Sighting Possibilities for Sha'ban 1427

Dr. Shabbir Ahmed, (MCW member) Imam of Rooty Hill Mosque, Sydney, Australia: Not Seen
The Hilaal of Sha‘baan 1427 has not been sighted anywhere in Australia on Thursday 24 August 2006, therefore moon-sighting committee of Australia and Majlis ul Ulamaa of Australia have declared that the month of Sha‘baan will start from Saturday 26, August, 2006.

Shahid Iqbal (MCW member) from Swabi, Pakistan: Not Seen
Negative sighting today on Thursday, 24 August 2006 ( Offical 28 Rajab 1427 Hijri ) . Western horizon was exclusively taken over by thin and black clouds, till moon set at 2:12 p.m UTC, here at my sighting location 72 deg 17 min East of Greenwich, 34 deg 13 min North of the equater and 315 m above sea level.
Sun set moon set lag was 24 min. Altitude was 4.5 against relative azimuth of -6.2. Moon age was 18.62 hours. Luminosity and magitude were 0.56 and -4.82. No 'mistaken sighting' reports received from any part of the country on account of monsoon weather conditions.
Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will meet tomorrow at Administrator Auqaf Office Peshawar, for deciding the beginning of Sha'ban.

Hussain Khushaish (MCW member) from Kuwait: Not Seen
In KUwait on Thursday 24 aug 2006 I could not sight the crescent even with 20*60 binocular .The sun disc disappeared from veiw at 18:03 thats 18 minutes before its real setting .the western horizon was hazy upto 6 degrees.

Hamza Rijaal, (MCW member), from Island of Zanzibar, Africa: Not Seen
The Hillal of SHAABAN 1427 has not been seen on August 24, 2006 anywhere in tiny island of Zanzibar, therefore the Mufty office have declared that the month of SHAABAN will start from Saturday 26 August, 2006

Dr Abdurrazak Ebrahim (MCW member) from Cape Town, S. Africa: Not Seen
The Shabaan Hilaal was not sighted in Cape Town this Thursday evening, 24 August 2006 (the end of the 29 Rajab 1427 AH). The official first day of Shabaan will correspond to Saturday, 26 August 2006.

Rashid Motala (MCW member) from Durban, South Africa: Not Seen
The Hilaal for Sha'baan was not sighted this evening in SA. Saturday will be the 1st.

Muhammed Yasin Qamardeen (MCW member) from Railway Line Ashade Market Mangoro, Agege, Lagos Nigeria: Not Seen
Sun set time:18:51: Despite relative clear sky the hilal of Sha'ban is not visible (About ten degree from horizon is dusty). Also reports from Sokoto, Bauchi city, Gombe, Ilorin, and Maiduguri are negative sighting due to clouds. Meanwhile officially, Sha'ban commenced on the evening of Thursday 24 August 2006 in Nigeria.

Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti (MCW member) from Fez, Morocco: Not Seen
Negative sighting. I am not in Oxford to perform the sighting at the end of the 29th day of the preceding lunar month (Thursday, 24 August 2006) but I am able to report the sighting for Fez, Morocco, which is in the sighting zone [matla'] that can be relied upon for those in the UK. The horizon is clear and moonspotters there could not sight the crescent. The Moroccan authorities have declared that the month of Rajab is to complete its 30 days. This news and the expectation that there will be no possible sighting tonight in the UK itself or anywhere further East is sufficient for us to complete this month and establish the new month [thubut al-hilal] of Sha'ban in the UK to be on the day after tomorrow, Saturday, the 26th of August. Consequently, the 15th of Sha'ban is on Saturday, 9th of September of which the Night of Nisf Sha'ban, in the UK as in Morocco, should be after the sun sets on Friday, the 8th of September.

