The Islamic Calendar in the UK: Between Contestation and Consensus

这项研究将探讨英国穆斯林，从移民到后代，如何概念化、质疑和构建伊斯兰历法，以及这揭示了一个独特的英国穆斯林经历。伊斯兰阴历是穆斯林仪式生活的中心部分，划定了宗教节日的日期。然而，就目前的情况而言，英国对日历应该如何制定并没有达成共识。相反，不列颠群岛上不同的穆斯林社区使用他们自己版本的伊斯兰历法，使用一系列科学、神学和文化概念方法来确定每个月的开始。穆斯林认为日历的正确构造是一个神学的，甚至是道德的问题，因为它与仪式实践有关。根据我在皇家天文台的初步研究，我知道在英国至少有13个不同的位置在运行。其中一些位置是不列颠群岛独有的。例如，巴基斯坦的Deobandi恶魔根据当地的月球观测来制定他们的日历。然而，他们的英国侨民卫星组织在1986年放弃了这一职位，现在至少为英国创造了两个新职位。另一条断层线是沙特阿拉伯对英国日历的影响。自20世纪80年代以来，随着沙特的资金注入，越来越多的英国穆斯林机构放弃了自己的日历，转而选择遵循沙特阿拉伯的日历。更值得注意的是，天文学家年复一年地宣布沙特阿拉伯的日历是欺骗性的，声称沙特人经常“伪造”他们的月牙。有了如此多样的方式，英国穆斯林几乎每年都会在庆祝宗教节日的日期上产生分歧，比如斋月或开斋节。这导致了几代人之间的激烈争论，包括伊玛目被解雇、清真寺里发生肢体冲突、家庭成员在日历上意见分歧、拒绝在同一天一起庆祝宗教节日等事件屡屡发生。最近出现了一个团体，寻求在日历上达成共识。他们完全由非神职人员领导，与格林威治皇家天文台合作成立了一个“全国月球观测社区”，收集月球日期以帮助讨论历法。在2019年的成立大会上，有超过300个清真寺会众参加，他们很可能在未来几年实现自己的目标。尽管伊斯兰历法对英国穆斯林的生活意义重大，但在英国没有任何关于伊斯兰历法的记载。我进行历史和人类学研究有两个原因：首先，我可以研究一个独特的、活生生的英国穆斯林经历，揭示穆斯林在几代人之间形成的不断变化的种族、文化和公民联系；英国清真寺之间正在出现的权力动态及其与会众的紧张关系；跨国乌拉玛网络与连续英联邦移民群体之间的交集；几代英国穆斯林对科学的态度；社交媒体和技术的影响以及外国政府采用的软实力战略；其次，这项研究将对穆斯林有实际用途。

This research will explore how British Muslims, from migrants through to successive generations, have conceptualisd, contested and constructed the Islamic calender, and what this reveals about a distinct British Muslim experience. The Islamic lunar calendar is a central part of Muslim ritual life, demarcating the dates of religious festivals. Yet as it stands, there is no concensus on how the calendar should be constructed in the UK. Instead, diverse Muslim communities across the British Isles conduct their own version of the Islamic calendar, using a range of scientific, theological and cultural conceptual approaches to determine the beginning of each month. Muslims regard the proper construction of the calender as a theological, even moral, issue as it relates to ritual practice. From my preliminary research in my role at the Royal Observatory, I know of at least thirteen different position operational in the UK. Some of these positions are unique to the British Isles. For example, the Deobandi demonination in Pakistan conduct their calendar based on local lunar observations. Yet, their UK diaspora satellite groups abandoned this position in 1986, and have now innovated at least two new position for the UK. Another faultline is Saudi Arabia's influence on the UK calendar. With the injection of Saudi-based funding from the 1980s onward, an increasing number of UK Muslim institutions discarded their own calendar, and instead chose to follow Saudi Arabia's calendar. What makes this this all the more remarkable is that, year on year, astronomers have decred Saudi Arabia's calendar as fraudalent, claiming that Saudi regulary 'fake' their lunar crescent observations. With such a multiplicity of approaches, British Muslims have, almost annually, disagreed on which date to celebrate religious holidays, such as Ramadan or Eid. This has led to fiery debates across generations, with incidents including Imams being sacked and physical fights in mosques, and requent cases of family members disagreeing on the calendar, and refusing to celebrate religious festivals together on the same date. Most recently a group has emerged seeking calendar consensus. Led entirely by non-clergy members, they have collaborated with the Royal Observatory Greenwich to form a 'national moonsighting community', collecting lunar datea to aid discussion about the calendar. With over 300 mosque congregations represented in the inaugural meeting in 2019, they may well achieve their aim in the next few years. Despite its significance to British Muslim life, nothing has been written about the Islamic Calendar in the UK. I proprose an historical and anthropological study for two reasons: firstly, I can study a distinct lived, British Muslim experience, shedding light on shifting ethnic, cultural and civic ties forged by Muslims across generations; emerging power dynamics between UK mosques and tensions with their congregations; the intersection between transnational ulama networks and successive commonwealth migration cohorts; British Muslim attitudes to science across generations; the impact of social media and technology and soft power strategies employed by foreign governments; secondly this research will be of practical use to Muslims.