Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK, Australia to celebrate Eid ul Fitr on Wednesday

Saudi Arabia, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as other Gulf nations will celebrate Eid ul Fitr on Wednesday as the Shawwal moon was not sighted in the states on Monday.

The authorities in Saudi Arabia on Saturday had asked the citizens to sight the Shawwal moon on the evening of April 8.

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.

In a statement, 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.