An astrophysicist believes that experts will not be able to see the crescent moon on April 12, and therefore most Muslim countries and Europe will begin the holy month on April 13.
Rabat – The Muslim Theological Council of France (CTMF) announced that Ramadan 2021 will begin on April 13 in France.
The council issued a press release, citing scientific data for the forecast.
The press release said that the first day of the month of Ramadan will be on Tuesday, April 13. The first day of the month of Shawwal and the feast of al-Fitr will be on Thursday, May 13.
The council said the forecasts are confirmed by astrophysicist Nidhal Ghessoum.
According to the astrophysicist, the lunar crescent will be visible with a telescope or using optical instruments on Monday, April 12.
The moon is said to be visible in America and in a large part of Africa.
However, the lunar crescent will not be visible to the naked eye or with a telescope in some countries.
The astrophysicist believes that the first day of the month of Ramadan should be Tuesday, April 13 in most Muslim countries and Europe.
Ramadan is one of the holy months in the Islamic calendar.
In Ramadan, Muslims across the world fast from dawn until sunset. Dates for Ramadan differ from a country to another.
In some years, countries fast a day before others depending on the visibility of the moon.
In 2020, Saudi Arabia and some other countries that follow the Umm al-Qura calendar started the first day of Raman on April 24.
People in Morocco celebrated the first day of Ramadan a day later on April 25.
Ramadan 2020 was unprecedented due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world.
With the pandemic still hampering the world’s regular life, Morocco has yet to announce whether it will allow citizens to perform taraweeh (extra evening prayers) at mosques.
In March 2020, Morocco announced a state of emergency and put in place firm lockdown measures as part of the efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The measures included restrictions of gatherings in public spaces, including at mosques.
Recently, the government announced the opening of hundreds of mosques out of thousands for daily prayers.
Ramadan is expected to take place on April 12 in Morocco.
