Statement of the Religious Authority Office at the Institution of the Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah (ra), regarding the Beginning of the Month of Rabi’ al-Awwal 1448 AH
The new crescent of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal for the year 1448 AH (central conjunction) will be born on Wednesday, the twelfth of August for the year 2026 AD, at 17:37 p.m. GMT, which is 20:37 p.m. according to the summer time of the city of Beirut.
As noted in the above-mentioned picture, sighting the new crescent on Wednesday evening (the night of Thursday) is impossible in all regions. Therefore, Thursday, August 13, 2026, will complete the thirty days of the month of Safar.
On Thursday evening (the night of Friday), the new crescent can be sighted easily with the naked eye, or subject to clear skies, or with the armed eye in most regions of the world, as shown in the attached picture. Consequently, the beginning of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal will be on Friday, August 14, 2026.This is according to the jurisprudential opinion of his Eminence, the Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah (ra), who views that the month begins if it is possible to sight the crescent in any region of the world, provided that we share a part of the night with it, without difference between sighting with the naked eye and with the armed eye.
We ask Allah the Most Exalted to grant us relief, to encompass us with His vast mercy, to lift this grief from this nation, to aid the afflicted, and to bestow His favor upon the oppressed, for He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.
Statement of the Religious Authority Office at the Institution of the Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah (ra), regarding the Beginning of the Month of Rabi’ al-Awwal 1448 AH
The new crescent of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal for the year 1448 AH (central conjunction) will be born on Wednesday, the twelfth of August for the year 2026 AD, at 17:37 p.m. GMT, which is 20:37 p.m. according to the summer time of the city of Beirut.
As noted in the above-mentioned picture, sighting the new crescent on Wednesday evening (the night of Thursday) is impossible in all regions. Therefore, Thursday, August 13, 2026, will complete the thirty days of the month of Safar.
On Thursday evening (the night of Friday), the new crescent can be sighted easily with the naked eye, or subject to clear skies, or with the armed eye in most regions of the world, as shown in the attached picture. Consequently, the beginning of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal will be on Friday, August 14, 2026.This is according to the jurisprudential opinion of his Eminence, the Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah (ra), who views that the month begins if it is possible to sight the crescent in any region of the world, provided that we share a part of the night with it, without difference between sighting with the naked eye and with the armed eye.
We ask Allah the Most Exalted to grant us relief, to encompass us with His vast mercy, to lift this grief from this nation, to aid the afflicted, and to bestow His favor upon the oppressed, for He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.
