February 5, 2002

A number of questions are agitating the minds of Muslims today for which they are looking for convincing answers. Some might appear to be minor issues but all of them have profound implications for the practical lives of people. For instance there is the controversy over the actual sighting of the Eid moon. Muslims are arguing over the advent of the lunar month in an age when man has landed on the moon.

As a result it often happens that more than one Eid are celebrated on different days in the same country or even in the same city. This deprives the event of its sanctity.

Iftikhar Husain, who has spent his retirement years studying th Quran, takes up the subject of the sighting of the moon and others in the book under review, Quranic spotlight on some issues. Pointing out that the sighting of the new moon for the purpose of calculating the lunar dates has not been mentioned in the Holy Quran, he suggests that to avoid any inconvenience Muslim scholars should adopt astronomic computations instead of relying on moon sighting by the naked eye.

These computations are dependable because, he says, “man has made wonderful achievements with the help of these computations like landing on the moon, putting satellites in orbit around the earth, sending rockets to probe other planets in the solar system, putting the Hubble telescope in orbit far above the earth to get a deeper and clearer view of the universe, etc.”

He asks a pertinent question: why do not the Muslim scholars accept the astronomic computations regarding the appearance of the new moon when they “in the month of Ramazan issue the schedule of Sahr and Iftar which is based on astronomic computations. For this purpose they do not look towards the sky.”

“Besides this,” he adds, “they prepare and implement throughout the year the schedule of Namaaz based on astronomic computations.”

All this appeals to one’s logic. But there is a rub. Can the centuries-old practice be changed overnight? Some authentic and universally accepted organization will have to produce the lunar calendar based on astronomic computations every year and establish its accuracy. Only then could it win general acceptance and the change made.

Having worked as the finance director in a well-known company, Iftikhar Husain is well qualified to write about the banking system. He discusses Riba and bank interest and concludes: “Arriba has been referred to in the Holy Quran as the doubling and multiplying of the capital sum borrowed by the debtor. That would be oppression and exploitation. Bank interest cannot be considered as oppressive or exploitative. Even for this reason alone it seems bank interest does not fall under the Quranic term Arriba.”

In the book, the author deals with the basic principles enjoined in the Quran and firmly believes that “the miracle of the Quran is that when fundamental changes occur in the structure of societies the words and language of the Quran grant the appropriate guidance.”

The book does provide food for thought.

Quranic spotlight on some issues
By Iftikhar Husain
Academy of Education Research, All Pakistan Education Conference, 1-J-45/10 Altaf Ali Brelvi Road, Nazimabad-7460, Karachi. Tel: 621195
Available at Pakistan Eye Bank society, St-19/7 Sector 14-B, Near Nagan Chowrangi, North Karachi Tel: 6908053. Email: Pakistaneyebank@hotmail.com
63pp

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