Report reaching us in Greenbarge Reporters indicates that this year’s small Sallah (Eid-el-Fitr), may be observed on Sunday, May 24, making the Muslim Fasting period to be 30 days.
According to the Saudi Arabia’s Astronomical calculations released today, May 21, there is no possibility of sighting the crescent of the moon of Shawwal in the evening of Friday, May 22, equivalent to Ramadan 29.
The calculations, according to the report, showed that moon will set before sun on Friday and hence Eid Al-Fitr would be on Sunday, May 24, after completing 30 days of fasting.
Astronomers at the observatory of Majmaah University near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said: “according to the scientific calculations that were published on the astronomical observatory site, sun will set at 6:39 pm at 293 degrees, and the moon will set at 6:26 pm Friday, Ramadan 29, and this means the setting of the moon happens 13 minutes before sunset.“On Saturday, Ramadan 30, corresponding to May 23, the sun will set at 6:40 pm at 239 degrees, and the crescent moon will set at 7:23 at 293 degrees, meaning that the crescent will stay on for 43 minutes after sunset at an altitude of 8.84 and elongation of 10.60.”
This was even as a rofessor of climate at the Department of Geography of Al-Qassim University, and founder and head of the committee for naming climatic conditions, Dr. Abdullah Al-Mosnad, emphasized that the crescent moon will set on Friday about 10 minutes before sun in Makkah and therefore Eid will be on Sunday after completion of 30 days of Ramadan.
