Wednesday, 20 June 2012:

• Australia:

  1. Not Seen: Muhammad Khatree (MCW member), Brisbane, QL reported: A few brothers gathered to sight the crescent on the south side of Brisbane tonight. The crescent was not sighted. It was a clear sky with only a thin line of clouds just above the orange layer on the horizon. There was only one visible star in the sky. An attempt was also made to sight the crescent in the central Queensland town of Moranbah but despite clear skies, it was also not sighted there.

  2. Not Seen: Dr. Shabbir Ahmed (MCW member) Imam of Rooty Hill Mosque Sydney, NSW reported: On Wednesday 20th June 2012, the Hilal of SHA'BAN 1433 has not been sighted anywhere in Australia. Therefore, the Hilal Committee and Majlisul Ulama' of Australia have declared that the month of SHA'BAN 1433 will commence from Friday 22nd June 2012.

  3. Not Seen: Engr Manzoor A Mian (MCW member) from Melbourne, VIC reported: Melbourne was cloudy, patchy, windy, 9�C Temperature yesterday 20/6/12 Wed. We were unable to sight Sha'aban Crescent on 20/6/12 Wednesday. To my information, crescent was not sighted anywhere in Australia, hence the 1st day of Sha'aban is Friday, the 22nd of June 2012.

• Bangladesh:

  1. Not Seen: Engr. Azizul Huq (MCW member) from Dhaka reported: Moon was not seen on June 20 anywhere in Bangladesh. Islamic Foundation of Bangladesh anounced that there was no sighting of Moon in Bangladesh, so 1st day of Sha'ban will be June 22.

• Canada:

  1. Not Seen: Baig Muhammad Tamachi (MCW member) from Peterborough Ontario reported: Despite fairly clear skies in the scarlet south-westerly horizon, sighting of the Shabaan 1433 Hilaal was not possible in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada this evening, Wednesday 20th June, 2012. I was alone for sighting attempt; and was using Bushnell 10 X 50 binoculars. Duration of the attempt to see Hilaal was from 20:55 pm to 21:25pm. (Local sunset time was 21:01pm)

  2. Not Seen: HiMY SYeD (MCW member) from Toronto Ontario reported: After praying Maghrib Salat in Masjid Toronto, I quickly hurried to Nathan Phillips Square in front of City Hall to search for the new moon. The sky was clear. I searched for about ten minutes. I did not see the new crescent. I don't know if humidity is a factor. It was a very humid day earlier. Therefore this is a Negative moonsighting report from downtown Toronto for Wednesday June 20 2012.

• Chile:

  1. Seen: Muhammad Sohail (MCW member) from Iquique reported: In iquique (chile) on June 20 we saw the moon of Sha'ban, Thursday, June 21 is 1st of Sha'ban in Chile .

• China:

  1. Not Seen: Dr. Musa�Minhai (MCW member) from Linxia Gansu Province reported: This evening on Wednesday, 20 June 2012, I tried to see the moon from 20:15 to 21:00, but did not see the New Crescent of Syaban even with binoculars. There was a little cloud in the western sky.

• Fiji Islands:

  1. Not Seen: M Shamim Ali (MCW member) from Samabula Suva reported: New Moon for the month of Sha'ban 1433 was not sighted on 20/06/2012 anywhere in the Fiji Islands.

• India:

  1. Not Seen: Khalid Umer Maniar (MCW member) from Surat, Gujrat reported: On June 20, moon was not seen in Surat, Indai.

  2. Not Seen: Mohammad Yusuf (MCW member) from New Delhi reported: Today 20/06/2012 I, Mohammad Yusuf tried to see the Moon of Sha'baan in New Delhi, India from 07:25 pm to 07:50 pm after maghrib salah; horizon was too cloudy so I did not see the moon today.

