Jakarta, NU Online
The chairman of the Advisory Board of Nahdlatul Ulama Scholars Association (ISNU) Mahfud MD said that the debate about rukyatul hilal or hisab in determining 1st day of Shawwal should be seen positively for it could open discourses about Islam.
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"They were noisy about rukyat-hisab? Just take it positively. A scene that sometime exciting, opening discourse and expanding the insight of science," said Mahfud while he was serving the question of netizen through his personal twitter account @mohmahfudmd, on Wednesday (15/7).

The former Constitutional Court (MK) chairman then mentioned the Prophet Muhammad’s words 'Shuumuu biru'yatihi waafthiruu biru'yatihi'. It means 'do fasting with a look at the moon, and eat or pray eid if you see the moon’.

On the basis of the hadith, said Mahfud, there were scholars which have different ways of looking at rukyat. There was a way to see with the eye, and there were people do it with calculate it with the astronomy science.

"Based on the hadith, there are scholars who have different ways in choosing how to do (rukyat) it, there is rukyat bil ain (with eyes), there is rukyat bil ilm (astronomical sciences)," said Mahfud. (masdar)