If an Upright Person’s Report Conflicts with the Rules of Astronomy, Which Is Considered?

Question

[ar]إذا تعارض المحاق بحسب علم الهندسة وخبر العادل برؤية الهلال، لأيهما الترجيح؟ وقد وقع الاختلاف في هذا الأمر بين العلماء.[/ar] “If the muhaq (the period of the moon’s invisibility at the end of the month) according to the science of geometry (handasa, i.e. astronomical calculation) conflicts with the report of an upright person (‘adl) that he sighted the new moon, which of the two is given preference? Scholars have differed on this matter.”

Answer

[ar]قال العلامة الحصكفي: ولا عبرة بقول الموقتين ولو عدولًا على المذهب. اهـ[/ar] Al-‘Allama al-Haskafi said: “The statement of the timekeepers (muwaqqits, experts in astronomical time-reckoning) is not taken into account, even if they are upright, according to the school” (“al-Durr al-Mukhtar”, vol. 2, p. 92).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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