Is it permissible to believe weather forecasts and predictions of solar and lunar eclipses, given the prohibition against believing those who claim knowledge of the unseen? Are there different scientific schools and criteria for sighting the crescent moon, and what is the criterion that conforms to the Sharia-compliant sighting? And why do people in the Gulf not rely on crescent sightings in Western regions when it is impossible for them to see it in their own areas?

It is permissible to use computational astronomy to determine directions, the Qibla (definition), prayer times, and to know the names of planets. This is considered a collective obligation (fard kifaaya). Predicting weather is not considered knowledge of the unseen (ilm al-ghayb). However, relying on astronomical calculations to determine the beginning and end of lunar months is impermissible and contradicts sound Prophetic narrations and the consensus of the Companions. The majority of scholars do not consider it permissible, as Muslims have universally agreed that observing the crescent moon for action cannot be based on the information of a calculator. Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Rajab have affirmed this. It should also be noted that Islam rejects disparaging people based on their origins or colors, and that superiority in the sight of Allah Almighty is based on piety, not lineage or color, in affirmation of His saying, the Most High: ﴿O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.﴾ [Al-Hujurat: 13].