Riyadh: The moon sighting committee of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia announced on Friday that the first fast of the month of Ramzan will be on Saturday, April 2, while Taraweeh will begin on April 1, after Isha prayers, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The crescent moon, which marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramzan 1443 AH, has been sighted in Saudi Arabia on Friday evening.
Therefore, Friday was the last and 29th day of Shaban 1443 Hijri.
The Ramzan crescent was observed using a CCD camera at Taif observatory. It was observed across the Kingdom in all observatories including Sudair and Tumair.
Earlier, Abdullah al-Khudairi, director of the astronomical observatory at the University of Al-Majma’ah, said, the air in Sudair is 90 per cent clear to see the crescent of the month of Ramzan.
It is noteworthy that the Supreme Court on Wednesday has called on all Muslims in all parts of the Kingdom to investigate the sighting of the crescent of the month of Ramadan 1443 this Friday evening.
List of countries that follow Saudi Arabia’s moon sighting announcement
| 1 | UAE |
| 2 | Afghanistan |
| 3 | Albania |
| 4 | Armenia |
| 5 | Austria |
| 6 | Azerbaijan |
| 7 | Bahrain |
| 8 | Belgium |
| 9 | Bolivia |
| 10 | Bulgaria |
| 11 | Burkina |
| 12 | Faso |
| 13 | Chechnia |
| 14 | Denmark |
| 15 | Finland |
| 16 | Hungary |
| 17 | Iceland |
| 18 | Iraq |
| 19 | Italy |
| 20 | Japan |
| 21 | Jordan |
| 22 | Kazakhstan |
| 23 | Kuwait |
| 24 | Kyrgizstan |
| 25 | Lebanon |
| 26 | Mauritania |
| 27 | Netherlands |
| 28 | Palestine |
| 29 | Qatar |
| 30 | Romania |
| 31 | Russia |
| 32 | Singapore |
| 33 | Sudan |
| 34 | Sweden |
| 35 | Switzerland |
| 36 | Syria |
| 37 | Taiwan |
| 38 | Tajikistan |
| 39 | Tatarstan |
| 40 | Togo |
| 41 | Turkmenistan |
| 42 | UK |
| 43 | Uzbekistan |
| 44 | Yemen |
On the other hand, Eid-ul-Fitr, marks the end of the month-long fast. Eid ul Fitr is expected to begin on Monday, May 2, 2022. Eid holidays will be from Ramzan 29 until Shawwal 3 – based on the Islamic calendar.
The exact date of the start of Eid-ul-fitr will be confirmed closer to the date, based on the moon-sighting tradition.
In Islam, Ramzan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and the holy month of fasting. It begins and ends with the appearance of the crescent moon.
Ramzan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar and is believed to be the month during which the Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad.
Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, and abstain from food and drink during this period.
