JEDDAH: Saturday, May 27, is the start of holy month of Ramadan, the Supreme Court announced on Thursday.
The crescent moon was not sighted on Thursday and so fasting will start Saturday.
“The moon will be out/disappear on the entire Islamic world, Thursday and, based on this, there is no crescent,” astronomer Khalid Al-Zaaq, a member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences said in a series of tweets.
He added that this year’s Ramadan will begin and end on a Saturday, which makes it a 29-day month. “(Ramadan) will have four Fridays,” he added.
UAE also announced Saturday the first day of Ramadan as the moon-sighting committee failed to spot the new moon crescent on Thursday night.
Qatari Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs said on its Twitter account that “Due to the lack of a moon sighting this night, the committee announces that investigation will continue tomorrow.”
Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon and Ghana have, too, declared Saturday the first day of Ramadan.
More than 1.6 billion Muslims around the world will mark the month, during which believers abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn until sunset.
