Saudi Arabia confirms sighting of crescent moon, announces Sunday Eid El-Fitr

Saudi Arabia has announced that the crescent for the Islamic month of Shawwal has been sighted, marking an end to the month of Ramadan and that the Eid Al-Fitr festival will be observed on Sunday, 30 March.

This disclosure was made on Haramin’s official Facebook page, an official platform for the Muslim community in Saudi Arabia.

This aligns with Islamic tradition, which dictates that the sighting of the Shawwal moon marks the end of Ramadan and the beginning of the new month. However, the Islamic law also allows for localisation, which means countries, or in some cases, communities, wait to sight the new moon in their areas before announcing the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

In Nigeria, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) had earlier directed Nigerian Muslims to look out for the crescent of Shawwal after sunset on Saturday.

The council stated that if the moon was sighted, Eid would be celebrated on Sunday, but if not, Ramadan would extend to Sunday and the Eid would fall on Monday, 31 March.

The NSCIA is headed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, and no announcement for the end of Ramadan has been made by his office as of the time of this report.

The Nigerian government has already declared Monday and Tuesday public holidays for the Islamic festival.

The NSCIA had emphasised in its statement that Muslims are encouraged to fulfil Zakatul Fitr, a mandatory charitable food levy, before the Eid prayer.

The council also urged Muslims to pray for peace, security, and development in Nigeria during this period.