Eid-al-Adha: The Astronomical New Moon is on Saturday December 31, 2005, at 3:12 Universal Time, i.e. Friday, December 30, 10:12pm Eastern Standard Time - 7:12pm Pacific Standard Time. On Saturday, December 31, it will be about 22 hours old and about 6 degrees above the horizon on west coast of USA. This moon can be seen in South Africa, South America, and Polynesian Islands, but not in Asia, Europe, or Middle East. In USA, it will be very difficult to see. Telescope or binoculars may be needed to see it in USA. Therefore, first day of Dhul-Hijja is expected to be on Sunday, January 1, 2006 in South Africa, Americas, and Polynesian Islands, and elsewhere on January 2, 2006. Accordingly, 10th Dhul-Hijja (Eid-al-Adha) will be on Tuesday, January 10, 2006, Insha'Allah in South Africa, Americas, and Polynesian Islands. Elsewhere 10th Dhul-Hijja (Eid-al-Adha) should be on Wednesday, January 11, 2006.

Sighting Reports for Dhul-Hijjah 1426

Hussain Khushaish (MCW member) from Kuwait: Not Seen
In Kuwait on Sat, 31 Dec 2005 I could not sight thulhijja crescent due to small elongation, low altitude, very short lag, small age, small phase, and small crescent width.

Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti (MCW member) from Oxford, UK: Not Seen
Negative sighting. At the end of the 29th day of of the preceeding lunar month (Saturday, 31st December) at a poor moonsighting site, a group of us could not sight the new crescent. The horizon was clear. Although the moon set only 6 minutes after sunset and it was definitely below the horizon, we nevertheless attempted the sighting in order to perform the religious duty [ta'abbud] of physically going out to spot the moon on laylat al-ru'ya on the way to Maghrib. By the time of Isha', we have received no news of a positive sighting from anywhere East of our position. Indeed, we received news from Morocco that professional observers there could not sight the moon ['adam thubut] in spite of clear skies. The religious authority there have declared that they will be completing [istikmal] 30 days for the month of Dhu l-Qa'da and that the 1st of Dhu l-Hijja is on Monday, the 2nd of January. By following Morocco, the 10th of Dhu l-Hijja in the UK should also be on Wednesday the 11th of January.

Rashid Motala (MCW member) from Durban, South Africa: Not Seen
The Hilaal for Dhul-Hijjah was not sighted anywhere in South Africa this evening, December 31, although sighting attempts were made at several locations.

Dr Abdurrazak Ebrahim (MCW member) from Cape Town, S. Africa: Not Seen
I was at the sighting locality Bakoven. There were 8 crescent observers present. Venus was visible 10 minutes before sunset. The sun set at eye-level horizon at 20h03 local South African time and the horizon was clear. Immediately after sunset there was a reddish haze on the horizon to an altitude of 4 degrees. I used a 10x50 binoculars to try sighting the crescent but was unsuccessful. At 20h25 I drove to a higher elevation but there was no binocular sight of the moon. All the sighting localities in and around Cape Town and the rest of South Africa reported a negative sighting.

Muhammad Hafiz (MCW member) of OpaLocka, Florida reporetd: Not Seen
I am currently in Guyana thus my cell phone in Florida is not working. Myself and the members of Rose Hall Town Masjids and Islamic Center, and the Sheldon Masjid tried to observe the Hilaal after sunset on Saturday, 31st December, 2005 despite the rainy season in Guyana. Due to continuous rain today and clouds on the Horizon, Hilaal sighting was impossible. The Central Hilaal Sighting Committee of Guyana is in the process of contacting other parts of Guyana and the Caribbean/South America to determine if Hilaal was seen.

Javad Torabinejad (MCW member) from Blacksburg, Virginia: Not Seen
This evening (Saturday, Dec. 31), I attempted sighting the moon in Blacksburg, VA with no success. I arrived at the location a couple minutes after sunset and with the aid of a pair of 7X50 binoculars, I started scanning the southwestern horizon (where the moon supposed to be located). While to the west the sky was extremely favorable for sighting, unfortunately the target location was partly to totally cloudy! Due to the age of the moon for the eastern US and unfavorable sky condition, I was unable to sight the moon.

