Eid Al Fitr ‘may be on July 28’

Manama: Eid Al Fitr, the feast that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, may be on Monday, July 28, a Kuwaiti astronomer said.

Adel Al Saadoun said that his prediction was based on calculations that indicate that the sighting of the moon marking the end of the sacred month for Muslims will be on Sunday, July 27.

According to the astronomer’s prediction, Muslims will fast for 29 days this year. During the fast, physically able Muslims abstain from food, drink and carnal pleasures from dawn to dusk.

Most Muslim countries started the fast, one of the five pillars of Islam, on June 29.

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar, is 29 or 30 days, depending on the sighting of the moon.

Muslims have often differed on how to determine the beginning and end of Ramadan, according to whether they believe in scientific calculations or the sighting of the month with the naked eye.

Under the traditional approach, people look to the sky and seek to sight the slight crescent (hilal) that marks the beginning or the end of the month.

If the hilal is sighted, the next day is declared the first day of Ramadan — the start of the fast — or the first day of Eid — the end of the fast.

However, questions raised over the traditional approach included whether the start or end of the month should be declared if the hilal is sighted in only one part of the country, or if the hilal could not be sighted when the location is overcast or cloudy.

Calls to adopt the astronomical calculation approach have been invariably resisted by followers of the traditional method.

The divisions have often resulted in marking the beginning or the end of Ramadan on two, and at times, three different days.