Javad Torabinejad (MCW member) from Blacksburg, Virginia: Not Seen
On Thursday evening, using a pair of 7X50 binoculars, I started scanning the western horizon about 15 min after sunset for about 10 min. The sky condition was not too good (it was partly cloudy with very high humidity) in the Eastern shores of Virginia. I could not sight the moon.

Shahnoor Syed (MCW member) from Chicago, Illinois: Not Seen
On Thursday, 24th August 2006. Crescent of Sha'ban was not sighted in Chicago.

Eric Engler and Laura D. Zajchowski from Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Not Seen
At 20:43 Mountain Daylight Time: Atmospheric conditions: 15 degrees Celsius, barometer 101.8 kPa (rising), visibility 24 km, humidity 48%, dewpoint 5 degrees Celsius, ceiling 2286 meters (ASL).
Western horizon was completely obscured by variant cloud cover; nimbostratus, stratocumulus and various cirrus-type cloud formations were all present. As such no sighting of the moon was possible.

Hadi Jaafar (MCW member), Ph.D. from Fort Collins, Colorado: Not Seen
Very cloudy here in Fort Collins; moon sighting has not been attempted.

Paul Burnham (MCW member) from Chino Valley, Arizona: Seen
I am happy to report that the crescent moon was sighted from Chino Valley, AZ this evening of August 24th. Initial sighting was with binoculars at 19:21MST. The arc was of a dubious 90 degrees, oriented from the 2:30 to 5:30 position relative to the horizon. The crescent was then lost in a cloud layer from 19:38 to 19:40 and was thereafter followed with binoculars until final disappearance at 19:39. At no time was the crescent confidently seen with the naked eye.

Gulamabbas A. Khakoo (MCW member) from Buena Park, California: Not Seen
Today Thursday, Aug. 24th, 2006 unable to sight the crescent from Long Beach, CA. The sky was slight hazy, used binoculars but unsuccessful. Local time from 7:40pm to 8:20pm finally I gave up. Temperature: 69°F 21°C : Conditions: Fair : Winds: NW 6 MPH NW 10 KPH : Relative Humidity: 73% : Barometer: 29.83 Rising : Visibility: 8.00 Miles 12.87 Kilometers : Feels Like: 69°F n/a

August 25, 2006 (Friday):

Shahid Iqbal (MCW member) from Swabi, Pakistan: Seen
Sha'ban moon was easily sighted here in Swabi, Pakistan without use of optical aid today on Friday, 25 August 2006. Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee also announced sighting of Sha'ban moon in Peshawar. Therefore Saturday, 26 August will be the First of Shaaban 1427 Hijri.

Hussain Khushaish (MCW member) from Kuwait: Seen
In Kuwait on Friday 25 aug 2006 I could only see the crescent with 20*60 binocular .A crescent of 44 hours age , 55 minutes of lag , a 19.5 degrees of elongation , a 11.75 degrees of heigt and 3 % of illumination and yet the crescent was only seen with binocular thats a good indication of our bad weather. I saw the crescent 8 minutes after sunset for 3~4 minutes before it went behind a black layer of combined cloud and haze.

Javad Torabinejad (MCW member) from near Charlottesville, Virginia: Seen
AsSalaamuAlaikum; on Friday evening (August 25, 2006), driving on freeway 64 near Charlottesville, VA, I was able to sight the crescent moon with naked eye. Humidity was very high and the western horizon was covered by patches of clouds.

Abdul Sattar Ridhan (MCW member) from San Jose, California: Seen
I am happy to report sighting of Moon by Br. Adnan Rashid here in San Jose California.Today Friday August 25, 2006 ( Br. Adnan is a Member of San Jose Islamic Center).

Gulamabbas A. Khakoo (MCW member) from Buena Park, California: Seen
Sighted the crescent for the month of Sha'baan on Friday, Aug. 25th, 2006 local time 7:40pm in Buena Park, CA. The sighting was with a naked eye and was very clear on the left side of the sunset.. The top horn of the crescent was after 12:00 o'clock and botom horn was after 7:00 o'clock.