The Saudi Supreme Court has urged all Muslims in the country to begin to watch for the Shawwal crescent on the evening of Thursday.
The court asked anyone who saw the crescent with their naked eyes or through binoculars to report it to their local court so that it can register their testimony there or to get in touch with the local town center.
It said it “sincerely wishes that anybody who is interested in seeing the crescent will join the committees established in various areas for this purpose, seeking favour from Allah as this is an act that symbolises collaboration in righteousness and piety, which is advantageous to all Muslims.”
Notably, the holy month of Ramadan began on March 23 in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, as well as in the majority of Arab and Muslim nations, after Shaban had completed its 30-day period.
According to an expert, astronomical calculations show that Friday will mark the start of Eid Al-Fitr.
The head of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, Eng. Majed Abu Zahra, Sa’id in the evening of Thursday, Ramadan 29, which corresponds to April 20, 2023 the phenomena of conjugation will occur before sunset.
According to him, the sun will set from Makkah’s horizon at 6:42 on Thursday night. “At that time, the moon will be 04 degrees above the horizon, with an angle of 05 degrees separating it from the sun, and a brightness of 0.2 percent,” he said.
Astronomically, the conditions for the start of the month of Shawwal will be met when the moon sets at 7:06 PM, 24 minutes after sunset.
But, according to Abu Zahra, due to the Shawwal crescent’s limited illumination, presence in the sun’s setting radiance, and brief duration above the horizon, sighting it with the unaided eye or monitoring devices is not possible unless one is using a CCD camera.
He pointed out that on Friday, “the moon will be above the horizon at an altitude of 16 degrees, the angle at which it is separated from the sun is 17 degrees, and its illumination is 2.4 percent. The sun will set from Makkah’s horizon at 06:43 PM.”
