Re: [libreoffice-users] Islamic Calendar

On 11/08/2016 21:30, Gary Dale wrote:

> Why should calendars be tied to locales?

For Lunar based calenders, which is what the Islamic calendar is, the
issue is which meridian to use, for sighting the new moon.

For those who use the Thelemic Calendar, both longitude and latitude are
significant. (Right now it is Anno Vii ☉ 19 ♌ ☽ 3 ♐ A 27 ♐.)

For oddities such as those, a configuration setting in ">Tools >Options"
could be added, with a reasonable default as a fallback option. Mecca
for the Islamic Calendar. Boleskine House for the Thelemic Calendar.
Jerusalem for a Karaite Jewish Calendar, etc.

> While all European nations use the Gregorian calendar secularly, the Julian is still used for 
> religious purposes.

My impression is that the Buddhist calendar is still used in Kalmykia.

> Is this a case of the locales being overused for things that aren't really location dependent?

Discussion about Sharia law can take place somewhere else, such as your
local mosque on Friday, at noon.

Which locale to use for an Islamic Calendar _can_ be the subject of a
ruling by either a local imam, or a national body. The issue being
whether or not it is acceptable to declare a new month, without any
reports of the new moon being sighted.

For one of the locales, the new moon must be sighted by two reliable
witnesses, before the month can be declared, however, for one of the
other locales, a new moon can be declared, without sighting the new moon.

The current trend is to ignore new moon sighting, relying instead upon
astronomical calculations of where the moon is, and whether or not it
would be visible. This means that the calender might be more location
dependent, but, at the same time, one has less reliance on potentially
unreliable witnesses, and their spiritual leaders. The practical
application is that it is possible for one to look outside, see the
crescent moon, but because of the selected locale, the calender does not
show the new month. (This scenario is not uncommon with people in
Hawaii, who rely on notification from sources in either Egypt or Saudi
Arabia.)

Dave Stevens wrote:

> if there are particular locales you'd like to see why not be specific?

My thinking is that if one is going to go to create a calendar, it
should be available for all locales. It doesn't matter if one is talking
about the Mayan Long Count, the Islamic Calendar, or the Thelemic
Calendar.

jonathon

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