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He brings the moon to you

Shanthi Shankarkumar

When Khalid Shaukat came to America almost 30 years ago as a 26-year-old student and devout Muslim he was faced with a spiritual dilemma. How would he say his prayers five times a day when he did not know what direction faced Mecca? And what time should he pray?

Since nobody around seemed to have the answers, he decided he would get them on his own. His website moonsighting.com, which was started in 1996, is the result of years of research, calculations and computer programming. It gives moon sighting information to over 1,200 cities in 93 countries including the polar regions, and also provides a prayer schedule and qibla direction. His work also helps in the publishing of the Islamic calendar.

"It started as a basic need for myself but today benefits a lot of other people too," said Shaukat, 56. Last month during a night in Ramadan, 70,000 people logged onto his site. Muslims from all over the world, in fact from 165 countries, have sent him e-mail at one time or another.

Moon sighting is a phenomenon that marks the beginning of an Islamic month, which goes by a lunar cycle of 29 or 30 days. Islamic months are associated with worship. For example, the ninth month is the month of fasting of Ramadan. In the first month, the tenth day is considered as one of the biggest worship days. Similarly, the ninth day of the twelfth month is Haj Day, when people go to Mecca.

Mathematical calculations to predict the phases of the moon are nothing new. The Babylonians, Egyptians and Mayans all did it. The Greeks during Ptolemy's time had the accuracy down to a few minutes.

However, with the advent of computers, calculations have been made more accurate and faster. "I have developed my own program to facilitate moon sighting. It has been refined over the past two decades," said Shaukat.

The moon sighting calculations have still not reached the accuracy researchers like Shaukat would like because of what they call the "grey area". These are areas where the sighting of the moon is hampered by atmospheric conditions.

Moon sighting data provided by computer programs like Shaukat's help Muslims to prepare for festivities in advance, but tradition requires that the moon be actually sighted. In America, where Eid-ul-Fitr requires booking convention centers and halls for thousands of Muslims well in advance, not knowing the exact date can be a logistical headache. Naturally, people book halls for successive days.

It is a dilemma that Muslims face twice a year, at Eid-ul-Fitr and during another moon-dependent holiday, Eid-ul-Adha. This problem is spurring Muslims to ask their scholars to revisit the issue and permit mathematical calculations to allow them to fix one date for Eid-ul-Fitr.

"But no matter how good and accurate one is in the predictions, we have to see the moon," said Shaukat. Since 1993, he says his math has been right on each time.

Shaukat also provides information on the direction of Mecca. This is useful not only during prayer time but also when building a mosque, which has to be oriented towards Mecca. He has provided directions for several mosques in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean.

"I provide them a method that is more accurate than other methods including using a compass. We calculate the shadow of any vertical object in the sun on a particular day and a particular time. Based on the shadow's calculation I am able to compute the direction of Mecca," explained Shaukat.

An engineer, Shaukat works with a research organization in the Washington DC area and offers all his services -- moon sighting, prayer schedule, Islamic calendar and qibla direction -- free of charge. "It is a hobby which I work on for a couple of hours every evening," said Shaukat.

Born in Uttar Pradesh, Shaukat got his early education in a religious institute he attended there for seven years. He moved to Pakistan when he was 13 and later came to the US for higher education. He got a graduate degree in engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. "I have an American passport, but my roots are in India," Shaukat said.

Married with five children, ranging in age from 24 to 6, Shaukat has passed on his devout ways to his children. All five of them read the Quran, fast during Ramadan and pray five times a day, most of the time. A family that prays together obviously stays together.

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