The Islamic Calendar in the UK: Between Contestation and Consensus

这项研究将探索英国穆斯林，从移民到后代，是如何概念化、争鸣和构建伊斯兰日历的，以及这揭示了一种独特的英国穆斯林经历。伊斯兰农历是穆斯林仪式生活的核心部分，它划分了宗教节日的日期。然而，就目前情况而言，对于英国应该如何构建日历，各方并未达成一致。取而代之的是，不列颠群岛各地的不同穆斯林社区举行自己版本的伊斯兰日历，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，日历的正确建造是一个神学问题，甚至是道德问题，因为它涉及到仪式实践。从我在皇家天文台的初步研究中，我了解到至少有13个不同的职位在英国运作。其中一些位置是不列颠群岛独有的。例如，巴基斯坦的Deobandi妖魔化以当地的月球观测为基础进行日历。然而，他们的英国侨民卫星组织在1986年放弃了这一立场，现在至少为英国创新了两个新立场。另一个问题是沙特阿拉伯对英国日历的影响。从20世纪80年代开始，随着沙特资金的注入，越来越多的英国穆斯林机构抛弃了自己的日历，转而选择遵循沙特的日历。使这一现象更加引人注目的是，天文学家年复一年地谴责沙特的日历造假，声称沙特的定期观测是伪造的。由于方式如此多样，英国穆斯林几乎每年都会在哪一天庆祝斋月或开斋节等宗教节日上存在分歧。这导致了几代人之间的激烈辩论，事件包括伊玛目被解雇和在清真寺发生肢体冲突，家庭成员在日历上意见不一致，并拒绝在同一天一起庆祝宗教节日的事件屡见不鲜。最近，出现了一个寻求日历共识的团体。他们完全由非神职人员领导，他们与格林威治皇家天文台合作，组成了一个“全国观月社区”，收集农历日期，以帮助讨论日历。随着300多个清真寺会众参加2019年的成立大会，他们很可能在未来几年实现他们的目标。尽管伊斯兰日历对英国穆斯林生活意义重大，但在英国还没有人写过关于伊斯兰日历的文章。我散文进行历史和人类学研究有两个原因：第一，我可以研究一个独特的英国穆斯林生活经历，揭示穆斯林世代之间不断变化的种族、文化和公民关系；英国清真寺之间新出现的权力动态，以及与其会众的紧张关系；跨国乌拉马网络和历次英联邦移民队列的交集；英国穆斯林世代对科学的态度；社交媒体和技术的影响，以及外国政府采取的软实力战略；第二，这项研究将对穆斯林具有实际用途。

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.