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09-04-2024
RIYADH/ DUBAI/ LONDON: Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated in Saudi Arabia, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday.
The Shawwal moon was not sighted in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The holy month will last for a full 30 days, with Tuesday being the last day of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Muslim calendar.
Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court announced that the Shawwal moon was not sighted today evening, 29th of Ramadan, across the kingdom.
With the announcement, the Muslims in the kingdom will celebrate Eid on Wednesday, April 10.
In a circular, the Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dawah, and Guidance Sheikh Abdullatif Al-Asheikh issued directives recently to hold Eid prayer 15 minutes after sunrise, in accordance with the Umm Al-Qura calendar, Arab News reported.
The minister said Eid-ul-Fitr prayer should be conducted at the designated open prayer grounds, as well as in all mosques except for those adjacent to prayer grounds.
The authorities in Saudi Arabia on Saturday had asked the citizens to sight the Shawwal moon on the evening of April 8.
Australian Fatwa Council announced marking Eid on April 10 and so did Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith UK.
In a statement, earlier, the Saudi Supreme Court called on the residents to report the moon sighting and notify the respective authority.
As per the Sharia, the sighting can be done with the naked eye or by using binoculars, following which the discovery must be notified to the nearest court or centre, Alarabiya News reported.
Ramadan in 2024 began on March 11, during which Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset.
Eid-ul-Fitr is one of the two main Eid events in the Islamic calendar that involves feasts, gatherings, prayers and gift-giving. This Eid is celebrated in the month of Shawwal and continues for three days.
In Pakistan, the Met Office, however, predicted that the first day of Eid-ul-Fitr would fall on April 10, as the Shawwal moon was expected to be sighted on April 9.
PMD said the crescent would be born on April 8 at 11:21pm and it would be aged between 19 and 20 hours the next day around Maghrib prayer.
The crescent could be spotted for over 50 minutes around sundown, it added.
The Australian Fatwa Council has confirmed that the Shawwal crescent will be born on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at specific times in Sydney and Perth and it will be the last day of Ramadan while Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 10, 2024.
The US Naval Observatory has said, “The sighting of the lunar crescent within one day of new moon is usually difficult. The crescent at this time is quite thin, has a low surface brightness, and can easily be lost in the twilight. Generally, the lunar crescent will become visible to suitably-located, experienced observers with good sky conditions about one day after new moon. However, the time that the crescent actually becomes visible varies quite a bit from one month to another. Naked-eye sightings as early as 15.5 hours after new moon have been reliably reported while observers with telescopes have made reliable reports as early as 12.1 hours after new moon.” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
