There are various methods used to determine the arrival of Ramadan (fasting) and Syawal in South East Asia. Malaysia and Indonesia use the rukyah (sighting of the moon) and hisab (mathematical calculations), Singapore uses the hisab while Brunei only uses the rukyah method. These differences are due to the different basis for using a certain method to determine the arrival of Ramadan and Syawal. The basis here refers to religious
references and forms of istidlal (inferences). The question is, what religious references are used to substantiate the adoption of the rukyah method in Brunei? What is their form of istidlal based on the religious references? To answer all these questions this study has two objectives. Firstly, it intends to determine the religious references that act as the basis for using the rukyah method in Brunei. Secondly, to analyse the different forms
of istidlal based on the religious references. In order to achieve these objectives, this qualitative study used library research and expert interview methods for collecting data. All the data were analysed using the content analysis method. Lastly, this study concluded that religious references from the al-Qur’an and Hadith used as a basis for applying the rukyah method in Brunei is similar to the religious references used as a basis for applying rukyah and hisab in other South East Asian countries. The only difference is the various forms of
istidlal.
Source: Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture
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