h 33m) at 17:20 (PST) and immediately saw the Crescent in our field of view, 22 minute before the sunset when the sun was around 40 above the horizon. In the glare of the Sun the sun the field of view through telescope was very bright the Crescent was faintly but clearly distinguishable from the rest of the field. There were very thin scattered clouds around but the atmosphere was very clear.
At around 17:32 (still ten minutes before the sunset) the Crescent was visible to the naked eye. The Crescent remained bright and visible till its setting at around 19:03 (PST).
Gulam Abbas Vakil (Moonsighting.com member) from Dubai reported: Seen
Moon visible clearly at about 5:35 local time, fine thin at 30 degree 1/6 of circumfrence approx.
Abdullah Mustafa (Moonsighting.com member) from Southern Hungary reported: Seen
I and my wife have just sighted the Hilaal in Southern Hungary on the eve of 25 November. The horizont was partly cloudy, but Hilaal was visible for about 15 minutes and disappeared behind the clouds.
Mahmood Essa (ICOP & Moonsighting.com member) from Mombasa, Kenya reported: Seen I am happy to let you know that the shawaal cresent was quite easily seen before sunset, on 25/11/03.
AbdulAzeez Adewuyi from Ikorodu, Lagos Nigeria reported: Seen
Some muslims claimed to have sighted the moon Sunday 23rd from sokoto and Kano (two states in Northern Nigeria) and some people observed Eid Monday 24th. We could not see the moon even on Monday. Alhamdullilah we were able to sight the moon on Tuesday 25th immediately after the sunset (around 6.30 pm Nigeria time) at Ikorodu, Lagos. This confirmed that 24 hours after the first sighting somewhere in the world, the moon is visible almost everywhere.
Farid Ahmed Degia (Moonsighting.com member) from Barbados reported: Seen
The Moon was finally seen here in Barbados on Tuesday Nov 25th from as early as 5:30 pm maghrib time, and it remain visible for quite a long time .