Hilal (crescent moon)

A very slender crescent moon

Hilal (Arabic: هلال‎ hilāl) is an Arabic term, first developed in pre-Islamic Arabia, meaning crescent moon – specifically, the very slender crescent moon that is first visible after a new moon. Muslims look for the hilal when determining the beginning and end of Islamic months, but do not worship it. The need to determine the precise time of the appearance of the hilal was one of the inducements for Muslim scholars to study astronomy.^[1]

The Quran says: "And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate to Allah Who created them, if you (really) worship Him." (sura 41 (Fussilat) 37). In another verse, “They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the new moons. Say, ‘They are measurements of time for the people and for Hajj.’” (sura 2 (al-Baqara) 189)

See also

• Star and crescent
• Beginning of Ramadan

References

1. Hilal - Oxford Islamic Studies Online

External links

• HilalSighting.org - More information about hilal sighting in North America
• ChicagoHilal.org - Promoting the sunnah of moon sighting
• MoonSighting.com - Showing possibility of crescent sighting
• Predicting the first visibility of the lunar crescent