The Ruling of a Religious Judge concerning Catching Sight of the New Moon"

People think that the issue of "catching sight of the new moon" which does not fall in the fiqh province is cocrned with taqlid, and thus they try to follow the instructions of a supreme religious authority. This essay tries to answer the question as to who is responsible for announcing that the new moon has been seen. That is, is it the duty of supreme religious authorities or the duty of the politico-religious leader and Moslem presiding judge to decide? In other words, is it the government's duty or the supreme religious authority's duty to decide the day of Feast of Fast-breaking (‘Id al-Fitr)?First, we have to know the measures and responsibilities of each of marji' (supreme religious authority) and Islamic government, and then see with which state of affair the question of announcing appearance of the new moon and the date of the Feast of Fast-breaking is consistent. It should be noted that the arguments concerning the necessity of taqlid (i.e. following the instructions of faqihs) apply when an ignorant of a fiqhiquestion has to cosult with a knower and they are valid only in as far as explaining fiqhi injunctions are concerned and it has nothing to do with the subject of decisions, because it is the mukallaf (one who is legally responsible for performing religious duties) who decides on such subjects, and so acceptance of authority, taqlid, is not permissible in this case. Moreover, making a governmental judgement to confirm that the newmoon has been seen falls within the duties of a religious judge, and due to the fact that this judgement have to be abided by all, it is not a matter of controvercy among faqhis and it is impossible to have more than one judgement about the case in point. Therefore, announcing that the new moon has been seen and appoiniting the date of the Feast of Fast-breaking,‘Id, is among the options of a Moslem presiding judge or a politico-religious leader.