Hilaal Sighting Structure
- UUCSA shall constitute a National Hilaal Committee that shall be composed of one member from each UUCSA member. UUCSA members shall nominate one person to serve on the UUCSA National Hilaal Committee. Such nomination shall be confirmed at an UUCSA meeting.
- Each UUCSA member is required to form Hilaal Committees in conjunction with communities and congregations that fall under its jurisdiction.
- On a monthly basis, members of these committees must observe the Hilaal for the ensuing month.
- In the event that the members of a Hilaal Committee or the general Muslim community sight the new moon, the individuals are required to give testimony of them having sighted the new moon, in the town /district wherein he/she resides (Shahaadah). The testimony shall be taken by the head of the Hilaal Committee, who should be an Aalim (preferably the Imam of the community).
- If the Aalim or head of the Hilaal Committee accepts the testimony, the Shahid (testator) is required to fill in a Shahaadah form and forward it to the person of the regional mother body (UUCSA member) that serves on the National Hilaal Committee.
- If the National Hilaal Representative is satisfied with the Shahadah then the news thereof must be relayed to the Central Hilaal Office which is currently based at the offices of the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa with Moulana Ebrahim Bham as the convenor.
- The national member of the regional mother body shall complete the official UUCSA Shahadah form for the purpose of confirming the sighting and forward it to the convenor.
- If circumstances permit a teleconference shall be held for the purpose of confirming the UUCSA decision (whether there is a sighting or not). If this is not possible the convenor shall discuss the information of sighting or non-sighting to all UUCSA members.
- Once all members of the UUCSA National Hilaal Committe are satisfied with details of the sighting or non-sighting, a unified decision shall be taken by UUCSA regarding the commencement of the next Islamic month.
- Once a decision is reached a public announcement shall be made.
- The public announcement shall be made by a person/persons mandated by the National Hilaal Committee.
- The nature of the announcement shall be discussed and decided upon by the National Hilaal Committee.
- No UUCSA member shall announce the decision to its constituency until the National UUCSA decision has been announced publicly.
- UUCSA adheres to the policy of local sighting.
- UUCSA shall not accept sighting outside its borders. This includes neighbouring countries (SADAC) as well as Saudi Arabia.
- UUCSA shall only accept sighting by naked eye. Sightings by optical aids shall not be accepted as valid sightings.