Moon Sighting
Darul Uloom Texas is a member of Central Hilal Committee, which is the head committee of Moon Sighting. Central Hilal Committee has sub committees established for moon sighting all over America. The committees are further divided into sub groups based on cities. Each city has its own team made for the purpose of moon sighting. The members of the team spread out within the city and even outside the city limits to look for the moon every month.
Every year a meeting is held to review the Moon Sighting Process in the light of Islamic Principles. This year the meeting was held in Chicago, on April 22, 2016.
It was attended by the following Ulema of Houston,
Maulana Imtiaz Rehman Thanvi (Asia Center)
Mufti Abdul Wahid (Darul Uloom Texas)
Mufti Kashif Saleem (Savoy Musallah)
Mufti Fauzan etc
The committee for moon sighting in Houston is Houston Ulema Council, which is headed by Maulana Imtiaz ur Rahman Thanvi of Asia Centre and consists of the following members,
Houston Ulema Council
Maulana Imtiaz Rehman Thanvi
President
Imam Asia Center
Mufti Abdul Wahid
General Secretary
Founder/President Darul Uloom Texas
Mufti Kashif Saleem
Imam Savoy Musallah
Qari Hassam Uddin
Imam Desi Village
Molana Hafiz Suleman
Imam Masjid-e-Aala
Maulana Asif
Imam Masjid-e-Furqan
Maulana Ansar Farooqi
Maulana Yousuf Rasool
Maulana Fareed Ul Islam
Maulana Usman
Madarsah Darul Hudda
Once a Shahadah is received from any part of America, it is thoroughly investigated according to Shariah principles. The team or any individual who has sighted the moon, is contacted either personally or over the phone. The person is asked several questions by the Ulema in the light of Shariah, to be more certain and remove any risks of false sightings.
All the teams, that are spread out all over in America, are connected to Central Hilal Committee. All the finding s are submitted to Central Hilal Committee, which then holds a conference call including all the head of the sub-committees. All the Shahadas are reviewed under strict Shariah principles and analysed by the Ulema before reaching any decision.
No sub-committee announces the decision until the Central Hilal Committee issues it. Once it has been issued then all the sub committees within America announce it to their communities.
This process is not only done for Ramadan & Eid, but Alhumdulillah, following the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.w ,all 12 months of the year are decided through this process.
Jazakallah.