AbdurRahmaan Abu Abdullaah (MCW member) from Columbia, SC: Not Seen
We (2 observers) arrived at our sighting location, Lake Murray just before sunset at 17:23 EST. There were some sparse distant stratocumulus clouds illuminated by the sunset, very much the same in size and density as those clouds on my 1 Shawwal 1426 sighting (Thursday, 03 November 2005). In other words, they were sparse enough and thin enough to not hinder any Hilāl that might be visible under better viewing conditions.
I set up my usual viewing equipment: Nikon OceanPro 7x50 7.2° CF WP compass binoculars, Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D using 300 mm telephoto lens (equivalent to 450mm on a 35mm film camera body) on a Cullmann tripod having degree markings for altitude and azimuth. From 17:26 - 18:05 (EST) we carefully scanned the area where the Hilāl should be seen ±5 degrees, both vertically and horizontally. During the last 20 minutes the thin cloud layers were high enough that I can confidently say, it was not possible to see an Hilāl under these conditions: 1.1% phase, elongation of 11° 42 min., and trailing the sun by 35 minutes.
After reviewing the 66 photos taken at fine resolution (6 MP), with not a trace of a crescent on any of them, we have to conclude beyond any doubt that tomorrow, Sunday, 1 January 2006 will be 30 Thūl Qa³idah 1426, and that 1 Thūl Hijjah will fall on 2 January 2006 for us here in Columbia, South Carolina.

Mohammad Al-Bedaiwi from North Austin Muslim Community Center, NAMCC, Austin, TX: Not Seen
I went to see the hilal tonight, Dec 31st. I was out there from 5:38-6:05 pm, And I did not see any hilal. There were some clouds (light not too heavy) exactly at sunset location

Paul Burnham (MCW member) from Chino Valley, Arizona: Not Seen
I regret to say that there was no moon sighting from Chino Valley Arizona this evening, Dec 31. Solid overcast prevented seeing anything above the cloud layers.

Jim Stamm (MCW member) from Tucson, Arizona: Not Seen
On Dec 31, no attempt was made to observe the crescent, due to clouds.

Gary Peterson (MCW member) from Tempe, Arizona: Not Seen
Itried to see the young moon tonight but because of clouds I had to look right at the time of sunset which was earlier than I had planned on looking. It might have been seen farther to the east when the moon would have crossed the break later in the day. Also I didn't think anybody had a chance farther west because it was even raining a little in San Diego where the football game was played. Also the sun was never out during the football game where it was where I lived earlier in the afternoon and as those breaks moved farther east the moon might have been seen. Mexico would have had a better chace because the moon is farther south than the sun is.

Dr. Youssef Ismail (MCW member), San Francisco, California: Not Seen
The weather was a factor today. Sunset was seen though the skies were hazy and the definite horizon line was not discernable. Apparently clear patches of sky were present in the area where the moon might have been but the hazy sky conditions prevented any sighting.

Mr. Abdul-Rashid Abdullah (ICOP member), Ewa Beach, Hawaii: Seen
The Hilal is clearly visible in our skies tonight. It was witness by my entire family in Ewa Beach, HI looking towards the western skies. At 18:41 it was still fairly high above the horizon. I am sort of a novice at this but I would say it was about 12-15 degrees above the horizon. Unfortunately, I was unable to take any more precise measurements.

January 1, 2006 (Sunday):

Omar Bin Abdullah (MCW member) reported quote from a Newspaper of Pakistan: Seen
Zilhaj moon sighted KARACHI, Jan 1 (APP)- Chairman Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Pakistan, Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman on Sunday announced the sighting of Moon of Zilhaj, 1426 Hijri (January 2, 2006). He announced this after a meeting of the Committee held under his chairmanship here at Habib Bank Plaza for the sighting of the new moon. (Posted @ 22:00 PST)

Hussain Khushaish (MCW member) from Kuwait: Seen
In Kuwait on Sunday, 1 Jan 2006, I sighted the crescent with naked eyes very easily.

Hamza Rijal, (MCW member), from Island of Zanzibar, Africa: Seen
On the 31 st of December I have been in my common sighting locality to sight the Hilal but I failed it and finally I took an effort to communicate with others and they confirmed their failure of sighting the Hilal and confirmed that we are going to complete 30 days for Dhul Qaad.
Well I did the similar exercise on January 1, but I was unsuccsefuly with my efforts, then I check with my friend in Pemba, the sister Island of Unguja, and he confirmed sighting. So today 2 January is official first day of Dhul Hijja 1426 AH.

