Muslims all over the world will be looking, on Wednesday, March 2, for the new moon of the holy month of Sha`ban.
“The Astronomical New Moon (conjunction) is on March 2, 2022 (Wednesday) at 17:35 UT. On March 2, the moon can only be seen by telescope in Polynesian Islands,” Moonsighting.com reported.
“The moon can be seen with difficulty in Middle East and Europe, but easily in Africa and Americas on March 3. On March 4, it can be seen in the whole world.”
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Sha`ban is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar. This is the month of “separation”, so-called because the pagan Arabs used to disperse in search of water.
The Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar, and months begin when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. Since the Hijri lunar calendar year is 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year, Shaaban migrates throughout the seasons.
The month is very special for Muslims as it’s a prelude to Ramadan, the 9th Hijri month; “O Allah, make the months of Rajab and Sha’ban blessed for us, and let us reach the month of Ramadan (i.e. prolong our life up to Ramadan, so that we may benefit from its merits and blessings).”
A new Hijri month starts when the First Crescent appears before sunset by a time gap of a few minutes at a minimum.
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Wednesday, March 2
Thursday, March 3
Friday, March 4
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