• Indonesia:

  1. Not Seen: AR Sugeng Riyadi (MCW member) from Surakarta, Java reported: The New Crescent of Syaban 1433 AH was NOT SEEN from Assalaam Observatory, Surakarta Central Java Indonesia, because the sky was totally cloudy. However, the first of Syaban 1433 AH in Indonesia will start Thursday, June 21, 2012 based on Imkan Rukyah criterion by Indonesia Government.

• Lebanon:

  1. Not Seen: Dr. Hadi Jaafar (MCW member) reported: On June 20th 2012 I did not succeed in sighting the Crescent moon for the month of Shaaban. The western horizon of the Mediterranean here in Beirut was somewhat hazy. I arrived at the site around 7:50 PM and scanned the horizon with my 7*50 pair of binoculars till about 8:25. Local sunset at 7:53 and local moonset at 8:29 PM. Approximately 3 degrees above the horizon were full of clouds. Temp ~ 26 degrees celcius, wind speed at 18 km/hr, and Dewpoint at 21 degrees, relative humidity at 74%. Barometric pressure at 1005 hPa. I saw the crescent in my dream the same night though, but I know it doesn't count. I truely miss the clear skies of Fort Collins and Logan in USA, where I lived before.

• Malaysia:

  1. Not Seen: Firdaus Mazlan (MCW member) from Johor Bahru reported: On Wednesday, 20th June 2012 M equal to 29th Rajab 1433 H, I with my friend (Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim bin Jamil, Mr. Mohd Hizri bin Md. Aris, Mr. Mohammad Haniff bin Md Yusoff, Mr. Muhammad Zainal Abiden bin Mohamad Hani, Mr. Asmanizam bin Ghani) cannot see the new moon either with telescope or with naked eye at Baitul Hilal, Teluk Kemang, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia (02:26:43.0 N , 101:51:16.0 E). It because the horizon is very cloudy. So, tomorrow, 21st June 2012 (Thursday) is still 30th Rajab 1433 H. Howewer, our goverment already announced that tomorrow is 1st Sya�ban 1433 H.

• Mauritius:

  1. Not Seen: Goolam Tegally (MCW member) from Port Louis reported: Hilal was not sighted this evening here in Mauritius. The sky was clear but there was a band of cloud just over the horizon.

• Pakistan:

  1. Not Seen: Mufti Sultan Alam (MCW member) from Karachi reported: Today, on my request, nearly 100 persons ( members of the moon-sighting committees of our institute "JAMIA-TUR-RASHEED" + my friends + their companions) tried to sight the moon all over Pakistan at nearly 22 places but the moon could not be sighted. It was clear or little hazy at many places.
     Note 1: Today (Wednesday, 20 June 2012) the conditions of the moon were so defective, almost in the half inhabited world especially in Pakistan that according to the all old and new criteria of moon-sighting, there was no solid proof in the history of astronomy to sight such a moon by naked eyes in Pakistan.
     Note 2: Chairman of central official moon-sighting committee of Pakistan "Mufti Munee-bur-Rahman" told me on my mobile phone that as he did not receive any positive report of moon sighting from all over Pakistan, therefore he officially announced that Thursday 21 June 2012 is the 30th Rajab 1433 and 1st Sha�baan 1433 will fall on Friday 22 June 2012.

• South Africa:

  1. Seen: Dr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim (MCW member) from Signal Hill reported: The Hilaal for Shabaan was sighted from Signal Hill at 18h19 this evening (Wednesday, 20/6/2012 and the end of the 29th day of Rajab). The 1st Shabaan will correspond to Thursday, 21 June 2012.

  2. Seen: Rashid Motala (MCW member) from Durban reported: The Hilaal was sighted this evening in Cape Town.

• Tanzania:

  1. Seen: Zaffar Sheriff (MCW member) from Daressalaam reported: Local sunset in Daressalaam Tanzania 6:13pm. Crescent Altitude at sunset 10 deg. Elongation 10.8; Age 24hr 14min; lag duration 48min. On June 20, the sighting was confirmed at 6:42pm (29 minutes after sunset).