Abdallah.M.Khambiye (MCW member) from Mombasa, Kenya: Seen
Yesterday, Dec 31, I tried to sight the moon but I couldn't and also didn't hear of anyone else sighting it, but today< Jan 1, 2006m We saw the moon and alhamdulillah I manage to take some photos which I wil email them to you Inshallah.

Samy Khadem-Al-Charieh (MCW member) from Berlin, Germany: Seen
I could see the moon clearly right here from the middle of the city. I found it at 4:38 pm about 45 degree left down from venus which itself was very bright at the sky. The crescent was about two or three fingers up from the horizon. I last saw it at 4:50 pm, then it went behind some buildings.

Imran Adam from Bolton, UK : Seen
I am happy to report that the new moon was clearly visible in our skies tonight (Jan 1, 2006). It was witnessed by many people at Maghrib (16:10) in Bolton, UK. The hilal was fairly high above the horizon.

Dr. Gul from Birmingham, UK : Not Seen
I tried to sight the new moon of Dhulhajjah in Birmingham on 01/01.2006. The time was 16.10 till 16.35. But I could not see any moon even the horizon was clear. I saw the star which was clearly visible but could not see the moon today. We were 6 people standing near the stoney Lane park in Sparkhill Birmingham.

Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti (MCW member) from Oxford, UK: Seen
Positive sighting. We attempted for a second day (but this time while travelling from Manchester to Oxford) to sight the crescent of the Dhu l-Hijja on Sunday the 1st of January; and wa-l-hamdulillah the three of us witnessed at 16:49 the beautiful and thin first day hilal (horns appeared to be at 1 and 7 o'clocks respectively) to the left of sunset and also to the left and below Venus at half the perpendicular angle. Allahu akbar...hilalu khayrin wa-rushdin! May Allah accept our 'amals during the special ten days of this month!

Ahmed Mohamed, (MCW member) from Windhoek, Namibia: Not Seen
No sighting on Saturday, 31 December 2005 - overcast No sighting on Sunday, 1 January 2006 - overcast

Muhammed Yasin Qamardeen (MCW member) from Abuja, Nigeria: Seen
Place: Abuja National Mosque, Over looking the Ministry of Transportation Sectretariat, Central Business Disatrict Area Abuja.
Date of observation: Sunday 1, January 2006 --- Sun set time:18:06 --- Crescent appearance:18:34 --- crescent set(disappaearance:):19:09. We also try on Saturday 31 December 2005. to observe the crsecent but all the report from various party of the country indicated negaive result.

Javad Torabinejad (MCW member) from Blacksburg, Virginia: Seen
This evening, (Sunday, 1st of January), the moon was sighted here in Blacksburg, VA.

Ruth Jeffery (MCW member) from Houston, TX: Seen
Two adults sighted the new moon crescent in Houston, Texas, at 5:39 p.m. on Sunday, January 1, 2006.

Rehan Siddiqui from Houston, TX: Seen
I have seen moon very clearly from Houston on 1 jan 2006 after mugrib. Its duration was 40 to 50 minutes ( weather partly cloudy); it looks One day old.

Scott Owens from Tulsa, OK: Seen
On Jan 1, We saw the new moon very clearly here in Tulsa Ok. USA at 5:52

Eid-al-Adha on Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006

Jan 1, 2006 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said the climax of this year's haj pilgrimage, in which more than 2 million Muslims will retrace the footsteps of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, would be on Jan 9, 2006. The four-day Eid al-Adha (feast of sacrifice) holiday will start on Jan 10, 2006, one of the country's religious bodies said in a statement on the Saudi Press Agency on Sunday.(Posted @ 15:50 PST)

Fiqh Council of North America has announced:
First day of Dhul Hijjah 1426 is Sunday, January 1, 2006 and so the Idul Adha will be Inshallah on Tuesday, January 10, 2006. The Fiqh Council of North America has made this decision based on its criteria to determine the day of Idul Adha in solidarity with the Hujjaj who will have the Day of ‘Arafah this year on January 9, 2006.
Mosques and Islamic centers in Washington DC metro area are following Fiqh Council.

Eid-al-Adha on Wednesday, Jan 11, 2006

In North America, the following organizations (among others) have announced the start of Dhul-Hijja on Monday, January 2, and Eid ul Adha on Wednesday, Jan 11, 2006: