RIYADH (Reuters) - Muslim countries are to use satellite technology to help in moon sightings, used to determine Islamic holidays, the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference said Sunday.
The OIC, the world’s largest Muslim body, plans to launch an $8-million satellite within two years to take pictures of the moon to find lunar calendar dates.
It said religious scholars would have access to accurate pictures of the shape of the moon instead of having to rely on naked-eye sightings which have in the past created discrepancies between Muslim countries or mistakes.
“Hopefully the satellite will stop the problems associated with lunar sightings,” spokesman Ahmed Imigene told Reuters.
A moon sighting committee in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, frustrated millions of worshippers when it said it got the date wrong by a day for the peak of this year’s haj pilgrimage in January.
The OIC will fund the project which was conceived by Cairo University’s Space Science Center.
“The satellite will have a fixed camera on board that will take highly-detailed pictures of the moon and beam them back to earth,” said Professor Mervat Awad, the center’s director.
The satellite, which is being built by an Italian firm, would also be used to research asteroids, Awad added.
It was not immediately clear how many countries would use the technology to determine religious dates. There is already some criticism from religious officials in Saudi Arabia, which uses the lunar calendar.
“The shape of the moon has to be seen from the ground,” said Osama al-Bar, dean of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Haj Research in Saudi Arabia.
haan lagta akal aagayi saudiyon ko. laikin sutrayain gaye nai. jhagartay rahain gaye saalay.
