THE Saudi Arabian Government, through its Supreme Court, has declared that Thursday, 23rd March would mark the commencement of this year’s Ramadan fasting.
It said that the date was fixed after its officials were unable to sight the crescent moon yesterday which corresponds with the 29th day of Shaban.
According to the Supreme Court, Thursday, 23rd March, will be the start of the holy month of Ramadan after calculating the month of Shaban to 30.
The apex court verdict was made public through a short statement released on its social media handle in the country.
Before the declaration, the court had called on Muslims in the Kingdom to look for the Ramadan crescent yesterday evening which corresponds to Shaban 29, 1444, but they were unable to sight any.
Also, the Ministry of Justice, which had launched an electronic system for crescent sighting to automate governing the moon sighting processes, and unify work procedures between the courts of first instance and the Supreme Court, could not find the moon.
The service aims to unify the data source of the observatory through a robust electronic system that provides speed and integration with the relevant authorities, raising the quality of the observatory operations, and speeding up the issuance of the Supreme Court’s decision regarding new moon sightings.
More than 1.9 billion Muslims around the world will mark the holy month, during which believers abstain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn until sunset.
Eighteen-Eleven Media