Horizon
Horizon (Arabic: أفق) is a term in astronomy meaning the edges or outskirts of the sky, which is used in fiqh (jurisprudence) to determine Prayer times and also in Moon Sighting. Jurists, considering the horizon, have defined the time of Fajr prayer as the spreading of the whiteness of dawn on the horizon, which is called Fajr al-Sadiq (true dawn). Some have considered the time of Shar'i Maghrib as the disappearance of the sun into the horizon, which marks the end of the 'Asr prayer time and the beginning of the Maghrib prayer time.
Another issue raised in fiqh concerning the term horizon is the issue of the Unity or Difference of Horizons, which is discussed in the context of Moon Sighting.
If different regions have the same ruling regarding the establishment of the crescent and the start of the month, they are considered to have a unified horizon, and the unity of their horizons is ruled; but if the establishment of the crescent differs in different regions and an independent ruling is considered for each horizon, then the difference of horizons is ruled.
Independent works related to the issue of "horizon" in jurisprudence have been written. The book Al-Ufuq aw al-afaq written by Husayn Ali Montazeri is one such work.
Concept and Position
Horizon is a term in astronomy[1] meaning the edges or outskirts of the sky, used in jurisprudence to determine Prayer times and also in Moon Sighting.[2] Jurists have discussed this term in the jurisprudential chapters of Prayer and Fasting.[3] Some jurists have also authored independent works in this field.[4]
Horizon and Prayer Times
Jurists, considering the horizon, have defined the time of Fajr prayer as the spreading of the whiteness of dawn on the horizon, which is called Fajr al-Sadiq (true dawn).[5] Also, some have considered the time of Shar'i Maghrib as the disappearance of the sun into the horizon, with which the time of 'Asr prayer ends and the time of Maghrib prayer begins.[6]
It is said that horizons differ regarding sunrise and sunset in different regions; because in one region, sunrise or sunset may be earlier or later than in other regions, so jurists have considered the determining factor to be the sunrise or sunset on the same horizon where the person praying is located.[7]
Unity and Difference of Horizons
Another issue raised in jurisprudence concerning the term horizon is the issue of the unity or difference of horizons, which is discussed in the context of Moon Sighting.[8] Jurists believe that if different regions have the same ruling regarding the establishment of the crescent and the start of the month, they have a unified horizon, and Unity of Horizons is ruled for them; meaning that if the crescent moon is sighted in one city and the first of the lunar month is established, the sighting of the crescent is also ruled for another city sharing the same horizon.[9]
If the establishment of the crescent differs in different regions and an independent ruling is considered for each horizon, then Difference of Horizons is ruled; meaning that if the sighting of the crescent and the first of the month are ruled in one city, it cannot be ruled for another city with a different horizon.[10]
Bibliography
Some independent works related to the issue of "horizon" in jurisprudence are as follows:
- Al-Ufuq aw l-afaq : Written by Husayn Ali Montazeri. This book is in Arabic and contains the views of Shi'a jurists along with their arguments on the issue of "horizon" and "unity and difference of horizons".[11]
- Ittihad al-afaq aw ikhtilafuha fi bidayat al-ashhur al-qamariyya: This book is the transcriptions (Taqrir) of the lessons of Sayyid Muhammad Rida Sistani, a professor of Bahth al-Kharij at the Seminary of Najaf and son of Sayyid Ali Sistani, written by two of his students, Amjad Riyad and Nizar Yusuf.[12]
Notes
- ↑ Munṭaẓirī, Al-Ufuq aw al-āfāq, 1384 Sh, p. 9.
- ↑ Muʾassasa-yi Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī, Farhang-i fiqh, 1387 Sh, vol. 1, p. 627.
- ↑ Muʾassasa-yi Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī, Farhang-i fiqh, 1387 Sh, vol. 1, p. 627.
- ↑ Munṭaẓirī, Al-Ufuq aw al-āfāq, 1384 Sh, p. 9.
- ↑ Shahīd al-Thānī, Masālik al-afhām, 1413 AH, vol. 1, p. 139; Shahīd al-Thānī, Al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya, 1410 AH, vol. 1, p. 486-487.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 Sh, vol. 7, p. 106-109.
- ↑ Wijdānī-fakhr, Al-Jawāhir al-fakhriyya, 1384 Sh, vol. 2, p. 45.
- ↑ Zamānī Qumshaʾī et al., "Ittiḥād wa ikhtilāf-i ufuq", p. 147-148.
- ↑ Ṣadr, Mā warāʾ al-fiqh, 1420 AH, vol. 2, p. 153-154.
- ↑ Ṣadr, Mā warāʾ al-fiqh, 1420 AH, vol. 2, p. 154.
- ↑ Munṭaẓirī, Al-Ufuq aw al-āfāq, 1384 Sh, p. 11-19.
- ↑ Riyāḍ, Ittiḥād al-āfāq, 1437 AH, p. 11-19.
References
- Munṭaẓirī, Ḥusayn ʿAlī. Al-Ufuq aw al-āfāq. Tehran, Nashr-i Sāya, 1384 Sh.
- Muʾassasa-yi Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq-i madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt (a). Under the supervision of Sayyid Maḥmūd Hāshimī Shāhrūdī. Qom, Muʾassasa-yi Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī, 1387 Sh.
- Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Edited by ʿAbbās Qūchānī & ʿAlī Ākhūndī. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 7th ed., 1362 Sh.
- Riyāḍ, Amjad & Nizār Yūsuf. Ittiḥād al-āfāq aw ikhtilāfuhā fī bidāyat al-ashhur al-qamariyya. Najaf, n.p., 1437 AH.
- Ṣadr, Sayyid Muḥammad. Mā warāʾ al-fiqh. Beirut, Dār al-Aḍwāʾ, 1420 AH.
- Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya fī sharḥ al-lumʿa al-Dimashqiyya. Annotated by Sayyid Muḥammad Kalāntar. Qom, Intishārāt-i Dāwarī, 1410 AH.
- Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī al-. Masālik al-afhām. Qom, Muʾassasat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyya, 1423 AH.
- Wijdānī-fakhr, Qudratullāh. Al-Jawāhir al-fakhriyya fī sharḥ al-rawḍa al-bahiyya. Qom, Samāʾ Qalam, 1384 Sh.
- Zamānī Qumshaʾī, ʿAlī & Muḥammad Bāqir Zamānī Qumshaʾī. "Ittiḥād wa ikhtilāf-i ufuq". Pazhūhish-hā-yi Fiqhī tā Ijtihād. Year 3, No. 5, Spring & Summer 1398 Sh.