Moonsighting for Safar 1438
1438 AH
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Al urjoonul qadeem of Muharram 1438: October 30 & October 29, 2016

On right is the old Crescent Moon (End of Muharram 1438 AH), October 29, 2016 (not the new moon to start Safar), (Photo on right was taken by Br. Mohamed Hussain of Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli, India on Saturday, 28th of Muharram 1438 (29th October 2016) from location - Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli; India (Lat: 08�42'51"N :& Long: 77�44'26"E ). Time: 05:38 am IST. The illumination was about 2%; the Altitude was 9� & horns were at 3 O'Clock to 8 O'Clock positions. Click on the photo to see full size.










New Crescent Moon of Safar 1438:

The Astronomical New Moon (conjunction) is on October 30, 2016 (Sunday) at 17:38 UT. On October 30, the moon cannot be seen anywhere in the world. On October 31, the moon can be seen in Saudi Arabia and Africa with difficulty, but can easily be seen in Americas. On November 1, the moon can be seen in the whole world (See visibility curves).

The earliest reported sighting of the new crescent was on October 31 (Monday) from Trinidad and Tobago.

October 31, 2016 (Monday):

  • Australia:

    1. Not Seen: MCW member Dr Shabbir Ahmed, The president of Al- Tadhkeer Society, Sydney, NSW reported: On October 31, the Hilaal of SAFAR has not been sighted anywhere in Australia. Therefore, the month of SAFAR will commence from Wednesday 2nd of November 2016.

  • Canada:

    1. Not Seen: MCW member Mr HiMY SYeD from Vancouver reported: This is a Negative Moonsighting report for Monday evening, October 31 2016, from Vancouver (Unceded Coast Salish Territories), Canada. After praying Maghrib at Ajyal Islamic Centre in Downtown Vancouver, I went walking and searched for the new moon. Due to an overcast sky, and barely any visibility through the cloud cover, no sighting of a new moon of the month of Safar was possible tonight.

  • Colombia:

    1. Not Seen (Cloudy): Mr CEI Al-Qurtubi from Bogota reported: Negative reports from Bogota, Colombia. The crescent could not be seen by our delegation. Even with optical aid, because of the cloudy horizon. For more information and pictures, please visit our page at: facebook.com/hilalcolombia

  • Egypt:

    1. Not Seen: MCW member Dr Hisham M. Hamed from Cairo reported: I attempted to sight the crescent from Cairo tonight at sunset (17:09) of Monday 31st October 2016 to no avail. There was no sign of it after I had returned from Maghreb prayers either. With a crescent width of 13.75", this was no surprise. Venus, Saturn and Mars were all visible, though! Temperature: 26� C, Clear sky; Humidity: 50%; Pressure: 1015.00 mb; Cloud Cover: 0%.

  • India:

    1. Not Seen: MCW member Dr Sayyad Mohd Arshi from Dehradun reported: In Dehradun, 31st October 2016 was 29 Muharram 1438 hijri (Monday) and I and my family tried to see the moon of Safar at my home from 05:50 pm to 06:10 pm but moon was not sighted.

  • Sri Lanka:

    1. Not Seen: MCW member Mr Abdurrrahman Razeen from Colombo reported: Today 31-10-2016AD=29-01-1438AH is the sighting day for the month of Safar 1438AH. I was in Colombo and Went to Bambalapitiya beach 10 minutes before the Sunset.The horizon was cloudy. The parameters are(at Colombol) Sun set:5.53pm. Moon set:6:30pm. Lag=37minutes. The prediction of the astronomers=Need Optical aid to detect the crescent. I couldn't sight it due to cloudy.

  • Tanzania:

    1. Not Seen: MCW member Mr Hamza Rijal from Tiny Island of Zanzibar reported: The new Crescent for Safar 1438 AH was not sighted on Monday 31, October 2016, sky was totally cloudy. The first day of Safar 1438 AH in tiny Island of Zanzibar begins on Wednesday 2nd November 2016.

  • Trinidad and Tobago:

    1. Seen: MCW member Umar Abdullah from Bon Accord, Tobago reported: The crescent moon to commence the month of Safar 1438 AH was looked for after the sunset of Monday 31st October 2016. Reports from all committees locally and regional confirm that the moon was SIGHTED. We have accepted these reports and has declared that the month of Muharram 1438 AH will complete 29 days and the 1st night of Safar 1438 AH will be the night of Monday 31st October 2016 and the first day of Safar 1438 AH will be the day of Tuesday 1st October 2016. Location: lat: 10 35 long: 61 21; Time of Sunset: 5:42:07pm; Time of first appearance of the crescent: 6:12pm; Pressure: 1,014.4; Temperature: 33.08 �C; Relative humidity: 31.3%.

    2. Seen: MCW member Mr Ishmael Khan from Princes Town, Trinidad reported: The moon for Safar 1438 was seen just after Maghrib on Monday the 31st October 2016 signaling the start of Safar 1438 as November 1st 2016. The horns of the crescent were at 3:00 O'clock to 8:00 O'Clock.

  • USA:

    1. Not Seen (Cloudy): MCW member Dr Javad Torabinejad from Blacksburg VA reported: This evening (Monday, October 31, 2016), the crescent moon was not sighted in Blacksburg, VA (Lat: 37� 15' 40" N, Lng: 80� 26' 56" W, and elevation: 646 meters). I arrived at my sighting location (Blacksburg Middle School) at 6:26 pm EDT (sunset: 6:24 pm). Using a pair of binoculars (7X35), I started looking for the crescent in the clearings of a mostly cloudy and hazy western horizon with no success. At 7:00 pm, I saw Venus. I ended the session at moonset (moonset: 7:21 pm). At 6:35 pm, the temperature, dew point, relative humidity, and pressure were 58.8 F, 54.0 F, 84%, and 30.21 in, respectively.

  • Zimbabwe:

    1. Not Seen: MCW member Mr Ayub Mahomed from Harare reported: On October 31, the moon was not sighted in Zimbabwe. 1st Safar will be on Wednesday 2nd November 2016 inshallah.

November 1, 2016 (Tuesday):

  • Australia:

    1. Seen: MCW member Mr Abbas Aly from Annangrove NSW reported: On November 1, 2016, the 1st night crescent has been sighted from Dural - Sydney at 7:40 pm in the direction 260 degrees west. It was still visible at 8:00 PM when the moon was 6 degrees above horizon. Click on the photo on right to see full size.

  • Egypt:

    1. Seen: MCW member Dr Hisham M. Hamed from Cairo reported: I attempted to sight the crescent from Cairo tonight at sunset (17:08) of Tue, Nov 1st. I had been watching the sunset since 17:00, and actually took a few good photographs. I could not make it out until 17:14, at which time it seemed to emerge from behind a thin but dark cloud. By 17:32 it had become much clearer. This moon was far away from earth (near Apogee) crescent. Temperature: 24� C, Humidity: 53%, Pressure: 1016.00 mb.

  • Ghana:

    1. Seen: MCW member Mr Baba Abdulai from Tamale reported: Date of sighting effort; Tuesday November 1, 2016. The crescent was SEEN in my location. The sky was clear. Time of first sighting was around 17:57. Sighting location, Lowlandi Rice Processing Centre (Near Tiyumba School Park, Tamale.

  • India:

    1. Seen: MCW member Dr Sayyad Mohd Arshi from Dehradun reported: In Dehradun, 1st November 2016 was 30 Muharram 1438 hijri (Monday), and I and my family easily sighted the moon of Safar at my home from 05:50 pm to 06:10 pm.

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