Rabat – Saudi Arabia will sight the crescent moon for the holy month of Ramadan 2023 on Tuesday, Saudi news agency SPA reported.
Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court called on all Muslims throughout the country to sight the crescent moon on Tuesday, asking all those who are able to see it by the naked eye or binoculars to report it to the nearest court and register their observation.
According to outlet Al Arabiya, Saudi Arabia’s moon sighting committee traditionally observes the crescent moon for Ramadan prior to the start of the holy month.
“But they have encouraged other Muslims who wish to sight the moon to do so as well,” the news outlet said.
Astronomy calculations suggest that the majority of Arab countries are expected to celebrate the first day of Ramadan on Thursday, March 23.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. The month is when Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to sunset for 29 or 30 days depending on the crescent sighing.
During Ramadan, Muslim countries shorten the number of working hours as well as school hours.
According to astronomy experts, Morocco is also among the Arab countries that are expected to celebrate the first day of Ramadan on Thursday.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs is yet to confirm the official start date of Ramadan 2023. The ministry is expected to call on the sighting committee to observe the crescent moon on Wednesday.
On Sunday, Morocco also suspended daylight saving and returned to GMT as it affects fasting hours.
Morocco suspends GMT+ annually a week prior to Ramadan and returns to daylight saving a week following the end of the holy month.
In light of the change demands to suspend daylight saving permanently have returned, with many citizens questioning the effectiveness of GMT+.
