What decides start of Ramadan: science or politics?

       Regrettably, politics plays a role, and sectarian feuds play a role which runs counter to Islamic teachings.
       In a departure from well-established tradition developed over centuries,Saudi Arabia last Thursday evening used telescopes for the first time to monitor the birth of the lunar fasting month of Ramadan.
       Legal moon sighting panels across the Middle East have appealed to citizens to look for the crescent of Ramadan,which according to unequivocal Koranic verses heralds the start of fasting for 1.5 billion Muslims throughout the world.
       Theoretically, if the crescent was sighted Thursday evening either by the traditional method of the naked eye or through telescopes, Muslims would start fasting from dawn to sunset on Friday.Otherwise, the beginning of the month of Ramadan would be on Saturday.
       However, many think that politics plays a role in deciding the start and the end of the fasting month, a phenomenon that aggravates Arab and Islamic divisions.
       "Regrettably, politics plays a role, and sectarian feuds play a role - which runs counter to Islamic teachings," said Ibrahim Zeid Kilani, the head of Iftaa (judgements) for the Jordanian political party,the Islamic Action Front.
       "As a result of political alignments,we see Ramadan starting differently in Iran, Oman or Morocco," he said.
       He attributed feuds over when Ramadan starts and ends to the absence of democratically elected governments in several countries in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
       "This happens because people stay aloof from governments, and rulers govern according to their discretion," he said.
       Mr Kilani referred to practices in the past when some Arab countries clustered around Saudi Arabia, while others joined Egypt in deciding differently the start and end of the fasting month.
       Iran, the Islamic world's major Shia (Shi'ite) country, most of the time keeps up the tradition of fasting one or two days earlier or later than the predominantly Sunni Arab world.
       And Shi'ite communities in Iraq,Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain and other Arab countries almost always follow the Iranian lead.
       "It is high time for Muslims all over the world to strictly adhere to the Almighty's orders and start fasting only when the moon is clearly sighted," Mr Kilani said.
       He supported the utilisation of science and astronomical calculations to verify the advent of Ramadan and clear any suspicions regarding the birth of the crescent.
       He recited from the holy Koran,"The Sun and the Moon follow their exact course."
       Saudi scholar Mohsen Awaji also regretted that "politicians were exploiting these massive occasions" and supported making use of astronomical calculations to prove the start and end of Ramadan.
       "My opinion is that the nation should supersede opportunist politicians and those who fear science," said Mr Awaji,a member of the International Federation of Islamic Scholars, speaking to the Dohabased al-Jazeera satellite channel.
       "I believe Islamic scholars and astronomers should team up to decide with precision the beginning of Ramadan,as the development of such mechanism will help to end feuds on this score," he said.