Starting Date of Hijri Months

If the first two columns above were orange, then we could say Saudi Arabia follows the Sunnah, i.e. actual verifiable sighting. Based on reports by qualified observers in the Arabian Peninsula and the overwhelming evidence that announcements correspond either to calculations and/or the Jewish calendar, it becomes readily apparent that something is seriously wrong!

‡ Sighting was possible due to a confirmed sighting east of the Arabian peninsula, but was not reported by any known Hilāl sighting committee member in the Arabian peninsula.

The Hebrew Calendar is a calculated calendar based on the “new moon” (when it is born, i.e. before it becomes a thin crescent). How can Saudi Arabia announce the sighting of a crescent on six separate occasions (5 Dec 2002, 2 Feb 2003, 25 Nov 2003, 13 Nov 2004, 21 Dec 2006, 12 Oct 2007) before the Jews had even finished their month?

Sighting Dates Preceed the Actual Hijri Date by One Day!

Since the day starts at Maghrib in Islam, and crescent sightings are always made after Maghrib, we take the next day’s date in the Gregorian calendar when we speak about Hijri dates. For instance, in the first photograph listed below, the actual 1st of Ramadān 1426 is not 4 Oct 2005, rather it is 5 Oct 2005, since we go by the majority of the Islamic day in the realm of the Western timeframe (12 Midnight to sunset; about 18 hours usually).