True Dawn: the defi nition by the Sharia and the terminology of astronomers

Abstract

The object of the research is the problem of determining the exact time of the True Dawn onset (al-fajr as-sadik), with which the rituals of fasting and praying begin in Islam, as well as the completion of the rite of standing (wukuf) on Mount Arafat during the Great Pilgrimage (hajj), and its diff erence from the so-called “False” Dawn. (al-fajr al-kazib). The paper presents the Hadiths describing the signs of these two astronomical phenomena and reveals the results of visual observation of the onset of the True Dawn’s exact time in a number of Arab countries and in the Republic of Dagestan according to the mathematical calculation of the angle of the Sun inclination and the degree of the Sun position (azimuth) towards the horizon of the observed terrain during the true dawn. The study was based on the determination of the onset of the morning prayer exact time according to the methodology of mathematical calculations by astronomers of the early and late periods, and of the authoritative Muslim jurists (faqihs) as well.