• UK:

  1. Not Seen: Qamar Uddin (MCW member) from York reported: On Wednesday, 20 June 2012 (29 Rajab 1433 AH) many people from throughout UK have attempted to sight the crescent moon (Hilal) of Shaban after sunset. None of the groups were able to sight the Hilal, as most places were cloudy. However, we have received reliable sighting reports (Muhaqaq-Ruyat-Basari) from both Morocco Awqaf Ministry and Jamiat-e-Ulama South Africa.
     Therefore, the Wifaq/Batley Ulama have decided that the month of Rajab 1433 AH will have 29 days and the month of Shaban 1433 AH will start from Thursday 21 June 2012 (i.e. sunset of 20 June 2012), which makes Laylatul Bara'ah/Night of 15 Shaban to be on Wednesday 4 July 2012, Insha-Allah.
     Note that the night come before the day in Islamic calendar, so the day of 15 Shaban is on Thursday 5 July 2012!
     Saudi Arabia did not make any official Hilal sighting announcement for Shaban, hence they started it according to the Ummul Qura Calendar.

• USA:

  1. Seen w/Binoculars: Javad Torabinejad (MCW member) from Blacksburg VA reported: This evening (Wednesday, June 240, 2012), the crescent moon of Sha'ban was sighted in Blacksburg, VA (Lat: 37� 15' 40" N, Lng: 80� 26' 56" W, and elevation: 646 meters). We arrived at our sighting location around 8:00 pm EDT (sunset: 8:45 pm). I started scanning the clear spots in a mostly cloudy and hazy western horizon, using binoculars (7X50 and 10X50). It was at 9:08 pm that the moon appeared in one of those openings about 3 degrees above the horizon, was sighted by the 10X50 pair of binoculars, and soon after was covered by clouds. My daughter could also sight the crescent with the binoculars. I tried to sight it with naked eye during the short time but was unable to see it (moonset: 9:32 pm). At 8:55 pm, the temperature, dew point, relative humidity, and pressure were 71.6 F, 68.0 F, 88%, and 30.20 in, respectively.

  2. Seen w/Binoculars: Mohammed Yahya Shaikh (MCW member) from Anaheim CA reported: Allhamdullilah moon for Shaban was seen with the aid of binos (10X32X60) at 8:39 pm in Anaheim CA on July 20th 2012. The iluminated horns were between 1 O'clock and 5 O'clock. At no point was the hilal visible with the naked eye.

  3. Seen: Mohamedraza H.Janmohamed (MCW member) from Sanford FL reported: The Moon-sighting Sub-committee wishes to inform the community that the new crescent for the month of Sha�baan was sighted in Los Angeles & San Diego, California. �Cities in the southern Region of the USA� would thus be advised that THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2012 is established as the 1st Day of Mahe Sha�baan, 1433 AH.

  4. Seen: Kazim Mamdani (MCW member) from San Diego, CA reported: I saw the crescent moon in San Diego tonight at 8:25 PST with naked eye.

  5. Seen: Mirza Shahid Basravi (MCW member) from Irvine CA reported: I reached my favorite site in Irvine, Ca., the Jeffrey Road bridge crossing over I.S. Hwy 5, just before Sunset at about 7:55pm. I used a 7 x 35 Bushnell binocular and spotted the moon around 8:16pm. The sky was clear and then moon was approximately 8 degrees above the Horizon. The crescent pointers were 1 O'clock and 7 O'clock. The crescent was still not visible with my bare eyes and also not visible with my regular prescription glasses at this time. Then I drove back to my home, where I had left behind my camera. Attached are pictures taken near my house in Irvine Ca., at 8:31pm and 8:40pm, with a 12x optical zoom camera. When these pictures were taken the crescent was visible to me with my prescription glasses and my wife, Anjum, could see it with her bare eyes. taken at 8:31 pm.

• Zimbabwe:

  1. Seen: Ayub Mahomed (MCW member) from Harare reported: Moon sighted by myself and other few muslim brothers in harare at 6pm local time.Tomorrow 21st june will be ist shabaan.