Shaykh Dr. Haitham al-Haddad is a jurist who seeks to contextualise classical Islamic knowledge for the modern era. He is a firm believer that Islam is uniquely qualified — more than any other system — to build a divine civilisation capable of helping humanity to enjoy a better life in all spheres by maintaining the correct balance between the rights of the Creator and the rights of the creation. He believes Islam is the only viable alternative to the failing unjust and oppressive contemporary world systems, as Allah says: "You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind: you enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and believe in Allah." (al-Qur'ān, 3:110) According to this verse, Shaykh Haitham identifies the pillars of Islamic reform as īmān (faith), unity of the Ummah, impactful action, and knowledge. Drawing from his expertise in Islamic principles — Usūl al-Fiqh, Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah, ‘Aqīdah, and other Islamic sciences — he promotes these foundational pillars to guide the Ummah’s revival. He is known for developing advanced theories that explore the role of Islamic jurisprudence in obtaining solutions for the contemporary challenges facing humanity, and he critically re-evaluates how Islamic legal rulings (fatāwa) can be formulated in light of modern sociopolitical realities. Shaykh Dr. Haitham al-Haddad earned his PhD from SOAS, University of London, with a doctoral thesis on Islamic jurisprudence concerning Muslim minorities. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Sharī‘ah and Law from the University of Omdurman, Sudan, and a degree in engineering from the renowned King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia. He has undertaken intensive studies in management, becoming a certified ISO 9000 auditor. In addition, he has studied various Islamic sciences under leading scholars of the Muslim world, including the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Shaykh ‘Abdul-‘Aziz ibn Baz, among many others. He has obtained many classical ijāzāt in various Islamic sciences, including Qur'ān and Hadīth. Shaykh Haitham has served as an Islamic judge for several UK-based arbitration and legal bodies for over 20 years; he is a judge at Islamic Council. He has delivered hundreds of courses on topics such as Fiqh, ‘Aqīdah, Usūl al-Fiqh, Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah, Tafsīr, Sīrah, Islamic Thought, Islamic Leadership and Management, Da'wah, Reform, and Political Engagement. Shaykh Haitham has also submitted many academic papers in many universities around the world. He is frequently consulted by numerous Islamic organisations across Europe and beyond, and serves as a senior scholar at Islam21c. Shaykh Haitham has lectured in various universities around the Muslim world, provided counsel to Islamic institutions, authored several books and textbooks for different institutions, and travelled extensively to advocate for the reform and unity of the Ummah.
With due respect the explanation given does not provide confidence.
When calculations for fajr times when the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon (note: an event no-one can give shahada for – it’s calculations) is relied upon as ‘actual fact’ of sehri end time and fajr start time, to say that the same calculation methods which predict time and place for solar eclipses (moon travelling across the sun) is ‘theoritical fact’ and not ‘actual fact’ demonstrates naivety at best and indifference at worst.
Visibility maps provided by UK’s HM Almanac Office (http://astro.ukho.gov.uk/nao/miscellanea/ramadan_2019/eid_al-fitr.html) and the Muslim astronomer website (https://moonsighting.com/1440shw.html) provide a base against which shahadas can be validated. Yes if it was possible no if it was not.
The REAL issue here is not so much the astronomy but the lack of openness and transparency in how masjids decide Islamic dates. The priority should be to initiate a transparency campaign, to make the decision-making process/criteria transparent so Muslims can have confidence in how decisions have been reached. Following the majority is the objective but not to create a chicken and egg situation where few organisations change to following the sunnah of moon-sighting because they remain looking at each other saying the majority is doing it the day before.
With principled discussion and transparency the majority will gravitate towards the sunnah insha’Allah so there will be, in time, no issue of being forced to chose between the demonstrably-unverifiable majority and the verifiable sunnah. May Allah swt grant success to those who strive for excellence.
Seriously. So with a clear sky is Saudi Arabia only 2 people as a witness?
And we got so many people plus live streaming on Facebook of sighting the moon on the 4th.
Basically you should make yourself blind if your leaders are blind
Thanks for detailed explanation. In the end I am more confused / unsure after listening to Sh Haitham. I fully understand his explanation re car travelling a distance and difference between theoretical and practical results. Moving away from the subject for a moment there are instances many of us have experienced in our life time where the scientists have predicted / advised that moon and or sun eclipsed will take place on a certain date /time and will be visible in certain part of the world. For sure it has proved to be the case every time this prediction was made. My understanding is that the prediction re birth and visibility of moon is also made by applying the same knowledge by the scientist then why we should just leave it as theoretical and not practical result/ conclusion.
Any argument/ explanation will highly be appreciated as I am eager to learn.
Sheikh is out here to defend the Saudi Arabia’s wrong doing. Yes you can reject two persons testimony if it is absurd. Answer lied in his lecture itself. Lets take the example of the car itself. Suppose a car has top speed of 100 Miles. and someone testifies that the car traveled 500 miles in 4 hours then we can easily call him a liar and reject his testimony. A moon can not be visible in 6 hours of it’s birth. It is absurd. I had respect for him before but I will be very cautious to take any opinion from him