Ramadan moon sighting: The possible influence of Al-Biruni on the classical Baghdadi scholars

A summary of Ayatullah Sistani's lecture, delivered on 6 October 1996, quoted by Ayatullah Yaqubi in his book 'Mathematics for the Islamic jurist' pages 200 - 202 (original Arabic pages posted at the bottom of he post):

'The issue of “Ramadan always being a 30 days month” was a disputed issue in the mid-fourth century AH. Shaikh Mufid wrote a treatise*, which was quoted by Syed Ibn Tawus in ‘Iqbalul Aamal’ (vol 1 pages 33 - 35), to refute those who claim that Ramadan can be of 29 days as well and that the start and end of Ramadan are determined based upon moon sighting instead. The main proponent of this view was Shaikh Ibn Dawud al Qummi*, which Shaikh Mufid considered to be a modern heresy. Shaikh Mufid wrote: “What proves his [Ibn Dawud al Qummi’s] lie is, that in the current year 363 AH, eventhough the hadith narrators and scholars now are less in number as compared to the past, but nonetheless they are all unanimous on the view that Ramadan is always 30 days. Among those who hold this view are Shaikh Abi Muhammad al Hussaini, Shaikh Ibn Qulaweh, Shaikh Saduq and his brother Hussain b. Ali b. Babuweh al Qummi, and Shaikh Haroon b. Musa al Tala’kbari.” It seems that Shaikh Mufid, who was in his thirties at that time and this was his first treatise on this topic, had been influenced by his teacher Ibn Qulaweh, who had also written a treatise to refute Ibn Dawud, who was a great scholar.

Shaikh Saduq also mentioned this view (that Ramadan is always 30 days) in his book “al Khisal” (page 531) and reported nine ahadith that support this view, and commented after that: ‘The view of the elite and analytical Shias is that Ramadan is never less than 30 days, and the ahadith which state this are in line with Quran and against the aama (sunnis). Therefore, the feeble minded amongst the Shias who instead support the narrations which occurred due to taqiyya and which state that Ramadan can be less than 30 days and like all other months, it can sometimes be of 29 days and sometimes 30 days; are [inadvertently] doing taqiyya like the aama [whose practices are in line with the Shia narrations stated out of taqiyya]’.

Syed Ibn Tawus mentioned that Shaikh Karajaki also had this view [that Ramadan is always 30 days]. Shaikh Mufid then later rescinded his view in his book ‘Masabih al Noor’ (‘Lanterns of light’), and embraced Ibn Dawad’s position [that Ramadan can infact be 29 or 30 days as per moonsighting]; in his book ‘risalah al adadiyah’(page 15) which is published by the title ‘Jawab ahlul Mosul’, he was asked about the view that Ramadan is always 30 days, and he responded that I have provided a sufficient reply to this in my book ‘Masabih al Noor’. Also, Sharif al Murtada and Shaikh Tusi, both of whom were students of Shaikh Mufid, wrote treatises in refutation of the view that Ramadan is always 30 days, and so eventually this view ceased to exist. Al Biruni, who was their contemporary and one of the greatest Muslim scholar of Mathematics and Astronomy, and among those after whom the latter scholars termed his era – the fourth century AH – the ‘Era of appearance of sciences’, mentioned in his book ‘Al Athar al baqiyah’ that it is strange that it has been reported from the Imams (as) that they believe in Ramadan always being 30 days, even though this is contrary to Astronomy. Al Biruni was based in Baghdad [for some period] and was their contemporary, and I believe that it is possible that he therefore had an influence on Shia scholars to rescind their view that Ramadan is always 30 days, such that this view eventually ceased to exist.'

*Translator's note: Ayatullah Koei has cast doubts about the attribution of such a treatise to Shaikh Mufid, and has even considered it to be a possible lie. However, as he has not presented any substantial evidence, it seems appropriate to trust Syed Ibn Tawus's attribution of the treatise to Shaikh Mufid, considering that Syed Ibn Tawus precedes Ayatullah Koei by almost 726 years.

*Translator's note: While it is possible that Al Biruni's scientific view acted as the catalyst towards the change in stance of the Baghdadi scholars, but it is interesting to note, that the person who initially held this view of Ramadan being possibly 29 or 30 days, was the traditional master Qummi muhadith and knowledgeable rijali, Ibn Dawud al Qummi. Ibn al Ghadairi considered him to be the most knowledgeable in hadith and fiqh, and he had also authored a book on rijal. It is also interesting to note, that Shaikh al Mufid, in his 'Jawabat ahlul Mosul', does not provide any scientific arguments (let alone mention al Biruni) but instead focuses a lot on ahadith and rijal, and it is not unlikely that those arguments are the same that Ibn Dawud al Qummi would have advanced in the first place. Overall, it seems likely that al Biruni's view stimulated Shaikh Mufid to rethink his earlier position during his younger days of relative immaturity, thereafter he embraced Ibn Dawud al Qummi's position, and did not make a reference to al Biruni as scientific/secular arguments would have been considered irrelevant among the clergy back then, and may even have been damaging to his reputation, and giving credit to al Biruni would have also meant giving publicity to his other ideas as well some of which may not have been in line with his orthodox views; and most importantly, unlike Western universities of today, giving accurate references back then (arguably even now) was not important among clerics.

"Al Riyadiat lil faqih", Pages 200 - 202: