Astronomy Serving Islam through Internet
Like all other technological inventions and advancements, Internet technology also can be used for the good or evil; for the benefit of mankind or for the harm and negative purposes towards mankind. As human beings, our responsibility is to use this technology for the betterment of mankind, human relations, serving the needs of the people, and better understanding between believers of different faiths. As Muslims, our duty is to use such technology as an effective tool to enhance Islam and its basic concepts not only for Muslims, but also for non-Muslims inviting them toward Islam, show them the benefits Islam has to offer to mankind, and serve the needs of Muslims providing them with the knowledge about every issue they face through this vast information highway, called, "INTERNET," or "World-Wide Web (WWW)."
One specific area that can serve Islam and Muslims is the knowledge of astronomy, and calculation techniques applied to those areas of astronomy that serve Islamic needs. Astronomy can serve the needs of Muslims for their daily prayers, Qibla direction, times for fasting, and dates for Eidain and Hajj (pilgrimage). All humans have a need for time keeping systems, for which calendars were developed, based on the natural time keeping system of the sun and moon. Muslims have a special need for a time keeping system for their obligatory duties in order to fulfill the commandments of the creator, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala). For the time keeping system He says:
(Qur'an, 10:5): "It is He who made the sun a radiance and the moon a light and determined their stations that you might know the number of years and reckoning of time."
(Qur'an, 36:39): "Neither the sun may reach the moon ? nor night will precede the day...each in special orbit is swimming around according to its law."
(Qur'an, 55:5): "The sun and moon follow courses exactly computed."
(Qur'an, 2:189): "They ask you about the crescent moons, say: they are signs to mark fixed periods of time for the people and for pilgrimage."
The position of the sun determines the daily prayer timings, while the position of the moon determines the Islamic calendar (e.g., month of fasting, Eidain, and Hajj etc.). To fulfill these needs, I took the initiative to create a web site, "Astronomy for Islam." with its Home Page being on the address: http://www.erols.com/shaukat. This site contains several web pages on related subjects, such as Moon Sighting, Actual Sighting, Islamic Calendar, Prayer Schedule, Qibla Direction, and Astronomy Links etc.
In addition to these pages, there are some more pages for frequently asked questions (F A Q's) providing answers on moon sighting, prayer schedule, and Qibla direction. Furthermore, there are some more related articles on these subjects for additional information provided as a hypertext link on the web pages.
New tools such as Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts and programming are very important and effective ways for a user to get information based on calculations depending upon users' location described by latitude, longitude, and time zone. While CGI programming can help, it is not sufficient to distribute the results of calculations for high latitudes above and below Arctic Circle, where the sun does not rise in some season or does not set in other season. At these high latitudes, most programming algorithms can't accurately calculate sunset and sunrise times and hence some special attention is required. This can be achieved by "email," an effective and inexpensive way to communicate. The need can be specified in an email to some scholars who have better understanding of the Shari'ah as well as some understanding of science or vice versa. The email addresses for such scholars could be provided in the web pages. On the web site mentioned above, the CGI programming is not implemented yet. However, it is recognized that its use would enhance and be more effective to serving the needs of Muslims around the world.
Conclusion
In the modern age of communication, especially through Internet, we all can benefit from the tons of information available on the information highway, "Internet." As Muslims, our duty is to make as much useful information available on the Internet as possible, present them in effective and interesting ways so that a browsing individual can keep his/her attention and does not flee away, and most importantly, keep the pages alive by updating and revising frequently. Updating and revising for cosmetic purposes is sometimes needed to keep the attention of the users so that the site does not appear stale. Stale sites loose users interest and attention. Although CGI programming is an important and effective tool for users to get calculations based on users' location described by latitude longitude, and time zone, it is not sufficient to distribute such information for high latitudes above and below Arctic Circle. For these high latitudes, special attention is required by a person who can manually look into the situation and provide answers to people's needs. This can be achieved by email, which is an effective and inexpensive way to communicate.
Thus, Internet and email are the tools that Muslims should not be behind others in using, and should prove that Muslims are on top of the technological advances serving humanity in general and Muslims in particular in the 21st century.
By Syed K. Shaukat