Join us for a special First Friday event exploring how time is marked, understood, observed, and experienced in different traditions. From contested moon sightings to the alignments of Stonehenge and the Kaaba, this event connects astronomy, theology, and lived experience.
Exploring the contested and deeply meaningful question of how time is marked in Islamic life, Imad Ahmed (PhD candidate, University of Cambridge) presents his research into the Islamic lunar calendar. A topic that continues to spark debate across communities, shaping religious practice, identity, and even family life.
As Ahmed reflects on the impact of divided calendars in the UK: “When we outsource moon-sighting to all of these different countries… we’ll celebrate Ramadan and Eid on different dates—even within a single family.”
In conversation with writer Cathy Haynes, author of The Fullness of Time, the evening will open out into a wider reflection on how humans have historically understood time through the natural world. She illustrates the simple methods ordinary people once had of marking times of day by the sky and the living world in the British Isles and wider Europe.
_
All are welcome to stay, eat, chat, and spend time in our newly relaunched Reading Room, open every Friday from 12–5pm, binging together a growing collection exploring Islamic cultural life.
A First Friday’s event, part of the Intersections programme.